2 Chronicles 18:34
The battle raged throughout that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. And at sunset he died.
Sermons
Divine Truth and its Typical ReceptionJ. Wolfendale.2 Chronicles 18:4-34
The Battle of Ramoth. - an Ill-Fated ExpeditionT. Whitelaw 2 Chronicles 18:28-34
The True Lesson of Human IgnoranceW. Clarkson 2 Chronicles 18:28-34














What are the true lessons that we gather from this interesting episode? There may be suggested -

I. TWO THOUGHTS WHICH ARE SPECIOUS BUT FALSE. Some men would probably infer from similar facts happening in the range of their own observation:

1. That the issue of events is in the hands of an irreversible fate. Ahab (they would argue) was bound to fall that day; do what he might, disguise himself as he pleased, take whatever precaution he could, his death was decreed and was simply unavoidable. But this is not the wise, nor is it the right, way of regarding it. Had he been as brave as Jehoshaphat (see ver. 29), he certainly would not have fallen in the way he did; had he been as true to Jehovah as the King of Judah was, and as he might and should have been, he would not have "gone up to Ramoth-Gilead" at all, for he would have been dissuaded by the prophet of the Lord, and he would not have fallen at all. His death that day, as well as that way, was due to his own course and to his own choice. Our destiny is not in the hands of some inexorable necessity; it resides in our own character; it is the work of our own will.

2. That many things, if not most things, are decided not by choice, but by chance. The death of Ahab (they would say) was the result of "a bow drawn at a venture." And it is this chance-work that has a very large share in the determination of our whole earthly history. But chance, in the sense of positive lawlessness, does not exist. Everything happened here according to law. The soldier drew his bow according to his instruction, aiming at the enemy, though not at any one whom he recognized in particular; the arrow went on its career according to the laws of motion, and did its work on Ahab's person in accordance with all the laws of physics. There was no violation of law in the smallest degree, though something happened which no man could have calculated and predicted. If we succeed, it will be by using the laws of health, of prosperity, etc.; if we fail, it will be in consequence of our disregarding these laws, which are laws of God. Chance will neither make nor mar us.

II. TWO THOUGHTS WHICH ARE BOTH TRUE AND SERVICEABLE.

1. That we do not know what harm we do by our most casual strokes. We "draw a bow at a venture," we "send an arrow through the air;" it is only a sentence, it is a very simple deed, we think; but it hits and wounds a sensitive human heart; it may even slay a Soul. It may cause such grief as we would on no account hays inflicted if we could have foreseen it; it may lead to the first declension of a valuable human life, and may end in such spiritual disaster as it would grieve us indeed to originate.

2. That we cannot tell what good we do by our simplest efforts. Little did the Syrian soldier suppose that by that shot of his arrow he was to serve his royal master as he did. It is a most cheering and inspiring thought that we cannot tell what kind or measure of good we are effecting by our everyday service of our Lord. A kindly smile, a gracious recognition, an encouraging word, a neighbourly kindness, a warning utterance, the taking of "a class," the giving of "an address," the conduct of "a service," perhaps under the humblest roof, or to the most unpromising audience, may prove to be a most valuable contribution to the cause of Jesus Christ, to the service of mankind. - C.

And a certain man drew a bow at a venture.
Now I would have you notice particularly the words: "A certain man drew a bow at a venture." We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians, but simply one of the ordinary archers. He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation. "At a venture" he drew his bow, or, in the words of the Revised Version, as given in the margin, "In his simplicity" — that is, never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart. We may be for year after year fighting the Lord's battles, and seeking after some offender above other offenders, some Ahab in disguise; but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with success — we may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset, bringing a host of others in its train; but at length God's Spirit shall guide our words to the weak place in that soul's armour. Some word spoken with no special purpose, perhaps in season, perhaps out of season, shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin. But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls, the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations. When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us; probably many faces are familiar to us, but we cannot see the inmost soul; we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke. Therefore, to a great extent, our bow must be ever drawn at a venture.

(J. Nepleton.)

