And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.
After years of fighting, Israel and Syria go quiet for three years. The verse reads like a note on foreign policy. Two harder questions sit under it: where did this peace come from, and what did Ahab do with it?
The quiet did not fall from heaven. It was the return on a deal Ahab had made with the defeated Syrian king Ben-Hadad, whom he spared and set free.
Set aside the question of God's judgment. This is what came out of Ahab's covenant with Ben-Hadad: a short breathing space of three years without war! Afterwards Ben-Hadad, only just set free, had not kept his promises (compare 1 Kings 20:34). He had not given back Ramoth-Gilead.
Three peaceful years look like proof that all is well. Prosperity and God's verdict are two different things.
Notice the difference between the judgment of God and the way things look. God had pronounced His judgment against the king and against Israel (chapter 19). Yet prosperity and peace generally marked this reign, as we have seen. Syria is subdued, Moab pays tribute; and Judah, unusually prosperous, joins itself in league with Israel... Still, judgment was only put on hold, and only Elijah knew it.
Why did God let three years pass? Because God had taken note of a change in Ahab.
Ahab humbled himself, and as a result the judgment lingers, and the word of the Lord meets his trembling heart as he humbled himself and walked softly. The blow was only to fall in the days of his sons.
But a delay is also a test. Three years show what a man's sorrow was worth.
Three years later the show of repentance on Ahab's part had worn off. There had been no war between Israel and Syria. But Ahab would not leave matters as they were. He was anxious to regain Ramoth in Gilead from the Syrians.
The town Ahab wanted back was no village. And the moment a strong ally arrived, Ahab saw his chance.
In the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah came down on a friendly visit to the Israelite capital. He was now tied to the house of Ahab by the marriage of his son and heir to Athaliah, Ahab's daughter. Ahab saw in the presence of so powerful an ally a splendid opportunity to use him to enlarge his kingdom... Ramoth-gilead was an important fortress. It lay due east of Samaria, about twenty miles back from the Jordan.
Israel had a claim; Syria had possession. Neither side asked what God thought.
God is not taken into account in these claims between peoples. History is always the same. The Christian nations of our day are no better in this than the pagan nations. One side wants to expand; the other wants to resist that pressure. These two desires form the basis of politics. God does not engage in politics. He is a stranger to these quarrels, though He has the upper hand in everything and uses everything to carry out His purposes.
In these peace years the godly king of Judah drew close to the worst king Israel ever had.
This alliance was a great evil, and the king of Judah had to feel its serious consequences. "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?" Jehu the son of Hanani said to him later, when he saw this. The alliance had a disastrous result. The faithful king took up the interests of a king unmatched for wickedness in the land of Israel.
The damage runs one way only:
And what was the result? He becomes the servant of Israel's wicked purposes... You can never lift up or restore the unfaithful by allying yourself with what is unfaithful. The faithful man sinks to the level of the unfaithful, instead of lifting the unfaithful out of his unbelief.
- Borrowed peace. The three quiet years were the payout of Ahab's covenant with a spared enemy. That enemy never returned Ramoth-Gilead as promised.
- Suspended peace. God had already sentenced Ahab's house. The calm was a stay of execution, not a pardon, and only Elijah knew it.
- Wasted peace. Given three years, Ahab's show of repentance faded and he spent the calm planning his next war.
- Godless peace. Israel argued its claim over Ramoth on grounds of land. No one consulted God — the ordinary basis of politics, then and now.
- Costly peace. Peacetime produced the alliance with Judah. The faithful king sank to the level of the unfaithful one instead of raising him.
And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
In the third year the godly king of Judah travels north to Ahab's court. Ahab was the most wicked king Israel ever had. The verse reports the visit without comment. Commentators press two questions: why did a faithful man go, and what did the trip cost him?
One commentator sets the visit against the high point of Jehoshaphat's reign:
Then comes the cloud over this noonday splendour of the king and kingdom. "And Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance; and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage. And after certain years he went down" — yes, it was "down" morally as well as geographically, "to Ahab, to Samaria." … It was a sad come-down for the godly king of Judah.
The visit did not begin here. A family tie had already bound the two houses together, and a prophet later named the sin for what it was:
Jehoshaphat was the son of pious Asa. Like his father, he kept the worship of the Lord in Judah unmixed. Yet he goes down to the king of Israel. Where did this relationship come from? It came from the marriage tie with Ahab. Jehoshaphat did not make it personally: his son Jehoram took a daughter of Ahab as wife (2 Chr. 18:1; 21:6). This alliance was a great evil, and the king of Judah had to experience its serious consequences. "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?" Jehu the son of Hanani said to him later, when he saw it.
Commentators trace the compromise back to Jehoshaphat's success. Blessing itself became the hazard:
When he had riches and honour in abundance, he allied himself with Ahab. … How often, when things go well on the outside, the heart turns worldly and forgets God! What a blessing it often is to be kept poor and low.
Wealth also made the friendship look respectable:
At ease, Jehoshaphat allies himself with Israel. His prosperity put him in a position to do it in a way that made the alliance look honourable. The human heart, when it is not kept by God, can act generously toward the evil it does not fear; but this is not love. Outwardly Jehoshaphat is faithful to the LORD, but the wrath of the LORD is upon him.
The direction of the visit carries its own message:
But what was the moral character of this alliance? It is Jehoshaphat who comes to Ahab, and not Ahab to Jehoshaphat.
The same writer totals up what each side gained from the friendship:
Jehoshaphat helped Ahab against Syria. He helped Jehoram against Moab. But neither Ahab nor his son ever helped Jehoshaphat in a single thing, except to be unfaithful to the LORD.
An alliance does not stay at the level of friendship. It transfers responsibility:
This alliance disastrously led the faithful king to take up the interests of a king with no equal for wickedness in Israel. … Alliance with the world, we cannot say too often, makes us liable for its wrongdoing. Again and again the historical books show a solemn truth. To join or work with a system that tolerates or accepts evil is to share the responsibility for that system.
Years later Jehoshaphat fell back into the same folly. One writer names the feelings behind it:
And what are we to think about honest Jehoshaphat? An earlier experience had already taught him God's mind (1 Kings 22). Yet a few years later he fell back into the very follies that had brought him to the edge of ruin. … Kindness and agreeableness in the world's opinion are dreadful obstacles to a faithful walk. So is the wish to please the world. So is alliance with it to promote shared interests. And when the Christian does not call these feelings by their right name — sin — they ruin his testimony. They also help keep the world in a false sense of security. The world fools itself into thinking it is walking the Christian way, because children of God are walking with it. In fact it is the Christian who is walking in the way of the world.
- Down. The journey to Samaria went down in geography and in soul. It marks the cloud over Jehoshaphat's best years.
- Root. The trip grew out of a marriage tie between the two royal houses. The prophet Jehu named it plainly: helping the wicked and loving those who hate the LORD.
- Snare. Riches and honour in abundance opened the door. Prosperity made the friendship possible and made it look honourable.
- One way. Jehoshaphat went to Ahab; Ahab never came to him. He gave help twice and got back nothing but a share in unfaithfulness.
- Repeat. The earlier lesson did not cure him. Unless the Christian calls such friendliness sin, it keeps its grip. The world then thinks it is walking with Christians, when the Christian is walking with it.
And the king of Israel said to his servants, Do ye know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we keep quiet without taking it out of the hand of the king of Syria?
Ahab's words open the last chapter of his reign: three years of quiet with Syria end because a border fortress east of the Jordan is still in Syrian hands. His question sounds like simple patriotism. Commentators press two things: why Israel lost the city, and why God's name never comes up.
Ahab had made a covenant with Ben-hadad. Ben-hadad broke its terms, and the unfinished business surfaces here.
"And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel" (v. 1). Leaving aside the question of God's judgment, this is what had come out of Ahab's covenant with Ben-Hadad: a short break of three years without war! Afterwards Ben-Hadad, only just set free, had not kept his promises: he had not given back Ramoth-Gilead... It would be shameful to pass over this in silence; and so war breaks out again.
The place mattered. It was a fortress Israel once held and later lost to Syria:
Ramoth-gilead was an important fortress, directly east of Samaria, and about twenty miles back from the Jordan. Ben-Geber, one of Solomon's twelve supply officers, held it during that king's splendid reign (1 Kings 4:13). Ben-hadad I had taken it from Omri, according to Josephus.
His statement is accurate as far as it goes. What it leaves out is the reason the city ever changed hands.
He went down to visit Ahab, and Ahab told him that Ramoth belonged to Israel, but Syria had taken it (v.3). He did not say that God had allowed Syria to take Ramoth because of the wickedness of Ahab. But he asked Jehoshaphat to join him in fighting against Syria (v.4).
