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.
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.
Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micah upon the cheek, and said, Where now went the Spirit of Jehovah from me to speak to thee?
One of Ahab's four hundred prophets answers a message from God with his fist. The blow raises a lasting question. How do you tell a man who speaks by the Spirit of God from one who only claims to?
Zedekiah was not a bystander. He led the four hundred. Before Micaiah arrived, he had already acted out his message with a prop.
We are told also that one false prophet had made horns of iron to back up his false message that Ahab would gore the Syrians until they were destroyed (v.11). All the prophets were 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.
The slap was meant to settle who had the Spirit. It settled it — but not the way Zedekiah intended.
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 you have destroyed them" (v. 11). Now this same Zedekiah strikes Micaiah on the cheek and says: "How 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, but 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).
Zedekiah's words are an argument, not just an insult. He assumes the Spirit spoke through him. So, he says, the Spirit could not have spoken to Micaiah. King Jehoshaphat stood there and watched it happen.
What did Jehoshaphat think when Zedekiah spoke with contempt to Micaiah and even struck him on the cheek? Zedekiah claimed that he himself had spoken by the Spirit of the Lord, so how could the Spirit have spoken to Micaiah? (v.23). Such was the contemptible wickedness of a false prophet.
(Note: the original printing of this comment says "Hezekiah"; the king with Ahab was Jehoshaphat.)
Micaiah had already told the room what he saw. Zedekiah's confidence had a source, and it was not the one he named.
He points out the satanic lying spirit that has taken hold of all the prophets to make Ahab go up to Ramoth. Jehovah 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 struck prophet does not strike back. He keeps prophesying. He names the day when Zedekiah will get his answer.
Micaiah did not respond in anger to this injustice. He faithfully prophesied, "Indeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide" (v.25). Zedekiah would certainly remember these words when this prophecy was fulfilled. He would then be convinced of his own folly, whether he would repent or not.
A room with four hundred confident voices and one lone dissenter is not just ancient history. The battle settled who had told the truth, and commentators read the scene as a live warning about competing claims to speak for God.
Ahab disguised himself, but an arrow wounded him and he died. 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.
And the numbers in that room were not an accident of one bad day:
One must not believe every spirit; and, as we have often noticed, the false prophets are always more popular than the true ones. There were many prophets of Baal in the time of Elijah, and many are now gone out into the world.
- Claim. Zedekiah claimed the Spirit of the Lord for himself — the loudest voice in the room, with iron horns to prove it.
- Proof. He hit the man who contradicted him to prove the claim. Instead he showed which spirit was driving him.
- Source. A lying spirit stood behind his confidence. The demonic spirits Ahab had worshipped became the instruments of his own ruin.
- Answer. Micaiah did not hit back. He named the day when Zedekiah would hide in an inner room and get his answer.
- Test. Four hundred against one is a conflict of spirits. The popular voice was the false one. So test what claims to come from God; do not count heads.
And Micah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day when thou shalt go from chamber to chamber to hide thyself.
Micaiah has just told Ahab the truth about the coming battle, and one of Ahab's prophets answers with a slap and a sneer about the Spirit. Micaiah does not argue back; he points to the day when Zedekiah will be hunting for a place to hide.
Zedekiah had claimed to speak by the Spirit of the Lord. Watch what he does when someone contradicts 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 you have destroyed them" (v. 11). Now this same Zedekiah strikes Micaiah on the cheek and says, "Which way 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; but he only proves what spirit is urging him on. He too would come under judgment, when he would go from chamber to chamber to hide himself (v. 25).
H. L. Rossier (his translation reads "from chamber to chamber"; ESV has "into an inner chamber")
Zedekiah asked a question. Micaiah does not debate it — he sets a date for the answer.
Micaiah told him his question would be answered when he went into an inner chamber to hide himself.
What would those words mean to Zedekiah later?
