And Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance; and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage.
Jehoshaphat had sought God, and God had made him rich and strong. One short sentence now sets that wealth beside a new family tie: a marriage alliance with Ahab, the idol-worshipping king of Israel.
The verse joins the two halves for a reason. Jehoshaphat's success is what made the alliance possible and appealing.
God had blessed him with prosperity because of his faithfulness. That prosperity made it worth someone's while to seek an alliance with him, and made him harder to attack. So, at ease, Jehoshaphat on his part joins himself to Israel. His prosperity put him in a position to do it in a way that made the alliance look honourable. When God does not keep the human heart, it can act generously toward evil it does not fear. But this is not love. Outwardly Jehoshaphat is faithful to the LORD, but the LORD's anger is on him.
The same man who leaned on God in weakness let go of Him in strength.
Some people find it easier to be brought low than to have plenty. David trusted God when men hunted him like a partridge on the mountains. When he lived at ease in Zion, Satan lured him into the foulest sins. Jehoshaphat counted on God when he was weak, saying, "We do not know what to do." When he was strong and rich, he joined himself to Ahab and helped the ungodly.
This was a family tie, not a treaty. Jehoshaphat's son married Ahab's daughter.
It was very sad that the godly king of Judah should be linked with the ungodly, idol-worshipping king of Israel. It was especially sad because the link involved the marriage of Jehoshaphat's son to the daughter of Ahab. That union would bring much sorrow to the house of David. Scripture does not tell us whether Jehoshaphat's family led him into his friendship with Ahab. Nor does it tell us whether his friendship with Ahab led to the marriage between Jehoram and Athaliah. But the Lord held Jehoshaphat responsible. He should have kept control of his household, and kept them, and himself, from any association with the idolatrous house of Ahab.
Jehoshaphat may have hoped his influence would lift Ahab. It went the other way, and his own words two verses later show it.
With what result? Did Jehoshaphat lift Ahab up to his own level, so that he could say with satisfaction, "You have become what I am"? Not at all; the very opposite. In verse 3 of the same chapter Jehoshaphat says, "I am as you are," and the admission brought no blush of shame to his cheek.
Those words carried a cost.
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 say it too often, makes us liable for its wrongdoing.
Later in the chapter Jehoshaphat asks for a prophet of the LORD. Micaiah brings him the truth, and he ignores it.
We should be very grateful that the Lord has revealed Himself to us. And we should take care not to become like Jehoshaphat, who "made a marriage alliance with Ahab." How good the Lord was to put it into the heart of the king of Judah to seek counsel from a prophet of the LORD! But alliance with evil blinds a person so much that Jehoshaphat did not recognise Micaiah as a true prophet of the LORD. He did not believe his word. Despite it all, he went up to the battle where Ahab was to meet God's judgment.
The consequences of this one verse run on long after Jehoshaphat's death.
Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram married Ahab's wicked daughter Athaliah (21:6). This was a fatal step for Jehoshaphat and for the house of Judah. It brought him into alliance with Ahab the wicked. He almost lost his life because of it, and only his prayer saved him (18:31). Athaliah brought the vile idolatries of Ahab into Judah (22:3) and became the murderer of the royal family (22:10-12).
The story does not end in ruin. God's word rebuked Jehoshaphat, and he responded.
Then in chapter 18 he made a marriage alliance with Ahab — a bad mistake with very unhappy results. But in the next chapter we find that he took the rebuke of the word of God to heart, and he brought the people back to the LORD God of their fathers.
- Riches opened the door. God's own blessing made a sinful alliance look respectable and safe.
- Marriage walked through it. Not a treaty but a family tie. The Lord held Jehoshaphat answerable for the household he failed to guard.
- Levelling followed. The godly king did not raise Ahab; he said "I am as you are," and the wall between the man of God and the world came down.
- Blindness came next. Joined to evil, he asked for a prophet, heard the truth from Micaiah, and marched to the battle anyway.
- Harvest came last. Athaliah brought idolatry and murder into David's line. Yet God's word rebuked Jehoshaphat, and he turned the people back to God.
And after [certain] years he went down to Ahab, to Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people that were with him, and urged him to go up against Ramoth-Gilead.
Jehoshaphat, the godly king of Judah, goes down to visit Ahab, a wicked and idolatrous king. Over a huge feast he agrees to fight Ahab's war. Commentators ask how a faithful man reaches this point, and why a feast did what an army could not.
One writer hears two meanings in the word "down," and then draws out the shock of what Jehoshaphat says when he arrives.
"After some years he went down" — yes, it was "down" morally, as well as geographically, "to Ahab in Samaria." It was a sad come-down for the godly king of Judah. Think of him saying to a wicked idolater like Ahab, "I am as you are." He not only puts himself down to Ahab's low level. He must also compromise his people, and say they were like Ahab's — and nearly all of Ahab's people were bowing the knee to Baal. Such conduct and language from a man like Jehoshaphat seems almost incredible. But "who can discern his errors?" — a man's own errors are often much harder to see than those of others.
Jehoshaphat had fortified his kingdom. He had not fortified his heart.
The devil uses Jehoshaphat's prosperity as a snare... The enemy comes at him in a way for which Jehoshaphat does not seem to have prepared himself; he does not attack his kingdom, he attacks his heart. He comes not as the lion, but as the serpent. Ahab's "sheep and oxen" prove more suitable and effective than Ahab's men of war. Had Ahab declared war against Jehoshaphat, it would only have cast him upon the Lord; but he does not. Jehoshaphat's kingdom is fortified against Ahab's hostilities, but his heart lies open to Ahab's allurements. This is truly solemn! We often make a great effort against evil in one shape, while we are allowing it to get in upon us in another.
Another writer traces the snare back to the blessing itself.
God had blessed him with prosperity because he was faithful. That prosperity made him worth allying with, and made him harder to attack. So, at ease, Jehoshaphat ties himself to Israel by marriage... The human heart, when it is not kept by God, can act generously toward the evil it does not fear; but this is not charity. Outwardly Jehoshaphat is faithful to Jehovah, but the wrath of Jehovah is upon him.
The ESV says Ahab "induced" Jehoshaphat; older translations read "persuaded." One writer builds on that word.
In Jehoshaphat's case, the results of his false steps did not show themselves until years later... Satan knows his ground. He knows where the seed of evil has taken root. He knows which heart is ready to respond to his temptation. He knew that the marriage tie the king of Judah had made with the king of Israel had prepared him for further steps downward. When a Christian links himself with the world, he lays himself open to be "persuaded" by the world. He is drawn into a course of action that is not Christian.
Ahab's feast looked like an honour. One writer asks who sought out whom, and what those animals were not.
If Ahab had come to Jehoshaphat to seek the ways of the Lord, that would have been a very different matter. But it grieved the Lord that a man who had been faithful to Him should seek the company of a wicked and idolatrous man like Ahab. Those who went down with Jehoshaphat were also involved in this fellowship with the ungodly. We do not know whether Ahab first offered to Baal the many sheep and oxen he killed for the feast. Of one thing we can be certain: they were not peace offerings to Jehovah.
Ramoth-gilead was no pagan shrine. That, one writer argues, is why it worked as bait.
Long before, Ramoth-gilead had been set apart as a city of refuge for anyone who had killed a man. Ahab's aim was to win this city back from the king of Syria. But behind this we can detect the snare of the enemy, who cared little about the city, provided he could thereby draw a child of God away from the path of purity and separation. The devil has always found religious and charitable objects most effective in their influence upon the people of God. He does not come at first with something openly ungodly... His way is to hold out some desirable object in the distance. He covers his schemes with the cloak of religion or good works, and so traps the believer. Keeping himself pure from all contact with Ahab's defilement would have been far better and more acceptable than recovering Ramoth from the Syrians, even if he had succeeded.
- Step one: the tie. The marriage link with Ahab's house came first, and the rest grew out of it: "One false step leads to another" (An Outline of Sound Words).
- Step two: the table. The feast, not the army, did the damage.
