>> Jen: Friends and faithful listeners, welcome to the Bible Explained podcast. We're going to be reading 1 Kings 22 today, the first half of it. So grab your cup of coffee or your cup of tea and join in with me as we read the last chapter of First Kings. I'm really excited to talk about this chapter because it's,
it's very interesting to me. It shows more of King Ahab's character and how he never really submitted to God, even though God kept showing His power to King Ahab over and over and showing him mercy just again and again, both with protecting Israel from the Syrians twice, and also sparing King Ahab's life, even though King Ahab in the last chapter murdered a man for literally nothing, for greed. God was so merciful to King Ahab, and yet Ahab
still refuses to believe in God. So we're going to talk about that in 1 Kings 22, 1:18. I'll be reading, as I usually do, out, uh, of the web. They continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. In the third year, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel. The king of Israel said to his servants, you know that Ramoth Gilead is ours, and we do nothing and
don't take it out of the hand of the king of Syria. He said to Jehoshaphat, will you go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead? Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people, as your people, my horses as your horses. Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, please inquire first for Yahweh's word. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about 400 men, and said to them, should I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or should I
refrain? They said, go up, for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king. But Jehoshaphat said, isn't there here a prophet of Yahweh that we may inquire of him? The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, there is yet but one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh. Micaiah the son of Imlah. But I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. Jehoshaphat said, don't let the
king say so. Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, quickly, get Micaiah the son of Imlah. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, were sitting, each on his throne, arrayed in their robes in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets were prophesying before them. Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, Yahweh says, with these you will push the
Syrians until they are consumed. All the prophets prophesied so, saying, go up to Ramoth, Gilead and prosper, for Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king. The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, see, now the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth. Please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak good. Micaiah said, as Yahweh lives, what Yahweh says to me that I will
speak. When he came to the king, the king said to him, micaiah, shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? He answered him, go up and prosper, and Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king. The king said to him, how many times do I have to adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in Yahweh's name? He said, I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd. Yahweh said, these have no master. Let them each return to
his house in peace. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, didn't I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? This chapter just absolutely cracks me up because King Ahab is just such a baby. He's like, I don't want to hear from the real prophet because the real prophet does nothing except prophesy the truth. And I don't want to hear the truth. Well, anyway, it says in verse one, they continued three years
without war between Syria and Israel. So a few chapters back, you'll remember that Syria twice tried to go up against Israel and was totally 100% defeated. Embarrassingly so, because God was on Israel's side and was showing mercy to Israel. Even though Israel was doing some really terrible things and worshiping other gods and completely abandoning Yahweh, God still showed his mercy to Israel and defeated Syria completely. However, Ahab actually allowed the Syrian king to
go. Even though Ahab could have killed him and easily could have killed him, Ahab allowed him to leave. And now here continues the problems between Syria and Israel. Because Ahab did this, it says they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. But in the third year, Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah came down to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said to his servants, you know, that Ramoth Gilead is ours, and we do nothing
and don't take it out of the hand of the king of Syria. So he said to Jehoshaphat, will you go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead? So there's the problem between Israel and Syria right now. The Syrian king promised Ahab. He said, if you let me go, I will return all of the cities of Israel that I took. And he did not do that because Ramoth Gilead belonged to Israel, and yet Syria still had control of it. So the Syrian king did not keep up his end
of the bargain. He didn't care. So now Ahab's pretty upset about this, and he asks the king of Judah for help, is what it says. Jehoshaphat happened to be the king of Judah at this time, and he was considered one of the faithful kings, kings of Israel. So he was a good king. He was a Yahweh follower. So he says to Ahab, I will help you. My horses are your horses. My people are your people. However, I want to hear for Yahweh's word first. So Ahab agrees. He complies, and he brings 400 prophets
together. And he says to them, should I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or should I refrain? And they all, with one voice, they say, go up. The LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king. And of course, this was exactly what Ahab wanted to hear. And these 400 prophets all together are saying the exact same thing. And so some people wonder, are these prophets actually prophets of Yahweh, or were they false idol
prophets? Well, they definitely weren't prophets of Yahweh, as we're going to find out. But they claimed to be. At least some of them did. Now, some of these prophets could have also been, um, prophets of asherah or prophets of baal or whatever deity Israel was worshiping in those days, other than Yahweh. But what's really interesting is Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, has enough discernment to realize that these 400 men are not in any way
prophets of Yahweh. So Jehoshaphat says in verse seven, isn't there here a prophet of Yahweh that we may inquire of him? So Jehoshaphat's like, who are all these guys? They're definitely not prophesying in Yahweh's name. They are just saying whatever the King wants to hear. I find that really interesting that Jehoshaphat has that level of discernment. And Ahab, of course, does not have that level of discernment. He probably was like, okay, cool. You know, let's go up to
battle. Yahweh says it's gonna be good, right? We're gonna have no problems. Cause these 400 prophets are all saying the exact same thing. And this would have been a very impressive display, I'm sure, that these prophets were doing. You know, they were probably in some way benefited by King Ahab, probably financially, and would just give the king whatever he wanted to hear. But Jehoshaphat isn't buying it. And he tells Ahab. So he's like, yeah, I'm sorry. I just don't believe these guys.
