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1 Kings 22:29-30. "So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, 'I will disguise myself and go into battle but you wear your robes.'"

 

The king of Israel here is Ahab, who was just the worst ("There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab" (1 Kings 21:25)). After three years of peace with Syria, Ahab got it into his head that he wanted to liberate Ramothgilead from Syria's control, and he convinced Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, to go into battle with him. (1 Kings 22:1-4). Jehoshaphat at least asked to first inquire of the Lord, which was done by bringing in many sycophantic prophets and one true one, Micaiah, who revealed that God had chosen to have Ahab fall at Ramothgilead. (1 Kings 22:6-23).

 

Presumably in response to Micaiah's prophecy, and because he wanted to put the enemy on Jehoshaphat's tail, Ahab decided to go into battle in disguise, while Jehoshaphat wore his kingly robes (why Jehoshaphat thought this deal was OK is beyond me). The Syrians had been instructed to gun for the king of Israel and, while they were initially fooled by Jehoshaphat, they soon realized he was not Ahab (1 Kings 22:31-33). Despite being in disguise, Ahab ended up being struck by an arrow in a gap between his armor and breastplate and eventually died from that injury, just as the Lord promised in Micaiah's prophecy. (1 Kings 22:34-35).

 

We see over and over again in the Bible that we cannot run away from God or His plan. Moses tried to talk his way out of it, Jonah tried to run, and many others attempted to avoid their mission or fate only to have things end up just as God wanted. God had decided Ahab would fall at Ramothgilead, and so he did. Ahab both didn't want to believe Micaiah, and believed him enough to try and escape what he prophesied. Nothing Ahab did, though, made any difference to the ultimate outcome.

 

It is so crazy that we try to do this with God, and yet I think we all do sometimes. We don't always know what we're supposed to do or not do, and that's one thing. But sometimes we do. Sometimes we have very clear signs and messages, or maybe we have even asked in discernment and received an answer, one we don't like, and therefore ignore or try to work around in order to do our will instead of God's. In essence, we try to put on a disguise and hide from God (see also, Adam and Eve in the garden). It does not work, His Will will always be done, and often the things we do to avoid His Will are the very things that end up bringing it to fruition. God's like that, He sees what we're going to do and bakes it into the cake, although that does not mean it wouldn't have been easier for us if we had just listened to Him in the first place.