- Step three: the war. At the table he promised to fight Ahab's war, and those who went down with him shared in it.
- The delay deceives. Years passed before the false step bore fruit; Satan waits on ground he has already prepared.
- The bait looks worthy. A city of refuge, not an idol, was the stated goal — the enemy prefers respectable objects to openly wicked ones.
And Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-Gilead? And he said to him, I am as thou, and my people as thy people; and [I will be] with thee in the war.
Jehoshaphat was one of Judah's best kings, yet here he sits at Ahab's table in Samaria and agrees to fight Ahab's war. His answer wipes out every difference between a king who sought the Lord and a king who led Israel into idolatry.
Jehoshaphat's strength made him worth courting. It also made him comfortable.
God had blessed him with prosperity because of his faithfulness. That prosperity made it worth someone's while to seek an alliance with him, and made him harder to attack. Comfortable in that position, Jehoshaphat on his part joins himself to Israel. The human heart, when it is not kept by God, can act generously towards an evil it does not fear; but this is not love. Outwardly Jehoshaphat is faithful to the Lord, but the Lord's anger rests on him.
Ahab also took care to quiet his guest's conscience:
Evidently Ahab was afraid Jehoshaphat's conscience would object, and he was ready for that. So he gave the feast he laid on for Jehoshaphat and his men a religious character — the word for "killed" is "sacrificed". A people or church that has turned away from God will go to almost any length of seeming compromise to draw the faithful into fellowship or alliance with them.
The words are not diplomacy. They are a self-description, and they are false.
It was a sad come-down for the godly king of Judah. Think of him saying to a wicked idolater like Ahab, "I am as you are." He does not only put himself down to Ahab's base level. He must also compromise his people and say they were like Ahab's. Except for seven thousand men, all of them were bowing the knee to Baal. Such conduct and language from a man like Jehoshaphat seems almost unbelievable. But "who can discern his errors?" — one's own are often far harder to see than other people's.
The second half of the sentence swept a whole nation into the claim.
Jehoshaphat and Ahab were very different, and so were the people of Judah and Israel. Someone might have protested that all of them came from their father Jacob. But Jehoshaphat was king over a people taught in the law of the Lord, who served and worshipped Him in His temple in Jerusalem. Ahab was a wicked king who led his people into idolatry, worshipping Baal, a false god. The company and the feast of the ungodly had badly damaged Jehoshaphat's godly sensitivity.
The alliance also made Ahab's wrongdoing his own.
This alliance leads Jehoshaphat… to throw down the barrier that separates the man of God from the world. Alliance with the world, we cannot say it too often, makes us liable for its wrongdoing… A believer does not stay in a system because he can find some good in it. He stays because God approves it.
Later in the chapter Jehoshaphat calls for a prophet of the Lord. But he had already given his word, and the order matters.
Ahab's quarrels have entangled Jehoshaphat. Still, in his heart there is a sense of what is due to the Lord. He will not join Ahab against Ramoth-Gilead without consulting a prophet of the Lord. Micaiah said enough to have talked him out of joining Ahab in that venture. Clearly he had already settled his own course, and wanted the Lord to approve it… Besides, he had pledged his royal word: "I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war." The people go with the king, for good or for evil. And he would not back out of it.
Jehoshaphat said he was the same as Ahab. God did not agree.
Jehoshaphat did not only fall into the snare himself, he led others in too… It was good for him that his words did not come true throughout. God did not judge him as He judged Ahab; here was his real safety, even while the terrible consequences of his careless conduct were working out. He was not like Ahab when an arrow pierced Ahab… The Lord had made him to differ.
The safeguard is not caution about outcomes but honesty about principles.
The only effective safeguard against evil is to be in communion with God about it. When we look at evil in the light of the holiness of God, we look not only at the act but at the principle. If the principle is unsound, we should have nothing to do with it, whatever the result may be.
- Snared by success — the blessing that made Jehoshaphat worth allying with is what drew him in. Prosperity is where the danger began.
- Sentence of ruin — "I am as you are" drags a servant of God down to an idolater's level. The man who says it is the last to see it.
- Shared downward — a leader's compromise never stays private. "My people as your people" put a nation taught in God's law on the same footing as Baal worshippers.
- Sanction sought too late — Jehoshaphat called for a prophet only after pledging his word. He wanted God to approve a course he had already fixed. The safeguard is communion with God before the choice, not cover after it.
- Spared by mercy — his words did not come true. God still made him to differ from Ahab. His safety lay in God's judgment of him, not in his own.
And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, this day of the word of Jehovah.
Jehoshaphat has already promised Ahab his people and his own presence in the war. Only after that does he ask for the word of the LORD. So the question is not whether asking God is right. It is whether the asking means anything once the decision is made.
The alliance did not start with a battle. It started with sheep and oxen.
The devil uses Jehoshaphat's prosperity as a snare for him. "Jehoshaphat had riches and honours in abundance, and made a marriage alliance with Ahab." We have already seen Jehoshaphat fortifying his kingdom. But the enemy comes at him in a way he does not seem to have prepared for. He does not attack his kingdom, he attacks his heart. He comes not as the lion, but as the serpent. Ahab's "sheep and oxen" turn out to be more suitable and effective than Ahab's men of war. Had Ahab declared war on Jehoshaphat, it would only have thrown him back on the Lord; but he does not. Jehoshaphat's kingdom is fortified against Ahab's hostilities, but his heart lies open to Ahab's charm.
He asks for the word of the LORD first. But the pledge had already come first.
The working of conscience is visible in the words, "Inquire first for the word of the LORD." But how useless was that prayer for guidance! He had already said, "I am as you are, and my people as your people. We will be with you in the war." It is nothing but solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have made up our minds! How often we decide on a course of action, and then go and ask the Lord about it! All this is wretched; it is only honouring God with the lips, while the heart is in open rebellion against Him.
One writer traces the misstep to something that looks like a virtue: kindness.
His conscience troubled him enough that he asked Ahab to inquire of the Lord about this project. How sad that he would first make his commitment and afterward suggest asking the Lord's guidance. But believers can sometimes be too kind to people.
Something in him would not settle in that palace, and the request in this verse is where it surfaced.
Jehoshaphat was uneasy when he found himself in the court of Ahab, and asked for a prophet of the Lord. The renewed mind speaks that language in a foreign land.
A request for direction assumes a heart still free to obey the answer. His was not.
His mind was made up before he ever thought of asking counsel of God in the matter. He was in a false position and a wrong atmosphere altogether. He had fallen into the snare of the enemy because he was no longer single-minded. So he was not in a fit state to receive or profit by divine guidance.
Commentators contrast the two kings. Ahab had settled the matter in his own mind; Jehoshaphat was uneasy, but his promise was already given.
But 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 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.
Ahab answered the request with a crowd of his own prophets.
Jehoshaphat's conscience plainly gave him some trouble. After agreeing to join Ahab, the king of Judah wants the LORD's mind on the venture. Surely he should have sought the mind of the Lord before agreeing to go to Ramoth-gilead. To calm Jehoshaphat's fears, Ahab gathers his false prophets, who do not hesitate to speak falsely in God's Name, for they say, "Go up; for God will deliver it into the king's hand."
Later, allied with Jehoram, he did not raise the question at all.
Ahab, before going to war, had gathered the prophets to ask whether he should go. Jehoram does not even seem to think of it; Jehoshaphat, sadly, no more than he. He had been more faithful in the earlier case of Ahab. When a believer slips back into evil instead of keeping clear of it, his conscience becomes deadened. In the end he no longer feels his need of direction from the Word, though he once felt that need.
- Snare. Prosperity, not attack, opened the door. The enemy came as the serpent, not the lion. He passed the fortified kingdom and went for the heart.
- Sequence. The words are right; the order is fatal. Asking God after you have committed only honours Him with the lips.
- Sign. The uneasiness behind the question was real — the renewed mind speaking in a foreign land.
