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Ahab’s Self Betrayal
By
Rev. Todd W. Allen
1 Kings 22:2-28
August 7, 2005
We are not able to see the hearts of men as God does. We are not
supposed to sit in judgment on men but we are accountable for our own
response to the gospel, and we are expected to take a stand for Jesus
Christ. No one can escape his accountability or responsibility. We all
must stand before the Judge of all the earth and then shall each man
have his own praise of God, according to his faith.
In our scripture today we
have a situation that can speak to us all to warn us against trifling
with the Word of God. It deals with a portion of history in the two
kingdoms of Judah and Israel about 850 years before the birth of Christ.
Israel had been one nation until the division of the kingdom after
Solomon's death.
Now there was Judah in the
south with Jehosaphat as the king and Israel to the north with Ahab as
king. Jehosaphat was considered a good king. He followed the
example of David in living a life of faith and in seeking to obey the
Lord. We are told in the scriptures that God blessed him and established
the kingdom in his control. We read in 2 Chronicles 17:3-6: The LORD
was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father
David’s earlier days and did not seek the Baals, 4but sought
the God of his father, followed His commandments, and did not act as
Israel did. 5So the LORD established the kingdom in his
control, and all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great
riches and honor. 6He took great pride in the ways of the
LORD and again removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah.
We learn in this scripture that
Jehoshaphat became allied with Ahab through a marriage. This was the
marriage of his son Jehoram to Athaliah the daughter of Ahab and
Jezebel.
In thinking about the two
kingdoms of Judah and Israel we might liken them to two denominations.
They represented two political entities each with a state religion. If
you lived in Judah you followed the king and his religion. If you lived
in Israel you followed its king and his religion.
After the division of
Israel into two kingdoms there never was a good king in the northern
kingdom of Israel. God sent them prophets to recall them to the true and
right worship of God but they never returned and eventually they were
taken captive by Assyria and never returned from that captivity. Only
Judah survived and was chastened by the Lord through the Babylonian
captivity, from which a remnant returned.
Because of this marriage Jehosaphat
became friendly with Ahab. He had met Ahab and Jezebel at the wedding.
And so it wasn't surprising that some years later he went to visit Ahab
at Samaria.
Ahab put on a big
barbecue. Everybody was very friendly. The two kingdoms hadn't had such
friendship since they had become two kingdoms. But Ahab just couldn't
pass up the opportunity to use this new friendship to strengthen his own
kingdom. He proposed that Jehosaphat go with him to Ramoth-gilead and
retake it for the kingdom of Israel. Syria had possession of it but Ahab
claimed it rightfully belonged to Israel.
Ahab had been thinking
about this for some time and Jehosaphat was just the man to help him.
After all, Jehosaphat had a famous name in the earth. He had never been
defeated in battle. Ahab was certain of victory if only Jehosaphat went
tc war with him. Jehosaphat agreed to go. He said,
“I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your
horses.”
This was an unwise
decision on Jehosaphat's but because of the marriage alliance he is now
joined in an enterprise with the wicked Ahab. The marriage alliance has
now become a war alliance.
Jehosaphat would have done
well to seek guidance from the Lord before giving his blessing to the
marriage of his son to Ahab's daughter. I wonder what Elijah would have
counseled him about that? Or about getting involved in a war venture
with the northern kingdom? But to his credit Jehosaphat did say to
Ahab,
“Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.”
Better late than never.
Now it is right at this point that we can begin to see the difference in
these two kings in their approach to religion and God. Ahab agrees to
Jehosaphat's request. He had the same Jewish heritage as Jehosaphat.
The Word of God was still
coming in those days. You could get the Word of the Lord from a prophet
of God. All Christian denominations have the Bible. The Bible was the
beginning authority for every group of Christian since the time of the
apostles. It is how that Word is received and obeyed that determines a
church's integrity and purity.
Ahab had no difficulty in
agreeing to seek the Word of the Lord. He readily agreed. But where did
he seek for the Word of the Lord? He went to his paid professional cadre
of prophets. These men were his personal appointees, or that of his wife
Jezebel.
These counterfeit prophets
played the religion game to the hilt. They were handpicked men who could
always be depended upon to give the Word of the Lord that suited Ahab
and Jezebel. They were hirelings, sycophants, false prophets. They
remind me of those little creatures that are so plentiful in Florida
called chameleons. Chameleons have a chemistry that enables them to
change color to adapt to the plant they happen to be on at the moment.
If they are on a green leaf they turn green. If they move to a red leaf
they turn red. If they are on a black piece of bark they can turn black.
They blend into the foliage and so elude their attackers or enemies.