Um, can we actually hear a prophet from Yahweh for real? So the king of Israel says to jehoshaphat in verse 8, there is one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh. His name is Micaiah, the son of Imla, But I hate him. I hate him. For he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. Now, Micaiah showed up a handful of chapters ago, and actually he was the prophet that told Ahab that Ahab was in big trouble because he had not killed the Syrian king. Ahab just let the Syrian king go. And Micaiah
was like, how dare you do that? You know, God destined the Syrian king for evil. And so now because you did that, God is going to destine you for evil instead of the Syrian king. And so Ahab got pretty mad. It actually is, um, implied that Ahab threw Micaiah into prison. Because if you read 1st Kings 22:26, it mentions right here, the king of Israel said, take Micaiah and carry him back to Ammon, the governor of the city, and Joash, the king's son. So that implies that, um,
Micaiah was already in prison. Because after Micaiah was done prophesying here in 1 Kings 22, Ahab's like, Send him back to prison, basically. So Micaiah was already in prison. And Ahab absolutely hated Micaiah, but he knew that he was a real prophet of Yahweh. He knew because when Jehoshaphat asked for a real prophet, the first person that came to Ahab's mind was Micaiah. So Ahab knew that Micaiah truly was a real prophet. And he brings him up out of
prison quickly. Get Micaiah, the son of Imlah. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were sitting, each on his throne, arrayed in their robes in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets were prophesying before them. So these two kings are sitting on two separate thrones, you know, they're arrayed in their royal robes, and they are watching this spectacle of these 400 prophets, you know, prophesying in Yahweh's
name. And it's really funny because in verse 11, it mentions by name one particular false prophet. And what he did, Zedekiah, the son of Chenanah, made himself horns of iron and said, Yahweh says, with these, you will push the Syrians until they are consumed. So they're putting on this big show. And I'm sure this was very interesting to watch. I'm sure it was entertaining because like I said, you know, these prophets were probably benefited in some way by King
Ahab. So they were going to put on a show. They were going to tell the king what he wanted to hear. And so one of the prophets, Zedekiah by name, claims that God gave him a revelation. So he brings these big iron horns into the courtyard, and he's making this big display with these iron horns, and he says, God just told me that you're going to push back the Syrians with these iron horns. All the other prophets
agreed. It says, all the prophets prophesied so, saying, yes, king, go up to Ramoth, Gilead and prosper, for Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king. So Ahab and Jehoshaphat are sitting there on their thrones watching this spectacle and waiting for the real prophet of Yahweh to actually get there, who happens to be Micaiah. And we don't know exactly how long it took for Micaiah to get there. It could
have taken a while, actually. So obviously that gives these other prophets plenty of time to think up lies and bring iron horns into the courtyard and make a big display of things. So finally, Micaiah arrives. It says, the messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, see, now the prophets are declaring good to the king with one mouth. Please let your word also be like the word of one of them and speak good. So the messenger who was supposed to bring Micaiah really
didn't want to upset the king. He's like, look, all the other prophets are saying good things right now, you know, so Micaiah, can you please say something good so that you don't die. And we don't have to, uh, deal with King Ahab being super angry, because that's really scary. So Micaiah, um, just. Just prophesy something good, just like these other prophets are doing. And Micaiah says to the messenger, as Yahweh lives, what Yahweh says to me that I will speak.
I mean, man, what a bold statement for Micaiah to say. You know, he has just been in prison. You know, prisons weren't nice in these days. He did not have any freedom. He did not have good food, any comforts. And yet he was still willing, in spite of all of that, to tell the truth to King Ahab. He was not going to sugarcoat anything. So finally, Micaiah gets to the king. And the king says to him, micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall we
forbear? And he answered him, go up and prosper, and Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king. And this is clearly very sarcastic. Like, Micaiah is probably mocking the other 400 prophets that are lying in Yahweh's name. And of course, King Ahab recognizes that Micaiah is using a mocking tone, and he gets mad. He says, how many times do I have to adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the
truth in Yahweh's name? And Micaiah finally drops the mocking tone, and he says, I saw all of Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd. And Yahweh said, these have no master. Let them each return to his house in peace. So Micaiah gives this prophecy, and he says, king, you're going to die. If you go to Ramoth Gilead, you will die, and the rest of Israel is going to be like sheep scattered without a shepherd. You are the shepherd. The people are the sheep. They
will be scattered because you will be dead. And the first thing that Ahab does, instead of listening to this prophecy by Micaiah, who he knows is a real prophet of Yahweh, he says to Jehoshaphat, didn't I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil? Ahab does not want to listen to Micaiah. He did not want to listen to the truth of Yahweh's words. He knew Micaiah was telling the truth. He knew it, but he
didn't want to listen to it. He liked what the other 400 prophets were saying to him instead. And unfortunately, King Ahab is about to make a huge mistake. Wow. I actually did an episode under 20 minutes this time. This is, like, uh, rare for me to speak less than 25 minutes anymore. But anyway, faithful listeners, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. And also, you know, there is a message for us in this.
The message being that we need to listen to the truth, even though we might not like the truth, because the truth is really what sets us free. And had Ahab listened to Micaiah instead of just thinking, oh, Micaiah wants it out for me, he's just going to prophesy bad things about me all the time. Instead of saying that, he likely could have avoided a whole problem that we will address next week when we finish up First Kings chapter 22 and
also First Kings completely. So we're gonna be out of First Kings next week, the first week of February, and then we'll be moving into Second Kings next Wednesday. So I hope you guys are looking forward to Second Kings, because I certainly am. Second Kings certainly has a lot of crazy stories in it as we get more into the life of Elijah and Elisha. Anyway, faithful listeners, have a fantastic
and wonderful rest of your day. I will see you guys tomorrow, 6am or whenever you choose to wake up and listen for an episode from second Corinthians. Happy listening and God bless.