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Turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings 
chapter 22. I figure we'll finish the Ahab 
story. Last week, we looked at Ahab's 
confiscation by way of murder of Naboth's vineyard in 1 Kings 
chapter 21. So we'll read 1 Kings chapter 
22, verses one to 28, and then God willing, take up the latter 
part next Sunday evening. But beginning in 1 Kings 22 at 
verse one. 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 
400 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 Canaanah, 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 call Micaiah spoke to him saying, now listen, the words 
of the prophets with one accord encouraged the king. Please let 
your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragement. And 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 
scattered 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? And 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. Now 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 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. 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, let us pray. Father, 
thank you for the written word. And I pray that now the Spirit 
would guide us in our study of that word. and help us to see 
the importance of that word in this chapter. Give us grace, 
Lord God, to have ears to hear and not to sort of pick and choose 
from the Bible what it is that we want and the things that we 
don't want. Give us grace to be submissive, 
subordinate to that blessed word of truth, that authoritative 
word that comes from the mouth of God Most High. Forgive us 
again for our transgressions and our sins. Supply to us now 
the Holy Spirit to aid us and to direct us and to guide us. 
And we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, remember that last week 
when we looked at 1 Kings chapter 21, I mentioned that Ahab was 
a notoriously bad king. Ahab was a man, according to 
1 Kings chapter 16, that thought it wasn't enough to sin the sins 
of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Up until this point, Jeroboam, 
the son of Nebat, is sort of the benchmark standard of wickedness 
in terms of kingdom. And when Ahab comes along, he 
engages in gross idolatry. He marries Jezebel, that woman 
of the year, the one who comes from the Sidonians. He marries 
her. He turns his heart to Baal worship. And then he even builds an altar 
to Baal in the northern kingdom, in Samaria. He has a go-around 
with Elijah the prophet in 1st Kings chapter 18. In 1st Kings 
chapter 20, he is victorious over the Syrians. God demanded, 
however, that he spare not the life of Ben-Hadad, the king of 
the Syrians. But he did. He called him my 
brother. He made a treaty of peace with 
him, and he allowed Ben-Hadad to live. The prophet comes, could 
have been Micaiah the prophet, and told him that the end is 
coming. In 1 Kings chapter 21, he does 
confiscate the vineyard of Naboth by having Naboth murdered. Well, 
Elijah the Tishbite comes and prophesies against him that he 
will die. And so we have in 1 Kings 22 
the record of his death. It comes later on in the chapter, 
but I think his dealings with the true prophet of God is very 
instructive for the church today. I think there might be a little 
bit of Ahab in each and every one of us. There are times when 
the word of God comes to us and we may not like it. we may come 
to the Word of God, we may be looking for a particular situation 
or a particular issue, and it might bristle against us because 
God demands one thing and we're not so far willing to comply 
in that particular area. In fact, the Apostle Paul has 
what I would say is a parallel passage to this particular interaction 
between Ahab and Micaiah. It's found in 2 Timothy 4. The apostle tells Timothy, preach 
the word. Be ready in season and out of 
season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with 
all longsuffering and teaching. And then Paul gives Timothy two 
reasons why Timothy is to preach the Word. The second reason is 
that Paul is about to die. So Paul wants the men that he 
has passed the baton to, to faithfully preach the Word. But the first 
reason that he gives Timothy is the time will come when they, 
the Church of Jesus Christ, or professing Church of Jesus Christ, 
will not endure sound doctrine. Rather, they will find teachers 
that will tickle their ears. they will find teachers that 
tell them what they wanna say. That is precisely what is happening 
here in 1 Kings 22. So I wanna look at this section 
under two considerations. First, the alliance between Israel 
and Judah in verses one to 12. And then secondly, the rejection 
of the true prophet of God in verses 13 to 28. But let's look 
first at this alliance between Israel and Judah. Remember back 
in 1 Kings 12, if you weren't ever schooled in this, it's not 
remembering time, it's beginning to know time. In 1 Kings chapter 
12, the kingdom of Israel was split in two. The kingdom of 
Israel was divided. You had a northern kingdom referred 
to as Israel, and then you had a southern kingdom referred to 
as Judah. Now these kingdoms coexisted 
side by side and oftentimes were engaged in war among themselves, 
civil war. In fact, Jehoshaphat is to be 
commended. The Jehoshaphat that's mentioned 
in our passage here is the king of the southern kingdom. And 
Ahab is the king of the northern kingdom. So Ahab wants to elicit 
Jehoshaphat and his troops as they go and try to liberate Ramoth 
Gilead from Syrian occupation. But with reference to these particular 
kings, you only had bad kings in the north, you had some good 
kings in the south, but for the most part, both of them ended 
under the judgment of God Most High. So let's look here specifically 
now at verse 1. It says, now three years passed 
without war between Syria and Israel. Now that goes back to 
chapter 20. I don't want to confuse everybody 
too much, but it's important that we get the lay of the land. 