Mr. Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture: "I supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company, and once there meant to have his fling unfettered; so was on the eve of starting to India, in order to escape the restraint of a godly, widowed mother's influence. I pointed to him, and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying mother's heart. At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney. As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements. He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him, and did not even know his name. The same week, after the Thursday evening service, another young man wished to see me alone; wanted to know who had been telling me about him. I asked, What about him? About his fast life, and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying mother's influence? He had been very distressed ever since. I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening; he wished to see me about it, but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended. 'But,' said he, 'there is one mistake you made, Mr. Spurgeon; you told the people I was going to India, and it is China I am booked for.'"

I. THE HEARTS OF THE UNSAVED ARE ENCASED IN HARNESS.

1. Indifference.

2. Pleasure.

3. Worldliness.

4. Religious formality.

II. HAVING THESE HEARTS FOR A MARK, THE GOSPEL BOW MUST BE DRAWN. At some must be shot the arrows of —

1. Divine goodness.

2. Divine threatenings.

3. Divine love.

(R. Berry.).

People
Ahab, Amon, Aram, Chenaanah, Imla, Imlah, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Micah, Micaiah, Syrians, Zedekiah
Places
Jerusalem, Ramoth-gilead, Samaria, Syria
Topics
Aram, Aramaeans, Arameans, Battle, Chariot, Dead, Died, Dieth, Evening, Facing, Fight, Front, Grew, Hot, Howbeit, However, Increased, Increaseth, Over-against, Propped, Raged, Setting, Stayed, Sundown, Sunset, Supported, Syrians, Till, Violent, War-carriage, Yet
Outline
1. Jehoshaphat, joined in affinity with Ahab, is persuaded to go against Ramoth Gilead
4. Ahab, seduced by false prophets, according to the word of Micaiah, is slain there

Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Chronicles 18:28-34

     5837   disguise

2 Chronicles 18:33-34

     4912   chance

Library
That the Employing Of, and Associating with the Malignant Party, According as is Contained in the Public Resolutions, is Sinful and Unlawful.
That The Employing Of, And Associating With The Malignant Party, According As Is Contained In The Public Resolutions, Is Sinful And Unlawful. If there be in the land a malignant party of power and policy, and the exceptions contained in the Act of Levy do comprehend but few of that party, then there need be no more difficulty to prove, that the present public resolutions and proceedings do import an association and conjunction with a malignant party, than to gather a conclusion from clear premises.
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Poor in Spirit are Enriched with a Kingdom
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 Here is high preferment for the saints. They shall be advanced to a kingdom. There are some who, aspiring after earthly greatness, talk of a temporal reign here, but then God's church on earth would not be militant but triumphant. But sure it is the saints shall reign in a glorious manner: Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.' A kingdom is held the acme and top of all worldly felicity, and this honour have all the saints'; so says our Saviour, Theirs is the
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

He Does Battle for the Faith; He Restores Peace among those who were at Variance; He Takes in Hand to Build a Stone Church.
57. (32). There was a certain clerk in Lismore whose life, as it is said, was good, but his faith not so. He was a man of some knowledge in his own eyes, and dared to say that in the Eucharist there is only a sacrament and not the fact[718] of the sacrament, that is, mere sanctification and not the truth of the Body. On this subject he was often addressed by Malachy in secret, but in vain; and finally he was called before a public assembly, the laity however being excluded, in order that if it were
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

The Assyrian Revival and the Struggle for Syria
Assur-nazir-pal (885-860) and Shalmaneser III. (860-825)--The kingdom of Urartu and its conquering princes: Menuas and Argistis. Assyria was the first to reappear on the scene of action. Less hampered by an ancient past than Egypt and Chaldaea, she was the sooner able to recover her strength after any disastrous crisis, and to assume again the offensive along the whole of her frontier line. Image Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a bas-relief at Koyunjik of the time of Sennacherib. The initial cut,
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 7

Chronicles
The comparative indifference with which Chronicles is regarded in modern times by all but professional scholars seems to have been shared by the ancient Jewish church. Though written by the same hand as wrote Ezra-Nehemiah, and forming, together with these books, a continuous history of Judah, it is placed after them in the Hebrew Bible, of which it forms the concluding book; and this no doubt points to the fact that it attained canonical distinction later than they. Nor is this unnatural. The book
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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