- State. A false position left him unable to profit by the answer. Asking then only brought a judgment he had already set aside.
- Slide. Four hundred voices said what he wanted. By the next alliance he did not even ask. A conscience overruled often enough goes quiet.
And the king of Israel assembled the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, Shall we go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, and God will give it into the king's hand.
Jehoshaphat asked Ahab for a word from the Lord. Ahab called in four hundred prophets, and with one voice they promised victory at Ramoth-gilead. Commentators ask two questions here. Why did a godly king ask for guidance in such company? And how could one united answer, spoken in God's name, still be a lie?
Jehoshaphat had already told Ahab they would fight together. One writer sees a conscience at work in that question. But the decision was already made.
You can see conscience at work in the words, "Inquire, I pray you, at the word of the Lord today." But prayer for guidance was useless. He had already said, "I am as you are, and my people as your people; and we will be with you in the war"! It is solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have made up our minds; and yet how often we do so! How often we decide on a course of action, and then go and ask the Lord about it! Instead of the guidance we claim to ask for, should we not expect a lying spirit to be sent to us?
Ahab sent for a true prophet only under pressure. One commentator compares the two kings and finds Ahab the more consistent one.
Ahab had made up his mind, and the king of Judah was bound by his promise. The time for consulting Jehovah had passed. In a position like this, asking after the truth would only tell them of a judgment they had already decided to despise. Ahab was more consistent than Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat's conscience only made everyone uncomfortable, and it proved his own folly. To please Jehoshaphat by speaking to him of Jehovah cost Ahab no more than plain decency required. That was all Ahab did for him, apart from sending for Micaiah, and he did that unwillingly.
True prophets were rare in Ahab's kingdom. So where did four hundred of them come from? One writer suspects a disguise.
Where did they come from, when you could hardly find a few scattered prophets in all the territory of Israel? They were few, because one prophet of the Lord was enough to make His mind known. These four hundred prophets of Ahab's, who were they? Could they have been the four hundred prophets of the Asherah in disguise? Asherah was a female divinity, and her prophets had not been destroyed at the Kishon. ... Now they pretended to speak by the Spirit of God. In fact a lying spirit had taken hold of them, one that served their own interests. One can wear the uniform of a prophet of the Lord and be lying.
Another writer notes a small difference in how the two accounts of this scene record the name of God.
All four hundred court prophets declared that the expedition was sure to succeed. "Go up," they said with one voice, "for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king." (2 Chronicles 18:5 has "God" where the account quoted here has "the LORD.")
These men were not reading God's mind. They were reading Ahab's. One commentator brings the lesson into the present day.
They already knew what Ahab wanted. They wanted to please him, and had no concern about pleasing the Lord. They all dared to tell Ahab that God would deliver Ramoth into Ahab's hand (v. 5). There are smooth-talking prophets like this today. They claim to speak for God, but they are plainly 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.
Ahab was satisfied with what he heard. Darby sees God's own hand in that satisfaction.
The king of Israel was satisfied 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 upon them (Revelation 16:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-13). ... But alliance with evil blinds so badly that Jehoshaphat did not see that Micaiah was a true prophet of Jehovah.
- Inquire before. Jehoshaphat had already promised to join the war. Mackintosh calls it solemn mockery to ask for God's word after that.
- Inquire of God. Ahab consulted men, not the Lord. Grant says the four hundred wanted to please the king, not God.
- Inquire past the uniform. Rossier says a man can wear the uniform of a prophet of the Lord and still lie.
- Inquire past the majority. Four hundred voices agreed, and every one of them was wrong. One true prophet was enough to make God's mind known.
- Inquire with clean company. Darby says the alliance with evil blinded Jehoshaphat, so he could not see that Micaiah was a true prophet. Ahab was content with "peace, peace," and God gave him up to a delusion.
But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah besides, that we might inquire of him?
Jehoshaphat, a king of Judah who had served God well, now sits beside Ahab of Israel while four hundred prophets promise victory. He asks for one more voice, and that question exposes both his unease and how late it came.
Jehoshaphat did not arrive at Ahab's council by accident. He had accepted Ahab's hospitality first.
The world will never give anything to a child of God without making large demands in return. The king of Judah had allowed Ahab to kill sheep and oxen for him. After that, he would have found it difficult not to meet Ahab's desire about Ramoth-gilead. The safest way, therefore, is to be no debtor to the world. Jehoshaphat should have had nothing whatever to do with Ahab. He should have kept himself pure. It might seem a good thing to recover one of the cities of refuge from the enemy. Yet Jehoshaphat should have known that he was not to do evil so that good might come. If we join with the world in its schemes, we must expect to be identified with it in its troubles.
Every prophet present had said yes, and Jehoshaphat still asked for another.
A true heart carries a spiritual sense of warning. It may not be able to explain why, but it senses that certain spiritual displays do not come from the Spirit of God. This is not the gift of discerning of spirits (1 Cor. 12:10), which is not given to everyone. It is a sense that may be weak in a child of God, but it ought never to be missing in him. He feels ill at ease in a setting opposed to God. He feels ill at ease when he hears talk that claims to come from religious tongues but lacks the divine character... For him, one man truly separated to God would be enough to outweigh the other four hundred. Ahab replies: "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."
Commentators differ here. Leslie M. Grant reads the same instinct as discernment: Jehoshaphat "was a believer and discerned that they did not speak 'as the oracles of God' (1 Pet. 4:11), but merely as programmed robots with no spiritual conviction."
The four hundred had the LORD's name in their mouths, and Jehoshaphat wanted a prophet besides them. But he asked only after he had agreed to go to war.
In short, Jehovah's name is in the mouth of the false prophets. Micaiah — for the king of Judah was uneasy — comes and announces disaster. But 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 which they had decided to despise. Ahab was more consistent than Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat's conscience only made everyone uncomfortable, and proved his own folly.
The question came from God's own kindness. The tragedy is what Jehoshaphat did with the answer.
How good the Lord was to put it into the king of Judah's heart to seek counsel of a prophet of Jehovah! Through that prophet he could have learned about the judgments that were coming, and could have warned his people. But alliance with evil blinds a man so completely that Jehoshaphat did not see that Micaiah was a true prophet of Jehovah. He did not believe his word. Despite it all, he went up to the battle where Ahab was to meet with the judgment of God.
Jehoshaphat was on a wrong path, and he still asked for a word from the LORD. God takes note of that.
When a believer has set out on a wrong path, grace is still glad to see in him anything that matches its own holiness and righteousness. Grace always takes account of this. This comforting thought keeps coming back in Chronicles... In seeking alliance with Ahab, Jehoshaphat had feared the Lord and had insisted on seeking Him, but this in no way excused him.
- Debt. The feast came before the battle. Once Jehoshaphat had taken Ahab's sheep and oxen, refusing Ahab's war was almost impossible. The safest course is to owe the world nothing.
- Discomfort. In a setting opposed to God, a believer feels ill at ease even when he cannot explain why. That unease, not argument, made four hundred agreeing voices sound hollow.
- Difference. One man truly separated to God outweighs four hundred who tell the king what he wants. Ahab names that man and hates him in the same breath.
- Delay. Jehoshaphat asked after he was already committed. The truth could then only announce a judgment he had decided to ignore. His conscience unsettled everyone and changed nothing.
- Grace. The question itself was God's kindness at work in him. The alliance blinded him to Micaiah's answer. Grace still took account of the good in him, though it never excused the alliance.
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 always evil [it is] Micah the son of Imlah. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, has already agreed to join Ahab of Israel in war; only afterwards does he ask what God says. Ahab's four hundred prophets have promised success, so Jehoshaphat asks for one more — and Ahab names the one man he hates.
Jehoshaphat could not say what was wrong with the four hundred. Yet he was not at rest. One writer traces this to a sense every believer should carry:
There is a spiritual sense that warns a true heart, even when it cannot explain why, that certain spiritual displays do not have the Spirit of God behind them. This is not the gift of distinguishing between 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. He feels uneasy in a setting opposed to God. He feels uneasy when he hears talk that claims to come from religious lips but lacks the character of God.
