A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF 1 KINGS: The End of an Evil Era 1 Kings 22
Dr. Jerry A. Collins
CAMPAIGN AGAINST RAMOTH-GILEAD
Verses 1-3: Three years passed without war
between Aram and Israel. 2 In the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the
king of Israel. 3 Now the king of Israel said to his servants, "Do you know
that Ramoth-Gilead belongs to us, and we
are still doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?" Previously, the King of Syria promised to
return certain cities to Israel. Ben-hadad said to him, the cities which my father took from your father I will restore, and
you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria." Ahab
said, "And I will let you go with this
covenant" So he made a covenant with him and let him go in
exchange for leniency after defeat in battle (1 Kings 20:34). Apparently,
this was a city that Ben-Hadad never returned to Israel and it was in a strategically
important location. Jehoshaphat was a good king. There had not been
good relations between Israel and Judah, since the breakup of the twelve tribes
into Judah and Israel. Now we have a couple of key
requests made here one by king and one by Jehoshaphet each revealing some
character traits.
Verses 4-5: And he said to Jehoshaphat, (1) "Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?" And
Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as
your people, my horses as your horses."5 Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel (2) "Please inquire
first for the word of the Lord." Ahab
wanting to exert his power and Jehoshaphat
displaying he was a devotee of the Lord. It was typical of him to inquire
concerning the Lord’s will.
PT— So,
Ramoth-Gilead becomes the flash point, it was a gateway, that moved this
narrative forward. Mentioned at least seven times, it was the strategic route
from east to west cutting across the trans-jordanian highway and then
connecting to the inter-coastal highway along the coast.
An Application— As frightening and
adversarial our situations may become; we should always inquire first for the word of the Lord. The reason is not that we get our instructions, but that we
learn of the heart of God that we can then apply to that particular event. We
need to apply revelation in real life moments so that the eternal tampers with
the temporal.
Verses 6-9: Then
the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men… But
Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we
may inquire of him?... The 400 prophets Ahab assembled may have been apostate
prophets of the LORD since Baal prophets would probably have been unacceptable
to Jehoshaphat. There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I
hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." But Jehoshaphat said, "Let not
the king say so."
Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, "Bring quickly Micaiah
son of Imlah." — Again, we see
their character revealed in their responses to the circumstances in which they
find themselves.
PT— When a person is not interested in the
will of God, the last thing they want is someone telling them what they do not
want to hear. Here is a picture in contrasts: A king wanting to sincerely
enquire as to the will of God, and the other king who viscerally despises
hearing it. We should therefore interpret Jehoshaphat’s request for a
prophet of the LORD (v. 7) as a request for a faithful prophet. Ahab hated Micaiah because he
always told the king the truth. Ahab wanted to feel good more than he wanted to
know the truth. This is another evidence of Ahab’s continuing antagonism toward
the LORD and His representatives. Ahab hated the messenger
because of the message. His real conflict was with God, but he focused his
hatred against the prophet Micaiah.
PT— We do need to guard our hearts so that we are sensitive to
the mind of God. That is not something that naturally happens. It must be
cultivated. That’s the entire reason why we should have devotions and/or
meditate upon Scripture. The book of Psalms is a meditative sequence of
passages devoted to the transformation of the heart and mind of God’s people.
PURSUING THE
WILL OF GOD IN THE MATTER
Verses 10-12—
Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat
king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes… all the prophets were
prophesying before them. 11 Then Zedekiah the son of
Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, "Thus says the Lord, 'With
these you will gore the Arameans until they are consumed.'" All the
prophets were prophesying thus, saying, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and
prosper, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king." — This
illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the
gates of the city. There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the
gates of the city of Samaria. This must have been a vivid and entertaining
presentation. We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the
point. It was certainly
persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue. No matter how
powerful and persuasive the presentation, their
message was unfaithful.
Verses
13-14— 13 Then the messenger who went to
summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, "Behold now, the words of the
prophets are uniformly favorable to the king. Please let your word be like the
word of one of them, and speak favorably." 14 But Micaiah said, "As the
Lord lives, what the Lord says to
me, that I shall speak."— The
assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with
the 400 other prophets. Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what
God said to him. This was a dramatic scene. Micaiah was brought out from prison.
(1 Kings 22:26
indicates that he came from prison). We see a prophet in rags and chains stand
before two kings, ready to speak on behalf of the LORD.
An
Application— Yes, life would be so much easier if we would
just compromise what God says in order to bring peace to the situation. Let the
majority rule is the way to decide. Agreement. Let’s COEXIST.
Verses
15-18— The king said to him,
"Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?"
And he answered him, "Go up and succeed, and the Lord will give it into the hand of the
king." 16 Then the king said to him,
"How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth
in the name of the Lord?"… Well, that is what he has been
doing. Ahab wants a different truth.Like Elijah, Micaiah was willing to stand
alone for God (v. 14). Micaiah had stood before Ahab many times before (v. 8).
This time he told the king what he wanted to hear sarcastically (v. 15).
Ahab’s reply was also sarcastic (v. 16). He had never had to tell Micaiah to speak the truth
in the Lord’s name. That was the one
consistent element that set him apart.
