Turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings,
chapter 22. 1 Kings, chapter 22. Coming to
the end of the life of Ahab. It's a long chapter, so we'll
take up the first half this week, and God willing, finish the chapter
next Wednesday night. beginning in 1 Kings chapter
22 at verse 1. Now three years passed without
war between Syria and Israel. Then it came to pass in the third
year that Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went down to visit
the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said to
his servants, Do you know that Ramoth and Gilead is ours? But
we hesitate to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria.
So he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth-Gilead? Jehoshaphat said to the king
of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses
as your horses. Also Jehoshaphat said to the
king of Israel, Please inquire for the word of the Lord today.
Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about
four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramoth
Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain? So they said, Go up, for the
Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. And Jehoshaphat
said, Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may
inquire of him? So the king of Israel said to
Jehoshaphat, there is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah,
by whom we may inquire of the Lord. But I hate him, because
he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat
said, let not the king say such things. Then the king of Israel
called an officer and said, bring Micaiah the son of Imlah quickly. the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat,
the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat each on his
throne at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria,
and all the prophets prophesied before them. Now Zedekiah, the
son of Canaan, had made horns of iron for himself, and he said,
Thus says the Lord, With these you shall gore the Syrians until
they are destroyed. And all the prophets prophesied
so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will
deliver it into the king's hand. Then the messenger who had gone
to tell Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Now listen, the words
of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please, let
your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement. Micaiah said, As the Lord lives,
whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak. Then he came
to the king, and the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go
to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall we refrain? And he answered
him, Go and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the
hand of the king. So the king said to him, How many times shall
I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the
name of the Lord? Then he said, I saw all Israel
gathered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.
And the Lord said, These have no master. Let each return to
his house in peace. And the king of Israel said to
Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning
me, but evil? Then Micaiah said, Therefore
hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his
throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on his right hand
and on his left. And the Lord said, Who will persuade
Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead? So one spoke
in this manner and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit
came forward and stood before the Lord and said, I will persuade
him. The Lord said to him, In what
way? So he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the
mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, You shall
persuade him and also prevail. Go out and do so. Therefore,
look, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these
prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against
you. Zedekiah, the son of Canaanah,
went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, Which
way did the spirit from the Lord go from me to speak to you? And
Micaiah said, Indeed, you shall see on that day when you go into
an inner chamber to hide. So the king of Israel said, take
Micaiah and return him to Ammon, the governor of the city, and
to Joash, the king's son. And say, thus says the king,
put this fellow in prison and feed him with the bread of affliction
and water of affliction until I come in peace. But Micaiah
said, if you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.
And he said, take heed, all you people. Amen. Well, certainly
the centrality of God's word is the primary emphasis in this
section, namely the word from Micaiah the prophet to Ahab concerning
this battle that he wanted to wage with reference to Syria.
Certainly it was a wrong move for him to follow these false
prophets, but certainly this is the means by which God's will,
God's providence is being fleshed out. And in the life of Ahab,
certainly his decline can be traced relative to his response
or his lack of response to the truth of God's Word. Remember
that in chapter 20, an unnamed prophet, some speculate it was
this Micaiah in chapter 20, prophesied the death of Ahab. Last week
we saw in chapter 21, specifically verses 17 to 29, Elijah the prophet
condemns him and here Micaiah pronounces doom upon him in chapter
22 verses 17 and following. So we see and we understand that
Ahab had a problem with God's Word. And I think there's a great
deal of information here that would hopefully encourage us
not to be Ahabs, not to engage in this sort of treatment with
the Word of God, but to receive it, to submit to it, and to walk
according to it. So there's two broad sections
here. I want to look first at the alliance between Israel and
Judah in verses 1 to 12. Remember the divided kingdom
in chapter 12, and there were seasons and periods of time where
there was civil war between the north and the south in Israel. So there is an alliance formed
here between Ahab and Jehoshaphat. And then secondly, the rejection
of the true prophet of God in verses 13 to 28. But note first
the setting of the alliance in verses 1 to 4. It says, three
years passed without war between Syria and Israel. This no doubt
refers to what we read or what we find in chapter 20. Remember
in chapter 20, God gives Israel victory over the Syrians on two
separate occasions. And the chapter basically ends
with a condemnation for Ahab, because Ahab made a peace treaty
with Ben-Hadad. The design of God, the preceptive
will of God, or revealed will, was that Ahab kill Ben-Hadad. wrapped him, gift-wrapped him,
handed him to him twice, but on that second occasion Ahab
lets him go. So this unnamed prophet denounces
him and prophesies his ultimate doom, but Ben-Hadad did make
a promise according to chapter 20, verse 34. says, the cities
which my father took from your father I will restore and you
may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus as my father did
in Samaria. Then Ahab said, I will send you
away with this treaty. So he made a treaty with him
and sent him away. So that brings us to chapter
22. It's three years later. And Ahab says, Benadad did not
make good on that because Ramoth Gilead is no longer under our
control. Now, it probably wasn't so much
in terms of the treaty and it probably wasn't so much in terms
of it as the inheritance of Israel as it was in terms that it was
a very important trade route. and so more than likely Ahab
saw the potential for money-making capability in that particular
city and so he concocts this plan with Jehoshaphat to go and
seize Ramoth-Gilead. Now notice, specifically we see
that the emphasis has been on the northern kingdom for most
of the the section here. The north has been covered in
chapter 15, 25, all the way now to chapter 22, where Jehoshaphat,
a king of the south, is introduced. Now he's going to get more time
at the end of the chapter to explain that he was in fact the
son of Esau, that he was a righteous and a godly man, he wasn't the
brightest bulb in the chandelier, but nevertheless he was a pious
man, a godly man, but this sort of alliance with Ahab was certainly
not one of the high points of his career. The situation as
well, Ahab and Jehoshaphat were allied by marriage. Jehoshaphat's
son Jehoram was married to Ahab's daughter Adaliah. Now, Adaliah
was just a wretch of a woman, if not the physical offspring
of Jezebel, it could have been from another wife, certainly
the spiritual offspring of Jezebel. She was that caliber of a woman,
a godless wretch. We notice in this chapter, when
it does describe Jehoshaphat to us, in verse 44, it says he
made peace with the king of Israel. Again, probably because of that
marriage alliance, probably as well because civil war gets old
and tedious, and Jehoshaphat wanted to make peace and finish
that situation. So what we have here is this
alliance form. Now notice, before they enter
into the particular battle, godly Jehoshaphat. Now I'm calling
that based on 2243. It says, he walked in all the
ways of his father Esau. He did not turn aside from them,
doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Nevertheless, the
high places were not taken away, for the people offered sacrifices
and burned incense on the high places. Much like when we've
studied other good or godly kings, they weren't perfect kings. The
Bible can give an overarching assessment on their fidelity
as having been those who did what was right in the sight of
the Lord. And nevertheless, the high places weren't removed.