Ahab's case is about ownership and strength. It never asks what God wants.
God is not taken into account in these claims between peoples. History is always the same, and the Christian nations of our day are no better in this respect than the heathen nations. The desire to expand, on one side, and the desire to resist such encroachment on the other, form the basis of politics. God does not take part in politics. He is a stranger to these quarrels. Yet He has the upper hand in all things, and He uses everything to carry out His purposes.
One writer sets the human verdict on this war beside what is left of it.
The war at Ramoth was forced upon him for the honour of his kingdom... But of all this nothing remains except the terrible example of a man who was responsible to serve God. He knew Him, yet preferred his idols and his lusts to Him, and hated the faithful witnesses of the God of Israel.
Gilead lies east of the Jordan. Some tribes settled there instead of crossing over, and one writer traces Ahab's loss back to that choice.
Still, the history of the holy book shows us that these tribes were the first to suffer, and to fall into the hands of the Gentiles. "Do you not know," says Ahab, "that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and the Syrians have it?" Happy are those who wait for the blessings of God until they have gone over the Jordan! In the meantime they take patience as their portion instead of the blessings on this side. Though these are the gifts of God's providence, they are less secure.
Ahab raises the subject while a powerful neighbour is his guest — Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
Ahab saw in the presence of so powerful an ally a splendid opportunity to use him for the extension of his kingdom.
One writer weighs the alliance by who approached whom.
It is Jehoshaphat who comes to Ahab, and not Ahab to Jehoshaphat... The Syrians had been beaten, and they had not carried out the peace terms laid on them. So Ahab was going to claim his rights with the help of the king of Judah.
- Claimed — Ahab's case rests on ownership. Ramoth-gilead is Israel's, and Ben-hadad never gave it back.
- Unsaid — he never says why Israel lost it. One writer says God let Syria take it because of Ahab's wickedness.
- Godless — his reasoning is pure politics: expansion against resistance. He leaves God out of it, yet God still rules the outcome.
- Insecure — Gilead lay east of the Jordan. Those tribes chose a portion short of the land, and it fell to enemies first.
- Used — Ahab makes the claim while a strong ally is at hand, so Judah's king can help him press it.
And he said to Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.
Ahab wants Ramoth-gilead back, and he asks Judah's king to fight beside him. Jehoshaphat gives away far more than an answer, and commentators treat his reply as the turning point of his reign.
The reply was not a single slip. One writer traces the small steps that led to it.
Evil begins like water let out. Small beginnings lead to dreadful results. First there is a slight tampering with evil at a distance. Then, step by step, a nearer approach to it. Then a firmer grip on it. And finally a deliberate plunge into it, from which nothing but God stepping in can rescue a person. Jehoshaphat "made a marriage alliance with Ahab." Then he accepted his hospitality. After that he was "persuaded" into open association with him. Finally he took his place at the battle of Ramoth-gilead. He had said to Ahab, "I am as you are," and Ahab takes him at his word.
The same writer points to the meal Ahab laid on beforehand, and what that meal made awkward to refuse.
The world will never give anything to a child of God without making large demands in return. The king of Judah let Ahab kill sheep and oxen for him. After that, he would have found it hard to refuse Ahab's wish about Ramoth-gilead. The safest way, then, is to owe the world nothing. If we join in the world's schemes, we must expect to be identified with it when trouble shakes it.
Ramoth-gilead had a history that made the campaign look righteous.
Ramoth-gilead had long before been set apart as a city of refuge for anyone who had killed a man (Deut. 4:43), and Ahab's expedition aimed to recover this city from the king of Syria. But behind it we can detect the snare of the enemy. He cared little about the city. He only wanted to use it to lure a child of God away from the path of purity and separation. The devil has always found religious and charitable aims the most effective with the people of God. He does not come at first with something openly ungodly. Instead he holds out something desirable in the distance, covers his plans with the cloak of religion or charity, and so traps them.
The pledge also made Jehoshaphat look good, and one writer follows that to its end.
Jehoshaphat might have looked a very generous, gracious, popular, big-hearted man. That is how his reply to Ahab's proposal sounded: "I am as you are, my people as your people." It is easy to be generous and big-hearted at the cost of God's principles. But how did it end? Ahab died, and Jehoshaphat only just escaped with his life. His testimony lay in ruins.
The pledge did not stop with Jehoshaphat himself.
Jehoshaphat did not only fall into the snare himself; he led others in too. What miserably low ground for a man of God to take, and what a place to put the people of God in! He had probably gained real influence over the hearts of the people by his earlier devotedness. It is right to love and trust those who walk faithfully. But we must guard closely against the dangerous pull of personal influence on its own. Only a man of wide influence could have said, "My people as your people." He might have said, "I am as you are," but no more.
Later alliances show what Jehoshaphat received in return.
Jehoshaphat helped Ahab against Syria. He helped Jehoram against Moab. But neither Ahab nor his son helped Jehoshaphat in a single thing, except to be unfaithful to Jehovah.
Jehoshaphat then asks for a word from the Lord. One writer hears conscience in that request, and a decision already made.
It was not without a struggle that Jehoshaphat gave in to Ahab's pressure. You can see his conscience working in the words, "Inquire first of the word of the Lord." But how useless it was to pray for guidance! He had already said, "I am as you are, my people as your people." It is solemn play-acting to ask for guidance once our minds are made up, and yet how often we do it.
On the battlefield, men later mistook Jehoshaphat for the king of Israel. God, one writer notes, did not make the same mistake.
It was a happy thing for Jehoshaphat that the Lord did not take him at his word. He had said to Ahab, "I am as you are." But the Lord knew Jehoshaphat was not Ahab, even though he might play his part and be mistaken for him. Grace had made him different, and his conduct should have proved him to be what grace had made him.
- Affinity — the marriage alliance with Ahab came first; evil starts at a distance and ends in a deliberate plunge.
- Appetite — Ahab's sheep and oxen made his war hard to refuse. Owe the world nothing.
- Agreement — one generous-sounding reply tied him to Ahab, and "my people" pulled a nation in with him.
- Alibi — asking for a word from the Lord after pledging himself was play-acting, not enquiry.
- Acquittal — the Lord refused to take him at his word. Grace had made him different from Ahab, though he only just escaped with his life.
And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, this day of the word of Jehovah.
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, has just pledged himself and his people to Ahab, king of Israel, for the war at Ramoth-gilead. Only then does he ask Ahab to inquire of the Lord. Commentators ask what it means to seek the Lord after the decision is already made.
The request comes in the wrong order. Jehoshaphat bound himself to the war first and asked about it second. One writer adds that he dragged others in with him.
It was not enough for the king of Judah to put himself in a false position; he put the people of God in a false position too… Jehoshaphat's conscience clearly troubled him a little. After agreeing to be associated with Ahab, the king of Judah wants the mind of the Lord on the venture. He should have sought the mind of the Lord before agreeing to go to Ramoth-gilead.
C. H. Mackintosh hears a struggle behind the words, and turns the lesson on the reader:
Jehoshaphat did not yield to Ahab's pleading without a struggle. You can see conscience at work in the words, "Inquire first for the word of the LORD." But how useless was prayer for guidance! He had already said, "I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war." It is only solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have made up our minds. Yet how often we do so! How often do we decide on a course of action, and then go and ask the Lord about it!
The request is still a sign of life. Ahab tried to settle his guest with generosity.
Ahab knew him to be a child of God, and, to calm his conscience, had sheep and oxen killed for him in abundance. Ahab did not care what he did, so long as he could persuade Jehoshaphat to go with him to Ramoth-gilead. But all these sheep and oxen did not satisfy Jehoshaphat's conscience. He said to the king of Israel, "Inquire first for the word of the LORD."
H. L. Rossier weighs this unease against a gift only some believers have:
This is not the gift of distinguishing between spirits (1 Corinthians 12:10), which is not given to all. It is a sense which may be weak in a child of God, but it ought never to be missing in him. He feels ill at ease in a setting opposed to God. He feels ill at ease when he hears talk that claims to come from religious tongues but lacks the divine character.
Jehoshaphat asks Ahab to inquire. Ahab brings in prophets who say what he wants to hear.
The prophets knew that Ahab had set this project up himself, so they all agreed that he should go through with it. This was not inquiring of the Lord at all, but inquiring from men who were pleasing to him.
Darby weighs the alliance itself — who came to whom, and how little it cost Ahab:
It is Jehoshaphat who comes to Ahab, and not Ahab to Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat asks Ahab, as a favour, to consult the Lord… To please Jehoshaphat by speaking to him about the Lord was no more than decency required. But it was all that Ahab did for Jehoshaphat, except that he sent for Micaiah against his will.