But Micaiah did not respond angrily to this injustice. He faithfully prophesied, "Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself" (v. 25). Zedekiah would certainly remember these words when this prophecy was fulfilled. He would then be convinced of his own folly, whether he would repent or not.
Where did the four hundred prophets get their confidence? Micaiah had just traced it to its source.
So God, who is in perfect control of every matter, had put a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab's prophets. He had declared disaster against Ahab (v. 23). In this prophecy we see how God can use even those who are most opposed to Him to carry out His own ends.
Jehoshaphat was a godly king, and he stood in that room and said nothing.
Why did Jehoshaphat at least not reason with Ahab against his unjust treatment of Micaiah? Because he had already compromised righteousness by his alliance with Ahab, and evil associations will always rob us of courage of faith.
Another writer looks at what that alliance cost Jehoshaphat in the room, and what it costs us.
Jehoshaphat has to watch all this happen. He cannot support the servant of his God, and he cannot hold back the evil of the ungodly man who had drawn him into an alliance. 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 for the Lord. Truly the path of separation is the path of power. In it we have the divine strength to testify for the Lord, and to witness against the evil of the world.
How did it end for Ahab, and what does the scene leave for readers now?
Ahab disguised himself, but he was wounded by an arrow and died. 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 claim. Zedekiah claims the Spirit of the Lord speaks through him. The slap he gives shows what spirit is driving him.
- The silence. Micaiah does not answer anger with anger; he answers it with prophecy, and leaves the outcome with God.
- The day. Zedekiah's question gets its answer not in debate but in an event: the day he crawls into an inner room to hide.
- The memory. When that day comes he will remember these words and be convinced of his own folly — whether he repents or not.
- The warning. Jehoshaphat said nothing, because compromise had taken his courage. The path of separation is the path of power.
And the king of Israel said, Take Micah and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;
Micaiah has just told Ahab that his campaign at Ramoth-gilead will end in his death, and Ahab answers with an arrest instead of repentance. Two questions follow: what does it cost to speak for God to a man who will not hear, and can prison silence what God has said?
Micaiah's arrest is not an accident of politics. He had stood apart from Ahab's court and said what God had said. One writer reads this verse as the result of that faithfulness:
Let us consider especially the characters of Jehoshaphat and Micaiah. Micaiah was separated from Ahab and from Israel, which had turned away from God. He entered into God's thoughts, and he was declaring to Ahab and Israel the judgments that were ready to come upon them. Read verses 16-23. In verse 26 we see the consequences of his faithfulness: Ahab and Israel are his enemies, and he is put into the place of affliction.
Ahab's order is the act of a king who could not bear this prophet:
Micaiah was the man 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.
Ahab was content with the prophets who told him what he wanted to hear. One writer sees God's judgment already at work in that:
The king of Israel was satisfied with what the lying prophets said. As God punished Pharaoh by giving him up to a delusion, He did the same to Ahab.
Ahab himself had asked for a word from the Lord. He then sent the man who gave it to prison on bread and water until he should come home in peace. The threat did not bend Micaiah:
after
This was gross cruelty, for Ahab had asked Micaiah to give him the word of the Lord and Micaiah had done so. But even this sentence did not intimidate Micaiah. He firmly declared, "If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me." More than this, he appealed to everyone present, "Hear, all you peoples!"
Ahab ties Micaiah's release to his own safe return from battle. Locking up the messenger did nothing to the message.
In foolish pride Ahab commanded that Micaiah should be put in prison and fed only bread and water until Ahab returned in peace. Did he think such action would defeat the prophecy of Micaiah?
In fact the sentence worked against Ahab's purpose. The arrest gave Micaiah a platform and a hearing he would not otherwise have had:
Micaiah, like so many prophets and faithful servants of the Lord, is thrown into prison. He is cruelly persecuted for the truth he had proclaimed. But his testimony spreads, in that way becoming public, just as later that of Paul. He has the honour of speaking the mind of God as to the future to all: "Hear, all you peoples!"
