1 Kings 22:1-4
"22 For three years Syria and Israel continued without war. 2 But in the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. 3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” 4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”"
A comparison between this chapter and the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 18/19 is useful and indeed necessary for a true understanding of the situation here. Syria continued to be the chief thorn in Israel's flesh during the reign of Ahab, and little was usually needed to stir up trouble between them. During a visit of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to Ahab's court, the latter brought up the matter of Ramoth Gilead, which had been annexed by Syria from Israel. Should they not join forces and wrest it from the enemy's hands? Ahab should have let well alone. To initiate an undertaking of this nature with impetuous rashness when he was so out of touch with God was to ask for trouble. It is never wise to venture very far afield without divine sanction and protection. It is generally what we do and say when we are out of God's will that has such disastrous consequences and repercussions. But what are we to say of Jehoshaphat? He was one of the good kings of Judah, and it is difficult to understand his alliance with the depraved Ahab. One can almost sense the ominous note in 2 Chronicles 18:1 when it says he 'joined affinity with Ahab', and the unwisdom of his action is explicitly stated in the following chapter (19:2). Jehoshaphat would have been better to give him a wide berth. Paul's word 'Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers' is of wide application. To enter into alliance with someone so estranged from the Lord as Ahab was generally leads to taking sides against Him also. And who knows what harm will be done before we get right with Him again?