Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. But in the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel. The king of Israel had said to his officials, "Don't you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?" So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?" Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "First seek the counsel of the Lord."
So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, "Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?" "Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."
But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?"
The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." "The king should not say that," Jehoshaphat replied.
So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once."
Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, "This is what the Lord says: 'With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.' "
All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. "Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious," they said, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."
The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Look, as one man the other prophets are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably."
But Micaiah said, "As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me."
When he arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?" "Attack and be victorious," he answered, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."
The king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?"
Then Micaiah answered, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.' "
The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?"
Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' "One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, 'I will entice him.'
" 'By what means?' the Lord asked. " 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. " 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the Lord. 'Go and do it.'
"So now the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you."
Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. "Which way did the spirit from the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?" he asked.
Micaiah replied, "You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room."
The king of Israel then ordered, "Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king's son and say, 'This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.' "
Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!"
1 Kings 22:1-28
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
When you are faced with doing something and you seek someone’s advice, how can you be sure that guidance you are receiving is endorsed by the Lord?
That is a question embedded in today’s scripture…a question the Lord soundly answers.
Let me set the scene.
As Chapter 22 of 1st Kings opens, we find that there has been peace between Aram and Israel with no wars taking place for three years.
King Ahab is still king of Israel and he is paid a visit by Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah (you’ll recall that the kingdom divided after Solomon’s death…see 1 Kings 12). During that visit, we read where Ahab calls his officials together and discussed an Israelite city, Ramoth Gilead, that had been taken by the Arameans during one of the conflicts and never returned to Israel. Ahab emphasizes the fact that Israel had not taken any action to get the city back.
And so Ahab turns to the visiting king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, asking Jehoshaphat if he would be willing to help him “fight against Ramoth Gilead”. Jehoshaphat agreed to help Ahab with an attitude of Israelite solidarity by saying, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses" but only under one condition.
Jehoshaphat requested that Ahab, "First seek the counsel of the Lord."
Friends, here is the first great lesson the Lord is teaching us in this passage. For we will be faced with many major decisions in life…decisions that will cause us to decide one course of action…one choice over another. So how will we know we will always make the right decision?
We first seek counsel from the One who will never lead us astray. We first seek counsel from the Lord.
Back to the scriptures where we find Ahab bringing together his prophets which number around 400. Notice that none of them are connected to the Lord.
Once assembled, Ahab asks the prophets, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?" To which the prophets answer, "Go…for the Lord will give it into the king's hand." Notice that these prophets, not connected to the Lord, have no problem in invoking the Lord’s name in their advice.
Well, we get a sense that Jehoshaphat is not swayed by what he had witnessed…regardless of the large number of prophets giving the same advice. We sense that the Holy Spirit was at work inside the king of Judah for he asks Ahab, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?"
In other words, is there not a prophet who we know will speak the truth…truth that only comes from the mouth of the Lord through His prophet?
Well, Ahab, put on the spot by his visiting king answers, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah."
The implication is pretty clear here. King Ahab only wanted to here advice that made him feel good…advice that agreed with him. Anything that might have challenged him, criticized him or convicted him caused him to be angry…even if it was from the Lord as spoken through His prophet. It’s little wonder why we haven’t seen much positive change in Ahab.
Friends, how often are we like Ahab? We know we’re sinners. We know we’re imperfect. We know the Lord is ready willing and able to mold and shape us into the people He favors by way of His Word and Spirit.
And yet, like Ahab, we too often just want to hear what we want to hear and rebel against anything that makes us feel bad about ourselves. We ignore His convictions in exchange for living the way we want to live.
How do you think the Lord feels about that?
Well, Jehoshaphat himself corrects Ahab about his words concerning Micaiah the prophet before he is summoned to the meeting.
With Micaiah in the presence of the 400 other prophets, we read where one of the 400, a prophet named Zedekiah, approached the two kings who were “sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria. The prophet had iron horns that he had made and professed to the kings, “This is what the Lord says: 'With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.' " He was joined by the other prophets who proclaimed, “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious…for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."
Again, these were godless prophets lifting up the name of the Lord only for their purpose which was to tell the king exactly what he wanted to hear…what would please him…instead of what he needed to hear…which was the truth from the very mouth of the Lord.
So with the prophecies made by the false prophets, the messenger who had brought Micaiah urged him to share the same favorable message to the king.
Now the Lord’s prophet had a choice to make. Go along with the nearly 400 voices who were predicting false victory and telling the king what he wanted to hear…or tell the king the truth…the very word of the Lord even though it would contradict the others and not satisfy the king.
What would Micaiah do?
He did what any true servant of the Lord should do. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, remaining obedient to Him and His will.
And Micaiah affirmed this by saying, "As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me." Or in other words, my words will be the Lord’s words and His words only….incredible instruction and guidance for us today and always.
And so with the stage set and it being Micaiah’s turn, Ahab asks him, “…shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?" To which Micaiah replied, "Attack and be victorious…for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."
Sensing that Micaiah was mocking the other prophets, Ahab demanded that Micaiah tell him the “truth in the name of the Lord?" And so Micaiah did just that telling Ahab, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.' "
Micaiah’s words indicated what was soon ahead. Israel would lose their king…their leader and shepherd…and without him they would scatter on the hills like sheep. Ahab was soon to perish.
Well, we could predict what came next…for Ahab became very angry and agitated at Micaiah, telling Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?"
But Micaiah was far from finished for we read where he told Ahab the following:
“Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' "One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, 'I will entice him.' " 'By what means?' the Lord asked. " 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. " 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the Lord. 'Go and do it.' “ "So now the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you."
Micaiah had not stopped with predicting Ahab’s demise but he also called out the false prophets who were more eager to tell Ahab what he wanted to hear instead of telling him the truth, turning from God to do so. And so since Ahab was so infatuated with the false prophets, the Lord continued to allow them to prophesy falsely. It was his will for Ahab to be deceived and continue to be deceived as long as he rejected the truth…which resulted from him rejecting the Lord.
As we see in our passage, Micaiah’s words were not only poorly received by Ahab but one of the false prophets as well for “Zedekiah…went up and slapped Micaiah in the face” before insulting him by saying, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?" To which, Micaiah replied, "You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room”, indicating that the false prophet will be hiding from the Lord somewhere down the road.
As the passage closes, we find out what happens to anyone who spoke the truth to King Ahab. He had them put away so he wouldn’t have listen to them. Such was the case with Micaiah as he was sent back to “Amon the ruler of the city and…Joash the king's son” where he was to be put in prison and given “nothing but bread and water” until the king returned safely which Micaiah had just indicated would not happen. The Lord’s prophet declared to the people that if the king did return safely, then the words he had spoken would not have come by the Lord. In other words, the people will know soon that the words of Micaiah were indeed the words of the Lord…for the Lord’s words were truth and what was predicted would soon come to fruition.
So in sum, what is our passage telling us?
1. Seek the Lord first before you get set to do anything. You cannot possibly know that your choice of action is right unless the Lord tells you so.
2. And when the Lord is speaking to you, even if it is critical of the way you are and the way you’re living, embrace…don’t reject…His counsel. Only a fool turns from the Fount of all wisdom and knowledge.
Friends in the end, it needs to be all about the Lord…His word…His will…His way. Seek Him first…follow His lead…and He will lead down the path of righteousness each and every day of your life.
And that’s good news for us all.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com
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