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“Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others,
Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Matthew 16 v 14
You should be aware that Josephus identifies him with the anonymous
prophet in 1 Ki. 20:35-43. If that is the case then it is quite possible
that when Ahab sent for Micaiah – he already had him in prison.
35
By the word of the Lord one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, “Strike
me with your weapon,” but the man refused.
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So the prophet said, “Because you have not obeyed the Lord, as soon as you leave me a
lion will kill you.” And after the man went away, a lion found him and killed him.
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The prophet found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him
and wounded him. 38 Then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king.
He disguised himself with his headband down over his eyes. 39 As the king passed by, the
prophet called out to him, “Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and someone
came to me with a captive and said, ‘Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life
for his life, or you must pay a talent of silver.’ 40 While your servant was busy here and
there, the man disappeared.”
“That is your sentence,” the king of Israel said. “You have pronounced it yourself.”
41
Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel
recognised him as one of the prophets. 42 He said to the king, “This is what the Lord says:
‘You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life,
your people for his people.’ ” 43 Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went to his palace in
Samaria.
1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the
reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw
concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2
Hear, O peoples, all of you, 1 Kings 22 v 28
listen, O earth and all who are in it,
that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
28 Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not
spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”
He has every confidence that the word of the Lord will be fulfilled.
Such a high standard is surely a good role model for a leader in the
church of today – when so many suggest that the message be made
more palatable and the truth be bent so as to please the hearers.
So I want to set out for you this evening these main strands of his
ministry:
Micaiah also comes from that NOBLE TRADITION – like Elijah, whose
ministry took place at the same time – Micaiah is not afraid to talk out,
he has a profound influence on the rulers of the day.
17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As
the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither
dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
is an echo of the almost universal “Thus says the Lord” but with a
particular emphasis. The prophet knows his position in the grand
scheme of things, he is not afraid to speak to kings – and he certainly
expects that the Lord’s words spoken by him will be fulfilled.
14
But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what
the LORD tells me.”
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You will notice the absolute authority of the prophet is the authority of
his Lord.
The comparison with John the Baptist is also clear: Like John, Micaiah
is imprisoned – and like John, Micaiah is respected in that strange way
in which both Ahab and Herod respected the prophet of their day.
MARK 6
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he
had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his
brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been
saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him.
But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected
him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard
John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
Many are quick to dismiss their words – but somehow fascinated by the
bearing and power with which they minister.
6
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.”
7
But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom
we can enquire of?”
• Micaiah’s refusal to tell anything but the truth God gave him
We also notice the stark contrast between the performing prophets and
Micaiah.
I suggest to you that a faithful minister of the Word will be known not
by eloquence or by the way in which his ministry is easy to hear – but
by the measure of its TRUTH and ITS REFUSAL TO BEND.
That will not make for EASY LISTENING – but it will certainly be
immensely POWERFUL.
19
Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the
LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing round
him on his right and on his left. 20 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.’
22
“ ‘By what means?’ the LORD asked.
“ ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’
he said.
“ ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’
23
“So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these
prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.”
Not every prophet has them or uses them – but for some the vision is
powerful and distinctive.
THE FIRST VISION IS THE MOST DIRECT
17
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.’ ”
17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 18 “Go down
to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in
Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. 19 Say
to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and
seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In
the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your
blood—yes, yours!’ ” 1 KINGS 21:17 – 19
The meaning was not lost on Ahab and I guess not on any of the
others who heard it either.
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How those words and that description must have haunted Ahab as he
prepared for battle, and as he tried to confuse the enemy and rode in
his chariot in ordinary battle-dress. There is something most
compelling about the words that the prophet uses – much more so that
a simple statement about defeat.
Some of the preachers who have most influenced me have been those
able to describe a Biblical narrative in such a way as to create a picture
in the mind. I have always admired that ability.
In an age when the spoken word had priority over the written word –
such a visionary element to the word was so important.
Visual aids (as we shall see in our next study in particular) have their
place in the presentation of the prophet’s message.