In 1 Kings 20, as I said, Israel defeats Syria. The Syrians then 
say, let's cast ourselves upon their mercy. There are people 
with a merciful God. There are people that actually 
deal in mercy. So we'll cast ourselves upon them. for their 
mercy. They do that, and it works, and 
they have spares Ben-Hadad. And so they had made this treaty, 
they had made this peaceful arrangement, but obviously now Ben-Hadad is 
reneging on his particular part of the treaty, because they are 
occupying Ramoth-Gilead And this is a concern to Ahab. Notice 
in verse two, then it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat, 
the king of Judah, went down to visit the king of Israel. 
Again, there had been civil war between the North and the South 
in Israel, not in America or not in the 1800s, but rather 
there was this civil war. And so Jehoshaphat's desire to 
have unity among these two kingdoms was very noteworthy. It's very 
commendable. However, what he does in this 
particular section is not very wise. In fact, Ralph Davis makes 
the observation, Jehoshaphat scored high in piety, but low 
in sense. He didn't always make the wisest 
and best decisions. Later on in this chapter, you'll 
get a description of Jehoshaphat, and he was a godly man. He did 
good things within his time of kingship over Judah. So this 
man Ahab now wants to engage in alliance with the Judahites 
so that they can liberate Ramoth Gilead. Notice in verse 3, 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? It's a very important 
trade route, it was a very important place strategically and economically, 
so of course they wanted Ramoth Gilead back. Now notice Jehoshaphat's 
response. He wants prophetic guidance for 
this particular alliance. Again, he's a godly man. When 
it gets to his description later on in this particular chapter, 
Jehoshaphat gets thumbs up. He's a pious man. He's a godly 
man. Again, lacking in some sense 
going into this particular alliance with Ahab, But nevertheless, 
it's his request that we seek prophetic alliance. That doesn't 
come from Ahab, it comes from Jehoshaphat, and that's what 
we have to direct our attention to now in verses five to 12. 
He requests this, verse five, Jehoshaphat said to the king 
of Israel, please inquire for the word of the Lord today. Now 
in verses six to nine, you have this gathering of prophets. Now, 
1 Kings 18, when Elijah meets Ahab and ultimately ends up on 
Mount Carmel, we read of two sets of prophets. There are 450 
prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. But all of them sit 
at Jezebel's table. Now, for those of you who don't 
understand that terminology, that means they were on the government 
payroll. They were court profits. They 
were being fed. They were being subsidized. They 
were being given a living by Ahab and Jezebel. This is how 
bad Israel is at this particular time. 450 prophets of Baal, 400 
prophets of Asherah are on the payroll. They are recognized 
government employees. They are the sorts of people 
with tenure. These are the sorts of people you can't fire. These 
are the sorts of people that get benefits. They get money. 
They get retirement. They get a whole host of things. 
And so 450 of them died on that day when they met the true and 
living God that Elijah had preached. But there's still these 400 prophets. 
There's still these 400 prophets that serve the goddess Asherah, 
and that's probably who these prophets are that come now to 
encourage Ahab on a fool's errand. Notice the word of these prophets 
in verse six. 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? Notice their answer. It's really 
ambiguous. I mean, I think they are trying 
to assure the king. I think they are trying to encourage 
the king, but their response is kind of like a fortune cookie. 
You read a fortune cookie and it says, everything will be okay 
today. Well, what does that mean? I don't understand. Look at the 
way they respond. They said, go up for the Lord 
will deliver it into the hand of the king. Okay, which king? What king? You want to make this 
a little bit clearer? I think that's the nature of 
false prophecy. It's the nature of fortune-telling. 