Another writer names what his faith detected in them:
Jehoshaphat was not persuaded by this great crowd of prophets. Why not? Because he was a believer and discerned that they did not speak "as the oracles of God" (1 Pet. 4:11), but merely as programmed robots with no spiritual conviction.
The four hundred were not pagan prophets. They spoke in the LORD's name, and one writer explains how that happens:
Satanic power counterfeits everything that is of God, and therefore good... In the days of Ahab things had gone so far that Elijah could say, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are 450 men" (1 Kings 18:22). Even after the prophets of Baal were destroyed, about four hundred prophets were luring Ahab to his death, against one prophet who told him the truth, Micaiah the son of Imlah. 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).
Four hundred voices used God's name. One man told the truth.
Ahab does not accuse Micaiah of lying. He admits this prophet can tell them what the LORD says — and hates him anyway. One writer points to the reason Ahab gives:
What an exposure of Ahab this was! He hated God's servant, because in his eyes the word of the Lord through Micaiah was always evil.
Ahab had spoken the same way about Elijah, and Micaiah would not soften his message:
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... Others told him that "the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king," and advised him to fall in line with them. He flatly refused. "As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak," he resolutely replied.
One writer sees Ahab's answer as the moment Jehoshaphat should have acted:
Ahab's reply should have caused Jehoshaphat to withdraw from the venture.
Instead, the alliance decided whose lead he would take:
The very sad but inevitable result of this alliance is that he follows Ahab instead of Micaiah. That is the effect of "bad company" on the believer. You never see the opposite happen — the world following the example of God's children. Someone has said it well: "There is no equality in an alliance between truth and error, for by the very alliance itself, truth ceases to be truth and error does not become truth."
The deeper fault lies further back:
True, he did say to the king of Israel, "Inquire first for the word of the LORD." But where was the use of this, when he had already pledged himself to a certain line of action? What folly for anyone to make up his mind, and then go and ask for counsel!... Even though he heard the LORD's messenger pronounce His solemn judgement on the whole expedition, he still took his own way. He nearly lost his life as a result.
- Unease — A believer in the wrong company senses something is wrong, even when he cannot explain it. That inward warning should never be missing.
- One — Four hundred voices used God's name. One man told the truth. Numbers do not settle what is true.
- Hatred — Ahab never said Micaiah lied. He hated the message first, and then the messenger.
- Warning — Ahab's own confession was a clear signal to walk away. Jehoshaphat heard it and stayed.
- Too late — Asking for counsel after the decision changes nothing. Jehoshaphat heard God's verdict, went anyway, and nearly died for it.
Then the king of Israel called a chamberlain, and said, Fetch quickly Micah the son of Imlah.
Two kings sit side by side in Samaria. Four hundred prophets have just promised victory, but the visiting king of Judah is still not satisfied. So Ahab sends an officer for the one prophet he had left out — a man he hated. This short errand raises large questions. Why did one true voice matter at all? Why did Ahab want it fast? And why did the king who asked for it refuse to obey it?
Ahab only sends for Micaiah because Jehoshaphat pressed him. That pressure came from a discomfort the king of Judah could not explain.
A true heart has a spiritual sense that warns it — though it may not be able to explain why — that certain spiritual displays do not come from the Spirit of God… He feels ill at ease in a setting opposed to God, ill at ease when he hears talk that claims to come from religious lips but lacks the divine character… One man truly separated to God would be enough for him, to counterbalance the other four hundred.
The word "quickly" is not eagerness for God's mind. Ahab wants Micaiah fetched fast, so that Jehoshaphat can see the prophet's spite for himself.
Ahab has but one thought: to show proof of Micah's malice toward himself. Promptly he has him sent for. The man of God naturally kept himself apart from the four hundred prophets — a good example for the king of Judah who had joined himself to the godless king. The very sad but unavoidable result of this alliance is this: he follows Ahab instead of Micah… One has well said: "There is no equality in an alliance between truth and error, for by the very alliance itself, truth ceases to be truth and error does not become truth."
Micaiah is not an isolated hero. He is one of a loyal group that God kept alive in Israel's worst years — the seven thousand.
As soon as Jehovah had told Elijah about the loyal seven thousand, He began to bring some of them into public view… 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 plain speaking, and kept in prison. These are a few samples of the true-hearted minority living in the middle of an Israel that had turned away from God.
Micah and Micaiah are two forms of one name, so writers take care not to mix this man up with the prophet whose book we have.
The prophet Micah came from Moresheth-Gath, which distinguishes him from another prophet of the same name, Micah the son of Imlah. (See 1 Kings 22:8; Micaiah is the same as Micah.) The name Micah means "who is like the LORD?"
Ahab complains that this man never brings him good news. That points back to earlier messages, and those messages are not in our Bibles.
The prophecies of Micaiah the son of Imlah, against Ahab, which led to the king's statement — "He never prophesied good to me, but always evil" (2 Chron. 18:7). It is a mistake to think that the Bible contains every inspired message the Spirit of God gave to man. We have all that we needed to know and have. We do not have everything that others, at different times, received through the prophets.
Jehoshaphat got his prophet. He then watched that prophet sent to prison, and he could do nothing.
Poor Jehoshaphat has to watch it happen. He is powerless to support the servant of his God, and unable to hold back the evil of the godless man who had lured him into this 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 on behalf of the Lord. Truly the path of separation is the path of power.
- One man. Against four hundred agreeable voices, God kept one separated prophet. One was enough to counterbalance them all.
- One motive. Ahab's speed is not hunger for God's word. He hurries so his guest can see what he calls the prophet's spite.
- One question. Micaiah's name means "who is like the LORD?" — Micah is simply the same name.
- One record. His earlier prophecies against Ahab were real, but Scripture did not record them. We have all we need, not all that was ever spoken.
- One cost. The king who asked for a true prophet could not defend him. Alliance with evil leaves a believer powerless. The path of separation is the path of power.
And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat each on his throne; and they sat in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
Two thrones stand side by side in the open ground outside Samaria's gate. A crowd of prophets performs in front of them. One king is wicked; the other is the godly king of Judah. Both are dressed for a state occasion. So two questions follow. How did the good king end up in that seat? And can you trust four hundred voices that all say the same thing?
Where the ESV reads "threshing floor," older translations say "void place." One writer describes that open ground by the city gate:
The gate was a public meeting place, with room for twelve people to sit and many townspeople to stand around and watch. In great cities the gates had plenty of space for important public ceremonies. For example, in a "void" or open space at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, two kings could sit on their thrones in state while all the prophets prophesied in front of them.
Jehoshaphat had fortified his kingdom. The attack came from a direction he had not guarded:
The devil uses Jehoshaphat's prosperity as a snare for him... he does not attack his kingdom, he attacks his heart. He comes not as the lion, but as the serpent. Ahab's "sheep and oxen" prove more suitable and effective than Ahab's men of war. If Ahab had declared war on Jehoshaphat, it would only have thrown him on the Lord; but he does not. Jehoshaphat's kingdom is fortified against Ahab's attacks, but his heart lies open to Ahab's charms.
The matching thrones picture what Jehoshaphat had already said to Ahab:
So this alliance leads Jehoshaphat to declare that he, the godly king of Judah, is just like wicked Ahab, and to tear down the barrier that separates the man of God from the world... Alliance with the world, we cannot say too often, makes us liable for its sin. Again and again in the historical books we find this solemn truth: to join or work with a system that tolerates or accepts evil is to share the guilt of that system.
One writer asks who these four hundred prophets really were:
Could they have been the four hundred prophets of Asherah in disguise — the prophets of that female god who were not destroyed at the brook Kishon? This is quite likely!... if they were the same men, they had changed their clothes to suit the circumstances. 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. You can wear the uniform of a prophet of the Lord and still be lying.
