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.
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.
Ahab has already made up his mind, and Micaiah answers him with a scene in heaven. A spirit offers to become a lie in the mouths of Ahab's prophets, and God tells it to go — so how can God Himself allow deception?
Ahab's court was full of agreeable voices. Micaiah was allowed to show where their words came from.
Ahab was determined to attack Ramoth-gilead, and he refused the prophet's warning. So God allowed Micaiah to draw the veil aside for a moment. The stubborn king could then see that he was being lured to his destruction by spirit activity working on the minds of his fawning advisers… So the spirit world discussed and settled the disastrous campaign that cost Ahab his life. An evil angel dragged this stubborn king down to ruin — a king who had long since turned his back on his Creator.
The spirit offers, but God decides. Scripture has other cases where an evil agent serves God's purpose.
He 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 (1 Kings 22:21-22). A messenger of Satan, a thorn in the flesh, tormented Paul, to keep him from thinking too highly of himself (2 Cor. 12:7). Paul could deliver a man to Satan, so that such a one might learn not to blaspheme (1 Tim. 1:20). So God allowed Satan to move David to count Israel and Judah — for Satan can only act by God's permission.
Ahab's case is not a one-off. The same dealing appears in the New Testament.
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. In the same way, 2 Thessalonians 2 shows the folly of those who are deceived by the strong delusion that the Lord sends through the antichrist, because people 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.
Notice how the judgment came. It reached Ahab through the very powers he had served.
He points out the satanic lying spirit that has taken hold of all the prophets to make Ahab go up to Ramoth. Jehovah had asked who would entice Ahab so that he might 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.
The phrase is not just a label for human error. It names who is driving the speaker, and not only in Ahab's day.
In that scene, where the false prophets prophesy before Ahab and Jehoshaphat, Scripture tells us in plain words that the Lord put a "lying spirit" in their mouths (2 Chr. 18:22). That is, He left them in the power of Satan, or placed them there as a judgment, so that they might lure Ahab to his destruction. But here is the point for 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 under the full power and control of the evil one. There might be sincere men among them… but do not overlook this: whatever the world thinks of them, a "lying spirit" energizes and leads them.
Ahab's court is a test case. Four hundred prophets said one thing, and one man said the opposite.
Ahab's four hundred prophets and Jehovah's one prophet are an example of the conflict of spirits. The Christian is now called on to test that conflict.
This happened before Ahab, and it will happen again. God hands people over to the comfort they prefer.
But the king of Israel was satisfied with what the lying prophets said; and, as God punished Pharaoh by giving him up to a delusion, He did the same to Ahab. And 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.
- Refusal. Ahab had already turned from God's word. The lie is what a man gets when he will not have the truth.
- Permission. The spirit offers, but cannot move until God says go. Evil agents act only by divine permission — as with Paul's thorn and David's census.
- Judgment. The deception was a sentence, not an accident. The demons Ahab worshipped became the tools of his ruin.
- Pattern. Pharaoh before him, and the end-time delusion of 2 Thessalonians 2, show the same dealing. God gives the lie to those who refuse the truth.
- Test. Four hundred agreeing voices proved nothing. The Christian today is called to test the spirits behind religious speech.
And now, behold, Jehovah has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets; and Jehovah has spoken evil concerning thee.
Micaiah has just described a scene in heaven. Now he tells Ahab what it means for him: the confident agreement of four hundred prophets was never a word from God at all. The verse raises the hardest question in the chapter. How can the God of truth put a lie in anyone's mouth?
One writer reads this chapter as direct evidence that evil spirits come out of the unseen world with lies:
These wicked spirits come out from heavenly places — and they come with lies and deception of endless variety. 2 Chronicles 18 is a direct witness of this. There a spirit comes out from heaven with a lie in his mouth — a lie he puts into the mouth of Ahab's false prophets. And that lie leads Ahab to the fatal battle of Ramoth-gilead.
Scripture never explains how the spirit worked on them:
In the Old Testament we have a remarkable instance of a spirit influencing 400 prophets... We do not know the nature of this spirit, nor how he influenced the prophets.
One writer explains what it means that God put this spirit in their mouths:
The term "lying spirit" is significant... Scripture tells us plainly that the Lord put a "lying spirit" in their mouths (2 Chron. 18:22). That is, He left them — He 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. A "lying spirit" drives false prophets. They are not simply ignorant of the truth, following the bent and inclination of their own evil hearts. They are completely in the power and control of the evil one.
Not everything God sends is judgment. One writer separates discipline from judgment:
A "messenger of Satan" may be sent out from the presence of God upon either the body or the heart of man. An evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, and a lying spirit came upon the prophets of Ahab... The Lord was beginning solemn acts of judgment. So He sent these messengers of Satan upon the hearts of those who were justly under judgment. But other messengers of Satan reach only the body or a person's circumstances, as in the case of Paul. And this is only discipline, not judgment.