Nevertheless, there were these deficiencies. The truth of the
matter is, there will never be any save the Lord Jesus that
will get a perfect bill, a perfect score, a perfect record, and
we need to appreciate that and understand that nevertheless
the overarching concern of his life was that it was pleasing
to the Lord. But so we see back in chapter
22 at verse 5, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, please
inquire for the word of the Lord today. If we have successfully
followed Ahab's career up until this point, we would probably
observe He wouldn't have done this. He wouldn't care one bit
about this. He may go offer sacrifice to
Baal and seek direction from pagan deities, but he wouldn't
seek the living and true God. But in this alliance, Jehoshaphat's
word runs supreme, and then we see that this happens. Verse
6, the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about
400 men, and said to them, shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to
fight or shall I refrain?" It's a similar situation in chapter
18 verses 19 and 20, where Elijah is going to take on the false
prophets of Baal, and Ahab gathers them together unto himself for
the particular cause. Now, I was under the impression
that the 400 were probably the 400 leftovers from the contest
at Carmel. Remember, there were 450 prophets
of Baal, and there were 400 prophets of Asherah. And I assume that
those 400 prophets of Asherah were most likely these particular
prophets. I think Davis argues convincingly
that these were prophets of Yahweh. And the text indicates that.
They speak in Yahweh's name, according to verse 11. they claim
to have Yahweh's spirit in verse 24. The New King James has a
small s or a lowercase s in the word spirit. It's probably a
capital S. What Canaanah is claiming is
that he has the spirit of Yahweh, but it's supposedly or allegedly
passed over to Micaiah at this particular time. As well, they
promise Yahweh's success, according to verse 12, and they can apparently
deliver Yahweh's work. So Jehoshaphat asks this question,
and these 400 prophets are trotted out. Now, even though they are
prophets of Yahweh, they're not necessarily true prophets. There are false prophets. of Yahweh, or false prophets
that claim allegiance to Yahweh. So these aren't necessarily prophets
of Baal or prophets of Asherah. They at least go under the guise
of being God's prophets, but they are nevertheless false prophets. Now notice their response in
verse 6. Go up, for the Lord will deliver
it into the hand of the king. Now, Gil points out, and I think
correctly, that this is ambiguous. You ever gone to a Chinese restaurant
and you've opened up the fortune cookie? It's a study in ambiguity,
isn't it? You're gonna have a good day
this week. OK, what does that really mean? Or good things are coming in
your future. My brother-in-law and I used
to say, there ought to be misfortune cookies that are just the opposite. Today is going to be miserable.
You're going to have a wretched next week and that sort of thing.
Really, really give the Chinese food feasters a real good way
to end their particular meal. But notice, go up, for the Lord
will deliver it into the hand of the king. There it's not Yahweh,
it's Adonai, which could also be master, which is a word by
which Baal is often identified. Go up, for the Lord will deliver
it into the hand of the king. Well, certainly that's going
to happen in a battle. One party or one army is going
to win, so it will be delivered up into the hand of the king.
So it's a very ambiguous statement, certainly open for interpretation.
Ahab obviously takes it as the encouragement to go into battle,
and that will be further reinforced in verses 10 to 12. But notice
something doesn't sit right with Jehoshaphat. You know, there
was just that sort of niggling feeling that, no, we got to find
someone else. I mean, 400 prophets, that quick,
answer that specifically? It was too tidy. It was too perfect. It was too, you know, just quick. And so Jehoshaphat is troubled
and he says, is there not still a prophet of Yahweh here that
we may inquire of him? Now note Ahab's statement concerning
this man Micaiah. It says, there is still one man,
Micaiah the son of Imlah, which actually occurs at the end of
the verse. It's almost like he doesn't want to say the name. He doesn't want to taste it on
his lips. It's just disgusting to Ahab
that there is one man out there that doesn't cater to my needs. There is one man out there that
doesn't tell me what I want to hear. There is one man out there
that is not a yes man. There is one man out there that
doesn't always speak encouragement to me. There's one out there
and he really, really bothers me, Jehoshaphat. In fact, in
verse 8, Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning
me, but evil? Remember the sort of disposition
that Ahab manifests. He's a sullen and a displeased
sort of a fellow. If you go back to chapter 20
at verse 43. Now I'm not blaming him here.