Darby turns from Jehoshaphat to a mistake we repeat:
Sometimes we seek God's will, wanting to know how to act in circumstances where His only will is that we should not be there at all. If conscience were truly active, its first effect would be to make us leave. It is our own will which puts us there, and we would still like the comfort of God guiding us in a path we ourselves have chosen. This is a very common case.
The story does not end in disaster for Jehoshaphat. Commentators credit that to God, not to the king.
Strict justice would have let Jehoshaphat feel the full effect of his folly, but mercy triumphed. In his danger he cried to the Lord, and the Lord delivered him. He returned to his house in peace. But the Lord's reproof comes after His mercy.
- Order — He pledged first and asked second. Asking for guidance once we have made up our minds is "solemn mockery."
- Conscience — Jehoshaphat's unease was real. Ahab's feast could not quiet it, and that is why he asked at all.
- Discernment — Every child of God should feel ill at ease among religious talk that lacks the divine character. This is a sense, not a special gift.
- Source — Asking men who please us is not inquiring of the Lord. Ahab's prophets only echoed his plan.
- Mercy — God spared the king who had put himself where he did not belong. The reproof came afterwards.
And the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, and the Lord will give it into the king's hand.
Jehoshaphat had already promised Ahab his army before he thought to ask what God wanted. Ahab answered by gathering four hundred men who all said the same thing. Their message matched the plan the king had already made — which raises the question of what it means to "inquire of the Lord" at all.
Commentators read his words as a conscience stirring too late to change anything.
You can see conscience at work in the words, "Inquire first for the word of the LORD." But how useless was prayer for guidance! He had already said, "I am as you are, and my people as your people. We will be with you in the war." It is only solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have made up our minds; and yet how often we do so! How often do we decide on a course of action, and then go and ask the Lord about it!
The alliance itself had already erased the line between the two kings.
This alliance leads Jehoshaphat to declare that he, the godly king of Judah, is just like wicked Ahab. It makes him throw down the barrier separating the man of God from the world... Alliance with the world, we cannot repeat too often, makes us liable for its iniquity.
Ahab had no shortage of prophets, and they no longer spoke in Baal's name.
We see also the false prophets in power: Ahab had four hundred of them. We may remark also, that they made use of Jehovah's name, and no longer, as it appears, of Baal's... Outwardly the state of things is less offensive; but the heart of Ahab is unchanged.
Their sheer number is itself a puzzle.
Where did they come from when hardly a few isolated prophets could be found in all the territory of Israel? They were few, for only one prophet of the Lord was enough to make known His mind... They were now pretending to speak by the Spirit of God, whereas a lying spirit who served their own interests had taken hold of them. One can wear the uniform of a prophet of the Lord and be lying.
Their unanimous "Go up" was not revelation but calculation. They had read the king before they opened their mouths.
The prophets knew that Ahab had engineered this project and they therefore all agreed that he should go through with it. This was not at all inquiring of the Lord, but inquiring from men who were pleasing to him.
The same writer turns this directly on anyone who speaks in God's name today, and draws a simple rule from it.
There are such smooth talking prophets today who claim to be speaking for God, but are plainly lying! If we have God's clear word in the scriptures, we may declare this with full confidence, but if we do not, then let us not dare to speak as though representing Him. For this we shall have to give account to Him.
Numbers alone did not settle the matter. One writer traces the warning a true heart feels to something more basic than a spiritual gift.
A true heart has a spiritual sense that warns it, though it may not be able to explain why. It senses that certain spiritual displays do not have the Spirit of God behind them. This is not the gift of discerning of spirits (1 Cor. 12:10), which is not given to all, but a sense which, however weak it may be in a child of God, ought never to be missing in him... For him, one man truly separated to God would be enough to outweigh the other four hundred.
The four hundred were meeting a demand. Kelly ties the scene to a prophet's word about a people who ask for smooth messages:
So the case of Israel was as the prophet said: "they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD." They "say to the seers, 'Do not see,' and to the prophets, 'Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions'" (Isa. 30:9-10).
The appetite has its own penalty. Mackintosh asks what a man who has already made up his mind should expect to get.
Instead of getting the guidance we claim to be asking for, may we not rather expect a lying spirit to be sent out to us? (verse 21)
- Order — Guidance you ask for after you decide is not guidance. Jehoshaphat asked about a war he had already agreed to fight.
- Company — The alliance came first; the bad counsel followed. Alliance with the world makes you liable for its wrongdoing.
- Costume — Four hundred men used the Lord's name and prophesied lies. The right vocabulary is no proof of the right spirit.
- Count — Full agreement proves nothing. One prophet truly separated to God outweighs four hundred agreeable voices.
- Consequence — A heart set on its own course may get a lying spirit for an answer. What you want to hear can become the judgment you receive.
But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah besides, that we might inquire of him?
Jehoshaphat, the godly king of Judah, sits beside Ahab of Israel while four hundred prophets shout one united "Go." Something in him is not satisfied, so he asks for one more voice — after the decision is already made.
He asks out of discomfort, not clear knowledge. One writer explains what that discomfort is:
Jehoshaphat is uncomfortable. There is a spiritual sense that warns a true heart, though perhaps it cannot explain itself, that certain spiritual displays do not have the Spirit of God as their source. This is not the gift of discerning of spirits (1 Cor. 12:10), which is not given to all, but a sense which, however weak it may be in a child of God, ought never to be missing in him. He feels uncomfortable in a setting opposed to God. He is uncomfortable hearing talk that claims to come from religious lips but lacks the divine character... One man truly separated to God would be enough for him, to counterbalance the other four hundred.
But feeling is not the same as acting. Another commentator weighs the man exactly:
Jehoshaphat had godly sensitivities, but he lacked godly energy. Through vanity he fell into serious sin. First he joined himself with Ahab, king of Israel; then he went with Ahab to the battle. But still, he had sensitivities that were spiritual and of divine workmanship. For among the prophets of Baal, he was not at ease. He had a witness inside him that this would not do.
The four hundred were not prophets of Baal. They spoke in the Lord's name:
Everything of God, and therefore good, is counterfeited by Satanic power... In the days of Ahab, even after the destruction of the prophets of Baal, there were about four hundred prophets luring Ahab to his death. Against them stood one prophet, Micaiah the son of Imlah, who told him the truth. And all these prophets spoke not in the name of Baal but said, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king."
The wording gives Jehoshaphat away. Older translations read "a prophet of the LORD besides," with a margin note "yet one more." That little word grants the four hundred a standing they never had:
Jehoshaphat should not have even appeared to acknowledge them as prophets of the Lord. But he clearly did, by saying, "Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides" (or, as the margin reads, "yet one more?"). Had he been faithful to the Lord, he would at once have denied the right of these false prophets to give counsel. But he was giving full support to the religion of the world, and to these its ministers. He could not bring himself to hurt Ahab's feelings by dealing faithfully with his prophets.
Jehoshaphat had already promised Ahab his people before he asked for the word of the Lord. That order empties the question:
It was not without a struggle that Jehoshaphat gave in to Ahab's requests. His conscience was at work in the words, "Inquire first of the word of the LORD." But how useless was prayer for guidance! He had already said, "I am as you are, my people as your people; we will be with you in the war." It is only solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have made up our minds; and yet how often we do it!
Jehoshaphat asked for a true prophet — and then still rode out with Ahab. Note who ends up following whom:
The man of God kept himself apart from the four hundred prophets. That was a good example for the king of Judah, who had joined himself to the godless king. The very sad but necessary result of this alliance is that he follows Ahab instead of following Micaiah. Such is the effect of "evil companions" upon the believer. You never see the opposite effect, that is to say, the world following the example of God's children. Someone has said well: "There is no equality in an alliance between truth and error. For by the alliance itself, truth stops being truth and error does not become truth."
Still, the question itself was God's kindness to him. Its outcome shows what compromise costs a believer's judgement:
How good the Lord was to put it into the king of Judah's heart to seek counsel from a prophet of Jehovah! Through it he might have learned about the judgments that were going to happen, and been able to warn his people. But alliance with evil blinds to such a degree that Jehoshaphat did not discern that Micaiah was a true prophet of Jehovah.
- Unease. A true heart feels that religious talk lacks God's character, even when it cannot say why. That sense should never be missing in a believer.
- Question. Asking for one prophet of the Lord was God's kindness to him. Four hundred voices, all speaking in the Lord's name, proved nothing.
- Concession. The word "besides" gave the false prophets a standing they never had. Jehoshaphat would not hurt Ahab's feelings.
- Too late. Asking for guidance after the decision is made is mockery, not prayer.