It's very ambiguous. It's very vague. The true prophet 
of God speaks specifically concerning details. Micaiah tells Zedekiah 
that you're going to ultimately run and hide. You're going to 
find an inner room, the way Ben-Hadad did, and run and hide when the 
battle starts. You see, vagary and ambiguity 
is key to the false prophetic ministry, and that's what I think 
we have in this particular instance. But nevertheless, Ahab interprets 
it as a victory or as a win for him. Now note Jehoshaphat's suspicion 
in verse 7. This is really good, because 
Jehoshaphat maybe smells something fishy. It's all too tidy. It's 
all too perfect. 400 men? Every single one of 
them say, yeah, go ahead, go into battle because God's going 
to deliver it to the king today. Every single one. Notice in verse 
7, Jehoshaphat said, is there, there's still not a prophet of 
the Lord here that we may inquire of him? then maybe there should 
be some divergent opinion. Maybe there should be some debate. 
Maybe there should be some opposition. Maybe we should have a little 
bit from the floor to make sure that everything is good before 
we march into battle at Ramoth Gilead. Now notice with reference 
to the hated prophet, verses eight and nine. So the king of 
Israel said to Jehoshaphat, there is still one man, Micah 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. Now, again, maybe 
you don't have Ahab in you. Maybe you don't share any affinity 
whatsoever with Ahab. But the fact that Paul wrote 
2 Timothy chapter 4 seems to envisage that some professing 
Christians might have something in common with Ahab. I hate him. He never prophesies good for 
me. How do we explain the success of Joel Osteen? How do we explain 
the success of the health, wealth, and prosperity preachers? They 
never tell anybody anything that's hard. They never tell anybody 
anything that's difficult. They never tell anything to anybody 
that is going to make them bristle. It's all health, wealth, and 
prosperity. We can understand at a certain 
fundamental level why they're so popular. It's the men like 
Micaiah that make people upset. It's the men like the Apostle 
Paul that make people upset. It's the men like John Knox, 
hanging over his pulpit, putting his finger into the face of Mary, 
telling her that she needs to repent and forsake her wickedness. It's those kinds of people that 
upset the garden variety person in the pew. Ahab is alive and 
well if 2 Timothy 4 is to be trusted. The time will come when 
they will not endure sound doctrine, but rather they will gather up 
for themselves teachers that will scratch their ears. Teachers that will tell them 
what they want to hear. Teachers like these 400 prophets 
of Asherah, represented by Zedekiah. All of his theatrics notwithstanding, 
he is a liar and a cheat and a deceit. It is Micaiah who is 
telling the truth. Now notice, specifically, verse 
8. At the end, Jehoshaphat said, 
let not the king say such things. And then in verse 9, we read, 
and the king of Israel called an officer and said, bring Micaiah 
the son of Imlah quickly. Now I want you to notice something. 
Verses 10 to 12 and verses 19 to 23. They're both what we call 
throne scenes. There are scenes that occur before 
a throne. In verses 10 to 12, it's a throne 
occupied by Ahab and Jehoshaphat. In 19 to 23, it's the throne 
of Yahweh himself. So you need to sort of see how 
this binds the narrative together. But here, particularly in this 
throne scene, notice in verses 10 to 12. We have the king of 
Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, having put on their 
robes, they 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, and he said, thus says the Lord, with these you 
shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed. Now that's 
not uncommon. Even the true prophets of God 
at times engaged in what's called an acted parable. They would 
engage in those sorts of things that would visibly demonstrate 
the reality of what they were prophesying. So it's not making 
the iron horns and putting them on his head that's a problem. Other prophets, true prophets, 
do that. The problem is that he's lying. The problem is, is 
that he's a fake. The problem is, is that he's 
a cheat. The problem is, is that he is deceitful and that is Zedekiah's 
problem. Now notice in verse 12, 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. So just 
here, we need to stop for a moment and consider the folly of Ahab. 
He is willing to listen to lies if he likes those lies. We'll learn that he hates the 
reality, the truth that Micaiah speaks, because he doesn't like 
it. You see, there is this mindset 
among Ahab, at least, and according to Paul in 2 Timothy chapter 
4, that would seem to imply, or we can infer from, that people 
will treat the Word of God as what they like or what they don't 
like. That's not our prerogative. There might be things in Scripture 
that you don't necessarily like. Say you're a thief, and God's 
Word says, don't steal. Say you're covetous, and God's 
Word says, don't covet. Say you're a gossip, and God's 
Word says, don't gossip. Say you're a fornicator, and 
God's Word says, don't fornicate. You see, it's not about what 
we like, it's about what is true. It's not what is going to make 
me feel good, but rather what is calculated to promote good 
in my own life and heart. It's a strange thing that men 
will embrace the false because it's a message that they want 
to hear, while rejecting the true because it's a message they 
don't want to hear. We need to retrain our minds. We need to thank God for His 
message. We need to praise God for the 
truth, and we need to receive it, whether it's something we 
want to hear or whether it's something we don't want to hear 
but desperately need to hear. Now let's look at the rejection 
of the true prophet of God in verses 13 to 28. Notice the pressure 
on the prophet in verse 13. Micaiah doesn't have an easy 
job here. He's in a lose-lose situation and Micaiah knows him. John Gill supposes that he is 
the prophet mentioned in chapter 20. The fact that Micaiah, they 
knew where to find him, might indicate that he was already 
in jail. The fact that he was readily at hand may suggest that 
he was the prophet that already spoke to Ahab and told him the 
end was coming. Ahab didn't like it then, so 
he imprisoned him then. Now, it may have been a different 
prophet, but I think there's some merit to that particular 
theory. Notice in verse 13 what the servant says to Micaiah. Then the messenger who had gone 
to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, now listen, Word to the 
prophets with one accord, and encourage the king. Please, let 
your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement." 