I guess if a prophet, an unnamed prophet, prophesied my doom,
I would probably go home sullen and displeased. That's exactly
what the text says in 20.43. But in chapter 21, specifically
at verse 4, when he doesn't get Naboth's vineyard so that he
can plant a new vegetable garden, The same sort of thing overtakes
him. He goes into his house sullen
and displeased. He's sort of a pouty character.
He's sort of a moody fellow. He's the sort of guy that takes
offense easily. He's the sort of a guy that probably
has a thin skin. And here, as he is talking about
this Micaiah, it really does bother him. He says, there is
still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord But I hate
him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. Now, before we move on and just
see how wretched Ahab is, we ought to appreciate how gracious
and merciful God is. We have noted this in Ahab's
career, that even in the midst of his departure from the Lord,
even in the midst of his rebellion against God, even in the midst
of his completely foolish decisions, God nevertheless is extending
to him gracious opportunities. We saw it in chapter 18, the
contest at Carmel. That was as much for Ahab as
it was for everybody else. The idea being is that when that
fire comes down and consumes that bolek, that everyone would
confess truly that Yahweh is the living and true God. And
Ahab goes back to his house, he tells Jezebel what had transpired. She basically says, so what,
and wants to go and murder Elijah. We saw it last time, we saw it
in chapter 20, when God gives Ahab victory twice over the Syrians. I mean, brethren, that is just
unheard of in terms of, you know, natural providence. This is supernatural
providence wherein God overrules and gives the victory to Israel
when they didn't deserve it. And they were outgunned and out
militarily savvied by the Syrian armies. And nevertheless, God
gives him this gift. We saw it in chapter 21, after
God's dealings with Ahab through the prophet Elijah, and we see
Ahab humble himself, and God says, did you see that, Elijah? He actually humbled himself.
So the fact that there is still one man that communicates the
truth of God to a wretch like Ahab is an indicator of the grace
and the mercy and the kindness of God. that there is still a
word for Ahab. You see, brethren, the problem
comes when there is no more word from the living God. The prophet
Amos prophesied of such times. There will be a famine in the
land. Not a famine of food or a famine of water, but a famine
of hearing the word of God. You see, this is a mercy and
this is a grace, but we notice why Ahab despises it. I hate him because he does not
prophesy good concerning me, but evil." Boy, he'd love the
likes of Joel Osteen. He would love the likes of Benny
Hinn. He would be all over this health, wealth, and prosperity
movement. He would be giving or sending in his money and receiving
his prayer cloths or his vials of oil or whatever it was. He
would be all over the sort of religion that coddles people
that caters to people, that panders to people, and that never challenges
people with the truth of God's holy word. This man is a wretch. He does not prophesy good concerning
me, but evil. Perhaps you are reminded, as
I was, of 2 Timothy 4, 3-4. Remember Paul's final Corporate
charge to the church, specifically to Timothy, but representative
of the church. The final corporate command is
not cuddle people. Cater to people. Find out their
felt needs and pander to them. Make sure you have wonderful
entertainment in your church. Make sure you have the most wonderful
nursery or whatever service for the kids. Not any of that. The emphasis by Paul in 2 Timothy
4-2 is to preach the word. Be ready in season and out of
season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with
all longsuffering and teaching. I think that text and I think
passages like these go to demonstrate to us what is the measure of
a Christian man? What is the measure of a true
church? The measure is their allegiance to and their love
for the word of the living God. I don't care how wonderful everything
else might be. If there is absence of the truth
of God's Word in that place, it is not a church. Paul describes
it in 1 Timothy 3 as the pillar and ground of the what? The truth. Why have we given this up? Why
have we adopted everything other than faithful exposition of God's
Word? Brethren, look at what he says
there. He does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. Paul's
first reason for the command to preach the word is this. 4.
The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.
I'm going to add a gloss here. Especially when it upsets them,
or doesn't coddle them, or doesn't cater to their felt needs. But
according to their own desires, because they have itching ears,
they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn
their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables.
Could anything be more appropriate to the church today than 1 Kings
22, verse 8? I mean, this is the modern churchgoer,
isn't it? I don't want to go to that church
because they're so negative. I don't want to go to that church
because it's such a downer. I don't want to go to that church
because all they ever talk about is sin and hell and damnation
and all that sort of thing. I don't want to be there because,
you know, it just sort of makes me down and depressed. Do you
realize that the way to build high is to start low? The way
to gain any sort of comfort in the Christian life is to embrace
your lot and confess with Scripture that you are a sinner before
a holy God, because it's then that you see the graciousness
of a glorious Christ. Matthew Henry made this comment,
he said, those are wretchedly hardened in sin and are ripening
apace for ruin who hate God's ministers because they deal plainly
with them and faithfully warn them of their misery and danger
by reason of sin and reckon those their enemies that tell them
the truth. You know, the church is not like
any other organization. You don't hate your doctor because
he diagnoses you with cancer. You thank him because he's then
going to prescribe the remedy or the treatment. But you come
into the church and a pastor there tells you that what you're
doing is wrong, you get upset, you get mad. Oh, you can't say
that. It doesn't make me feel good.