- Outcome. Truth and error never meet as equals. Jehoshaphat followed Ahab instead of Micaiah — feeling without the energy to act.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Jehovah; but I hate him, for he prophesies no good concerning me, but evil [it is] Micah the son of Imlah. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
Ahab admits that a prophet of the LORD is within reach, then admits in the same breath that he hates him. His reason is not that Micaiah lies, but that Micaiah never says anything pleasant about him.
Ahab does not dispute that Micaiah speaks for God. His objection is to what God says through him.
He hated him, and he also hated everyone who announced the Lord's judgment on him. He wanted the prophet to "prophesy good concerning him." That will always be the character of the religious world.
One writer names the trait that made Micaiah unbearable at court.
It speaks of Micaiah, the man that the wicked king could not endure because he never had a good thing to say to him. That is, Micaiah was not a flatterer. Kings do not like any but flatterers as a rule, and this prophet greatly vexed the wicked king.
Later the king's men bring Micaiah in and press him to agree with the majority.
They told him that the prophets had all with one voice promised the king success, and they urged him to fall in line with them. He refused outright. "As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak," he firmly replied.
Jehoshaphat had asked for the word of the LORD. Ahab produced four hundred men who told him what he wanted to hear.
It is only solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have made up our minds. Yet how often we do it! ... Ahab was at no loss for counsellors. He quickly "gathered together four hundred prophets." They were ready to advise him just as his heart wished. This was what he wanted. And we need not be surprised that Ahab was quite satisfied with prophets like these. They suited him well.
Note the numbers — and note whose name these false prophets used.
Everything of God, and therefore good, is counterfeited by Satanic power... Even after the prophets of Baal were destroyed, about four hundred prophets were luring Ahab to his death. Against them stood one prophet, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, who told him the truth. And all these prophets did not speak in the name of Baal. They said, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king" (1 Kings 22:12).
Ahab's confession was, in effect, a signal flare. Jehoshaphat heard it and stayed anyway.
Ahab's reply should have caused Jehoshaphat to withdraw from the venture... What an exposure of Ahab this was! He hated God's servant, because the word of the Lord through Micaiah was always evil in his sight.
Jehoshaphat does not let those words pass. He answers Ahab in one short sentence.
Honest Jehoshaphat cannot bear these words. He is used to respecting every word that comes from the Lord. "Let not the king say so!" he says.
Jehoshaphat had to choose whom to follow: Ahab or the prophet.
As you would expect, the man of God kept himself apart from the four hundred prophets. That was a good example for the king of Judah, who had tied himself to a godless king. The result of this alliance is sad, but it had to come: he follows Ahab instead of Micaiah... You never see the opposite happen — the world following the example of God's children.
Ahab had once bowed under God's judgment. One writer asks whether it lasted.
Unexpectedly, this man bowed before the announcement of divine judgment... Would this good action be followed up? Alas, we must note that there was not. In chapter 22 it was he again who hated and persecuted the prophet of the LORD. God made him perish by an arrow fired at random, which pierced him through a weak point in his armour. For a moment the fear of judgment seemed to have converted this man. But Satan managed to trap his prey and erase the effect of the Word of God.
- Hated, not doubted. Ahab never denies that Micaiah speaks for God. He hates him for what God says, and hates everyone who announces judgment on him.
- Flattery wanted. He wants good news about himself. So the one man who will not flatter becomes his enemy, and four hundred agreeable voices satisfy him.
- Counterfeit, not opposition. The false prophets do not speak in Baal's name; they use the LORD's name to lure him to his death.
- Warning refused. That open confession should have ended the alliance. Jehoshaphat objected to the words, yet followed Ahab and not the prophet — influence always runs that way.
- Arrow at random. The king who could not bear the word died by a chance shot, and his earlier sackcloth counted for nothing.
Then the king of Israel called a chamberlain, and said, Fetch quickly Micah the son of Imlah.
Ahab, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, has just admitted that one prophet of the Lord is still available — and that he hates him. Now he sends for him anyway, before the two kings go to war, which raises two questions: why was Micaiah not already there, and why the rush from a king who refused to listen?
Micaiah is not standing in the crowd of four hundred. He belongs to a small group in Israel who had not gone along with the nation's idolatry. His plain speaking cost him the king's favour — and his freedom.
Then in 1 Kings 21 we find faithful Naboth; and in 1 Kings 22 we have Micaiah the son of Imlah, whom Ahab hated for his outspokenness, and kept in prison. These are a few samples of the true-hearted minority living in the middle of apostate Israel.
One writer sees in Micaiah's distance a lesson Jehoshaphat, king of the southern kingdom of Judah, failed to learn.
Ahab has but one thought: to show proof of Micaiah's ill will toward himself. Promptly he has him sent for. The man of God naturally kept himself apart from the four hundred prophets. That was a good example for the king of Judah, who had joined himself to the godless king. The very sad but necessary result of this alliance is that Jehoshaphat follows Ahab instead of following Micaiah.
Ahab gave the order, but he had already decided to go to war. One writer weighs what such a consultation was worth.
Ahab's mind was made up, and the king of Judah was bound by his promise. It was no longer time to consult Jehovah. To ask after the truth, in a position like this, was only to learn a judgment they had already decided to treat with contempt. … To please Jehoshaphat by speaking to him of Jehovah was no more than decency required. But it was all that Ahab did for Jehoshaphat, except that he unwillingly sent for Micaiah.
The order came from Ahab, but the pressure behind it came from his guest.
Jehoshaphat is uneasy in this false position. At his request, Ahab sends for the prophet of Jehovah. But Ahab does not listen to him, and he has to meet the consequences.
Ahab already had four hundred prophets on hand. One writer asks where such a crowd had come from.
There were many of them. Where did they come from, when you could hardly find a few scattered prophets in all the territory of Israel? They were few, for only one prophet of the Lord was enough to make known His mind. These four hundred prophets of Ahab's — who were they? … They were now pretending to speak by the Spirit of God, while a lying spirit that served their own interests had taken hold of them. One can wear the uniform of a prophet of the Lord and be lying.
One reference work brings the contrast forward to Christians today.
Ahab's four hundred prophets, and Jehovah's one prophet, are an instance of the conflict of spirits which the Christian is now called upon to test.
The officer did more than deliver a message. He also told Micaiah what answer would be welcome.
Micaiah, the son of Imlah, was a prophet in the days of Ahab and well known to the king. He appears only once in the page of history: when Ahab sent for him, at King Jehoshaphat's request, so that they might learn from him the Lord's mind about their planned joint expedition to Ramoth-gilead. The messenger sent to summon him urged him to speak what was good — that is, pleasing to Ahab. The faithful servant of Jehovah replied, "As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak."
- Hated. Ahab knew where to find Micaiah, and he hated him. The prophet stood outside the royal circle because he spoke plainly.
- Summoned. The order was what politeness to a royal guest demanded, nothing more. Ahab's mind was already made up.
- Hurried. The hurry was not eagerness for God's mind. Ahab wanted to prove Micaiah's ill will, and he sent for him only to ignore him.
- Outnumbered. Four hundred agreeing voices proved nothing. One prophet was enough to make God's mind known, and a man can wear a prophet's uniform and still lie.
- Unmoved. The messenger pressed Micaiah to please the king. He would speak only what the Lord gave him — the test of spirits this scene still sets before believers today.
And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat each on his throne, in the open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
Two thrones stand side by side at the gate of Samaria. Both kings sit in full royal dress, and four hundred prophets prophesy in front of them. One of those thrones belongs to a godly king of Judah who has no business being there. The real question is not what the prophets said. It is how Jehoshaphat ended up sitting beside Ahab at all.
Jehoshaphat did not arrive at that gate by accident. He had already told Ahab that he was his equal and his partner. One writer marks that sentence as the moment the fence came down.
This alliance leads Jehoshaphat to declare that he, the godly king of Judah, is just like wicked Ahab. It leads him to throw down the barrier that separates the man of God from the world. Alliance with the world, we cannot repeat too often, makes us liable for its iniquity. Again and again the historical books show us this solemn truth. To join or work with a system that tolerates or accepts evil is to share the blame for that system.
The scene at the gate was not careless. Ahab knew his guest had scruples, and he planned ahead to settle them.
Ahab clearly had fears about Jehoshaphat's scruples of conscience, and he was ready to meet them. So he gave the feast for Jehoshaphat and his company a religious character (the word for "killed" is "sacrificed"). A people or a church that has turned away from God will go to almost any length of seeming compromise. They want to lure the faithful into fellowship or alliance with them.
The men prophesying before the two thrones spoke in the name of the Lord. One writer asks who they really were.
