Day 2436 – Theology Thursday – The Divine Arrow – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible

Welcome to Day 2436 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – The Divine Arrow – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2436 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2436 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.   Today is the seventeenth lesson in our segment, Theology Thursday. Utilizing excerpts from a book titled: I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible written by Hebrew Bible scholar and professor the late Dr. Michael S Heiser, we will invest a couple of years going through the entire Bible, exploring short Biblical lessons that you may not have received in Bible classes or Church. The Bible is a wonderful book. Its pages reveal the epic story of God’s redemption of humankind and the long, bitter conflict against evil. Yet it’s also a book that seems strange to us. While God’s Word was written for us, it wasn’t written to us. Today, our lesson is, The Divine Arrow. Few characters in the Bible are as maligned for their wickedness as King Ahab of Israel. While Ahab’s predecessors “did evil in the sight of the Lord’ Ahab had an agenda:  He did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him. (1 Kgs 16:33). Ahab’s rule includes Baal worship, forbidden foreign covenants (Syria) and foreign alliances (Jezebel), and the murder of Naboth. In 1 Kings 22, the prophet Micaiah warns Ahab of his impending fate. This isn’t a run-of-the-mill prophecy. It’s mixed with a vision of how God came to the final details of His decision: a divine boardroom discussion. Yes-Men and Yahweh’s Man The 12 tribes of Israel had been split into two kingdoms for a century by the time Ahab took the throne (ca. 869 bc). Ahab ruled the northern kingdom (called Israel or Ephraim), which often fought with the southern kingdom, Judah. After peace reigned between Israel and Judah for three years (22:1), Ahab decided he wanted to capture the city of Ramoth in Gilead from the Arameans. He asked Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, for military assistance. Jehoshaphat agreed to the battle for political reasons, but he wanted assurance that God was in the endeavor (22:5). The 400 prophetic yes-men Ahab consulted endorsed the idea, but Jehoshaphat wanted another opinion (22:6, 11-12). Ahab agreed to summon Micaiah, the prophet of Yahweh, though he openly admitted to hating him (22:8). The real prophet of Yahweh never had anything positive to say about the ungodly Ahab and his rule. The Prophecy At first, Micaiah told Ahab that God loved the plan, but Ahab saw through his mockery. Apparently, this was not the first time: “How many times must I demand that you speak only the truth to me when you speak for the Lord?” (22:16). Micaiah proceeded to tell Ahab he was about to meet his Maker, so chances are good he wanted Ahab to go through with the battle, knowing the end result. Rebuked by Ahab, Micaiah holds nothing back, revealing to Ahab and to us the inner workings of God’s counsel:...