What a worm, huh? What a terrible person. He says 
to Micaiah, you know, when the king gets mad, it's kind of a 
bummer. When the king gets messages he 
doesn't like, he kind of flips out. He gets sullen. He gets 
displeased. We already see that in chapters 
21 and in chapter 20. I mean, he's the kind of guy 
that you know when he's in a grumpy mood and you know when he's having 
a down day. You can see that spirit of melancholy 
all over him. So please encourage him with 
those other 400 prophets. Just tell him what he wants to 
hear, Micaiah. We don't really care whether 
it's true or not. We just want the king to be happy. Again, 
I think this mindset is rampant, at least according to Paul in 
2 Timothy chapter 4. The time will come when they 
will not endure sound doctrine. You get people telling pastors 
or suggesting to preachers, you know, you might want to tone 
it down a little bit. I mean, the way that you say 
certain things, it makes people feel a little bit uncomfortable. 
It makes people feel a little bit awkward. It really doesn't 
make people want to come after their Wheaties on Sunday morning 
and sit amongst you. It really is a bit offensive. 
And you should tone it down. You should smile like Joel Osteen. 
You should have hair like Joel Osteen. You should have teeth 
like Joel Osteen. No, we should preach the word. What happened to that? What happened 
to preach the word? Be ready in season and out of 
season. Convince, rebuke, exhort. That's what this messenger is 
saying. Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord 
encouraged the king. What's he suggesting? Truth is 
democratic. We already saw that blasted out 
of the water in 1 Kings 18 at Mount Carmel. Truth is not democratic. 450 prophets of Baal said that 
Baal was God. 450 prophets against the one 
prophet, Elijah, the Tishbite. See, we can never say, well, 
that particular religion has this many adherents. We wonder 
perhaps if they're true. Maybe they're on to something. 
No, true is true. It doesn't matter how many people 
adhere to it. It doesn't matter how few people 
adhere to it. True is true. That's what we 
need to keep in mind. So he's nudging Micaiah and he's 
saying, tell him what he wants to hear. Now Micaiah's words 
in verse 14 ought to be printed on the mind and heart of every 
one of God's pastors or preachers and every one of God's people. 
Micaiah said, verse 14, as the Lord lives, whatever the Lord 
says to me, that I will speak. That's it. Whatever the Lord 
says to me, that I will speak. Listen to Davis. Davis says, 
Micah has just nailed something which neither Ahab nor his messenger 
understands. Look back at Ahab's words in 
verse eight 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. This is a problem. They assume that the prophet 
controls or can control that word. How does David describe 
the word of Yahweh in Psalm 29? It crushes, the voice of Yahweh 
crushes the cedars of Lebanon. There's no creature that tames 
that word. There's no creature that controls 
that word. There's no creature that can 
change or modify that word. He goes on to say Ahab's remark 
in verse 8 implies that Micaiah didn't have to be such a purveyor 
of doomsaying, 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. That's what Micaiah says in verse 
14. Now notice the true prophet and 
the king. The first interchange in verses 
15 to 16. Now you need to understand something 
about Micaiah. In verse 15, his response is 
utter sarcasm. If you think, well, prophets 
shouldn't do that. Remember Elijah on Mount Carmel 
when he mocks the prophets of Baal? Where's your God? Maybe 
he's sleeping. Maybe he's relieving himself, 
literally. Maybe he's in the bathroom. Elijah 
is slapping his knee while he's mocking these people and he's 
laughing at them. How about the prophet greater 
than Elijah? When he says to the Pharisees, 
you strain out the gnat and you swallow the camel. Brethren, 
people smile when they heard Jesus say that because it's funny. It really is funny. It's a wonderful 
word picture. Most kids laugh, adults feel, 
oh, she can't laugh. Jesus said something funny, we 
should laugh. Well, Micaiah is being sarcastic. Notice in verse 
15. So the king, I'm sorry, verse 
15. Then the king, 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. That's 
just utter sarcasm. He doesn't say, thus saith the 
Lord. He just says, go ahead. What does this indicate? And 
I think what Ahab says to him indicates this isn't their first 
rodeo. Micaiah knows the drill. He tells Ahab what God wants 
Ahab to know. Ahab utterly rejects what Micaiah 
says, and on they go. And so what he does here, he 
engages in sarcasm. Let John Gill explain. 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 the king plainly discovered, 
as appears, by what follows. Notice the response of Ahab in 
verse 16. 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? That indicates that his 
response in verse 15 was sarcastic. This wasn't their first rodeo. 
