1 Kings 22:14

Wicked King Ahab, as we might well expect, had no love for Elijah or any other of the Lord's faithful prophets. "Troubler of Israel," "My enemy," he calls Elijah. "I hate him," he frankly says of Micaiah the son of Imlah. Through Elijah's prayers rain and dew had ceased for three and a half years in Israel. Elijah did not hesitate to rebuke Ahab and pronounce God's judgment on him. Micaiah the son of Imlah was cut from the same cloth. He was told that "the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king." He was advised to fall in line with them, but he flatly refused.

He hated him, and he likewise hated all those who pronounced the Lord's judgment on him. He wanted the prophet to "prophesy good concerning him." Such will always be the character of the religious world. Those who belong to it choose teachers to suit their own desires — teachers who praise them, praise the world they live in, and promise them success and prosperity.

So the case of Israel was as the prophet described it — "a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD." They "say to the seers, 'Do not see,' and to the prophets, 'Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions'" (Isa. 30:9-10).

Take this together with what we have read of Balaam and of David. Then we can be in no doubt about what Micaiah meant when he affirmed that the Lord spoke by him. Nor can we doubt what he intended the king to believe when he said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD." He spoke in words taught him by God. It was God's word that he uttered, and not just Micaiah's impression of something that had been revealed to him.

As we would expect, the man of God kept himself apart from the four hundred prophets. That was a good example for the king of Judah, who had joined himself to the godless king. The result of this alliance is very sad, but it had to follow: he follows Ahab instead of Micaiah. Such is the effect of "bad company" on the believer. One never sees the opposite effect, that is, the world following the example of God's children. Someone has well said: "There is no equality in an alliance between truth and error. By the alliance itself, truth stops being truth, and error does not become truth."

Elijah and Micaiah were bold and unflinching in their testimony. Ahab called Elijah "my enemy," and of Micaiah he said, "I hate him." It is really a compliment to be disliked by the wicked. "Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets" (Luke 6:26). Obadiah and Jehoshaphat were the opposite of Elijah and Micaiah. They were not bold and unflinching, but weak, and given to compromise for the sake of advantage. Ahab hated neither of these, for they were useful to him.

Brought before the two kings, the faithful servant of the Lord delivered his message. His parting words to Ahab showed he knew he had been the mouthpiece of God: "If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me." Ahab did not return in peace, for the Lord had spoken by Micaiah.