The test is not the size of the crowd but whether a man has a word from God to deliver:
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 plainly lying! If we have God's clear word in the scriptures, we may declare this with full confidence, but if we do not, then let us not dare to speak as though representing Him.
One writer names the uneasiness a believer should feel in such company:
There is a spiritual sense that warns a true heart — even when it cannot explain why — that some spiritual displays do not come from the Spirit of God. This is not the gift of discerning of spirits (1 Cor. 12:10), which is not given to everyone. It is a sense that may be weak in a child of God, yet it should never be missing in him. He feels uneasy in a setting that is opposed to God. He feels uneasy when he hears talk that claims to come from religious lips but lacks the character of God.
Once he had taken the throne beside Ahab, he could not get up from it:
He did what was bad. He sat beside Ahab and watched the Lord's prophet first struck, then put in prison, only because he would not tell a lie to please a wicked king... Yet his connection with Ahab had put him in a position where he could not avoid witnessing these wicked acts — and more than that, he shared in them too.
- Snare — Jehoshaphat's prosperity, not Ahab's army, defeated him. The enemy came as the serpent, not the lion.
- Seat — Two thrones on one platform acted out his words to Ahab. The barrier between the man of God and the world came down.
- Costume — Prophets can change their clothes to suit the occasion. A man may wear the uniform of the Lord's prophet and still lie.
- Unease — A true heart feels wrong in such company before it can explain why. That sense should never be missing in a believer.
- Cost — Once seated, he could not rise. He watched God's faithful man struck and imprisoned, and by staying he shared in it.
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.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
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 and Jehoshaphat with one message: attack Ramoth-gilead, and the Lord will hand it over. How can a message carry God's name, win total agreement, and still be a lie?
Commentators note how odd this crowd is. True prophets were scarce, yet Ahab could produce hundreds on demand.
Ahab at once assembles four hundred prophets. There were many of them. Where did they come from, when you could hardly find a few isolated prophets in all the territory of Israel? They were few, because one prophet of the Lord was enough to make His mind known. These four hundred prophets of Ahab's, who were they?... They were now pretending to speak by the Spirit of God. In fact a lying spirit had taken hold of them, one that served their own interests. 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.
Notice which name these prophets use.
We see also the false prophets in power: Ahab had four hundred of them. We may note also that they made use of the Lord's name, and no longer, it appears, of Baal's... The mixture continues. Outwardly the state of things is less offensive; but the heart of Ahab is unchanged.
Their agreement has a simple explanation.
But they already knew what Ahab wanted and they wanted to please him rather than have any concern for pleasing the Lord. They all dared to tell Ahab that God would deliver Ramoth into Ahab's hand... There are such smooth-talking prophets today who claim to be speaking for God, but are plainly lying! If we have God's clear word in the Scriptures, we may declare this with full confidence, but if we do not, then let us not dare to speak as though representing Him. For this we shall have to give account to Him.
One writer turns the scene on the reader and asks what such a request is really worth.
It is but solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have made up our minds; and yet how often we do so! How often do we decide on a course of action, and then go and ask the Lord about it!... Instead of getting that guidance for which we profess to ask, may we not rather expect a lying spirit to be sent out to us? Ahab was at no loss for advisers. He quickly "gathered together four hundred prophets." They were ready to advise him according to his heart's desire: "Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king." This was what he wanted.
The show of confidence did not satisfy Jehoshaphat. He could not explain why, and one writer treats that unease as normal for a believer, not a rare gift.
Jehoshaphat is ill at ease. A spiritual sense warns a true heart that certain spiritual displays do not come from the Spirit of God. The heart may not be able to say why. This is not the gift of discerning of spirits (1 Cor. 12:10), which is not given to all, but a sense which, however weak it may be in a child of God, ought never to be missing in him. He feels ill at ease in a setting opposed to God. He feels ill at ease hearing talk that claims to come from religious tongues but lacks the character of God. He feels ill at ease before the boasting that goes on here in front of the king of Israel... It would be enough for him that there be one, truly separated to God, to counterbalance the other four hundred.
Later in the chapter one more prophet, Micaiah, traces this chorus back to its source.
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 the king of Israel, 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.
- Numbers. Four hundred voices agreed, yet God never needed more than one prophet to make His mind known.
- Name. These prophets dropped Baal and used the Lord's name instead. The wrapping improved; Ahab's heart did not change.
- Motive. They already knew what the king wanted. Pleasing him mattered more to them than pleasing God.
- Timing. Asking God for guidance after the decision is made is mockery, and it invites a lying spirit.
- Outcome. The agreed call to attack was the judgment itself. The spirits Ahab had worshipped became the means of his fall, and one faithful voice was still all a true heart wanted.
And the messenger that went to call Micah spoke to him saying, Behold, the words of the prophets [declare] good to the king with one assent let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and declare good.
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, has joined Ahab, king of Israel, in a war to take back Ramoth-gilead, and four hundred prophets have already promised them success. Now an officer walks Micaiah, the one prophet of the Lord left out, to the palace and coaches him on what to say.
The request was not for a cheerful tone. It was for a verdict that matched the king's wishes, and one writer states the choice put before Micaiah plainly.
The messenger who was sent to fetch him urged him to speak what was good — that is, what would please Ahab. The faithful servant of Jehovah replied, "As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak."
The officer asks Micaiah to make his word like the word of one of the four hundred. Their agreement had a simple cause, and it carries a warning for anyone who claims to speak for God today.
But they already knew what Ahab wanted and they wanted to please him rather than have any concern for pleasing the Lord. They all dared to tell Ahab that God would deliver Ramoth into Ahab's hand (v. 5). There are such smooth talking prophets today who claim to be speaking for God, but they are clearly lying! If we have God's clear word in the scriptures, we may declare it with full confidence. If we do not, then let us not dare to speak as though we represent Him. For this we shall have to give account to Him.
Pleasant prophecy has always had a market. One writer names the appetite it feeds and the way the false prophets fed it.
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 the prophets who would say, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken became popular. 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 copy the real prophets in many of their phrases. Yet in the end they produced only their own empty ideas.
The officer's words echo his master. Ahab had already admitted that he hated Micaiah for never promising him good. One writer takes that from Ahab's court to religion in general.
He hated him, and he also hated everyone who spoke the Lord's judgment against him. He wanted the prophet to "prophesy good concerning him." Such will always be the character of the religious world.
The officer wants a message bent to fit its hearer. One writer answers that demand and names the excuses we still use for it.
It is a dreadful thing to let our souls sink into a state where we cannot give clear and faithful witness against the ministers of Satan! 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. Only a secret desire to stand well with the world leads to this careless way of dealing with evil… People often say, "We must present truth in a way that will attract." What they really mean is that truth must be made flexible and elastic. Then it can be pushed into any shape, or stretched to any length, to suit the taste and habits of those who would happily drive it out of the world altogether.
Micaiah could refuse because of where he stood. He was not among the four hundred when the officer came for him, and one writer sets that against Jehoshaphat's alliance.
Of course 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… Someone has said it well: "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."
- The ask — "Speak favorably" meant speak what pleases Ahab. The officer wants Micaiah to choose his message instead of receiving it.
- The crowd — The four hundred spoke as one because they all knew what the king wanted. Agreement built on pleasing a man proves nothing.
- The appetite — Smooth prophecy sells. Nothing is dearer to the human heart than God's approval on what it already wants.
- The habit — Ahab wanted good prophesied about himself, and he hated the man who would not supply it. One writer calls that the lasting character of the religious world.
- The refusal — Truth cannot be stretched to fit its hearers. The man free to say so was the one who kept clear of the four hundred.
And Micah said, As Jehovah liveth, even what my God shall say, that will I declare.
Micaiah never asked to attend this war council, and on the way there the king's messenger coaches him on what to say. His one-line reply settles everything that follows: he will not trade God's word for the safety of agreeing with everyone else.
The messenger's argument was numbers. Four hundred voices had already given the same answer, and the messenger wanted Micaiah to make it unanimous. He would not.