Micaiah knows the drill. So Micaiah says, okay, just what 
all the other prophets said, go ahead, go prosper in Ramoth 
Gilead. Everything's gonna be wonderful. 
And Ahab gets angry. He doesn't like his sarcasm. 
Now notice we come to his particular work. Verse 17, then he said, 
I saw all Israel scattered 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. This is the true word of the 
Lord. This is the prophetic statement. This is what's gonna happen at 
Ramoth Gilead. The reference to Israel will 
be like sheep having no shepherd means that Ahab's gonna die in 
battle. Ahab, you're gonna lose. What's Micaiah saying? These 
400 people are lying to you. Zedekiah's horns, notwithstanding, 
these men are lying to you. They're fake, they're false, 
they're deceivers. You are not gonna win at Ramoth, 
Gilead. You're not gonna liberate it 
from Syrian stronghold, but rather you're gonna die on the field 
of battle. And then notice the biting sarcasm at the end of 
verse 17. He says, these have no master. 
Let each return to his house in peace. What's he saying? Ahab, when you're dead, Israel 
will have peace. Ahab, when you die on the field 
of battle, when that random arrow finds its mark in your heart, 
the people of Israel are going to have peace. They don't have 
peace now while you're the king. They don't have peace while you 
have Jezebel sitting with you on the throne. They don't have 
peace while you have Baal worship going on in the Northern kingdom. 
They don't have peace when the throne is that corrupt. But when 
you're dead, Ahab, there's gonna be peace in Israel. Now notice 
in verse 18, the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, did I not 
tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? 
Like that's the worst response in the world, isn't it? He should 
say, oh, wow, Micaiah, thank you for that nugget. Thank you 
for that warning. Thank you for that realization. Thank you for that reality check. 
No, he nudges Jehoshaphat and say, you see why I hate him? 
You see why I despise him? You see why I can't stand him? 
Because he doesn't fall in rank with all those false prophets 
and tell me what I want to hear. It was infuriating to Ahab. Now, note that second throne 
room. Now, this is a tough bit of scripture. I'm not going to 
answer all your questions as to what is going on here in verses 
19 to 23. It is a tough bit of scripture. Let's just read it. Verse 19, 
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. Now, the first thing we need 
to sort of unpack here is, what's happening? Does God actually 
interact with angelic beings, seeking their counsel, seeking 
their input, evaluating the data before him, and then casting 
his vote on that which makes the most sense to him? That's 
not what's going on. The text is speaking to us in 
the manner of man. It is accommodating this decision 
for us on earth. Matthew Poole, I think, has the 
best explanation. 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 closed with that 
which upon debate appeared to be the best, all which it is 
ridiculous to imagine concerning a God of perfect and infinite 
knowledge. but only to bring down divine things to our shallow 
capacities. If you get that, you're going 
to understand the doctrine of divine impossibility. You're 
going to get, you know, the vistas will open up and you'll say, 
wow, I understand an aspect of theology proper I hadn't before 
got. But what he says is right. It's 
in the manner of men that he speaks to us. but only to bring 
down divine things to our shallow capacities and to express the 
various means which God has to execute his own designs. Matthew 
Henry says this matter is here represented after the manner 
of man. Now what is happening in this 
throne room scene? First, the vision denounces the 
false prophets. It's sort of a theological rationale 
behind false prophecy. It's the theological explanation 
for the fact that there's these 400 men, Zedekiah with his horns, 
telling Ahab a lie. This is the theological rationale. 
