1 Kings 22:13-28--Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

1 Kings 22:13-28
English Standard Version

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab
13 And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. 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 will speak.” 15 And when he had come to the king, 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 triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.” 16 But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?” 17 And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” 18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” 19 And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; 20 and the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. 21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 And the LORD said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ 23 Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has declared disaster for you.”

24 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “How did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?” 25 And Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” 26 And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son, 27 and say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace.”’” 28 And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you peoples!”

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I believe I started to reference this part of the story last time, as Ahab had many prophets on his payroll that would all say whatever he wanted them to say.  If the king wanted to go to war with Syria, then all the prophets would agree that the LORD also wanted the king to go to war with Syria.  The king of Judah sensed something was wrong here though because it's not like the prophets simply all agreed and were of one accord because they had the same Spirit leading them, they said exactly the same words as one another because they had the same script.  So, the king of Judah asked Ahab, king of Israel if there was not another prophet in Israel that they could inquire of.  If the message was truly from the LORD than this prophet too who was not part of the conspiracy to let the king hear what he wanted to hear would be in agreement (though his words would be different than their script), but if his message was in opposition to the message of those that agreed with one another, then there would be an issue because the Spirit would not give two different messages.

When the prophet Micaiah came before the king, he at first started to speak the same script as everyone else (apparently he had been given a copy too), but Ahab knew better and stopped him because it was not like Micaiah to be a yes-man.  Ahab said, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?” These are interesting words to come from the mouth of Ahab, but it appears that Ahab is interested in hearing what the LORD has to say (but he also wants the LORD to agree with him at the same time).

Micaiah then tells Ahab the truth about what he has seen--Ahab is going to be killed and the nation of Israel will be left without a leader, and the people of Israel would go back to their homes without a king.  Ahab then turns to Jehoshaphat and says, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”  Make up your mind, Ahab.  Do you want him to speak the word of the LORD or what you want to hear?

Micaiah continued to say that the LORD had given him a glimpse into the spiritual realm and that it was the will of the LORD for Ahab to go to war with Syria so that he would die in battle, but how would that message get to him when no true prophet would tell the king that it was the will of the LORD for the whole nation to go to war with Syria?  A spirit (since it is a lying spirit, we must assume it is a demon) volunteers to put lies into the mouths of the false prophets to convince Ahab to go into battle so that he can die and the prophecy that the word of the LORD spoke against Ahab through Elijah would be fulfilled.

Zedekiah, the leader of the false prophets accused Micaiah of being a false prophet saying that there was no way Micaiah and he could both be speaking by the Spirit and Zedekiah claimed he was the one that was filled with the Spirit.  After Micaiah was struck by Zedekiah, Micaiah prophesied against Zedekiah and said that he would realize the truth (that he was the false prophet) one day when judgment came upon him and he would go into an inner chamber to hide himself.

The king was angry with Micaiah and ordered that he be arrested and put in prison and fed nothing but meager rations of bread and water that would be just enough to keep him alive.  He was supposed to be held prisoner until the king returned from war which wasn't ever going to happen, so we have to assume that Micaiah stayed in prison for the rest of his life because we never hear of him again (other than the time this story is repeated in 2 Chronicles and it ends much the same way other than Micaiah adds that if the king returns in peace than all the people should know that his prophesy was not true).  There is a high price to pay many times for being the LORD's prophet and speaking truth to those who are in authority.  They will try to use money to bribe you or the threat of imprisonment or death to try to make you recant or compromise, but a true prophet can do neither--they must only speak the words that the LORD has given to them, and let the LORD be responsible for the consequences and results.