It doesn't encourage me. He does not prophesy good concerning
me, but evil. They even have their yes-men
to go alongside. This wretched messenger in verse
13. Hey, all the other false prophets have told him a lie,
so go ahead and tell him that too. Because it really makes
him feel good. You see, the true prophet of
God doesn't care, really, whether people feel good or not. What
he cares about is that God's Word has been faithfully proclaimed,
and that persons hear it. Because God uses His truth. He doesn't use lies. He doesn't
use us pandering to felt needs. He uses the scripture. He uses
the word of truth. Now, before we move on into the
rejection of the true prophet of God, note this throne scene. And there is a contrast between
verses 10 to 12 and verses 19 to 23. There are two throne scenes. One is the false prophets before
the throne of Ahab and Jehoshaphat. The second throne scene is the
true prophet, Micaiah, before the throne of Almighty God. Don't
miss the contrast. Don't miss what's in view in
this particular instance. But what I think verses 10 to
12 do is that they really increase the pressure upon Micaiah. I mean, this is going to be a
tough thing for him. Just backing up a bit, Jehoshaphat,
again a religious fellow, a pious fellow, after Ahab makes this
statement concerning Micaiah, he says, let not the king say
such things. Then the king of Israel called an officer and
said, bring Micaiah, the son of Imlah, quickly. Trey said
it like that, this sullen, displeased, thin-skinned, sort of a pouty,
moody guy. He doesn't want to see Micaiah.
It's going to bring him down. It's going to make him unhappy.
Certainly we don't want to be around people that bring us down
and make us unhappy with the truth. Now, there's downers and
unhappiness by people that aren't necessarily speaking the truth.
Don't go hang out with them. People bring you down and they're
not prophets or pastors. You don't have to hang out with
them. But if the truth is what brings you down, maybe you need
to be brought down. The truth is humbling to you
or causes you a bit of outrage. Maybe you need to repent and
forsake your sin and deal with the God of that truth. So anyways,
back to the throne scene. Notice in verses 10 to 12, King
of Israel and Jehoshaphat. King of Israel always, for the
most part, in this chapter. Typically he's referred to as
Ahab everywhere else in his story, but King of Israel seems to be
the emphasis here, except for the particular verses escaping
me here where he is called Ahab. But notice, the king of Israel
and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, having put on their robes,
sat each on his throne at a threshing floor at the entrance of the
gate of Samaria. And all the prophets prophesied
before them. Now Zedekiah, the son of Canaanah, had made horns
of iron for himself." Now, we have seen in the life and ministry
of our Lord Jesus, or any time we've reflected on Old Testament
prophets, sometimes they engage in sort of acted parables. Sometimes
they use signs or they use symbols to communicate the truth. You
see that in the prophet Ezekiel. You see that in the prophet Isaiah.
You see the true prophets of God oftentimes using such things.
Now, Canaanah had these horns of iron to sort of demonstrate
what it would be like in terms of battle. The king of Ahab would
be that goring ox or that bull that would go and run roughshod
over Syria. It's a means by which he's saying,
go ahead, go after him, go for it. Matthew Poole makes this
beautiful observation. He says, The devil is God's ape,
and the false prophets sometimes imitating the true, who when
they declared God's mind by words, did also oftentimes confirm it
by sensible signs. So it's something a true prophet
would do. And there might even be some scriptural warrant for
this particular message from Deuteronomy 33, 17. The sons
of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh are basically told that they
are going to have horns to be able to devastate their enemies.
Now, Ephraim and Manasseh is the heart of the area where the
Northern Kingdom is. This is the central sort of hub
of the Northern Kingdom. So it might be the case that
Canaanah has some scriptural authority even for this particular
false prophecy. Now again, it's not scriptural
authority to speak false prophecy, but more often than not, false
teachers invoke scripture, don't they? The devil invokes scripture
when he tempts the Lord Jesus Christ. Citing scripture is not
the same thing as understanding or knowing or interpreting scripture. When Jesus says, go and learn
what this means, and he points the religious leaders of his
day to Hosea 6-6. They knew exactly what it said.
They knew it backwards and forwards in terms of memory. But they
didn't understand it. They didn't know the meaning
of it. They didn't know the truth of it. And so this man engages
in this particular activity. Thus says the Lord, with these
you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed. And all the
prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper,
for the Lord will deliver it into the king's hand. That is
the essence of false prophecy. They're all rallied up, they're
all charged up, we got the horn thing going on, and now we see
this tremendous pressure upon Micaiah, and that brings us to
the rejection of the true prophet of God in verses 13 to 28. Note the true prophet and the
messenger in verses 13 and 14. than the messenger who had gone
to call Micaiah that spoke to him." Now, this is intriguing,
and Gil argues this, I think, convincingly, that Micaiah was
already in prison. He knew exactly where to find
him, and he sends a particular message to go and get him. If
we ask the question, why was he possibly in prison? Because
he's more than likely the unnamed prophet of chapter 20 who prophesied
the death of Ahab. I mean, Ahab, again, he's sullen
and displeased when things don't go his way. If an unnamed prophet
tells him you're going to die, I don't think it's out of his
wheelhouse to put that unnamed prophet into prison. So it could
be the case. And again, John Gill argues,
I think convincingly, he's already in prison. The messenger who
had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying, now listen, you
can almost hear this guy. I mean, it's so weak and so feeble
and so mealy-mouthed and so effeminate. You know, the false is just so
non-courageous. He says, now listen, the words
of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please let
your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragement. That could be sort of a backhanded
way to try and manipulate Micaiah. It's obviously or evidently a
yes-man who doesn't want poor little Ahab to be sullen and
displeased. When a king surrounds himself
with such people, he ought to fail, he ought to fall, he ought
to be destroyed. Kings ought to surround themselves
with people that are honest, people that are truthful, and
people that will say, look, if you go into that battle, you're
going to lose miserably. Don't go anywhere near it. Brethren,
that's a blessing in our lives to have some contrary voices
from time to time. Faithful are the wounds of a
friend, the Proverbs say, but deceitful are the kisses of the
enemy. Why do we gravitate toward the
enemy's kisses and we don't like the faithful wounds of our friends?