Secondly, the vision declares the will of God. Some suggest 
that God is lying, according to this throne room scene. How 
could it possibly be thought that God is lying when God is 
telling Ahab, through Micaiah the prophet, the exact truth 
about what's going to happen at Ramoth Gilead? God is not 
lying. And then finally, this scene 
demonstrates the absolute unrivaled and unparalleled sovereignty 
of God Most High. Nothing happens on this earth 
apart from God. Nothing happens on this earth 
apart from His rule. Nothing happens on this earth 
apart from His government. And that's what this throne room 
scene indicates. Now notice, finally, the prophet 
and his punishment. Zedekiah, verse 24, Or now 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 is this a kind response? He smacks him on the face because 
he told him the truth. And now what? happens, he's in 
prison. Verse 26, I'm sorry, verse 25. 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 in verse 26, 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 bread of affliction and water of affliction until 
I come in peace. And then the final thing that 
we need to appreciate in verse 28 is that the prophet affirms 
his veracity. The prophet affirms his truthfulness, 
and this is important for us to understand. He affirms his 
truthfulness in the way that you affirm the truth of a prophet. 
Let's do Deuteronomy 18, tell us in terms of testing a prophet. 
The prophet makes a prediction and it doesn't come true. Guess 
what? He was a false prophet. The penalty 
is death. If you say, I'm going to speak 
for God, I'm going to prophesy something that's going to take 
place, and then it doesn't take place, and I'm found to be a 
fake, then according to the law in Israel, I should be stoned. Now, what happens when that prophecy 
comes true? Well, then you know the prophet 
of God is the real deal. That's precisely how Micaiah 
handles this. Notice in verse 25, and Micaiah 
said, indeed, you shall see. That's the way the prophet underscores 
his veracity. You shall see. I'm not blowing 
smoke here, Zedekiah. I'm not making this up. You shall 
see. That's the task of a prophet's 
veracity. Verse 28, he does the same thing. 
But Micaiah said, if you ever return in peace, the Lord has 
not spoken by me. And he said, take heed all you 
people. You see, a lot of people in the 
history of the Church have made prophetic statements. A lot of 
people have claimed to have the gift of prophecy. A lot of people 
have said, such and such is going to happen on such and such a 
day, and it never ever happens. Thankfully, the Church doesn't 
execute these people for their benefit, but that happens. They say, believe me, buy my 
book, listen to my teach, hear my sermons, do what I think and 
do what I say, and change your life. Remember what happened 
several years ago? Harold Camping. He was the one 
that said, oh, the Lord Jesus is going to return. First, it 
was 1994. It didn't happen. And then I forget the date. Was 
it 2016, 2014? Somewhere around there. He had 
predicted. Does anybody remember? It was in that time frame. 2012, 
maybe. But he predicted that the world 
was going to end. And he wasn't a dispensationalist, 
which was very interesting. He was a non-millennialist, but 
he was driven to this position by his understanding of mathematics 
and the Bible and whatnot. He was a false prophet. You see, 
Micaiah says, if Ahab returns, if Ahab doesn't die in Ramoth 
Gilead, then the Lord hasn't spoken by me. That's the way 
to determine whether or not a prophet is true. 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 basically 
says, wait and see. And once you see, then you'll 
know that I am true. Davis, again, says, Micaiah willingly 
submits himself to the prophetic desk. If a prophet speaks in 
Yahweh's name and the prediction does not come to pass, Yahweh 
has not spoken by that prophet. And so he puts his money where 
his mouth is, and he ultimately ends by saying, take heed, all 
you people. Well, brethren, as I said at 
the outset, I think there's some parallel with reference to Paul's 
words in 2 Timothy 4. I just want to draw out a few 
lessons and then we'll close. First of all, the rejection of 
the true prophet of God here. The rejection of the true prophet 
of God is ultimately the rejection of the Word of God Himself. And 
this manifests itself here, first, in the desire to only hear what 
we want to hear. The desire to only hear what we want to hear. 