These four hundred prophets of Ahab's — who were they? Could they perhaps have been the four hundred prophets of Asherah, the goddess, in disguise — men who had not been destroyed at the Kishon? This is quite likely! Whatever the case, if they were the same men, they had changed their dress to suit the circumstances. They were now pretending to speak by the Spirit of God. In fact a lying spirit had taken hold of them, a spirit that served their own interests. One can wear the uniform of a prophet of the Lord and still be lying. How often this has been so in every age, and how much more so today.
Jehoshaphat asked for a true prophet only after he had given his word. One writer weighs what that late unease was worth.
Ahab's mind was made up, and the king of Judah was bound by his promise. It was no longer the time to consult the Lord. To ask after the truth in such a position was only to learn of a judgment they had already decided to despise. Ahab was more consistent than Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat's conscience only made everyone uncomfortable, and proved his own folly.
In his robes at the gate, Jehoshaphat looked every inch a king. One writer asks what he no longer looked like.
He let Micaiah go off to the prison of the king of Israel, while he himself went with that same king of Israel into battle. In that hour, who would have known him to be a saint of God?
The robes did not stay harmless. At Ramoth-gilead Ahab used them against him.
The two kings now go on to Ramoth-gilead, and Ahab's treachery and cowardice appear again. He cunningly disguises himself. At the same time he persuades the unsuspecting Jehoshaphat to go into battle in his royal robes. Base and contemptible trickery!
- Step: The throne at the gate was the end of a road, not the start of one. Telling Ahab he was just like him removed the barrier between the man of God and the world.
- Seat: Sitting there made Jehoshaphat share the blame. To work with a system that tolerates evil is to share in its evil.
- Show: The display was staged to soothe a believer's conscience. Those who have turned from God will go to almost any length of seeming compromise to draw the faithful in.
- Sound: Four hundred voices used the right name and wore the right uniform. A man can wear the dress of a prophet of the Lord and still be lying.
- Suit: The royal robes looked fine at the gate, yet they left Jehoshaphat unrecognisable as a saint of God. Later the same ally turned them against him.
And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron, and he said, Thus saith Jehovah With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have exterminated them.
A prophet stood before the king of Israel and put on a show with a pair of iron horns. The scene raises a hard question. How do you tell a message that carries God's name from a message that truly came from God?
Zedekiah did not just speak. He built a prop to persuade the eye as well as the ear.
We are told also that one false prophet had made horns of iron. They backed up his false message that Ahab would gore the Syrians until they were destroyed (v.11). But Jehoshaphat knew that these prophets were only Ahab's "yes men," with no authority to speak for the Lord at all.
The choice of image was not random. Horns carried a settled meaning for anyone watching.
People in the East wore them as a symbol of exaltation and power. The Lord was David's horn of salvation. He exalted the horn of His people, and broke the horns of the wicked. Ps. 18:2; Ps. 75:10; Ps. 148:14.
Notice whose name the promise carries. Ahab's court had left Baal's name behind and taken up one that sounded safer.
We see also the false prophets in power: Ahab had four hundred of them. We may remark also, that they made use of the Lord's name, and no longer, as it appears, of Baal's. Outwardly the state of things is less offensive; but the heart of Ahab is unchanged. Jehoshaphat is uneasy in this false position and asks for the prophet of the Lord. Ahab sends for him, but does not listen to him, and has to face the consequences.
The iron horns are copied craft. A false prophet works by resembling the real thing well enough to pass.
It was more popular to prophesy smooth things and lies. Nothing is so dear to the human heart as having God's approval on its own desires. So we see the popularity of the prophets who would say, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken. These prophets were not always inventing lies. But they corrupted the word of God and made it suit man's taste (2 Cor. 2:17). They had to imitate the real prophets in many of their expressions. Yet in the end they only produced their own empty speculations.
Ahab already knew what he wanted to hear. He gathered prophets like Zedekiah for cover, not for light.
It is only solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have made up our minds; and yet how often we do so! All this is wretched; it is only honouring God with the lips, while the heart is in outright rebellion against Him. Instead of the guidance we claim to be asking for, may we not expect a lying spirit to be sent to us? (verse 21) Ahab was at no loss for advisers. He soon "gathered together four hundred prophets." They were ready to advise him just as his heart desired: "Go up, for God will deliver it into the king's hand." This was what he wanted.
So how does a believer spot the fake? Often it starts as unease, not argument.
A true heart has a spiritual sense that warns it when certain spiritual displays do not have the Spirit of God behind them. It may not be able to explain why. This is not the gift of discerning of spirits (1 Cor. 12:10), which is not given to all. It is a sense that can be weak in a child of God, but it should never be missing in him. He feels ill at ease in a setting opposed to God. He is ill at ease when he hears talk that claims to come from religious tongues but lacks the divine character. He is ill at ease faced with boasting like this, here before the king of Israel.
The man who mimed total victory appears again later. His own conduct settles who was moving him.
Zedekiah had played the leading role in this scene. He made himself horns of iron and said to the king: "With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed" (v. 11). This same Zedekiah strikes Micaiah on the cheek and says: "Where now did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?" (v. 24). He claims the Holy Spirit's direction and uses violence to prove it. In doing so he proves what spirit is driving him. He too would come under judgment when he would "go from chamber to chamber to hide" himself (v. 25).
- The prop. Zedekiah made iron horns to prop up a false message. Horns stood for exaltation and power.
- The name. The same men had dropped Baal's name and now spoke in the Lord's name. That made things look better, but Ahab's heart stayed unchanged.
- The imitation. These prophets copy the true prophet's words, even "Thus says the Lord." What they deliver is still their own speculation, shaped to man's taste.
- The audience. A king who has already decided gathers advisers who suit him. Asking for guidance after you have decided invites a lying spirit, not light.
- The exposure. The man with the horns struck the true prophet and claimed the Spirit for himself. That proved which spirit drove him, and judgment would find him hiding.
And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-Gilead, and prosper; for Jehovah will give it into the king's hand.
Four hundred prophets stand before Ahab, king of Israel, and all of them say the same thing: go to war at Ramoth-gilead and win. The verse raises a hard question. What do you do when every religious voice around you agrees, and all of them are wrong?
The danger in this message is not that it sounds pagan. It sounds like the word of God. Baal, the idol their king's house had served, is nowhere in it.
Satanic power counterfeits everything that is of God, and therefore good... In the days of Ahab things had reached such a point that Elijah could say, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men" (1 Kings 18:22). Even after the destruction of the prophets of Baal, about four hundred prophets were luring Ahab to his death. Against them stood one prophet, Micaiah the son of Imlah, who told him the truth. And all these prophets spoke not in the name of Baal. They said, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king."
Their number should have been the first warning.
There were many of them. Where did they come from, when hardly a few isolated prophets could be found in all the territory of Israel? They were few, for only one prophet of the Lord was enough to make known His mind... They were now pretending to speak by the Spirit of God, while a lying spirit that served their own interests had taken hold of them. One can wear the uniform of a prophet of the Lord and be lying.
Ahab was not looking for light. He was looking for agreement.
It is nothing but solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have already made up our minds. And yet how often we do it! How often do we decide on a course of action, and then go and ask the Lord about it!... Ahab was at no loss for counsellors. He quickly "gathered together four hundred prophets." They were ready to advise him just as his heart desired: "Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king." This was what he wanted. And we need not be surprised that Ahab was quite satisfied with prophets like these. They suited him well.
Their agreement carried no weight with Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah who had come with Ahab.
All the prophets agreed in telling Ahab that the Lord would deliver Ramoth into Ahab's hand. But Jehoshaphat knew that these prophets were only Ahab's "yes men," with no authority to speak for the Lord at all.
What made Jehoshaphat uneasy was an instinct, not an argument.
A spiritual sense warns a true heart that certain spiritual displays do not have the Spirit of God behind them. The heart may not be able to explain why... He feels ill at ease in a setting opposed to God. He feels ill at ease when he hears talk that claims to come from religious tongues but lacks the divine character. He feels ill at ease before boasting like the boasting that takes place here in front of the king of Israel... One man, truly separated to God, would be enough for him to counterbalance the other four hundred.
Micaiah traced this chorus back to its source. What he found turned Ahab's own religion against him.
He points out the satanic lying spirit that has taken hold of all the prophets to make Ahab go up to Ramoth. The Lord had said: "Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?" (v. 20). This was the judgment of God, prepared beforehand against Ahab. It was an indirect judgment: the demonic spirits he had worshipped became the instruments of their victim's doom.
The warning does not stay in Ahab's court. It reaches anyone who speaks in God's name today.
They already knew what Ahab wanted. They wanted to please him, with no concern for pleasing the Lord... There are smooth-talking prophets like this today. They claim to speak for God, but they are lying! If we have God's clear word in the Scriptures, we may declare it with full confidence. If we do not, let us not dare to speak as though we represent Him. For this we shall have to give account to Him.