Jehoshaphat, a godly king, hears Ahab give this order and says nothing. One writer traces his silence to his alliance with Ahab:
Poor Jehoshaphat has to witness this. He is powerless to support the servant of his God. He cannot restrain the evil of the godless man who had lured 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. Truly the path of separation is the path of power.
- Truth spoken. Micaiah stood apart from Ahab and said only what God gave him. This verse is what that cost him.
- Truth resented. Ahab could not stand him because he was no flatterer. The arrest is the act of a king already given up to a delusion.
- Truth punished. The king asked for the word, then jailed the man who brought it. Micaiah's release now hung on Ahab coming home in peace.
- Truth spread. Prison could not defeat the prophecy. It widened Micaiah's audience, so his message went out to all the people.
- Truth unsupported. Jehoshaphat watched in silence. His alliance with evil had already taken away his power to speak. The path of separation is the path of power.
and thou shalt say, Thus says the king Put this [man] in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.
Ahab asked Micaiah for the word of the Lord, and Micaiah gave it. The king's answer was a cell, bread and water, and a release date set by his own safe return. Can a prison silence the truth?
The punishment is out of all proportion to the offence, because there was no offence. Ahab himself had called for the prophet.
Ahab gave orders that Micaiah was to be put in prison on a diet of only bread and water until Ahab returned in peace. This was gross cruelty, for Ahab had asked Micaiah to give him the word of the Lord and Micaiah had done so. But even this sentence did not intimidate Micaiah.
The sentence was not a considered judgement. It came the moment the king had heard enough.
This is more than Ahab can bear. He orders at once that Micaiah be thrown into prison and fed with the bread and water of affliction. The prophet is to be held until the king returns from his expedition in peace.
Notice what Ahab assumes when he sets the length of the sentence. He dates the prophet's release from his own safe return home.
Did he think such action would defeat the prophecy of Micaiah?
Micaiah does not argue with the sentence. His whole record fits in a few lines, and it ends with the outcome Ahab has just named.
Micaiah, the son of Imlah, was a prophet in the days of Ahab, and he was well known to the king. He appears only once in the history: when Ahab sent for him, at King Jehoshaphat's request, so that they might learn from him the mind of the Lord about their planned joint expedition to Ramoth-gilead. The messenger who summoned him urged him to speak what was good — that is, what would please Ahab. The faithful servant of the Lord replied, "As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak." He was brought in before the two kings and delivered his message. His farewell words to Ahab showed that 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.
Ahab meant to shut the man away. Prison did something else to his message.
Micaiah, like so many prophets and faithful servants of the Lord, is thrown into prison. He is cruelly persecuted for the truth he had proclaimed. But his testimony spreads, in that way becoming public, just as later Paul's did. He has the honour of speaking the mind of God about the future to all: "Hear, all you peoples!"
Jehoshaphat sat beside Ahab through all of this. His friendship with Ahab had made him a spectator.
He became the friend and companion of Ahab, who hated Micaiah, the servant of God. He did not persecute the righteous witness himself, yet he still did what was bad. He sat beside Ahab and watched the Lord's prophet first struck and then put in prison. The prophet's only offence was that he would not tell a lie to please a wicked king and agree with four hundred wicked prophets. What must Jehoshaphat have felt when he saw his brother struck and imprisoned? Micaiah had faithfully testified against an expedition that Jehoshaphat himself was joining.
Another writer turns that helplessness into a warning for anyone who serves the Lord.
Poor Jehoshaphat has to watch this. He is powerless to support the servant of his God. He cannot restrain the evil of the ungodly man who had drawn him into this alliance. What a solemn warning for every servant of the Lord. If we tie ourselves to the men of this world, we will have no power to speak against their evil, or to speak for the Lord.
- Asked, then jailed. Ahab sent for the word of the Lord, then punished the man who gave it. Micaiah had done only what the king asked.
- Pride sets the date. Ahab dated the release from his own safe return, as if a prison could overturn what God had said.
