Seek Truth from God’s Word!

1 Kings 22

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, July 4. Happy Independence Day!

Ahab, king of Israel, was surrounded by false prophets who tickled his ears by affirming his desires and approving his decisions. In 1 Kings 22:7-8, after Ahad had received the rubber-stamp affirmation from his 400 prophets to go to battle, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, challenged Ahab to truly inquire of the Lord:

But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?” The king of Israel said 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.”

Clearly Ahab and Micaiah had some history. Jewish historian Josephus believed Micaiah was the prophet who had prophesied against Ahab in 1 Kings 20:39-43, after he had disobediently made a covenant with Ben-hadad of Syria.^[1] Ahab hated Micaiah because he was no respecter of men, but of God and His Word. Micaiah was faithful and courageous! He ended up in prison after giving an honest report to the king and his false prophets (13-28).

Like many today, Ahab was easily deceived because he surrounded himself with people who told him what he wanted to hear, they affirmed his desires and approved his decisions. In 2 Timothy 4:2-3, Paul warned his protégé that many would become like Ahab, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] Jason Darrell Coplen, “Micaiah the Prophet,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).