Such expertise is not the province of the Lord’s prophet only – indeed,
as in today’s TV age the false prophets have the technique mastered
too.
him on his right and on his left. 20 And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice
Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’
Once again the ability to keep the message firmly in the minds of his
hearers is paramount. As Micaiah begins his description we sense the
royal crowd and retinue become quiet to hear the vision described.
That there are problems to our minds with the detail of the vision do
not in any way diminish the central message of Micaiah’s second
vision.
Ahab’s prophets are deceiving him – the king will go to his death.
One of the things that I have always felt my own ministry lacked is the
ability to get the application of the truth across forcibly.
Yet there are times when the presentation of God’s Word must provoke
a response.
A PARTICULAR PROBLEM
The main difficulty in the passage is the SECOND VISION and its
apparent reference to God sanctioning a lying spirit.
It also reminds us of the ministry of our Lord – in, for example, the
parable of the unjust judge.
Modern students of the Bible hardly know how to comprehend this until they are reminded that
both Jeremiah (20:7, 10) and Ezekiel (14:9) describe Yahweh as deceiving or enticing a
prophet. This accords with Micaiah’s explanation of his vision in v 23, to the effect that this
heavenly Spirit has become a lying spirit in the mouth of the king’s prophets. This ultimately
means that Yahweh has spoken unfavorably against the king, because the encouraging
oracles of his deceived prophets will deceive him into doing himself harm. This leads to the
third episode in which the question of where the greater authority lies is brought to a head (vv
24–25)
This strange story raises the question of whether a prophecy can be known to be true or
false. There is no easy answer to this problem. The criterion offered in Dt. 18:22 can be
applied only in retrospect; an alternative criterion, in Dt. 13:1–3, places the emphasis on
whether the prophet leads people towards or away from serving the true God, and not on
whether his words come true.
1
2
Carson, D. A. (1994). New Bible commentary : 21st century edition. Rev. ed. of: The new Bible commentary. 3rd
ed. / edited by D. Guthrie, J.A. Motyer. 1970. (4th ed.) (1 Ki 22:1). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA:
Inter-Varsity Press.
Then Micaiah said, “I’m not through. I have something else to say to you that you ought to
hear.” And he gives a parable. You could call it a parable that is the reductio ad absurdum. It is
a preposterous parable, a parable by contrast. (You will not find parables like this until you
come to our Lord’s teaching as recorded by Luke. Take, for example, the parable of the unjust
judge: God is not an unjust judge.)
3
McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic
ed.) (1 Ki 22:18). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
22:18–23 King Ahab presented this to Jehoshaphat as evidence that Micaiah could speak
nothing but evil against him. Then the brave prophet spoke up again. He related a vision in
which a lying spirit, appearing before the LORD, agreed to trick Ahab into going against
Ramoth Gilead and be slain. The lying spirit would put this advice into the mouth of all the
king’s prophets. This is an example of how God, while not the author of evil, uses it to achieve
His ultimate ends. He sent the lying spirit only in the sense that He permitted it.4
4
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5
MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (electronic
ed.) (1 Ki 22:18). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Jeremiah’s Complaint
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O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived;a
a
EZEKIEL 14:
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“ ‘When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates himself from me and sets up idols in his
heart and puts a wicked stumbling-block before his face and then goes to a prophet to enquire of me, I
the LORD will answer him myself. 8 I will set my face against that man and make him an example and a
byword. I will cut him off from my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
9
“ ‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the LORD have enticed that prophet, and I will
stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. 10 They will bear their
guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. 11 Then the people of Israel will no
longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves any more with all their sins. They will be my
people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.’ ”
a Or persuaded
a Or persuaded
6
The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1984; Publsihed in
electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996 (electronic edition.)
(Je 20:7). London: Hodder & Stoughton.
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7
7
The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1984; Publsihed in
electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996 (electronic edition.)
(Eze 14:7). London: Hodder & Stoughton.