The messenger told him that "the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king," and urged him to fall in line with them. He refused. "As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak," he resolutely replied.
Behind the messenger stood a king who had already chosen the answer he wanted. One writer says the religious world still wants the same thing:
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." The religious world will always be like this.
"What my God says, that I will speak" is a claim about the words themselves, not just the general drift of the message. One commentator follows that claim through to the battle Ahab was planning:
There is no difficulty in understanding what Micaiah meant when he said that the Lord spoke by him... He spoke in words taught him by God. It was God's word that he spoke, not merely Micaiah's impression of something that had been revealed to him... In clear and definite language, open to only one meaning, he announced the king's death if he went to battle at Ramoth-gilead. And Ahab sensed that Micaiah was right and his prophets wrong. He went into battle, but disguised, and fell. God's word through the prophet did not fail, for he was a prophet of God, and his words were inspired.
The proof came later. Micaiah announced the king's death, and it happened — which is why another writer treats this verse as the mark of the man:
We have also to remark Micaiah's faithfulness: although he was engaged by the messenger to speak the same words as the false prophets, he replied, "What my God says, that I will speak."
Micaiah was not among the four hundred; the king had to send for him. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, saw that distance and still did not learn from it.
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 a godless king. The very sad but unavoidable result of this alliance is that he follows Ahab instead of Micaiah. Such is the effect of bad company on the believer.
The four hundred were not crude liars. They used the right name and the right phrases. One writer shows how a message shaped to please the hearer still travels under God's name:
It was more popular to prophesy smooth things and lies. Nothing is so dear to the human heart as having God's approval for its own desires. That is why people loved the prophets who would say, "Thus says the LORD," when the LORD had not spoken. We should not suppose that these prophets were always inventing lies. But they corrupted the word of God and made it suitable to man's taste.
Micaiah kept his word, and it cost him. Struck and jailed, he suffered in front of a godly king who could only watch:
He sat beside Ahab and watched the Lord's prophet struck, and then put in prison. All this happened simply because he would not tell a lie to please a wicked king, or agree with four hundred wicked prophets. What must Jehoshaphat have felt when he saw his brother struck and imprisoned for faithfully speaking against a campaign that he himself had joined!
The verse cuts both ways. It frees us to speak boldly where God has spoken, and it silences us where He has not:
There are such smooth talking prophets today who claim to be speaking for God, but are plainly lying! If we have God's clear word in the Scriptures, we may declare it with full confidence. If we do not, then let us not dare to speak as though we represent Him. For this we shall have to give account to Him.
- Pressure. The messenger's case was simple: everyone else agreed. Micaiah would not make the vote unanimous.
- Source. He did not pass on an impression of a revelation. He spoke in words taught him by God — and what he foretold came true.
- Separation. He stayed apart from the four hundred. Jehoshaphat saw that example, failed to follow it, and went with Ahab.
- Counterfeit. The false prophets used God's name and pleasing words; a message shaped to man's taste is the popular one.
- Price. Micaiah was struck and imprisoned for refusing to lie to a king. So speak with full confidence only where Scripture is clear. We must give account.
And he came to the king. And the king said to him, Micah, shall we go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper; and they will be given into your hands.
When Micaiah finally came before the king, his answer matched the four hundred court prophets: go up and win. Was the prophet lying, and why did the king refuse the very answer he wanted?
Older translations read the line as "Go and prosper." One writer hears sarcasm in it, and points to what Micaiah leaves out:
When Ahab asked Micaiah whether he should go to war against Ramoth-gilead, Ahab knew that Micaiah was speaking sarcastically. Notice, he did not say the Lord would deliver them, nor that his message was from God.
The king had swallowed the same sentence from four hundred mouths without a murmur. One explanation for the difference is the force behind the speakers:
Why did he not tell the false prophets the same? 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.
By demanding truth from Micaiah alone, Ahab convicted his own prophets. Grant presses the point: Ahab "must have realized that none of those prophets had spoken truth in the name of the Lord" — since Micaiah had said the same thing they did.
The echo was deliberate. It made Ahab demand the truth himself, which gave Micaiah's real message more weight:
To make what he is going to proclaim even more solemn, Micaiah at first speaks just like the four hundred prophets. "How many times," replies Ahab, "shall I put you under oath to tell me nothing but truth in the name of Jehovah?" (v. 16). We see here what conscience is, even a hardened one. It speaks within the heart, telling Ahab: what Micaiah is saying cannot be what he really thinks! And even though Ahab is seeking after a lie, his conscience forces him to want the truth.
Micaiah was there only because Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, felt uneasy and asked for a prophet of the Lord. But he had already promised Ahab his army. His question came too late:
Ahab had made up his mind, and the king of Judah was bound by his promise. It was no longer time to consult Jehovah. In such a position, asking after the truth only meant learning 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.
Ahab had already told Jehoshaphat why he left Micaiah out: he hated the man for never prophesying anything good about him. One writer sees the same taste in every age:
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 always be the character of the religious world. Those who belong to it choose teachers to suit their own desires — teachers who praise them, who speak well of the world they live in, and who predict success and prosperity for them.
Micaiah's mock agreement gave way to the truth, and the truth cost him. Jehoshaphat sat beside Ahab and watched:
He did not himself directly persecute the righteous witness. Yet he did what was bad. He sat beside Ahab and watched the Lord's prophet first struck, and then put in prison — simply because he would not tell a lie to please a wicked king, or fall in line with four hundred wicked prophets.
- Truth mirrored — Micaiah repeats the court prophets word for word. But he never claims God said it, and Ahab hears sarcasm.
- Truth exposed — Ahab demands honesty from Micaiah alone. So he already knew his four hundred had never spoken truth in God's name.
- Truth resisted — Even a hardened conscience wants to hear the truth it has already decided to disobey.
- Truth too late — Jehoshaphat asks for God's word after promising his army. Ask when your mind is already made up, and you only hear a verdict you have decided to despise.
- Truth punished — The one man who would not fall in line with four hundred went to prison. The godly king sat beside Ahab and watched.
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?
Ahab has just heard the one prophet he hates repeat what his four hundred court prophets said. Instead of welcoming it, he demands the truth under oath. Why would a man who hates God's word insist on hearing it? And why did Micaiah offer him false comfort first?
Micaiah's first answer matched the court prophets, and Ahab knew he did not mean it. Ahab's reaction shows how little he had believed his own prophets:
When Ahab asked Micaiah if he should go to war against Ramoth Gilead, Micaiah said, "Go and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand" (v. 14). Ahab knew this was sarcasm. Notice, he did not say the Lord would deliver them, nor that his message was from God. 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 the name of the Lord! — since Micaiah had said the same as they did.
Ahab never demanded the same truth from his own prophets. One writer points to the power behind their message:
But Ahab knew that Micaiah was being sarcastic. He rebuked him for not telling the truth in the name of the Lord. Why did he not tell the false prophets the same? 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.
The demand for an oath is not faith. It is the work of a conscience the king cannot silence:
To make what he is going to announce even more solemn, Micaiah at first speaks just like the four hundred prophets. Then Ahab presses him again to swear that he will tell 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 uneasiness his conscience produces gives him no rest until he hears, knows, and sees it, like a murderer who is drawn back to the scene of his crime despite himself.
This habit is not Ahab's alone. One writer warns what a settled mind should expect when it asks for guidance:
It is but solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have made up our minds; and yet how often we do it! How often we decide on a course of action, and then go and ask the Lord about it! All this is wretched. It is only honouring God with the lips, while the heart is in open rebellion against Him. Instead of the guidance we claim to ask for, should we not expect a lying spirit to be sent to us? (verse 21) Ahab was at no loss for counsellors. He soon "gathered together four hundred prophets," ready to advise him just as his heart wished.
Ahab wants the answer sworn in the Lord's name. The same craving made the four hundred popular:
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. That is why the prophets who would say, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken, were so popular. We should not suppose that these prophets were always inventing lies. 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 ideas.