- Borrowed voice. The four hundred never mention Baal; they promise victory in the Lord's name. Counterfeits of what is of God borrow God's own vocabulary.
- Wanted voice. Ahab wanted one answer, and four hundred men gave it to him. Asking for guidance after we have made up our minds is mockery.
- Unanimous voice. Their perfect agreement proved nothing. Jehoshaphat saw men with no authority to speak for God.
- Warned voice. A true heart can feel uneasy among religious talk that lacks God's character, even when it cannot explain why. One man separated to God outweighs four hundred.
- Hidden voice. Behind the flattery stood a lying spirit. The powers Ahab had worshipped became the tools of his own death. The safeguard is refusing to speak for God beyond His clear word.
And the messenger that went to call Micah spoke to him saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets [declare] good to the king with one assent let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak good.
Ahab's messenger meets Micaiah on the road to the palace. Before the prophet has said a word, the messenger tells him what to say: the other four hundred agree, so agree with them. The advice sounds friendly and sensible. It is also an invitation to lie, and it raises one question — who does a prophet answer to?
The messenger does not threaten. He advises. His whole argument is that everyone else has already settled the matter. One commentator sets the advice beside the answer it got:
The messenger who called Micaiah urged him to agree with the false prophets, because they were all agreed (v.13). But Micaiah told him that he would speak whatever the Lord told him to speak (v.14).
Ahab had already told Jehoshaphat why he left Micaiah out: this prophet never says anything pleasant about him. One commentator finds the same taste for flattery across the religious world:
He hated him, and he also hated everyone who announced the Lord's judgment on him. He wanted the prophet to "prophesy good concerning him." This will always be the character of the religious world. The people in it choose teachers to suit their own desires. Such teachers call them brothers, just as Ahab himself called Ben-Hadad "My brother." They flatter them, they praise the world these people live in, and they promise them success and prosperity.
Their agreement was easy to explain. It had nothing to do with hearing from God:
But they already knew what Ahab wanted and they wanted to please him rather than have any concern for pleasing the Lord. There are such smooth talking prophets today who claim to be speaking for God, but are clearly lying! If we have God's clear word in the Scriptures, we may declare it with full confidence. If we do not, we must not dare to speak as though we represent Him. For this we shall have to give account to Him.
The messenger's case rests on the standing of the four hundred — they are prophets, and they speak in the Lord's name. One commentator questions that standing:
They were now pretending to speak by the Spirit of God, whereas a lying spirit who served their own interests had taken hold of them. A person can wear the uniform of a prophet of the Lord and still be lying. How often this has been so at all times, and how much more so today.
Jehoshaphat felt uneasy in that room, though he could not say why. One commentator describes that instinct:
There is a spiritual sense that warns a true heart, though it may not be able to explain itself, that certain spiritual displays do not have the Spirit of God as their source. This is not the gift of discerning of spirits (1 Cor. 12:10), which is not given to everyone. It is a sense which, however weak it may be in a child of God, should never be missing in him.
The messenger only asks for a small change of tone. One commentator states the servant's rule in both directions:
It is unworthy of a servant to cut down the Master's message. Only let him take care that he adds nothing to His words, and nothing to the tone in which they should be delivered. Much depends on this, above all when dealing with others.
Anyone who wants to stay on good terms with people who reject the truth feels the same pressure. One commentator names the motive behind such softening:
People say, "We must be broad-minded." "We must not hurt people's feelings." "There are good men everywhere." But truth is truth. We are not to put error in the place of truth, or truth in the place of error. Nothing but a secret desire to stand well with the world will ever lead to this careless method of dealing with evil. Now, if we want to stand well with the world, let us do it at our own charges, and not at the expense of God's truth.
Numbers are the whole weight of the messenger's argument. People still use that argument today. One writer answers it head-on:
Someone may say, "Are you alone right, and everyone else wrong?" I reply, "Thank God, I am not alone in this. But if I were alone, I would rather be alone in the truth than with a crowd in error."
- Pressure. The messenger's whole case is that the other prophets agree. He asks Micaiah to match them and say what pleases the king.
- Appetite. Ahab wanted a prophet who would speak well of him. People still choose teachers who flatter them and promise them success.
- Costume. The four hundred wore the dress of prophets and used the Lord's name; a man can wear that uniform and still be lying.
- Rule. A servant who trims the Master's message to fit the hearer is unworthy of the Master. Truth bent to suit the hearer is no longer truth.
- Stand. Numbers settle nothing. Better to stand alone in the truth than in a crowd that is wrong. That is what Micaiah does next.
And Micah said, As Jehovah liveth, even what Jehovah shall say to me, that will I speak.
Four hundred prophets have already told King Ahab he will win the battle. The officer sent to fetch Micaiah urges him to agree with them — and Micaiah answers with an oath.
Micaiah was not the first prophet Ahab hated.
Wicked King Ahab, as we might well expect, had no love for Elijah or any other of the Lord's faithful prophets. "Troubler of Israel," "My enemy," he calls Elijah. "I hate him," he frankly says of Micaiah the son of Imlah. Through Elijah's prayers rain and dew had ceased for three and a half years in Israel. Elijah did not hesitate to rebuke Ahab and pronounce God's judgment on him. Micaiah the son of Imlah was cut from the same cloth. He was told that "the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king." He was advised to fall in line with them, but he flatly refused.
Ahab's hatred had a reason, and commentators say it is a common one.
He hated him, and he likewise hated all those who pronounced the Lord's judgment on him. He wanted the prophet to "prophesy good concerning him." Such will always be the character of the religious world. Those who belong to it choose teachers to suit their own desires — teachers who praise them, praise the world they live in, and promise them success and prosperity.
The taste was not the king's alone. Commentators tie it to Isaiah's words about the whole nation:
So the case of Israel was as the prophet described it — "a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD." They "say to the seers, 'Do not see,' and to the prophets, 'Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions'" (Isa. 30:9-10).
The oath promises more than sincerity. Set beside what Balaam and David said, it makes a claim about where the words themselves came from.
Take this together with what we have read of Balaam and of David. Then we can be in no doubt about what Micaiah meant when he affirmed that the Lord spoke by him. Nor can we doubt what he intended the king to believe when he said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD." He spoke in words taught him by God. It was God's word that he uttered, and not just Micaiah's impression of something that had been revealed to him.
Micaiah kept clear of the four hundred. The visiting king of Judah did the opposite, and commentators weigh the cost:
As we would expect, the man of God kept himself apart from the four hundred prophets. That was a good example for the king of Judah, who had joined himself to the godless king. The result of this alliance is very sad, but it had to follow: he follows Ahab instead of Micaiah. Such is the effect of "bad company" on the believer. One never sees the opposite effect, that is, the world following the example of God's children. Someone has well said: "There is no equality in an alliance between truth and error. By the alliance itself, truth stops being truth, and error does not become truth."
Commentators set these bold prophets beside two believers who played it safe:
Elijah and Micaiah were bold and unflinching in their testimony. Ahab called Elijah "my enemy," and of Micaiah he said, "I hate him." It is really a compliment to be disliked by the wicked. "Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets" (Luke 6:26). Obadiah and Jehoshaphat were the opposite of Elijah and Micaiah. They were not bold and unflinching, but weak, and given to compromise for the sake of advantage. Ahab hated neither of these, for they were useful to him.
Micaiah kept his word, and he let the outcome test it.
Brought before the two kings, the faithful servant of the Lord delivered his message. His parting words to Ahab showed he knew he had been the mouthpiece of God: "If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me." Ahab did not return in peace, for the Lord had spoken by Micaiah.
- Pressure. The messenger asked only that Micaiah agree with the majority. He refused.
- Appetite. Ahab hated Micaiah because he wanted good words about himself. Commentators say the religious world always wants the same.
- Source. The oath claims more than honesty. He spoke words taught him by God, not his own impression of a revelation.
- Separation. Micaiah had kept apart from the four hundred. Truth joined to error stops being truth, and Jehoshaphat's alliance left him following Ahab, not the prophet.
- Proof. He staked everything on the outcome — and Ahab did not return in peace.
And he came to the king. And the king said to him, Micah, shall we go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he said to him, Go up, and prosper; for Jehovah will give it into the hand of the king.
Four hundred prophets have already promised Ahab victory at Ramoth-gilead, and now the Lord's prophet Micaiah says the same thing. Why would God's true messenger hand a doomed king the very words he wanted to hear?
Micaiah's reply matched the four hundred word for word, and the way he said it gave him away. Ahab reacted at once, putting him on oath to speak only truth.
Now the Lord's prophet is brought in, and in ironic agreement with what the time-serving four hundred had been saying, he too says, "Go, and prosper!" Ahab was quick to catch his irony, and put him under oath in the Lord's name to tell him nothing but the truth.