It's because we're wretches. I mean, let's not mistake it.
Let's not, you know, dance around. Well, you know, no, it's because
we don't like the truth more often than not. If it gets under
our skin, if it shows us out to be the kinds of people that
the Bible actually describes, we don't like that. It's a little
bit too close for my comfort. Don't want anything like that.
Please, let your word be like the word of one of them and speak
encouragement. I, in fact, hear it in Joel Osteen's
voice as I read it. this passive, smiling, gleaming
teeth. The messenger comes along and
says, Micaiah, don't upset the apple cart. We don't want a scene. We don't want an incident. We've
got 400 prophets led by Canaanah. He had the horns. He told about
the victory, the goring of the Syrians. It was rousing. It was
riveting. It was wonderful. So, Micaiah,
let's not Let's not sort of blow the scene here. Let's not bring
everybody down. You've kind of got a reputation
as that guy, and I don't want you to be that guy today. Don't
you love what Micah says? Verse 14, as the Lord lives,
whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak. That's the
essence of the prophet of God. He doesn't care about Ahab. He
doesn't care about the 400 prophets of... Actually, later in verse
23, they're identified as prophets of yours. It's not Yahweh's prophets. They're prophets of yours. They
are in your pocket. They are on your payroll. They
eat at your table. They are men on a mission, and
that is to please their king. Not so Micaiah. Verse 14, as
Yahweh lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak. Ralph Davis says, Micaiah has
just nailed something which neither Ahab nor his messenger understands. Look back at Ahab's words in
verse 8 and the messenger's in verse 13. What do both assume
about the word of Yahweh? They assume that the prophet
controls or can control that word. That's a fundamental problem
when we think we control the Word of God. When we think we
control the Word of God. He says, Ahab's remark in verse
8 implies that Micaiah didn't have to be such a purveyor of
doom-saying, anti-Ahabian sentiment. If he wanted to, he could speak
a kinder, gentler word. The messenger assumes that Micaiah
could agree with the prophetic caucus if only he would. They
do not understand Micah's position, which he states in verse 14.
He is in bondage to the Word of God. Hence, the Word of God
is free and cannot be manipulated by kings or messengers or even
slick prophets. Whatever word Yahweh gives a
prophet, that is what the prophet must speak. The prophet is not
at liberty to massage or shape or bend, let alone pervert, that
word. Again, I don't know how more
appropriate 1 Kings 22 is to our modern situation. It's almost
daily you're saying some new group, some new, what was once
conservative voice, embracing things in the name of either
Christian liberty, or no, the Bible doesn't actually teach
that, which has been historically the position of the church for
20 centuries. It is grievous to see the limp-wristed
approach to the truth that we have in our day. You know that
limp wrist? You ever shake somebody's hand
and it feels like they handed you a wet noodle? It's like,
grab my hand and grip it, man. That's not the way we're supposed
to traffic with the Word of God. I've mentioned before there's
a place in Southern California called Six Flags Magic Mountain,
and they describe their rides as white knucklers. That means
you hold on so tight that you can see the whiteness of your
knuckles. That's the way the church needs to approach the
truth, not limp-wristed, not, well, we're going to let this
go, we're going to let that go, we're going to let this go. We just
want to love each other. We just want to know Jesus. I'm
sorry, you don't know Jesus if you reject his truth. You got
a Jesus of your own imagination, you got a Jesus that may be akin
to Baal, you got a Jesus that may be similar to whatever pagan
deity you want to call him, but that ain't the Jesus of the Bible.
Without the truth, we don't have the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, notice
the true prophet and the king, verses 15 to 23, the first interchange. Verse 15 is intriguing, isn't
it? Then he came to the king, and
the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth
Gilead, or shall we refrain? And he answered him, Go and prosper,
for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. Didn't
you just say, as the Lord lives, whatever He says to me, that
I will speak? And now you're parroting the
false prophets? This is precisely what Canaanites
said. This is precisely what the other 399 said. My care,
where do you get off saying, as the Lord lives, whatever He
says, that's what I'll say. Verse 15 is irony. Verse 15 is sarcasm. Verse 15
is the prophet picking on Ahab. And verse 16 indicates that this
wasn't the first time. Notice, verse 16, the king said
to him, how many times shall I make you swear? This wasn't
their first rodeo. You can see the situation. Ahab
calls to Micaiah. Micaiah tells him the truth.
Ahab rejects it. Next time he calls Micaiah, Micaiah
just parrots whatever the false prophets are saying, and Ahab
can recognize that. Perhaps he made a facial gesture,
perhaps by his body language, and he says, okay, tell me the
truth. It is intriguing as well, that even though men reject the
truth, at some core level they want to know the truth. Everybody
wants to know the truth at some point or other. Pilate's, what
is truth? I don't think it was some ironic,
or what is truth? I think he's standing before
truth incarnate, and when he says what is truth, there is
a genuine perplexity going on in the mind and heart of Pilate.
And here we see that with Ahab. But this, go and prosper, for
the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. As he so
often does, John Gill nails it. He says, he answered, not in
the name of the Lord saying, thus saith the Lord, nor did
he speak his own sense and in his own words, nor seriously,
but by way of derision. He took up the words of the prophets
and bantered them, but he delivered the above words with such gestures
and such a tone, and with a contemptuous smile in his countenance, which
showed that he spoke not seriously, but sarcastically, and this king
plainly discovered, as appears by what follows." The response
of Ahab in verse 16 indicates that he knew that Micaiah wasn't
serious. Why would he press him like that?
