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.
And there came forth a spirit, and stood before Jehovah, and said, I will entice him.
The prophet Micaiah has just described what he saw. The Lord sat on His throne, with the whole host of heaven standing on either side. The Lord then asked that court who would lure King Ahab to his death at Ramoth-gilead. Verse 21 is the answer. One spirit steps forward and offers to do it. That raises the hardest question in the chapter: how can a lie serve God's purposes?
Ahab had made up his mind and refused the prophet's warning. What Micaiah reports next explains the flattery Ahab was enjoying from his own advisers.
Ahab was determined to attack Ramoth-gilead, and he refused the prophet's warning. So Micaiah was allowed to pull the veil aside for a moment. The stubborn king could see that spirit activity was luring him to his destruction, working on the minds of his fawning advisers… The disastrous expedition that cost Ahab his life was discussed and settled in the spirit world. An evil angel dragged the stubborn king down to his ruin — a king who had long since turned his back on his Creator.
The spirit does not work in the dark. It steps forward in the open court of heaven and speaks in front of the Lord.
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 offer comes from the spirit, and God permits it. One writer sets this beside other times God used Satan for His own purposes.
Satan is a creature, so God can, and does, use him to carry out His wise purposes in His dealings with people. God permitted a lying spirit to lure Ahab on to his death at Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings 22:21-22). A messenger of Satan, a thorn in the flesh, battered Paul, so that he would not become proud (2 Cor. 12:7). Paul could hand a man over to Satan, so that he would learn not to blaspheme (1 Tim. 1:20).
Ahab had worshipped other spirits for years. Now the sentence falls through the very channel he had trusted.
The prophet does not stop there. 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 in advance against Ahab. It was an indirect judgment: the demonic spirits he had worshipped became the instruments of their victim's doom.
The deception worked because Ahab had already rejected the truth. One writer ties this to the delusion God sends on people who refuse to believe.
This shows that the Lord allows evil spirits to do their evil work of lying, so that ungodly people will be deceived. 2 Thessalonians 2 shows the same folly: the Lord sends a strong delusion through the antichrist to deceive people, because they refuse to believe the truth of God (vv. 6-11). So, because Ahab had refused God's Word, he would accept the falsehood of Satan's prophets.
The verse tells us that a spirit spoke and what it proposed. It does not tell us more, and writers are careful not to fill the gap.
We do not know the nature of this spirit, nor how he influenced the prophets.
The scene still teaches something plain. Prophets can agree, use the Lord's name, and still be lying.
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. How often this has been so at all times, and how much more so today.
- Refusal comes first. Ahab had already turned from God's Word. Because he refused the truth, he accepted the lie of his own prophets.
- Permission, not partnership. The spirit volunteers and God allows it. Paul's thorn followed the same pattern: an evil spirit is a creature God can use for His own wise purposes.
- The throne is above the plot. Micaiah sees the Lord seated and the whole host standing before Him, evil spirits included. God keeps perfect control of satanic power.
- The sentence fits the sin. The demonic spirits Ahab had worshipped became the instruments of his own doom. Judgment reached him through the channel he had chosen.
- The lesson is discernment. Scripture does not explain what this spirit was or how it worked. It does warn that a man can wear a prophet's uniform and still be lying.
And Jehovah said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt entice [him], and also succeed go forth, and do so.
Micaiah answered a king who wanted encouragement by describing a council in heaven. How can the God of truth send out a lying spirit, and still hold Ahab guilty?
Ahab was about to march on Ramoth-gilead. Micaiah's vision shows who really decided that war.
Jehovah sat on His throne, surrounded by the host of heaven. His patience with Ahab was now exhausted. He called for a volunteer who would make the doomed man willing to go to war to his own ruin. 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 a war has been since.
Ahab had worshipped demonic spirits for years. His judgment came through them.
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 so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?" 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.
Another writer links this scene with the strong delusion in 2 Thessalonians 2.
This may seem a strange situation, but it shows that the Lord allows evil spirits to do their evil work of lying, so that ungodly people will be deceived. In the same way, 2 Thessalonians 2 shows the folly of those deceived by the strong delusion. The Lord sends it through the antichrist, because people refuse to believe the truth of God. So, because Ahab had refused God's Word, he would accept the falsehood of Satan's prophets.
God asks the spirit by what means, and the spirit must answer. It acts only when God says go. One writer sets this beside other cases where God allowed an evil power to act.
Satan is a creature, so God can and does use him to carry out His wise purposes in His dealings with men. God permitted a lying spirit to lure Ahab on to his death at Ramoth-gilead. A messenger of Satan, a thorn in the flesh, buffeted Paul, so that he would not become proud. Paul could deliver a man to Satan, so that he might learn not to blaspheme.