What's the purpose of Paul in 2 Timothy 4? Before he says, 
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, 
Paul says with reference to preaching. He tells Timothy, not only gives 
Timothy a command to preach the Word, but he specifies how Timothy 
is to preach the Word. Now put his hands in his pocket 
and have fireside chats. He is to convince. In other words, 
don't let people wriggle out from what the truth of God's 
word really says. Convince them that what you're 
saying is true through accurate exegesis, through proper hermeneutics, 
through comparing scripture with scripture. Convince them, rebuke 
them. Why? because all of us stand 
in need of rebuke. The idea that I don't want to 
go hear that because it might make me feel bad. Brethren, we 
all need a great big dose of feeling bad once in a while so 
that we will repent and forsake the wickedness that we find ourselves 
doing. Convince, rebuke, Exhort, the 
people of God ought to be about doing the things of God. Exhortation 
seeks by the grace of God to move the will of men. I told 
people in our Saturday morning study yesterday, all preaching 
includes teaching, but not all teaching is preaching. Preaching 
has that added dimension where it's not just enough to present 
information. But it's a call to people to 
act upon that information. It's a call to the unsaved to 
flee to Jesus Christ. It's a call to the saved to put 
off their sin and to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not 
privy to just hear what we want to hear. We need to be convinced, 
we need to be rebuked, we need to be exhorted. As well, the 
desire to encourage the prophet to speak what we want to hear. I mean, Ahab's a wretch, he's 
terrible, but at least he's honest. He says to Jehoshaphat, I don't 
like him because he doesn't tell me what I want to hear. The guy 
in 13 is just a worm. He comes to Micah and he says, 
don't tell him stuff he doesn't want to hear. Tell him what's 
encouraging to him. Again, not applauding Ahab, but 
at least the guy, to some degree, is honest. I hate him because 
he tells me the truth. The guy in verse 13, trying to 
exercise pressure on the prophet so that the prophet will tailor 
the message to fit his audience. That is reprehensible and that 
is happening in the church today. The desire to listen to false 
prophets who tell us what we want to hear. Boy, you need to 
come and listen to this guy. It's such a positive and uplifting 
message. I'd like to think that biblical 
preaching is ultimately a positive and uplifting message. But before 
we are positively uplifted, there are times we need to be first 
cast down. We need law so that the gospel 
comes as that balm of Gilead. There is a biblical precedence 
for this kind of preaching. And when we find that our hearts 
are drawn only to people that tell us what we wanna hear, we 
have fallen into this sin of Ahab and the desire to be rid 
of the true prophets of God through physical violence, verse 24, 
through imprisonment, verses 26 and 27. Now, secondly, the 
integrity of the true prophet of God. He is committed to speaking 
whatever the Lord says. He is committed to speaking whatever 
the Lord says, not whatever Ahab wants, but whatever the Lord 
says. He is committed to speaking whatever the Lord says, not what 
the church wants. There's a disconnect there, right? 
We preach what God's word says. We don't preach what God's people 
want. Your kids may want cake for dinner, 
but you know that steak or meat or some other protein source 
is far better for them than a hunk of cake. Your kids may want cake 
instead of broccoli. Your kids may want cake instead 
of Brussels sprouts. But you, as a wise parent, don't 
let them call the shots. God is a wise parent, and he 
knows precisely what we need. He doesn't say, cake, cake, cake, 
every Sunday that you come in. Positive and uplifting oftentimes 
comes after the law has done its work in our hearts. As well, 
he is speaking, or committed rather, to speaking the truth 
of God, not catering to the felt needs of his hearers. Verse 13, 
Micaiah doesn't say, you know, messenger, you've got a point. 
I don't want to upset Ahab. I've seen him so in him displeased. 
I don't want to be on the wrong side of him today. So I'm going 
to tell him what he wants to hear. I'll be the 401st prophet, 
and I will emphasize that what Zedekiah did with the horns is 
actually going to take... He doesn't care about that. He 
is not going to be manipulated to tell lies. Thirdly, he is 
committed to speaking the truth, notwithstanding the pressure 
to do otherwise. I said at the very beginning, 
Micaiah had a very difficult task here. Ahab hates him. Micaiah 
knows this. The messenger's trying to cajole 
him into twisting the message. All of this is pressure upon 
the prophet. The fact that he remains faithful 
is the model for men today. And then notice, he is committed 
to suffering physical violence, imprisonment, and even death 
itself, instead of compromising the truth of God. Beautiful thing, 
isn't it? It's the kind of stuff we need 
in preachers today. And then I would suggest, thirdly, 
the measure of the people of God. See, Ahab, there might be, 
as I said, a little Ahab in all of us. We might want to gravitate 
toward the false because we like it, and we might want to resist 
the true because we don't like it. We need to guard our hearts, 
brethren. We need to watch our souls. We 
need to be a people that hear the Word of God, that receive 
the Word of God, that esteem the Word of God, and that prize 
the Word of God. The prophet Amos condemned the 
nation of his day, or the nation in his day, and he promised them 
that if they did not repent, there would be a famine. Not 
a famine for food, not a famine for water, but a famine for hearing 
the Word of God. And the final observation is 
I want us all to appreciate the continuing mercy of God. The 
continuing mercy of God. What is God doing here? He still 
sends the true prophet. I was talking to a brother this 
morning after the sermon on abortion and the thought, the thought 
of abortion, the thought of euthanasia, the thought of all that innocent, 
judicially innocent blood in the ground crying out to God 
Almighty, the way the blood of Abel cries out according to the 
book of Genesis. Do you ever just think that God 
is furious with Canada? Do you ever just think that God 
is going to lash out in judgment against the people that really 
don't regard life at all, where life has become disposable, where 
life is just, you know, if it's inconvenient to us, we dispose 
of it? Does that ever cause you a bit 
of fright or a little bit of fear, a little bit of trembling? 
