Reading for August 21st

Read 1 Kings 22.24-44 In verse 24: Zedekiah claims that the lying spirit is actually in Micaiah. In verse 25: Micaiah's point is not entirely clear. Apparently, he forsees Zedekiah trying to hide an an inner chamber after israel is defeat. Another possible interpretation would take Micaiah's meaning to be coarsely sarcastic: You will know the answr to your question (v. 24) the next time you relieve yourself (taking hide in an inner chamber to be a euphemism). In verses 27-28: In peace means alive and unharmed. In verse 30: The king of Israel believed Micaiah enough so that he disguised himself in order to avoid being a target of the enemy. This probably means he did not wear his royal robes as did Jehoshaphat. In verses 32-33: Something about Jehoshaphat's cry, perhaps his accent, alerted the Arameans that he was not the king of Israel. In verse 36: Every man to his city, and every man to his country is a cry to military demobilization. See 2 sam 20.1; 1 Kings 12.16. In verse 38: The fact that the dogs licked up (Ahab's) blood is evidently meant as a fulfillment of Elijah's word in 21.19. In verse 40: The idom slept with his ancestorsis not used anywhere else of a king who suffered a violent death. Thus the closing formula for Ahab's reign seems toignore his death in battle. In verse 43: The hig places were places for worship outside Jerusalem. Comments or Questions..