PT— Don’t you want your desire for the will of God and your
passion for the Word of God to mark your life and distinguish you amongst the
people of God? In our day and age this is an opportunity for one to stand out
as a follower of Jesus.
Verses 17-18— "I
saw all Israel Scattered on the mountains, like sheep which have no
shepherd. And the Lord said, 'These have no master. Let each of them return to his
house in peace.'" 18 Then the king of Israel said to
Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good
concerning me, but evil?"— Micaiah’s
vision of Israel was of defenseless sheep without a human shepherd, namely,
Ahab. They would come home after the battle peacefully (v. 17). The king responded to
this prophecy of his death glibly (v. 18). He could not have believed the Lord’s word and gone
into battle. Micaiah
was challenged to tell the truth, and now he changed his tone from mocking to
serious. He said that not only would Israel be defeated, but also that their
leader (shepherd) would perish. King Ahab
said that he wanted the truth – but he couldn’t handle the truth. What he
didn’t consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards
Ahab, he prophesied truth.
Verses 19-23—
Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the
word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting
on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on
His left… The Lord said,
'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?'… I will entice him.' 22 The Lord said to him, 'How?' And he
said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his
prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.' …the Lord has
put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you."— Micaiah
proceeded to explain that Ahab was the target of God’s plan. He would lure him
into battle. Still Ahab remained unbelieving. God was Ahab’s real enemy, not
Aram. The identity of the spirit that stood before the Lord and offered to
entice Ahab is problematic.
PT— This “spirit” may be the personified spirit of prophecy, or
it may have been a demon or Satan. Saul also saw a spirit shortly before he
died (1 Sam. 28; 31). God
wanted to bring judgment against Ahab, so He asked this group of the host of heaven for
a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle. Since Ahab wanted to be
deceived, God would give him what He wanted, using a willing fallen angel who
worked through willing unfaithful prophets. For even the false prophets may be
governed by supernatural or spiritual forces rather than merely human reason
PT—
This is the vision that Micaiah had of what
goes on in the heavenlies. The LORD dispatches a spirit to go, and persuade
Ahab to go to the battle at Ramoth-gilead and fall there. So, the entire point of
this exchange is to give us a glimpse into how God dispatches his plans through
the use of angels, demons, Satan and whomever in the heavens above. Here a
spirit volunteers to deceive and apparently that it how it is—angels with a
free will, demons with a free will and God in charge of the dispatching and colluding
and deception. God decided to let us in on this episode.
An Application –
We often say Gods ways are not our ways and of course that is true. We have no
idea about so many things that God is doing. Sometimes, like at Jesus baptism,
we hear the Father’s commitment to His Son, or at the transfiguration we learn
of Moses and Elijah or at Jesus’ death, again we hear of the Father’s passion
for His Son and the work He is doing on the Father’s behalf. Moments when the
priorities of heaven become available to us on earth.
WHO IS IN CHARGE HERE
Verses 24-25— 24 Then Zedekiah the son of
Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "How did the
Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to
you?" 25 Micaiah said, "Behold, you
shall see on that day when you enter an inner room to hide yourself."— Zedekiah
responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument. He responded with
violence. Striking on the cheek (v. 24)
was a much greater insult then than it is now. Zedekiah was bluffing to the
very end. Apparently, after some type of judgment, Zedekiah will attempt to
protect himself and fail after hiding an an inner room somewhere.
Verses
26-28— Then the king of Israel said, "Take
Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's
son; 27 and say, 'Thus says the king, "Put
this man in prison and feed him sparingly with bread and water until I return
safely."'" 28 Micaiah said, "If you
indeed return safely the Lord has not spoken by me." And
he said, "Listen, all you people."— Ahab proved
to be hard to the point of insensibility instead of repenting at this prophetic
word of judgment, as he had previously done (vv. 26-27). Time would tell that
Micaiah’s words were from the Lord (v. 28). King Ahab responded the way
many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth. Ahab wanted Micaiah
imprisoned and deprived (feed him with the bread of affliction
and water of affliction). The
prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal. He was willing to be judged
by whether his prophecy came to pass or not. And he said, "Listen, all
you people.
NB— A
prophet had a rough life if he told the truth. Many times, the message for the
king was not what he wanted to hear and he punished the prophet. In this
particular case, they put him in prison and gave him nothing but bread and
water. Ahab had believed a lie, and would go to war. He believes he will come
back successful, so he says, "until I come in peace". If Ahab
returns, Micaiah is a false prophet.
SO
WHAT?
·
If you desire to pursue the will of God— then,
first of all, determine that it is the will of God you are following. You can
be deceived into thinking so just to get your way. This makes the Christian
life a very fragile pathway.
·
Pursuing the will of God that is correctly
discerned can bring a great amount of difficulty into your life. You may have
to reset your priorities or your schedule or your lifestyle or your friendships
or your finances or your…
· What is important is that we are on the side of truth. We do not want to live in lies or deception where life is not lived in reality. Truth is the way things actually are and that is the only place our lives should be calibrated. Truth is reality. Reality is the way things actually are.