When you try to do something that is contrary to God’s plan you can’t get away with it. In 2 Chr 18:1-34, Ahab wanted to fight the Syrians to recover Ramothgilead from them. A prophet, named Micaiah, told him that he would fail and that he would die in the attempt [2 Chr 18:16]. Yet, Ahab was determined to fight anyway and so he pursued his plan. He failed. And you will fail, too, when you go contrary to God’s words. You can’t get away with it:
Even if you have a friend to go along with you – 2 Chr 18:3 – Ahab didn’t want to pursue his plan alone. He wanted to fight with the combined forces of Israel and Judah. Persuading someone to go along with you in your plan doesn’t increase your probability of success, when your plan is contrary to God’s plan.
Even if you can find spiritual support for your decision – 2 Chr 18:4-5, 9-11 – there were four hundred prophets who told Ahab and Jehoshaphat that the plan to recover Ramothgilead would work. They were all in agreement. You can always find someone you consider to be spiritual enough who will support you no matter what harebrained scheme you cook up. God was against this plan and it only took one godly man to make that plain [2 Chr 18:6-7, 12-17].
Even if others can ridicule and hush your opponent – 2 Chr 18:18-27 – Micaiah spoke the word of the Lord and prophesied that Ahab would die trying to recover Ramothgilead. But Ahab and Jehoshaphat ignored him. Zedekiah smote him. And Amon and Joash imprisoned him. That made no difference in the outcome. You can turn your back on the truth and even cut off the person who is speaking the truth, but you can’t get away with it.
Even if you have an excellent plan to protect yourself – 2 Chr 18:28-29 – Ahab disguised himself in the battle and Jehoshaphat remained in his robes. What a scoundrel. Ahab knew that if they were looking for the king, they would more likely kill Jehoshaphat than him because he wasn’t in his robes. You can be as clever as you like and you can try to hide. If you think you can get away with your plan by hiding from God you are a fool. You can hide from men but you can’t hide from God.
Even if your friend gets away with it – 2 Chr 18:30-32 – sure enough, the king had given his men instructions to fight only with the king of Israel. So, when they saw Jehoshaphat dressed in his robes, they thought that he was the king of Israel. When they closed in on him to kill him, they recognized that he was, in fact, the king of Judah. So, they turned away from him. He got away with it. Just because you know someone else who has done what you’re thinking about doing doesn’t mean you are going to get away with it.
Even if you are only wounded in the beginning – 2 Chr 18:33-34 – a man drew a bow at a venture and ended up shooting Ahab in the chest. Ahab was wounded and survived till the evening. Nevertheless, he died that day. When you are working against God, you might start out and only get bruised. Don’t think this is the end of God’s fulfillment of his words against you. When he said, “The wages of sin is death,” he meant what he said. You can’t get away with it.
Conclusion: how true this scenario is in your case if you are getting ready to pursue a plan you know is against God’s words. God said, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” And it will. You have a friend willing to sin with you, you have spiritual support from those who don’t believe the Bible, you ridicule those who believe and preach the truth, you are protecting yourself in a crowd of others who are doing the same thing, you have already seen others who appear to have gotten away with what you’re trying to do, and you are certain that God would never take your life for doing what you are planning to do. You can’t get away with it. Do what Ahab didn’t do. Heed the words of God, humble yourself, repent, and turn away from your plan. It won’t work.