Ahab had already chosen which voice he would listen to, and one writer sees the same pattern 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 godless people will be deceived. 2 Thessalonians 2 shows the same folly. The Lord sends a strong delusion through the antichrist, and it deceives those who 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 verse ends with disaster already declared against Ahab. The lie was not the cause of his ruin but the means of it:
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?" 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.
Jehoshaphat heard the whole warning and went to war with Ahab anyway. One writer weighs what that cost his testimony:
He left Micaiah to the prison of the king of Israel, while he himself went to the battle with that same king. In that hour, who would have known him to be a saint of God? Where was the body "full of light" then? That act clouded and overshadowed all the light he truly shared in. There was no harmony. There was no bright, cloudless noonday over Jehoshaphat's path then.
- Refused — Ahab had already turned the truth away. The lie did not catch him off guard; it found a man who had made room for it.
- Released — God did not make the lie. As an act of judgment He left the prophets in the power of the evil one.
- Repeated — the same pattern continues. God sends a strong delusion to people who refuse to believe the truth.
- Returned — the spirits Ahab had worshipped destroyed him. The judgment reached him as the encouragement he wanted.
- Ruined — Jehoshaphat heard every word of the warning and still rode out with Ahab. His own light clouded over.
Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micah upon the cheek, and said, Which way now went the Spirit of Jehovah from me to speak to thee?
Micaiah has just told the two kings what he saw in heaven: a lying spirit sent into the mouths of Ahab's four hundred prophets. He gets no counter-argument. He gets a blow to the face, and a sneering question about which of them really has the Spirit of the LORD.
Zedekiah was not a bystander. He had led the whole show. His reaction to Micaiah settles the question of who was speaking for God:
Zedekiah had played the leading role in this scene. He made himself horns of iron and said to the king, "With these you will push the Syrians until you have wiped them out." Now this same Zedekiah strikes the prophet on the cheek and says, "Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?" He claims the Holy Spirit's direction, and he uses violence to prove it. But in doing so he proves what spirit is really driving him.
Note what the false prophet does not do. He does not test the message; he attacks the messenger, and he does it in front of both kings.
What did Jehoshaphat think when Zedekiah spoke to Micaiah with contempt and then 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? Such was the contemptible wickedness of a false prophet.
The blow carried a meaning everyone at the time would catch. It was the strongest insult available — and one writer links it to what Christ Himself later suffered:
They despised the Messiah, our Lord. They insulted Him and struck Him with a rod on the cheek. People saw a blow on the cheek as the greatest disgrace. So Zedekiah struck the prophet Micaiah on the cheek and asked him, "Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?" (See 1 Kings 22:24 and Matthew 26:67-68.)
Zedekiah's question assumes that the Spirit is where the crowd is. He had four hundred colleagues; Micaiah stood alone. The four hundred were not speaking for Baal. They used the name of the LORD:
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 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 spoke not in the name of Baal. They said, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper; for the LORD will deliver it into the king's hand" (1 Kings 22:12).
A claim to the Spirit, then, proves nothing by itself.
The prophet answers the blow with a prediction, not a protest. And the prediction is about Zedekiah himself.
Micaiah, however, did not answer this injustice with anger. He faithfully prophesied, "Indeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide." Zedekiah would remember these words when this prophecy came true. He would then be convinced of his own folly, whether he would repent or not.
The most uncomfortable figure in the verse is the one who says nothing. Jehoshaphat watched the whole scene and never opened his mouth. Commentators trace his silence to the friendship he had formed with Ahab:
He became the friend and companion of Ahab, who hated Micaiah, the servant of God. As a result he did what was bad, even though he did not himself persecute the righteous witness. He sat beside Ahab and watched the Lord's prophet first struck, then thrown into prison. This happened simply because Micaiah would not tell a lie to please a wicked king and fall in line with four hundred wicked prophets. His link with Ahab had forced him into a place where he could not avoid witnessing these wicked deeds — and he even shared in them. When a man joins himself to the world, he must do so thoroughly. The enemy is not satisfied with half measures; he will use every effort to force a believer out of close fellowship with God into the worst extremes of evil.
- Claim. Zedekiah claims the Spirit of the LORD, and backs the claim with a slap — proving instead "what spirit is really driving him."
- Contempt. The struck cheek was the era's deepest disgrace, the same insult later borne by Christ.
- Crowd. Four hundred voices all used the LORD's name; numbers and vocabulary are no proof of the Spirit.
- Calm. Micaiah does not hit back. He answers with a word about the inner chamber where his attacker will one day hide.
- Cowardice. Jehoshaphat says nothing. His friendship with Ahab has cost him the courage to speak.