The strangest part of the story is that Micaiah told Ahab the plan in advance. Ahab heard it and jailed him for it.
The Lord's prophet now sets before them his vision of a scene in heaven. He sees the lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab's prophets, luring him to his death. But this is more than Ahab can bear. He orders at once that they throw Micaiah into prison. There he is to live on the bread and water of affliction until the king returns from his campaign in peace. And Micaiah said, "If you return at all in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me."
These prophets did not speak in the name of an idol.
They were now pretending to speak by the Spirit of God. In fact 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 in every age, and how much more so today.
The majority was wrong, and the battle proved it.
Ahab disguised himself, but an arrow wounded him and he died. Ahab's four hundred prophets and the Lord's one prophet are an instance of the conflict of spirits. The Christian is now called upon to test that conflict.
- Refused truth. Ahab had already turned away God's Word; the lie he later swallowed was the harvest of that refusal.
- Given delusion. The spirits he had worshipped brought him down. The judgment matched the sin.
- Under permission. The lying spirit is only a creature. It must ask permission, and it works inside God's purposes, never outside them.
- Still warned. Micaiah told Ahab the plot to his face, and Ahab jailed him for it. The lie never cancelled his responsibility.
- Test the voices. Four hundred men used the Lord's name and lied; one man told the truth. Believers are called to test which spirit is speaking.
And now, behold, Jehovah has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and Jehovah has spoken evil concerning thee.
Micaiah has just told Ahab what he saw in heaven: a throne, an assembly, and a question about who would lure the king to his death. Now he says it plainly — the prophets Ahab liked to hear were lying, and God had already announced his ruin.
The verse pulls back a curtain. Two kings planned this war on earth. Another world had settled it first.
Ahab — Israel's wicked and wilful king — wanted to go to war with Syria to recover Ramoth-gilead. His misguided ally Jehoshaphat, king of Judah — godly but weak — wanted to know what the Lord would say about the plan. In time they brought faithful Micaiah out of prison, and in a few words he described a scene in heaven. The Lord was seated on His throne surrounded by the host of heaven. His patience with Ahab was now exhausted. He called for a volunteer who would push the doomed man into a war that would ruin him. A spirit then 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. Israel's war with Syria was arranged in the spirit world, as many a war since.
The lying spirit did not come out of nowhere. Ahab had a long history of refusing the truth.
Ahab's humiliation was soon forgotten; it bore no real and lasting fruit. In the next war with Syria we find him with false prophets again. He had gained nothing from the testimony given on Mount Carmel. There were four hundred false prophets and one true prophet. "But," says Ahab, "I hate him." This one prophet told the truth, and Ahab did not love the truth. God sends a lying spirit to him, proof that Ahab was given up. He loved a lie, and the lie led him to destruction.
God had prepared this judgment in advance. It came through the very powers Ahab had spent his reign serving.
The prophet does not stop there. 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, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?" 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 wording matters. God did not invent the lie; He left these men in the power of the one who did.
The term "lying spirit" is significant. In the scene already mentioned, the false prophets prophesy before Ahab and Jehoshaphat. Scripture says plainly that the Lord put a "lying spirit" in their mouths. That is, He left them, or as an act of judgment placed them, in the power of Satan, so that they might lure Ahab on to his destruction. But here is the point we want the reader to notice. A "lying spirit" drives false prophets. They are not just ignorant of the truth, following the bent of their own evil hearts. They are completely in the power and control of the evil one.
Ahab still had a conscience. Even a hardened man cannot silence it.
Here we see 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 looking for 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. He is like a murderer who is drawn back to the scene of his crime despite himself.
This was not a one-off. The same pattern returns at the end of the age.
The king of Israel was happy with what the lying prophets said. God punished Pharaoh by giving him up to a delusion, and He did the same to Ahab. The same thing will happen to many others at the end of this age. Men will preach "peace, peace," and judgment will break out on them. Here is a solemn truth. This is why we should first be very grateful that the Lord has revealed Himself to us. Then we should take care not to become like Jehoshaphat, who allied himself with Ahab.
The numbers matter. A majority voice is not proof of a true one.
Ahab's four hundred prophets and the Lord's one prophet are an example of the conflict of spirits. The Christian is now called on to test that conflict.
- Refused — Ahab had heard true warnings for years and hated the one prophet who gave them; he did not love the truth.
- Given — he loved a lie, so God gave him a lie and left the false prophets in the power of the evil one.
- Judged — the sentence came through the spirits he had worshipped; they became the instruments of his death.
- Warned — even so, Micaiah told him the truth to his face, and his conscience gave him no rest until he heard it.
- Tested — a majority proved nothing; believers must test the same conflict of spirits today.