But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "First seek the counsel of the Lord."So the king of Israel brought together the prophets--about four hundred men--and asked them, "Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?" "Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?" - 1Kings 22: 5-7 (NIV)
Jehoshaphat realized that the 400 "prophets" Ahab consulted were just telling him what he wanted to hear. Beloved, this is the state of the church today. We have gathered for ourselves 400 people we convince ourselves are from God to prop up what we know is our own flesh. Listen to the mainstream preaching today and what will you hear? You will hear about how great we are. How special we are. How much purpose we have. How much God loves us. How much He wants to give us. How prosperous we should be. How God is never angry with us. How our sin no longer matters to God. How we are destined to reign. How this is our best life now. How we have the same power of creation in our words as God Himself. How in fact we are "little gods." How we are the head and not tail. Above and not beneath. How we are more than conquerors. How we ought to be taking this land "for God." How much God needs us. We ask if we should go to battle and the response from the 400 we have gathered is - absolutely! This has been prophesied beloved:
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. - 2Timothy 4: 3 (NIV)
Sound doctrine from the true prophet of the Lord? We will not put up with that. Instead we will gather around us those the suit our own desires and tell us exactly what we want to hear. Thus we come to the key verse for today. Chosen because it so perfectly represents the true nature of the spiritual battle we are engaged in and losing today.
The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." "The king should not say such a thing," Jehoshaphat replied. - 1Kings 22: 8 (NIV)
I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad. Oh beloved is this not the state of the church today? Instead of desiring the truth from the mouth of God we seek out and embrace only what we deem to be "good" and acceptable. We want what we want and we will seek out those who will confirm our own worldview, biases, and fleshly desires - all in the name of the Lord without seeking His actual counsel. Those who serve in discernment try to point out the truth and are hated for it. In many ways, Micaiah was a forerunner of discernment ministry and was persecuted for it because Ahab was not interested in the truth but preferred the lies. Such is the true state of the church today. Ahab sends for Micaiah and what follows brings this even more into focus for us:
Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, "This is what the Lord says: 'With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.'"All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. "Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious," they said, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably."But Micaiah said, "As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me." - 1Kings 22: 10-14 (NIV)
Can we picture this scene? The two kings sit upon their thrones and watch as four hundred sycophants all lie to them about going to war and being victorious. One of the false prophets, Zedekiah, goes as far as to say that God showed him that he will gore the Armenians with iron horns. Micaiah is brought forth and asked to agree with the 400 false prophets. After some gamesmanship, Micaiah not only prophesies the truth but reveals that it is the Lord who was behind the lying spirits in the mouths of the false prophets:
Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' "One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, 'I will entice him.'"'By what means?' the Lord asked."'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said."'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the Lord. 'Go and do it.'"So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you." - 1Kings 22: 19-23 (NIV)
So it goes today as well. The true watchmen on the wall are the Micaiah's of this age. Refusing to compromise the truth of what God has actually said. Willing to stand in the gap against the spirit of this age and the love of worldliness. We have read the Bible sought the Lord and are trying to show people that disaster has been decreed for them if they do not repent and return unto Him. What is false beloved never goes down without a fight however:
Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. "Which way did the spirit from the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?" he asked. Micaiah replied, "You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room."The king of Israel then ordered, "Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king's son and say, 'This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.'"Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!" - 1Kings 22: 24-28 (NIV)
No good deed goes unpunished beloved. Micaiah not only tells Ahab the truth but specifically warns him to not go into this battle for it will be his last if he does. Just as Ahab ignores the true Word of God and instead believes what is false, so does the church today. Ahab would go into battle with Ramoth-gilead and sure enough he would die in it. Just as God had warned him through Micaiah. Soon after, Jezebel would also meet her end as Elijah had prophesied long ago. Beloved, the Word of God is always true. It does not change. It will not waver.
The spiritual war we are in as believers is very real. The Bible says that few are those who will find the narrow path that leads to salvation. It speaks of a great falling away which is already underway in the church today. It is accomplished because we refuse to learn from the examples God has clearly given us in His Word. We do not like Micaiah because he never prophesies anything good about us. He does not tell us that God wants us rich but instead says to store up treasures in heaven. He does not tell us that sin is meaningless but instead says to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We do not like Micaiah because we do not like the truth of the Word of God when it grates against our flesh. On the other hand, we like Zedekiah and his 400 friends. Safety in numbers we wrongly presume. We like being told that it is all about us when it is really all about Christ. We embrace the Ahab personality because we too like the worldliness that Jezebel represents. We do not want to hear the truth from God. We do not want to hear that we have to die to self and carry our own cross. We do not want to hear about partaking in the sufferings of Christ. That's the pesky Micaiah spirit we hate so much. Away with it! Let me hear the soothing balm of lies that assure me I will be victorious. Let me hear the cacophony of 400 false teachers and prophets telling me how great I am. What is past is prologue beloved. Ahab dies even though God warned him he would. So God is warning each of us today. Hear the voice of Micaiah calling from the pages of time; Mark my words, all you people!
Reverend Anthony Wade - November 8, 2015