Ahab challenged Micaiah's answer. He never rebuked the false prophets who had said the same thing. One writer traces the difference to the power behind their words.
Ahab knew Micaiah was speaking sarcastically. He rebuked him for not telling the truth in the name of the Lord (v.16). Why did he not say the same to the false prophets? Because they spoke by the power of evil spirits and sounded convincing. Micaiah had no such power behind what he had said, and Ahab knew the difference.
Ahab's demand for truth was not faith. It was the working of a conscience he could not silence, even while he was hunting for a lie.
Micaiah wants what he is about to announce to be even more solemn. So at first he speaks just like the four hundred prophets: "Go up and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king" (v. 15). "How many times," Ahab replies, "shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?" (v. 16). Here we see what conscience is, even a hardened conscience. It speaks inside the heart, telling Ahab: what Micaiah is saying cannot be what he really thinks! And even though Ahab is looking for a lie, his conscience drives him to want the truth. He will not follow it or obey it. But the unease his conscience produces gives him no rest. It stops only when he hears the truth, knows it, and sees it — like a murderer drawn back against his will to the scene of his crime.
One writer connects the scene to Isaiah's words about the nation. Israel told its prophets what it wanted to hear.
This was the state of Israel, as the prophet says — "a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the instruction of the LORD." They "say to the seers, 'Do not see,' and to the prophets, 'Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions'" (Isa. 30:9-10).
Jehoshaphat's request to consult the Lord came once he had already committed himself to the war. That is what makes the inquiry hollow.
Micaiah, when he arrives, announces disaster. But Ahab's mind was made up, and the king of Judah was tied by his promise. It was no longer the time to consult the Lord. To ask after the truth in such a position was only to learn of a judgment they had already decided to despise. Ahab was more consistent than Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat's conscience only made everyone uncomfortable and proved his own folly.
The alliance cost Jehoshaphat his voice, and one writer draws a warning from it.
Poor Jehoshaphat has to watch this. He is powerless to support the servant of his God, and unable to hold back the evil of the ungodly man who had drawn him into alliance. What a solemn warning for every servant of the Lord. If we get into associations with the men of this world, we will be powerless to speak against their evil or to speak for the Lord.
The help in this alliance only ever ran one way.
Jehoshaphat helped Ahab against Syria. But neither Ahab nor his son helped Jehoshaphat in a single thing, except to be unfaithful to the Lord.
- Irony. Micaiah gives Ahab the answer he wanted. His sarcasm made it plain that the words were empty.
- Exposure. By echoing the false prophets, he exposed them. Ahab's protest admitted that what sounded good was not the truth.
- Conscience. Ahab hunted for a lie, yet he demanded the truth. Even a hardened conscience gives its owner no rest.
- Appetite. Israel asked its prophets for smooth words. A people who want good news will always find prophets to supply it.
- Consequence. Truth asked for too late only announces a judgment already despised. Jehoshaphat, tied to Ahab, could not even defend the man who spoke it.
And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but truth in the name of Jehovah?
Micaiah has just repeated the four hundred prophets word for word — "Go up and triumph" — and Ahab hears the mockery in it. So the king who hates this prophet demands an oath: nothing but the truth, in the name of the LORD — a strange demand from a man already set on war.
Micaiah's first answer was not a lie but a mirror. He gave Ahab the same words the four hundred had given him, and the tone gave it away.
Now they bring in Jehovah's prophet. In ironic agreement with the four hundred, who had been saying whatever pleased the king, he too says, "Go, and prosper!" Ahab was quick to catch his irony. So he adjured him — put him under oath — in Jehovah's name, to tell him nothing but the truth.
The demand condemns the king out of his own mouth. He never once challenged the four hundred for the same words.
But Ahab told Micaiah that he should only speak truth in the name of the Lord. Ahab knew the difference between the prophets. Yet he must have realized that none of them had spoken truth in that name — since Micaiah had said the same as they did.
Ahab's insistence is not faith. It is a conscience he cannot silence, even while he hunts for a lie.
We see here what conscience is, even a hardened one. It speaks within the heart, telling Ahab: What Micah is saying cannot be his own opinion! And even though Ahab is looking for a lie, his conscience forces him to want the truth. He will not follow it or obey it. But his conscience leaves him so uneasy that he gets no rest until he hears, knows, and sees the truth. He is like a murderer who is drawn back to the scene of his crime in spite of himself.
Ahab wants the LORD's name attached to the answer. But that name was already in the mouths of the men who told him what he wanted, and both kings had committed themselves before they asked.
In short, Jehovah's name is in the mouth of the false prophets. Micaiah arrives and announces disaster. But Ahab had made up his mind, and the king of Judah was bound by his promise. It was no longer the time to consult Jehovah. In a position like that, asking after the truth only meant learning a judgment they had already decided to treat with contempt.
Ahab demands truth here. Yet he hated Micaiah for one reason: the man never said anything pleasant.
He hated him, and he likewise hated all those who pronounced the Lord's judgment upon him. He wanted the prophet to "prophesy good concerning him." Such will ever be the character of the religious world.
Commentators connect the whole scene to a settled national habit, described long before by another prophet.
This was the case of Israel, as the prophet said — "they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD; who say to the seers, 'Do not see,' and to the prophets, 'Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions'" (Isa. 30:9-10).
Ahab put Micaiah under oath. Micaiah had already bound himself before he entered the room, and he staked his name on what he said.
The messenger sent to fetch him urged him to say what was good — that is, pleasing to Ahab. The faithful servant of Jehovah replied, "As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak." … His farewell words to Ahab showed he knew he had been the mouthpiece of God: "If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me." Ahab did not return in peace, for the LORD had spoken by Micaiah.
Jehoshaphat had asked for a prophet of the LORD. He then had to stand and watch what Ahab did with him.
Angered at the word of the Lord, Ahab insults His servant and sends him to prison to be afflicted. Poor Jehoshaphat has to watch it. He is powerless to support the servant of his God, and unable to hold back the evil of the godless man who had drawn him into alliance with him. What a solemn warning for every servant of the Lord. If we get into associations with the men of this world, we shall be powerless to speak against their evil or to speak on behalf of the Lord.
- Truth mocked — Micaiah echoed the four hundred word for word, and Ahab's protest showed he had never believed them either.
- Truth demanded — even a hardened conscience cannot rest. Ahab hunted for a lie, yet could not stop until he had heard the truth.
- Truth unwanted — Ahab hated a prophet who never said anything pleasant. He wanted smooth words with the LORD's name on them.
- Truth too late — Ahab asked only after his mind was fixed, so the answer could be nothing but a judgment he had already decided to despise.
- Truth costs — Micaiah needed no oath and went to prison for it. Jehoshaphat, bound to the wrong partner, heard the truth and could do nothing.
And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And Jehovah said, These have no master let them return every man to his house in peace.
Ahab sends for Micaiah with one question: should he go to war? Micaiah answers with a picture of a flock scattered on the hills, and with a word from the Lord that ends Ahab's place over the people.
Ahab already had four hundred prophets telling him to go. Still he could not rest until Micaiah gave him the truth.
To make his message even more solemn, Micaiah at first speaks just like the four hundred prophets: "Go up, and prosper; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king." Ahab replies, "How many times shall I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?" We see here what conscience is, even a hardened one. It speaks within the heart, telling Ahab: what Micaiah is saying cannot be his real opinion! And even though Ahab is seeking a lie, his conscience forces him to want the truth. He will not follow it or obey it, but the unease his conscience produces gives him no rest until he hears, knows, and sees it.
Notice what is missing from Micaiah's answer. He never names the winner.
Micaiah now spoke by the power of the Spirit of God. His message was far from welcome to Ahab: "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 home in peace.'" He said nothing about the battle, or whether Israel or Syria would win. He said only that Israel would lose its leader. Of course this pointed to the death of Ahab.
The word is not sentimental. In the Old Testament it is the regular title for the man on the throne.
All Israel were the sheep of one flock, and the king was their recognised shepherd (1 Kings 22:17; Ezek. 37:24). So for the Messiah to be a shepherd fits Old Testament teaching. God will make this good for the godly remnant in a coming day.
The vision has a cause. Look at the king himself.
Such was the wretched Ahab — wretched, though he had a crown and a sceptre. He cared neither for God nor for his people. In what he said and did here, we find as little about Israel as about God. There is not one word about the people God had put in his care. After God, they should have been his great concern.
Moses had dreaded this very thing for Israel. The failure was not on God's side.
