Start Time:	06:28AM
End Time:	07:00AM
Date:	June 24, 2014

 

TITLE: Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

Scripture: 1 Kings 22:1 – 53

God’s Message / God’s Commands / God’s Promises:

→ For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel. The king of Israel had said to his officials, “Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?”  So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”  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?” 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. So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”  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 hornsand 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.”  When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?” “Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.” The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”  Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’”  The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”  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. ²¹ 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.”  Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from^[a] 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!”

NOTES:

Ø  As children of God, we are to speak His words alone!  The King of Israel was not happy with Micaiah’s prophesies so he doesn’t want to listen to what he has to say.  Sometimes, the truth does hurt but we ought to be open to God’s words only, and learn to accept it even if it hurts us because it is the truth and truth always prevails.  And as ambassadors of the Lord on earth, we are to speak His words alone, no more and no less.  We are to be specific and not afraid to speak the truth even if it takes risk (like a life and death situation).  We are not here to please others and be gentle with their heart, we are to speak the truth that will sometimes wound their heart but as representatives of God, we ought to do this.  We ought to speak nothing but the truth from God and we also ought to listen to the truth and not hide from it or add more to it or deduct some of it.  We do not choose what to hear from the Lord, we hear everything if it comes from God and accept it!

→So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.  The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.  Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.” When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “Surely this is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out,  the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him.  But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.” All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died. As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: “Every man to his town. Every man to his land!”  So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there. They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed),^[b] and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the Lord had declared. As for the other events of Ahab’s reign, including all he did, the palace he built and adorned with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?  Ahab rested with his ancestors. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.

NOTES:

Ø  The more we run away from the truth or the fate that God has set for us, the more we draw closer to it!  Ahab thought he could outwit the Lord.  He knew that God said his life will end soon so now that they are going to battle, he wants to secure his life so he disguised himself and pretended one of the soldiers in the battle while Jehoshaphat went with his royal robe, so everyone thought Jehoshaphat is the king of Israel.  However no matter how brilliant Ahab’s plan was, he cannot escape the fate God has destined for him.  So the more he hid himself, the more he was prone to his death.  And so he died in this battle.  It is always best to accept the fate God has set for us and plead Him to change it if we’re not ready for it yet.  But in the end, it is God’s decision.  There is no point of running away from it because it will pursue us always as God’s words are final and it is set into stone.

→Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.  In everything he followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. The high places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.^[c] Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel.  As for the other events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, the things he achieved and his military exploits, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? He rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa.  There was then no king in Edom; a provincial governor ruled.  Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships^[d] to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail—they were wrecked at Ezion Geber. At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my men sail with yours,” but Jehoshaphat refused.  Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David his father. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king. Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, because he followed the ways of his father and mother and of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He served and worshiped Baal and aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, just as his father had done.

NOTES:

Ø  God kept the line of David by ensuring that his descendants will follow HIM even in the midst of many temptations or traps or an evil world.  King Asa and King Jehoshaphat did what was right before the eyes of God yet here we see that the high places were not destroyed completely.  So it is possible to live righteously in the midst of an evil world.  There is no truth to the words of men that says, we’re only humans and we will sin especially in this world that is full of evil.  This is a lie and we ought to study the word of God to confirm the truth.  King Asa and King Jehoshaphat were able to do so and so can we. 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, Gracious and wonderful Saviour, Merciful and loving Father!  Let me be an instrument for Your glory.  Help me to speak nothing but only Your truth and Your words.  No more and no less.  Help me to stick to Your message and not add to it or deduct from it.  I am a vessel of Your honor and glory my God and I will live for You.  Help me Lord to never speak with the goal of pleasing others but my aim is to speak Your truth because I am designed to please and satisfy You only.  Lord help me to accept the truth and learn to adjust to it even if it means something that I do not agree with or I don’t like or I don’t want.  Let my heart be open to the truth and the whole truth even if it hurts.  Help me to do as You commanded me to do so.  Lord, remind me always that it is possible to live righteously in this evil world.  King Asa and Jehoshaphat did so…so I can also.  Keep this truth in me Lord that I may walk uprightly daily with You.  You’re all I need Jesus.  In Your Name I pray, Amen!