- The word is testable. Micaiah staked his parting words on that same return. Ahab never came back in peace, so the Lord had spoken by him.
- Prison publishes. The persecution made the testimony public. Micaiah's message went out to all the people instead of dying in a corner.
- Silence costs. Jehoshaphat watched it all and said nothing. Ties with the world leave a believer powerless to speak against evil.
And Micah said, If thou return at all in peace, Jehovah has not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O peoples, all of you!
Ahab has just jailed the one prophet who told him the truth. Micaiah's parting words stake everything on one test that anyone can check, and then he turns from the throne to address the whole crowd.
Micaiah offers no argument. He names one event and lets it decide everything. Scripture itself gives this as the mark of a real messenger from God:
In fact, whether a prophet's words came true was the test of whether he was a genuine prophet (Deuteronomy 18:22).
One writer follows Micaiah's words through to what happened on the battlefield:
The messenger sent to fetch him urged him to speak what was good — that is, what would please Ahab. But the faithful servant of Jehovah replied, "As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak." They brought him in before the two kings, and he delivered his message. His farewell 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" (1 Kings 22:14, 28). Ahab did not return in peace, for the LORD had spoken by Micaiah.
The threat of the cell changed nothing in what Micaiah said:
This was gross cruelty, for Ahab had asked Micaiah to give him the word of the Lord, and Micaiah had done so. But even this sentence did not intimidate Micaiah. He firmly declared, "If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me." More than this, he appealed to everyone present, "Hear, all you peoples!"
Prison widened his audience instead of shrinking it:
Micaiah, like so many prophets and faithful servants of the Lord, is thrown into prison. He is persecuted with great cruelty for the truth he had proclaimed (verses 27, 28). But his testimony spreads, and in that way it becomes public, just as Paul's did later. He has the honour of telling everyone the mind of God about the future: "Hear, all you peoples!" (verse 28).
Jehoshaphat, the other king in the room, watched it all and said nothing. Commentators trace his silence to his alliance with Ahab:
Why did Jehoshaphat not at least reason with Ahab about his unjust treatment of Micaiah? Because he had already compromised righteousness by his alliance with Ahab. Evil associations will always rob us of courage of faith.
Another writer shows what that alliance cost Jehoshaphat as he stood there:
Poor Jehoshaphat has to watch all this. He is powerless to support the servant of his God. He cannot hold back the evil of the godless man who had drawn him into the alliance. What a solemn warning for every servant of the Lord! If we get into partnerships with the men of this world, we will be powerless to speak against their evil, or to speak for the Lord.
The closing appeal reaches past the two kings to the crowd. It is also a phrase that reappears at the opening of a later prophet's book:
It is very striking that the last words of this prophet Micaiah match the first words of Micah of Moresheth word for word: "Hear, all you peoples!" (Compare 1 Kings 22:28 and 2 Chronicles 18:27 with Micah 1:2.) So the second prophet Micah starts where the first one ended.
Ahab went to the battle anyway and trusted a disguise to keep him safe. That is where the chapter presses on every reader:
Ahab could not escape, despite all his precautions. He might have disguised himself from the Syrians, but he could not hide himself from God (verse 33). It is the same with poor sinners. Even if they manage to stay unseen by other people, the eye of God will find them. May the Lord make this example of use to us!
- Spoken — Micaiah makes no defence. He names one outcome, and a prophet's words coming true is the test of whether God has spoken.
- Sentenced — Prison and bread and water did not soften his message by a word. He repeated it on his way to the cell.
- Silent — Jehoshaphat watched the injustice and said nothing. He had already tied himself to Ahab, and wrong ties strip away the courage to speak.
- Spread — The effort to shut him up only made his testimony public. His closing call reached every listener, not just the king.
- Settled — Ahab's disguise hid him from the Syrians but not from God. He did not return in peace, so the LORD had indeed spoken by Micaiah.