Micaiah settled the question before he entered the room. Ahab's oath added nothing:
We also have to notice Micaiah's faithfulness. The messenger urged him to speak the same words as the false prophets, but he replied, "What my God says, that will I speak," v. 12, 13. Micaiah told Ahab that he would be killed in the battle. But Ahab thought he could escape by his own cleverness. He disguised himself, and told Jehoshaphat to wear his robes (v. 27-30).
- Wanted — Ahab wanted a lie with God's name on it. Nothing is dearer to the human heart than God's approval on its own desires.
- Gathered — Four hundred men stood ready to supply it. They copied the real prophets, but produced only their own empty ideas.
- Stirred — Micaiah's echo stirred a conscience even hardness could not silence. Ahab must hear the truth, though he will not obey it.
- Exposed — He demanded truth from Micaiah alone. So he had never really believed the four hundred.
- Wasted — An oath cannot help a man who has already decided. Asking for guidance after the choice is made is mockery. Ahab went to the battle anyway, under the prophet's word that he would be killed.
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.
Four hundred prophets have just promised two kings victory at Ramoth-gilead. Ahab makes one last prophet swear to speak only truth, and the answer he gets is about a leaderless flock, not about the battle.
One writer hears Ahab's own conscience at work behind his demand for the truth:
We see here what conscience is, even a hardened one. It speaks inside 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 uneasiness his conscience produces gives him no rest until he hears it, knows it, and sees it. He is like a murderer who returns, against his will, to the scene of his crime.
The kings wanted to know who would win. Micaiah's answer was about something else:
He said nothing about a battle, whether Israel or Syria would win, but only that Israel would be left without a leader. Of course this pointed to the death of Ahab. Ahab then sulkily reminded Jehoshaphat that he had told him Micaiah always prophesied evil against him.
The verse says it twice: no shepherd, no master. In Israel both were royal words:
Israel as a whole counted as sheep, the sheep of the flock (Zechariah 13:7; Matthew 26:31), and the king was their recognised shepherd (1 Kings 22:17; Ezekiel 37:24). So for the Messiah to be a shepherd fits Old Testament teaching well. It will come true for the godly remnant in a coming day.
One writer ties this scene to something Moses had dreaded long before, and to the king whose conduct brought it about:
The very thing Moses dreaded happened to the sheep. It was not because God had stopped honouring what His servant asked, but because He could not overlook the sinful practices, in a later day, of their shepherd, King Ahab… And in the book of Ezekiel we find that God had a dispute with both the shepherds and the sheep. While exposing their sins, He threatens them with judgment. Then He pours out His compassion towards the weak remnant of the flock in the most moving way possible. He says: "Because there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my flock… therefore I will rescue my flock… And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall be their shepherd."
The people's sins stood in the way of that promise. The same writer shows how God dealt with them:
There was only one way for this promise to be kept: either the people, or their sins, had to be put away. Rather than put away the people, God found a way to put away their sins, by sending His own Son. The New Testament calls Him "the Good Shepherd" who gave His life for the sheep, "the Great Shepherd" who took it up again in resurrection, and "the Chief Shepherd" who will soon appear.
The same writer hears Micaiah's description again in the Gospels:
In Matthew's gospel the Shepherd-King looks at His poor sheep crowding round Him. The way He speaks of them shows how well their condition matched Micaiah's description. The Lord had come to fulfil Ezekiel's prophecy: "Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out." He found them where Ahab left them. He came to bring them back to God — not only Jews, but Gentiles also, forming "one flock," with "one Shepherd."
Jehoshaphat heard Micaiah, and marched anyway. One writer blames the alliance he had already made:
Alliance with evil blinds so badly that Jehoshaphat did not recognise Micaiah as a true prophet of Jehovah. He did not believe his word. Despite it all, he went up to the battle in which Ahab was to meet the judgment of God. Oh, may we be separated from evil, so that we are able to judge all things and to hold fast what is truth!
- Truth asked for. Ahab demanded a word he did not want, and got it. His restless conscience drove him toward the very message that condemned him.
- Shepherd removed. Micaiah says nothing about who wins the war. He sees an Israel with no leader, which meant the king would not come home.
- Flock scattered. A shepherd-king lived in sin, so his flock ended up scattered on the mountains. It was the very thing Moses had dreaded.
- Shepherd promised. Through Ezekiel, God answers the scattering with one Shepherd of His own choosing. Keeping that promise meant sending His own Son to put away the people's sins.
- Shepherd found. Christ found the sheep where Ahab had left them, and gathered Jews and Gentiles into one flock. Jehoshaphat is the warning: hearing the true voice is not the same as following it.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he prophesies no good concerning me, but evil?
Micaiah has just told the two kings that Israel would be left with no master. Instead of answering that message, Ahab turns to Jehoshaphat with the same complaint he had made before the prophet arrived. Why can a man hear God's word, know what it is, and still judge it only by whether it suits him?
Ahab does not weigh the prophecy. He uses it as evidence about the prophet. The prophet, for his part, had kept clear of the crowd of four hundred.
Ahab has only one thought: to prove Micaiah's malice toward himself. He quickly sends for him. 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 a godless king.
Ahab reads the message correctly. Words about a flock with no master point at one man.
Micaiah told Ahab that the Lord had said Israel would have no master. Ahab was right to take that as a prophecy of evil about himself.
The phrase "good concerning me" is Ahab's whole test for a message from God. He says it out loud, in front of a visiting king.
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.
The four hundred were popular for the opposite reason. The taste Ahab shows here is common.
It was more popular to prophesy smooth, flattering lies. Nothing is so dear to the human heart as having God's approval for its own sinful desires. So the prophets were popular who would say, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken.
Ahab wanted a lie. Yet something in him kept pulling him toward the truth — and it did him no good.
Here we see what conscience is, even a hardened one. It speaks inside the heart, telling Ahab: what Micaiah says cannot be only his own opinion! Ahab is looking for a lie, yet his conscience forces him to want the truth. He will not follow it or obey it. But his conscience makes him uneasy, and it gives him no rest until he hears the truth, knows it, and sees it. He is like a murderer who returns to the scene of his crime against his own will.
Ahab had already turned God's word down. What he got instead was no accident.
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 are deceived. 2 Thessalonians 2 shows the same folly. There the Lord sends a strong delusion through the antichrist, and it deceives 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.
Ahab's words are aimed at Jehoshaphat, the godly king of Judah who had asked for a true prophet in the first place. He hears his own request mocked and says nothing. The alliance has cost him his voice.
Jehoshaphat became the friend and companion of Ahab, who hated Micaiah, the servant of God. As a result, he did wrong, even though he did not persecute the righteous witness himself. He sat beside Ahab and watched the Lord's prophet first struck and then put in prison. And all because the prophet would not tell a lie to please a wicked king and agree with four hundred wicked prophets.
- Complaint — Ahab answers the prophecy by pointing out that the prophet dislikes him. His one aim was to prove Micaiah's malice toward himself.
- Test — "Good concerning me" is his measure for God's word. That measure exposes him: he hated God's servant, because the message was always evil in his sight.
- Conscience — Even a hardened conscience still wants the truth. Ahab could not rest until he heard it, and would not obey it once he had.
- Consequence — Because he refused God's word, he would accept the falsehood of lying prophets.
- Company — Jehoshaphat befriended Ahab, then sat beside him and watched God's prophet struck and jailed without saying a word.
And he said, Hear ye therefore the word of Jehovah I saw Jehovah sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left;
Micaiah stands before two kings who have already made up their minds. He does not argue about the campaign. He describes what he has seen above them: a throne, with a court of spirits waiting on it. That raises the question of who really governs a war — the kings at the gate, or the One on the throne.
Micaiah opens his vision by calling for a hearing for the Lord's word. One writer takes this as a case of God giving a man the very words to say.