The very thing Moses dreaded came upon the sheep. It was not that God had stopped honouring what His servant asked. It was that He could not overlook the sinful practices, in a later day, of their shepherd, King Ahab… And in Ezekiel we find God had a controversy with both the shepherds and the sheep. He exposes their sins and threatens judgment. Then He shows His compassion for the weak remnant of the flock in the most touching way possible: "Because there was no shepherd… I will save My flock… And I will set up one shepherd over them, My servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd."
Centuries later, God kept that promise.
The Lord had come to fulfil Ezekiel's prophecy: "I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out." He found them where Ahab had left them. He came to bring them back to God — not only Jews, but Gentiles too, forming "one flock," with "one Shepherd."
Micaiah paid for his words, and Jehoshaphat said nothing.
Even a prison sentence did not intimidate Micaiah. He insisted, "If you ever return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me." He also appealed to everyone present: "Take heed, all you people." Why did Jehoshaphat at least not reason with Ahab about his unjust treatment of Micaiah? Because his alliance with Ahab had already compromised righteousness. Evil associations will always rob us of courage of faith.
- One title. In Old Testament language the king is the flock's shepherd. So "no shepherd" and "no master" are one verdict: Ahab's rule is over.
- One silence. Micaiah names no winner. He says only that Israel will lose its king — a warning of Ahab's death.
- One failure. The flock scattered because its shepherd cared neither for God nor for the people God gave him.
- One Shepherd. What Moses feared and Micaiah saw, Ezekiel answered: God would set up one Shepherd. Christ found the sheep where Ahab had left them, and gathered Jews and Gentiles into one flock.
- One voice. Micaiah spoke the truth and went to prison. Jehoshaphat said nothing: his alliance with Ahab had already cost him the courage of faith.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he prophesies no good concerning me, but evil?
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And he said, Hear therefore the word of Jehovah I saw Jehovah sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him, on his right hand and on his left;
Two kings sit on thrones at the gate of Samaria, and Micaiah answers them by describing a third throne — the one they cannot see. His vision explains why four hundred prophets all agreed, and why Ahab was about to ride to his death believing them.
Before the vision, Micaiah tells Ahab to hear the word of the LORD. One writer weighs what that claim means.
It is not hard to see what Micaiah meant when he said that the Lord spoke by him, or what he wanted the king to believe when he said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD." He spoke in words taught to him by God. What he said was God's own word. It was not merely Micaiah's impression of something God had revealed to him.
The vision does not feed curiosity. God showed it to a king who had already heard the warning and turned it down.
Ahab was set on attacking Ramoth-gilead, and he refused the prophet's warning. So Micaiah was allowed to pull the curtain back for a moment. The stubborn king could then see that spirits were luring him to his destruction by working on the minds of his fawning advisers… So the disastrous campaign that cost Ahab his life was talked over and settled in the spirit world. An evil angel dragged the stubborn king down to ruin — a king who had long since turned his back on his Creator.
Who makes up the host standing at His right and left? One writer answers from the meaning of the word used for them.
Both the Old and New Testaments are full of passages about the existence, personality, and ministry of angels. They are called "messengers" — that is what the word means in both Hebrew and Greek — and there is no doubt that they are heavenly messengers. Their home is heaven, and they are there as worshippers and servants of God… "I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside Him on His right hand and on His left" — they are grouped around His throne, ready to do His will.
What makes this vision hard is that the group around the throne is not made up only of holy beings.
He had seen the Lord on His throne and all the host of heaven standing by. It may seem strange that this included evil spirits. But God is in perfect control of satanic powers as well as all other powers.
The Lord's question in the vision is not a search for information. It is part of a judgment already decided.
He points out the satanic lying spirit that has taken hold of all the prophets in order to make Ahab go up to Ramoth. The LORD had said: "Who will entice Ahab so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?" This was the judgment of God, prepared in advance against Ahab. It was an indirect judgment: the demonic spirits he had worshipped became the instruments of their victim's doom.
So why did the lie succeed? One writer links it to a pattern that appears elsewhere in Scripture.
It shows that the Lord allows evil spirits to do their evil work of lying, so that godless people will be deceived. 2 Thessalonians 2 shows the same folly. There the Lord sends a strong delusion through the antichrist, and people fall for it because they refuse to believe the truth of God. So, because Ahab had refused God's Word, he would accept the falsehood of Satan's prophets.
That leaves a practical problem. When voices disagree, how does a believer tell them apart?
Ahab's four hundred prophets, and Jehovah's one prophet, are an instance of the conflict of spirits, which the Christian is now called upon to test.
- Throne. Above the two kings on their thrones stands a higher throne. Micaiah sees the Lord seated, with the host of heaven around Him, ready to do His will.
- Word. Micaiah does not offer an impression of a revelation — he speaks the word of the LORD in words taught him by God.
- Control. The gathering around that throne includes evil spirits, and even they act only within God's perfect control.
- Judgment. The lying spirit was no accident. It was a sentence already prepared. The demons Ahab had worshipped became the instruments of his own ruin.
- Test. Ahab refused God's word, so a lie took its place. Four hundred voices agreed; one man told the truth. Christians must still test the conflict of spirits.
and Jehovah said, Who shall entice Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead? And one said after this manner, and another said after that manner.
Micaiah answers Ahab's war plan with a vision, not advice. He sees the Lord on His throne, the host of heaven around Him, and a question put to that assembly about the king of Israel's death at Ramoth-gilead. Two hard questions follow. Why is God arranging Ahab's downfall? And how can a holy God accept a plan to deceive?
What looked like a king's decision in a palace had already been settled somewhere else.
Ahab — Israel's wicked and stubborn king — wanted to go to war with Syria to win back Ramoth-Gilead. Faithful Micaiah was brought out of prison, and in a few words he described a scene in heaven. The Lord sat on His throne, surrounded by the host of heaven. His patience with Ahab had now run out. So He called for a volunteer to move the doomed man to go to war and be ruined. After much discussion, a spirit proposed to go down and put a lie in the mouths of all the King's prophets. "Go out and do so," said the great God. No words can say how solemn this is. Israel's war with Syria was arranged in the spirit world, as many wars have been since.
God does not ask whether Ahab should fall. He asks who will bring him there. The spirits answer with one suggestion after another, and the plan that wins works through the very powers Ahab had worshipped.
This was the judgment of God, prepared in advance against Ahab. It was an indirect judgment: the demonic spirits he had worshipped became the instruments of their victim's ruin.
The host standing around God's throne is not made up only of holy angels.
He had seen the Lord on His throne and all the host of heaven standing by. It may seem strange that this included evil spirits, but God is in perfect control of satanic powers as well as all other powers.
God's control over such spirits works in two ways, and it matters which one falls on a person.
A "messenger of Satan" may be sent out from the presence of God against either the body or the heart of a man. An evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, and a lying spirit came upon the prophets of Ahab. 1 Sam. 16; 1 Kings 22. The Lord was beginning solemn acts of judgment. So God sent these messengers of Satan against the hearts of those who were justly under judgment. But other messengers of Satan reach only the body or the circumstances, as with Paul and with Job. That is discipline only, and not judgment.
The deception did not arrive at random. It came to a man who had already made his choice about the truth.
This may seem a strange situation. But it shows that the Lord allows evil spirits to do their evil work of lying, so that godless people will be deceived. 2 Thessalonians 2 shows the same folly: people are deceived by the strong delusion the Lord sends through the antichrist, because they refuse to believe the truth of God. So, because Ahab had refused God's Word, he would accept the falsehood of Satan's prophets.
The lie went out through men who all claimed to speak for the Lord.
They were now pretending to speak by the Spirit of God. But a lying spirit that served their own interests had taken hold of them. One can wear the uniform of a prophet of the Lord and be lying. How often this has been so at all times, and how much more so today.
False prophets are not simply mistaken men.
The term "lying spirit" is significant… He left them — He handed them over as an act of judgment — to the power of Satan, so that they might lure Ahab to his destruction. But here is the point we want the reader to notice. It is a "lying spirit" that drives false prophets. They are not merely ignorant of the truth, following the bent and leaning of their own evil hearts. They are completely in the power and control of the evil one. There might be sincere men among them — men of thought and intellect, the leading minds of the time, "princes" of the age. But do not overlook this: whatever the world thinks of them, they are energised and led by a "lying spirit."
- Throne. The verse opens with God seated and governing. Ahab's war was settled in the spirit world before any army moved.
- Patience. God's patience with Ahab had run out. Only then did He call for a volunteer to bring the doomed king to war.
- Retribution. The spirits Ahab had worshipped became the tools of his own ruin. God judged him through what he had chosen.
- Consequence. Because Ahab refused God's Word, he took Satan's lie instead. 2 Thessalonians 2 shows the same pattern.
- Warning. A man can wear a prophet's uniform and speak the Lord's name, and still be driven by a lying spirit. Sincerity and reputation prove nothing.