If you ever reflect on numbers, the end of numbers, either 35 
or 36, God the Lord tells the nation of Israel, that the only 
way to deal with blood, shed, and murder is through capital 
punishment. God doesn't accept a ransom. 
God doesn't accept a price. God doesn't accept sacrifice 
when it comes to the crime of murder. The only thing that will 
requite that is the blood of the guilty. If you ponder that 
for just a moment, you'll cry with the prophet Habakkuk, in 
wrath, remember mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. Well, 
I want to suggest that that's a legitimate prayer for our generation 
because God still sends Micaiah to Ahab. Ahab is a wretch. Ahab is horrible. Ahab is terrible. It's already been prophesied 
that he's going to die. And yet God, in his mercy, sends 
Micaiah. We look at Canada, filled with 
blood guiltiness. There are still pulpits preaching 
the truth. That's indicative of the fact 
that God is a merciful God. That's indicative of the fact 
that we can cry to him in light of that unrequited blood. In 
wrath, please remember mercy. Every minister preaching the 
truth in every pulpit in Canada underscores the continuing mercy 
of God, the way that Micaiah does, even right up until the 
end of this wretched King Ahab. God is about mercy. God is about kindness. God is about goodness. Yes, he 
is wrathful. Yes, there is judgment. Yes, 
he is righteous. Yes, he will, by all means, punish 
the guilty. But brethren, he is long-suffering. And in 1 Kings 22, Micaiah is 
proof positive that God the Lord is long-suffering. If you have 
not made your peace with this God, go. Flee. Run. Hide. Find your refuge in 
the Lord Jesus Christ and that through faith in Him. It's not by works, it's not by 
performance, it's not by moral reform, it's not by getting a 
little bit better, stopping this particular habit, adding a little 
bit of this to my life so that I have some virtue to commend 
myself to God. Nothing we do will commend ourselves 
to God. All our righteousness are like 
filthy rags, the prophet says. Now think about that for just 
a moment. Our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. The sacrifices 
that Israel brought out and presented to God. The fasting that Israel 
brought out and presented to God. The Sabbath keeping that 
Israel brought out and brought to God. The temple worship that 
Israel brought out and brought to God. Their very righteousness, 
was like filthy rags in the sight of God. It's the same for us 
today. You reading your Bible, you praying, 
you doing this, you doing that, all of it, without Christ, is 
like filthy rags. The way of salvation is not moral 
reform. The way of salvation is not by 
adding a little virtue to your life. The way of salvation is 
not by ending a bad habit. The way of salvation is the cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, His precious blood, cleanses us from 
all sin. Believe on Him. God is merciful. God shows it with the prophet 
Micaiah. God is showing it presently all throughout this nation wherever 
there are men actually preaching the truth of God. You have every 
warrant to believe that God is merciful. You have every warrant 
to come to our Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness, for salvation. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your word. We thank you for this scene in 
Ahab's life near the end that so closely parallels what Paul 
says in 2 Timothy chapter 4. We confess with Solomon, there 
is nothing new under the sun. And I pray that you would guard 
us from being the types of people that seek out preachers that 
that we only tell us things that we want to hear. Help us, God, 
to appreciate, to hear the things that we need to hear. You know 
what is best for us, you know what is good for us, and we pray 
that you would give it to us and help us to be willing, compliant, 
and receptive to the truth of your holy word. Raise up more 
men, men of the stripe of Micaiah, men that will preach in the face 
of opposition, men that will preach in the face of manipulation, 
all these things, Lord God. and send them forth to glorify 
your holy name. We pray that you'd go with us 
now, bless us in this coming week, and help us to honor you. 
And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. We'll close with 
a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed.