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's Request and the False Prophets
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.
Introduction
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.
Two Sections Introduced
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
The Alliance: Israel and Judah
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
Ahab's Hatred of Micaiah
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,
God's Continuing Mercy to Ahab
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,
Two Throne Scenes Contrasted
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
Rejection of the True Prophet
brings us to the rejection of the true prophet of God in verses 13 to 28.
Micaiah and the Messenger
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.
The Heavenly Throne Scene
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
The Prophet's Punishment
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,
Application
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.
Closing 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.