1. His imminent peril. Mistaking him for the King of Israel, the Syrian charioteers surrounded him. This natural, and had Jehoshaphat been smitten the blame would have been his own. He who runs into danger unbidden need hardly expect to come out of it in safety. Moreover, just as certainly as he who walketh with wise men shall be wise, the companion of fools shall be destroyed (Proverbs 13:20); if he is not, the praise is due not to himself but to God (Psalms 115:1).
2. His sudden outcry. That this "cry" was a prayer, the Chronicler is thought by some to indicate; this, however, is not absolutely certain. The Chronicler says not Jehovah helped Jehoshaphat because (cf. 2 Chronicles 19:3), but only when he cried, and Jehovah might have helped him without being appealed to by a formal supplication. Considering where Jehoshaphat was, it is as likely as not that he did not address Jehovah in prayer; but remembering who and what Jehoshaphat was, a descendant of David and a follower of Jehovah, it is certain his "outcry" would sound in Jehovah's ears as an appeal for help.
3. His mysterious rescue. Scarcely had he "cried" when the Syrian charioteers turned aside and left him unmolested. If the "cry" was a "prayer" Jehoshaphat must have looked upon his unexpected escape as an answer to his supplication; if only a "shout" or signal of distress, he must still have regarded the extraordinary behaviour of the Syrians as little short of a providential miracle—as a merciful interposition of Jehovah on his behalf, as indeed it was. Jehovah helped Jehoshaphat; moved the charioteers and, warriors to turn aside, not by any supernatural influence upon them, but by so ordering the succession of events, that they understood Jehoshaphat's cry and recognized his features in time to let them see he was not the object of their pursuit.
IV. JEHOVAH'S ARROW. (2 Chronicles 18:33.)
1. Whence it flew. From the bow of an unknown warrior, most likely an obscure common soldier, who shot either aimlessly into the ranks of the Israelitish army, or with deliberate aim, but at no one he knew, at the first man that came into his field of vision. Either explanation satisfies the phraseology—"a certain man drew a bow at a venture." That the man's name was Naaman (Josephus) is a groundless tradition.
2. Whither it sped. To the person of Ahab. All events are under God's control. He directeth the flights of arrows as of fowls, the careers of javelins as the courses of stars, according to the counsel of his will. Nothing happens by accident. In a world governed by infinite wisdom and power chance is impossible. The Syrian archer drew his bow at a venture; not so did Jehovah draw his. The Syrian sharpshooter knew not at whom he aimed; Jehovah understood well who was his target. "Every bullet has its billet," not because the gunner but because God directs its path through the air. Not a sparrow can fall to the ground without our heavenly Father's permission (Matthew 10:29), nor shaft can hit till he pleases.
3. To what it led. To the death of Ahab. It smote him "between the joints of the harness;" rather between the lower armour and the breastplate (Revised Version), between the corselet and the tunic (Luther), between the joints and the harness (Keil). It found the spot where the parts of Ahab's armour fitted least closely, and there it entered the lower region of his body. Had it penetrated as far as did the arrow with which Jehu shot Jehoram (1 Kings 9:24), it must have proved instantaneously fatal. That it did not seems a natural inference from the fact that he was able to remain upon the field.
Learn:
1. The folly of attempting to outwit God.
2. The certainty that no disguise can hide a wicked man from God.
3. The impossibility of evading death when the appointed hour has come.
4. The clemency of God to his erring people.
5. The reality of God's interference with the affairs of time.—W.
2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 18 - 2-chronicles-18 - worlddic.com