And the fact that he says, how many times do we have to go through
this old song and dance? So essentially what I think Micaiah
is doing is, I'm going to tell you exactly what the false prophet
said, because you don't care about the truth. We've been down
this road before, Ahab. I have seen you do foolish things
before. I have seen you reject the Word of the Living God. You
have, by your actions and by your history, demonstrated you
care not one whit for the Word of God, so I'm not going to tell
you. I'll just stand in line with the rest of those other
fools. I'll stand behind Canaanah as he's got his iron horns, and
I'll say, go right into battle. But that's not what we find in
terms of Ahab's response. He wants the truth. Now he gives
him the truth. Verse 17. This is the second
interchange. Notice, then I saw all Israel
scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd.
Now, that's a blessed statement in Matthew chapter 9. Jesus looked
upon the multitudes because they were like sheep having no shepherd.
I think it's also used with reference to Moses and perhaps Joshua as
leaders of God's people. Here, it's talking about Ahab's
death. When Micaiah says, I saw all
Israel scattered like sheep without a shepherd, that means in my
vision, Ahab, you're not there. In my vision, you're dead. In
my vision, the people of Israel have no shepherd. That's the
truth that Ahab desperately does not want to hear. And then notice
what he goes on to say. He says, and the Lord said, these
have no master. Let each return to his house
in peace. Look at the implication. Davis
says, note the biting implication. When Ahab is dead, Israel can
have peace. Once you're out of the picture,
Ahab, Israel's going to return back to their individual houses
and they're going to have peace. Boy, what a terrible commentary
on the rule and the reign of Ahab. Now note the word of Ahab
to Jehoshaphat, the sullen and displeased one, said, Did I not
tell you? He would not prophesy good concerning
me, but evil. He's pouty. He doesn't like confrontation
with the truth of God's Word. He doesn't like to be told no. He is like so many churchmen
in our day that don't want to be told no. I like messages that
help me to have a better life, but I don't want to hear anything.
about the necessity of holiness or sanctification. Give me principles
on how to effectively keep my children in some degree of managed
state and my wife happy and I'm okay. Anything beyond that, that's
for you wingnuts, that's for you wackos, that's for the real
zealots among the Christians. You hear that at times, don't
you? Oh, he's really one of those guys, he's really enthusiastic. What, because I want to do what
God says? I mean, that's what it is today
to be an enthusiast is to just want to do what God says. It's
legalism to take seriously the admonition of our Lord. If you
love me, you will keep my commandments. Oh no, we're not under the law,
saith everyone who hates the law. It's not because the Bible
tells us that. If they invoke Romans 6.14, it
just demonstrates they don't understand Romans 6.14, which
says we're not under the law, but we're under grace. That doesn't
mean go out and commit adultery. That doesn't mean go out and
steal. It doesn't mean go out and commit idolatry. That's not
what Paul means there. He means probably the law as
a covenant of works. In other words, we are under
grace, we've come to God through Christ, the law still abides
for our sanctification. You see, brethren, we need to
understand that these things are not confined to 1 Kings chapter
22. Now we move to this second throne scene in verses 19 to
23. Now there's a lot of intriguing things going on in this particular
section, not least of which is what appears to be dialogue from
Yahweh with these sort of angelic spirits or this lying spirit.
Now, we need to remember, in the language of Matthew Henry,
this matter is here represented after the manner of men. In other
words, what 19 to 23 does is describe God's unfolding providence
in a way that you and I can get our minds wrapped around. Matthew
Poole elaborates. He says, this is not to be grossly
understood as if God did ask and take counsel from his creatures
or were at a loss to find out an expedient to accomplish his
own will. Did consider several ways and
then close with that which upon debate appeared to be the best.
You see, what Matthew Poole is saying, this is not to be understood
the way it's written literally. It is designed to teach us something
concerning the unfolding of God's providence. It is not designed
to say that God takes in information from the creature, tries to evaluate,
and then settles on the best option. That's not our God. That
is not the way our God is. Notice, he goes on to say, all
which it is ridiculous to imagine concerning a God of perfect and
infinite knowledge, but it's only to bring down divine things
to our shallow capacities, and to express the various means
which God has to execute His own designs. That's the purpose. It's not so we can say, wow,
there's actually this divine counsel in heaven. God is conferring
with angelic spirits. This lying spirit rises up and
says, I'll take the town. OK, you go ahead. No, it's spoken
in the manner of men to communicate to us the unfolding of God's
providence. Now, this passage troubles people. Some suggest that God is behind
the lie. I mean, if God said or sanctioned
this lying prophet to go in and fill Canaanah and these others,
then, you know, that must mean that God is over this or behind
this lie. You know, this vision teaches
three things specifically, and this is what we ought to focus
on. First, the vision denounces the false prophets. They are
moved by a lying spirit. In fact, this is a theological
explanation for false prophecy. How does false prophecy operate? Well, there's lying spirits.