It is easy to see what Micaiah meant when he said that the Lord spoke by him. It is just as easy to see what he wanted the king to believe when he said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD." He spoke in words taught him by God. He gave out God's word, not just his own impression of something God had revealed to him. When he was brought in before the two kings, he delivered his message. His parting words to Ahab showed that he knew he had been the mouthpiece of God: if the king returned in peace, then the Lord had not spoken by him. Ahab did not return in peace, for the Lord had spoken by Micaiah.
What follows is not a picture Micaiah invented to frighten Ahab. One writer insists that the scene is real.
The whole scene is intensely interesting. It is not fiction but revelation. What is written here really took place, and something like it still goes on in heaven. There is a parallel passage in 1 Kings 22:19.
Micaiah notes where the host stands: on the right hand and on the left. That detail shows arrangement, not decoration.
Whenever the Holy Spirit draws back the curtain and lets us glimpse those heavenly scenes, we find perfect order over the whole. Everything and everyone is in an appointed place, moving in an appointed sphere and time, in perfect harmony of action. Even Satan and his wicked spirits must submit to that order whenever God allows them to appear there. I need only point to such passages as Job 1:6 (order as to time) and 1 Kings 22:19 (order as to place).
The host around the throne is not made up only of holy servants, as the next verses show.
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 He is of all other powers.
The scene is a courtroom, not just a council. God had settled Ahab's fall before anyone in the throne room asked the question.
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. 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 ruin.
The same pattern reaches forward to something still to come.
It shows that the Lord allows evil spirits to do their evil work of lying, so that godless people will be deceived. In the same way, 2 Thessalonians 2 shows the folly of those who are deceived by the strong delusion the Lord sends. Because Ahab had refused God's Word, he would accept the falsehood of Satan's prophets.
Lying spirits stand in that throne room under orders. So a crowd of confident preachers proves nothing. The scene teaches us to weigh what we hear.
Ahab's four hundred prophets, set against the Lord's one prophet, are an example of the conflict of spirits which the Christian is now called on to test.
One writer turns the warning on the man who asked for the message. Jehoshaphat was a godly king, but he had tied himself to Ahab.
Being allied with evil blinds a man so much that Jehoshaphat did not recognise Micaiah as a true prophet of the Lord. He did not believe his word. Despite it all, he went up to the battle where Ahab was to meet the judgment of God. May we be separated from evil, so that we are able to judge all things and hold fast what is truth!
- The throne — Micaiah answered two crowned men with a vision of the seat above theirs. The outcome at Ramoth-gilead came from that throne, not from the gate of Samaria.
- The court — the host standing right and left shows perfect order. Even hostile spirits keep their appointed place, and they appear only when God allows it.
- The permission — God is in full control of satanic powers, and can allow lying spirits to do their lying work.
- The judgment — God prepared the sentence on Ahab beforehand. The spirits he had worshipped became the instruments of his ruin, and the same pattern returns in the strong delusion Scripture predicts.
- The discernment — four hundred agreeing voices against one is a conflict of spirits believers must test. Closeness to evil is what blinded Jehoshaphat to the true prophet.
and Jehovah said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead? And one spoke saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner.
Ahab is set on going up to Ramoth-gilead, and the prophet Micaiah answers him by describing what he saw in heaven. There God asks who will lure the king to his death — so how can God be the one asking who will deceive?
Micaiah's report opens with a throne and the court standing around it:
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 glimpse behind the veil had a purpose:
Micaiah was allowed to pull back the veil for a moment. The stubborn king could then see spirits at work in the minds of his flattering advisers, luring him to his destruction… So the spirit world discussed and settled the disastrous campaign that cost Ahab his life.
The question itself names the outcome: he will go up and fall. God is not weighing a risk. He has already decided.
God had already determined that Ahab would fall at Ramoth Gilead. So God asked the spirits which of them could persuade Ahab to go there. Some spoke in different ways about how they could do it.
The sentence also fits the crime:
This was the judgment of God, prepared beforehand against Ahab, an indirect judgment by which the demonic spirits he had worshipped became the instruments for their victim's doom.
The lying spirit was the end of Ahab's story, not the start of it:
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.
The same principle is at work far beyond one king:
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. There the Lord sends a strong delusion 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.
The strange thing about Ahab is that he pressed Micaiah for a straight answer, then ignored it.
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. He is like a murderer drawn back, despite himself, to the scene of his crime.
Jehoshaphat asked God for guidance only after he had promised to fight:
You can see conscience at work in the words, "Inquire, I pray you, at the word of the Lord today." But how useless was that prayer for guidance! He had already said, "I am as you are, and my people as your people; and we will be with you in the war"! It is only solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have made up our minds… We claim to ask for guidance. Instead, may we not expect a lying spirit to be sent to us?
- Throne. God settles the battle before anyone fights it. Even the evil spirits in His court stand under His control.
- Question. "Who will entice Ahab?" is not God asking for advice. He is announcing a sentence already passed.
- Instruments. The spirits Ahab had served become the means of his ruin. His own gods carry out his sentence.
- Delusion. Hate the one truthful voice, and God gives you the lie you preferred. The same pattern returns in the last days.
- Warning. Ahab wanted truth he would not obey. Jehoshaphat prayed after he had already promised to fight. Both rode out to the battle.
And there came forth a spirit, and stood before Jehovah and said, I will entice him. And Jehovah said unto him, Wherewith?
The prophet Micaiah answers two kings with a scene in heaven: God on His throne, the host of heaven around Him, and one spirit stepping forward to entice Ahab. The verse raises the hardest question in the chapter: how can God preside over a plan to deceive a king?
One writer retells the scene Micaiah saw, from the throne to the spirit who volunteers:
At last they brought faithful Micaiah out of prison, and in a few words he described a scene in heaven. The LORD sat on His throne, with the host of heaven around Him. His patience with Ahab had now run out. He called for a volunteer who would lead the doomed man to go to war and ruin himself. After much discussion, a spirit offered to go down and put a lie in the mouths of all the king's prophets. "Go out and do it," said the great God. No words can set out how solemn this is. So Israel's war with Syria was arranged in the spirit world, as many a war has been since.
The host standing around the throne includes spirits that are not good.
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, just as He is of all other powers.
This offer to entice Ahab does not start his trouble. It carries out a sentence passed long before, and by spirits he had chosen himself.
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 shall entice Ahab 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.
Ahab had already refused God's Word. One writer links this scene to the same pattern at the end of the age:
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 are deceived. 2 Thessalonians 2 shows the same folly. There the Lord sends a strong delusion through the antichrist, and people are taken in because they refused to believe the truth of God. So, because Ahab had refused God's Word, he would accept the falsehood of Satan's prophets.
The phrase describes more than men who happen to be wrong. It names the power behind them.
In this scene, where the false prophets prophesy in front of Ahab and Jehoshaphat, we are plainly told that the Lord put a "lying spirit" in their mouths. That is, He left them, or handed them over in judgment, to 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: it is a "lying spirit" that drives false prophets. They are not simply ignorant of the truth, following their own evil hearts. They are completely in the power and control of the evil one.
Even so, how it worked stays hidden. One reference work will not guess:
We do not know the nature of this spirit, nor how he influenced the prophets.
Ahab is not the only man warned here. The same danger meets anyone who asks God about a decision already made.
It is nothing but solemn mockery to ask for guidance when we have already made up our minds. 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! All this is wretched. It is honouring God with the lips while the heart is in open rebellion against Him. Instead of the guidance we claim to want, should we not expect a lying spirit to be sent to us?
- Throne — Micaiah's vision shows a throne in heaven. The war that killed Ahab was settled there before any soldier moved.
- Control — Evil spirits stand in that scene. Their presence shows God's control over them, not any rival power.
- Sentence — The enticement is a judgment already prepared. The spirits Ahab had worshipped became the tools of his ruin.
- Cause — The lie could reach Ahab because he had already refused God's Word. The same pattern appears in the strong delusion at the end of the age.
- Warning — Decide first and pray afterwards, and you invite a lying spirit. Asking God to bless a settled choice is only mockery.