19 And he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, with all the army of heaven in their places round him at his right hand and at his left.
I went on looking till the seats of kings were placed, and one like a very old man took his seat: his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like clean wool; his seat was flames of fire and its wheels burning fire. A stream of fire was flowing and coming out from before him: a thousand thousands were his servants, and ten thousand times ten thousand were in their places before him: the judge was seated and the books were open.
And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.
Are they not all helping spirits, who are sent out as servants to those whose heritage will be salvation?
And of the angels he says, Who makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire:
In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord seated in his place, high and lifted up, and the Temple was full of the wide skirts of his robe. Over him were the winged ones: every one had six wings; two for covering his face, two for covering his feed, and two for flight. And one said in a loud voice to another, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of armies: all the earth is full of his glory.
Give praise to the Lord, you his angels, who are great in strength, doing his orders, and waiting for his voice. Give praise to the Lord, all you his armies; and you his servants who do his pleasure.
And on the top of the arch which was over their heads was the form of a king's seat, like a sapphire stone; and on the form of the seat was the form of a man seated on it on high. And I saw it coloured like electrum, with the look of fire in it and round it, going up from what seemed to be the middle of his body; and going down from what seemed to be the middle of his body I saw what was like fire, and there was a bright light shining round him. Like the bow in the cloud on a day of rain, so was the light shining round him. And this is what the glory of the Lord was like. And when I saw it I went down on my face, and the voice of one talking came to my ears.
Straight away I was in the Spirit: and I saw a high seat in heaven, and one was seated on it; And to my eyes he was like a jasper and a sardius stone: and there was an arch of light round the high seat, like an emerald.
Then he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, and all the army of heaven in their places, at his right hand and at his left. And the Lord said, How may Ahab, king of Israel, be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another. Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick. And the Lord said to him, How? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so. And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of these prophets of yours; and the Lord has said evil against you.
But he was full of the Holy Spirit, and looking up to heaven, he saw the glory of God and Jesus at the right hand of God. And he said, Now I see heaven open, and the Son of man at the right hand of God.
And the man who was between the mountains, answering me, said, These are those whom the Lord has sent to go up and down through the earth.
Now then, give ear to the word of the Lord: You say, Be no prophet to Israel, and say not a word against the people of Isaac.
Then give ear now to the word of the Lord, O you last of Judah: the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, If your minds are fixed on going into Egypt and stopping there;
And now, give ear to the word of the Lord, all you whom I have sent away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Give ear then to the word of the Lord, you men of pride, the rulers of this people in Jerusalem:
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Kings 22
Commentary on 1 Kings 22 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 22
This chapter finishes the history of Ahab's reign. It was promised in the close of the foregoing chapter that the ruin of his house should not come in his days, but his days were soon at an end. His war with the Syrians at Ramoth-Gilead is that which we have an account of in this chapter.
1Ki 22:1-14
Though Ahab continued under guilt and wrath, and the dominion of the lusts to which he had sold himself, yet, as a reward for his professions of repentance and humiliation, though the time drew near when he should descend into battle and perish, yet we have him blessed with a three years' peace (v. 1) and an honourable visit made him by Jehoshaphat king of Judah, v. 2. The Jews have a fabulous conceit, that when Ahab humbled himself for his sin, and lay in sackcloth, he sent for Jehoshaphat to come to him, to chastise him; and that he staid with him for some time, and gave him so many stripes every day. This is a groundless tradition. He came now, it is probable, to consult him about the affairs of their kingdoms. It is strange that so great a man as Jehoshaphat would pay so much respect to a kingdom revolted from the house of David, and that so good a man should show so much kindness to a king revolted from the worship of God. But, though he was a godly man, his temper was too easy, which betrayed him into snares and inconveniences. The Syrians durst not give Ahab any disturbance. But,
1Ki 22:15-28
Here Micaiah does well, but, as is common, suffers ill for so doing.
1Ki 22:29-40
The matter in contest between God's prophet and Ahab's prophets is here soon determined, and it is made to appear which was in the right. Here,
Lastly, The story of Ahab is here concluded in the usual form, v. 39, 40. Among his works mention is made of an ivory house which he built, so called because many parts of it were inlaid with ivory; perhaps it was intended to vie with the stately palace of the kings of Judah, which Solomon built.
1Ki 22:41-53
Here is,