There's deceiving spirits. There's these spirits that are
moving in the hearts of people to move them to prophesy falsely. The vision declares the will
of God. Now, some, as I said, will say
that God is ultimately behind this lie. Consider what's happening
here. God is telling Ahab prior to
the battle what disaster lay ahead for him if he goes into
battle. Not only is this not a lie, it
is an absolute revelation of Ahab's truth. Everything Ahab
needs to know to make the proper decisions is revealed to him
by God before the battle. You see, he still hasn't made
the decision. It's not until later that he
goes into battle. Which, intriguingly, if Micaiah
was a false prophet, why the disguise, Ahab? If Michael was
a fake, why would you disguise yourself going on to the field
of battle? And if he is true, why would
you disguise yourself? Because you're dead. In his vision,
I saw Israel, they were scattered, and you weren't there. But back
to our text, the text is not indicating that somehow God is
responsible for the lie. He specifically tells Ahab what
is going to happen prior to the battle. The vision thirdly demonstrates
what? absolute sovereignty of God. There is nothing that occurs
in this world, even the evil acts of man, that are not under
God's providence. He governs all his creatures
and all their actions to accomplish his purpose, the good of his
people, justice and judgment for those who oppose and rebel
against him. That's the essence of the vision. Now notice, the true prophet
and his punishment, verses 24 to 28. Now, you'd think that
the man who actually told the truth would be the man who's
applauded, the man who's congratulated, the man who is welcomed and warmed
unto. Verse 24, Zedekiah the son of
Canaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said,
Which way did the Spirit from the Lord go from me to speak
to you? He smacks him out of anger and
then ridicules him. He says, I have the Holy Spirit.
What I have told Ahab is true. Supposing that you're a prophet,
how did the Spirit or when did the Spirit come to you so that
you could speak completely contrary to what I have to say? Notice,
he says to him, I love Micaiah, he doesn't kowtow, he doesn't
say, well, you know, I've done my bit with Ahab. No, I'm going
to lay into you too, Kanaanah. Indeed, you shall see on that
day when you go into an inner chamber to hide. Either he's
going to go out with Ahab to battle, and when the battle gets
hard, he's going to run and hide. Or when Ahab, or not Ahab, but
when Israel comes back and says Ahab is dead, what are they going
to think of the false prophets who sent him into battle? Hey,
good for you. No, they're going to say, why
would you tell him to go into battle? That was obviously a
false prophecy. So he's going to run and hide.
Similar language to 2030, when Ben Hadad runs and hides in an
inner chamber. Now notice, the prophet is in
prison, verses 26 and 27. Take Micaiah, return him to Amon,
the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king's son, and
say, thus says the king, put this fellow in prison and feed
him with the bread of affliction and water of affliction. until
I come in peace." That means bare minimum, just barely enough
to sustain his life. Now, I think if we understand
the passage correctly, Michael would have never got out. Because
he never came in peace. Ahab dies on the field of battle.
There's no more Ahab. So hopefully they would have
said, well, you know, Ahab's gone. Let's let Micaiah out.
The Bible narrative doesn't go on to say, and Micaiah got out,
and he went and played golf, and he lived happily ever after
with his wife. It just doesn't do that. But if we take the text
as it stands, we have to conclude that things didn't go well for
Micaiah. But Micaiah doesn't let it end
there. I love this. The prophet always gets the last
word. God is going to get the last word. If you ever return
in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me. And he said, take heed
all you people. He doesn't affirm his veracity
by making a claim to inspiration or by saying the Lord spoke to
him or by assuming an authoritative tone. He affirms it by a wait
and see. What's the true test of a prophet?
If the prophecy comes to pass. Micah says, I got time. Just
wait and see what happens. See, this is where the rubber
meets the road for the prophet of God. I mean, Davis says it'd
be great if there was some potion you could pour on the prophet
to say, well, blue is good, red is bad. It would have been better
for Micaiah because it would have evidenced that he was indeed
the true prophet. I mean, this whole idea of testing
prophecy by waiting to see if it actually comes true meant
prison for Micaiah on a very meager ration of bread and water.
You see, this is his affirmation of the prophetic word. Micaiah
willingly submits himself, this is Davis, to the prophetic test.
If a prophet speaks in Yahweh's name and the prediction does
not come to pass, Yahweh has not spoken by that prophet. Deuteronomy
18. So he underscores his veracity.
He tells everybody, take heed, all you people, which, interestingly,
is the way the prophet Micah begins. The prophet Micah is
about 150 years later, but it does provide sort of a unique
link between Micah here in 1 Kings 22 and the prophet Micah in the
Minor Prophet. Well, just a couple of thoughts
in conclusion. First, the rejection of the true Word of God. the
rejection of the true Word of God. There are particular characteristics
in this passage of those who reject the Word of God. In the
first place, there is this desire to only hear what we want to
hear. Verses 8 and 18. That is a rejection of the Word
of God. You cannot claim to be a faithful Christian if you like,
you know, 70% of God's Word. I only want to hear what I want
to hear. Evidence is that things are not
well with your soul. Secondly, the desire to encourage
the prophet to go along with the rest. Don't get so animated,
don't get so fired up, don't bang the pulpit, don't say the
things that you do because you make people feel uncomfortable,
Micaiah. Go along with the 400, get behind
the horns, and we'll call it a day. Trying to encourage the
true prophet of God not to speak the word of God. That is diabolical. And that it happens in the church
today that faithful preachers are basically silenced by unfaithful
people is just a crime. Thirdly, the desire to listen
to the false prophets who tell us what we want to hear. There's
always going to be false prophets, right? There's going to be 400. They're going to outnumber the
true prophets from time to time. Now, I think that also underscores
that truth is not based on democracy. If 400 people say this is true,
that doesn't necessarily make it so. I'm sure you could find
400 people out there that would affirm 2 plus 2 equals 5. That
doesn't make it so. You see, truth is not decided
democratically. We learned that at Carmel as
well. The 450 false prophets of Baal. Fail! Because they don't have
the truth. As well, fourthly, the desire
to be rid of the true prophets of God, here in our passage,
through physical violence and through imprisonment. I mean,
that's one way of silencing the mouthpiece of God. Smack them
around. Put them in prison. Kill them.
