Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”
Jehoshaphat had already promised Ahab his army before he thought to ask what God wanted. Ahab answered by gathering four hundred men who all said the same thing. Their message matched the plan the king had already made — which raises the question of what it means to "inquire of the Lord" at all.
Guidance Asked Too Late
Commentators read his words as a conscience stirring too late to change anything.
C. H. MackintoshYou can see conscience at work in the words, "Inquire first for the word of the LORD." But how useless was 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 only 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!
The alliance itself had already erased the line between the two kings.
H. L. RossierThis alliance leads Jehoshaphat to declare that he, the godly king of Judah, is just like wicked Ahab. It makes him throw down the barrier separating the man of God from the world... Alliance with the world, we cannot repeat too often, makes us liable for its iniquity.
Who The Four Hundred Were
Ahab had no shortage of prophets, and they no longer spoke in Baal's name.
J. N. DarbyWe see also the false prophets in power: Ahab had four hundred of them. We may remark also, that they made use of Jehovah's name, and no longer, as it appears, of Baal's... Outwardly the state of things is less offensive; but the heart of Ahab is unchanged.
Their sheer number is itself a puzzle.
H. L. RossierWhere did they come from when hardly a few isolated prophets could be found in all the territory of Israel? They were few, for only one prophet of the Lord was enough to make known His mind... They were now pretending to speak by the Spirit of God, whereas a lying spirit who served their own interests had taken hold of them. One can wear the uniform of a prophet of the Lord and be lying.
Prophets Who Knew The Answer In Advance
Their unanimous "Go up" was not revelation but calculation. They had read the king before they opened their mouths.
Leslie M. GrantThe prophets knew that Ahab had engineered this project and they therefore all agreed that he should go through with it. This was not at all inquiring of the Lord, but inquiring from men who were pleasing to him.
The same writer turns this directly on anyone who speaks in God's name today, and draws a simple rule from it.
Leslie M. GrantThere 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.
Four Hundred Against One
Numbers alone did not settle the matter. One writer traces the warning a true heart feels to something more basic than a spiritual gift.
H. L. RossierA true heart has a spiritual sense that warns it, though it may not be able to explain why. It senses that certain spiritual displays do not have the Spirit of God behind them. 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... For him, one man truly separated to God would be enough to outweigh the other four hundred.
A Nation That Wanted Smooth Words
The four hundred were meeting a demand. Kelly ties the scene to a prophet's word about a people who ask for smooth messages:
William KellySo the case of Israel was as the prophet said: "they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD." They "say to the seers, 'Do not see,' and to the prophets, 'Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions'" (Isa. 30:9-10).
The appetite has its own penalty. Mackintosh asks what a man who has already made up his mind should expect to get.
C. H. MackintoshInstead of getting the guidance we claim to be asking for, may we not rather expect a lying spirit to be sent out to us? (verse 21)
Summary
- Order — Guidance you ask for after you decide is not guidance. Jehoshaphat asked about a war he had already agreed to fight.
- Company — The alliance came first; the bad counsel followed. Alliance with the world makes you liable for its wrongdoing.
- Costume — Four hundred men used the Lord's name and prophesied lies. The right vocabulary is no proof of the right spirit.
- Count — Full agreement proves nothing. One prophet truly separated to God outweighs four hundred agreeable voices.
- Consequence — A heart set on its own course may get a lying spirit for an answer. What you want to hear can become the judgment you receive.