Fire them. Get rid of them. be, you know,
all sorts of ways untoward toward them, and just dismiss them.
Notice, secondly, the integrity of the true prophet of God. I
think there's a great lesson here for would-be ministers.
I was thinking today, boy, Mike ought to read 1 Kings, because
it'll scare him off, wanting to be a pastor. I mean, it's
a terrifying book when it comes to the prophetic ministry. The
integrity of the true prophet of God. First, he is committed
to speaking whatever the Lord says. Verse 14, he's not on his
own personal quest for realization. He's not on his own personal
quest for friendship or camaraderie or to have his own kingdom or
to build his own cult. No, as Yahweh lives, whatever
he has said, that's what I'm going to preach. That's got to
be the commitment to our pastors. He is secondly committed to speaking
the truth of God, not catering to the felt needs of his hearers.
I think there's nothing more criminal. Well, there's probably
some things more criminal, but moralizing certain passages of
Scripture that have no business being moralized, moralizing Gethsemane,
moralizing the sufferings of our Savior, that's criminal.
Brethren, gaze and wonder and marvel and adore. That's the
lesson of Gethsemane. Not, you can suffer right there
alongside of Jesus. No, that's moralism and it reeks
to high heaven. We're not to take the Bible and
in the first place turn it into a book of principles on how to
live our life. That has done more damage to
the truth of Scripture than a whole host of other things. Well, it's
just a collection of principles on how I live my life. How's
that going to go for you? Pattern yourself after King David.
Go out and commit adultery and murder. Pattern yourself after
Peter. Go out and deny your Savior.
Pattern yourself after any human being in the Scripture. Take
your moral cues from them and you're going to fail. Go out
and try to live like Jesus. What's going to happen? You're
going to fail. Jesus is an example to be sure,
but the primary emphasis, according to Paul, is that we preach Christ
crucified. We need a Savior. We need a Redeemer. We need precious blood. We need
an imputed righteousness. That's the central thrust of
Scripture. Now again, corollarily, There
are principles for a happy life, provided we're obeying God's
holy law. Thirdly, he is committed to speaking
the truth of God, notwithstanding the pressure to do otherwise.
When the messenger comes along and says, well, just tow the
party line and go with the 400, the true prophet's going to say,
no, as Yahweh lives, whatever he said, that's what I'm going
to speak. Fourth, He is committed to suffering, physical violence,
imprisonment, and even death instead of compromising the truth
of God. Micaiah understands John 18,
22, doesn't he? In that passage, our Lord Jesus
gets smacked on the face. Micaiah would enter in to Acts
23, 2 and 3. That's where Paul, the apostle,
is smacked on the face. You see, this is how true servants
of God are treated in the Bible. Again, who would want this? I
don't know, man. You really ought to pray through 1 Kings. Just
kidding. And then he is committed to speaking
the truth of God, notwithstanding, now I'm highlighting this, the
apparent failure of doing so. When you look at the ministry
of the word in 1 Kings, what do you get? Chapter 18, verse
4, Jezebel kills a hundred prophets. Wow, sign me up. Elijah is victorious. He's the winner on Mount Carmel. Humanly speaking, Yahweh is the
winner, but Elijah represents Yahweh, so score the W for Elijah
there. Where do we find him in 19.4?
Under a broom tree asking God to take his life. Sign me up. We get to this particular chapter. Micah is the only voice of reason
in the entire chapter. What does he get? Smacked on
the face in prison. I mean, that's the prophetic
ministry in Old Covenant Israel if it is conducted faithfully. Notice, finally, the continuing,
well, there were a couple other lessons. The sovereignty of God,
I think, chapter 5, paragraph 4, in our confession of faith
is a great illustration, or a great explanation, rather, of what
we find in verses 19 to 23. The Lord God Most High is behind
all things in His providence. And then don't forget the continuing
mercy of God, the fact that there was still one man. the fact that the Lord in his
mercy was extending grace to Ahab. And it's a paradox, isn't
it? Ahab is attracted to false prophecy,
which brings his disaster. He is repelled by the truth,
which would bring life and blessing and joy. I mean, isn't that the
state and condition of the unregenerate man? They seek out that which
makes them feel good and ends in destruction. They don't want
that which challenges them and may cut them deep and may wound
them and hurt them, but will ultimately bring the salve of
eternal life. We don't want that. I want happiness
now. I want happiness now. I want
happiness now. Brethren, if that is the attitude,
that is what our Lord speaks to. If anyone loves his life,
he's going to lose it. You lose your life for my sake,
you will find it. That's the blessing of being
in Christ. Well, let's close in a word of
prayer. Father, we thank you for your Word, and Father, we
pray that you would help us to have a love for the Word. I think
most Christians, probably every Christian I've ever seen, would
confess a love for the Word, a love for the truth. Certainly,
God, if it is true in our hearts, it will evidence itself in the
way that we live as individuals, as families, and as churches. And I pray, God, that this love
of truth would be revived in our spirits, it would be awakened
among those dead in trespasses and sins, and that you would
cause us not to follow the path of a wretch like Ahab. Help us
not to harden our hearts, help us not to resist your truth,
but help us to welcome the wounds of a friend. And we pray these
things through Christ our Lord. Amen.