These counterfeit prophets
were like chameleons in that they could adapt to whatever political
position the situation called for. They simply waited for a signal from
their chief Zedekiah. Whatever he said they would follow suit and the
king would have the word he wanted to hear.
Not only were these false prophets very sensitive
to the political winds they were superb actors too. They could put on a
show.
6Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together,
about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against
Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for
the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”
But these 400 men did not persuade
Jehosaphat. He detected that they were simply appointees of Ahab and
that they were not true prophets of God. So he said to Ahab,
“Is there not yet a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of
him?” 8The 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.”
It is interesting to note at this point that Ahab did not object to
Jehosaphat’s rejection of the authenticity of these appointed prophets.
Ahab knew that they were not true prophets of God; otherwise I am sure
that he would have protested to Jehosaphat that these men were reliable
men of God. Instead he acknowledges that there is a genuine man of God
around. But he says I hate him because he doesn’t prophesy good about me
but always has something bad to say about me.
Jehosaphat gave a soft
answer to that.
“Let not the king say so.” He knows that the Lord only has his
true prophets say what is right and good. If we are offended it is
because we resent the Word of God.
God lets us see the root
cause of Ahab's unbelief. He was a man who knew that God spoke by His
Word, who knew that God had sent prophets who spoke the Word of God, but
he didn't like the message that came. The Word of God was distasteful to
him. He wanted to be religious but he didn’t want the God of the Bible.
He wanted a god who would accommodate himself to his goals and
aspirations, to his needs and desires. So he employed men who would
tickle his ears and speak the word he wanted to hear. He wanted the
reputation of being a religious king, one who supported religion and
tried to move in the will of God.
So Ahab agrees to send for the true prophet but he forewarns Jehosaphat
that this man of God will probably speak against their plan to go to
Ramoth-gilead. Ahab really didn't care what the prophet Micaiah would
say, he already knew what he was going to do. His only concern was that
Jehosaphat support him in the venture. So he sends for Micaiah. He told
an officer to bring him quickly. He wants to get this obstacle out of
the way as soon as possible.
13Then 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.” 14But Micaiah said, “As the LORD
lives, what the LORD says to me, that I shall speak.”
Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting
each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing
floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were
prophesying before them. 11Then 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.’” 12All
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.”
These men were actors, showmen. They
devised special effects for their prophesying. This lent dramatic
effect to their words.
15When Micaiah came 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 succeed, and the LORD will give it
into the hand of the king.” 16Then 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?”
Ahab detected that this man of God was not giving the Word of God. How
about that? Even a false professor of Christ can tell the difference
between the true Word of God and a contrived message. Perhaps it was in
the tone of voice of Micaiah. Maybe his words were said in a sarcastic
way, or it may simply have been the look on his face. But in any case
Ahab knew that Micaiah was putting him on. But now God gives a warning
to Ahab.
But now God gives a prophetic warning to Ahab.
17So Micaiah said, “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.’”
18Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not
tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”
Now the prophecy is enlarged and greater detail is given of how Ahab
will be self-betrayed and meet his death.
19Micaiah 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. 20“The LORD said, ‘Who
will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this
while another said that. 21“Then a spirit came forward and
stood before the LORD and said, ‘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.’ 23“Now
therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of
all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against
you.”
Please notice that God can and does allow
Satan to speak deceiving words to men when they refuse to heed the word
of God. God is the sovereign Lord. He can allow the very deceptions a
person practices to be the cause of his own self-betrayal.
The self-will and deceit
of Ahab became the cause of his own betrayal and death. By this time in
his life he was so hardened against the Word of God that he refused to
listen to it even when he was told that he would die in this military
adventure. Had he repented and humbly received the Word of the Lord he
would have saved his life. But no, he was determined to reject the Word
of God once more in favor of his own scheming ambition.
And what about Jehoshaphat?
He heard this prophecy too and could have backed out of the deal, but
apparently he felt obligated to abide by his earlier words and not lose
face by refusing to join Ahab in this war venture.
In closing today I ask you to ask
yourself this question, Do I receive the Word of the Lord humbly and
meekly, or do I resent it when it pinches me and rebukes me? When you
hear a message that speaks directly to your heart do you blame the
preacher for the sharpness and bite of the Word of God and perhaps like
Ahab you say to yourself, He never speaks anything that soothes me and
comforts me but always says some words that hurt me and make me feel
uncomfortable?
We can hear the Word of
God and be offended by it. We can easily find fault with the
Bible-believing preacher. We can resent the message that demands that we
put away sin and live righteously and godly in Christ Jesus. Or, like
Ahab, we can be ambivalent toward the Word of God. We are drawn to it
and once in awhile and go to a Bible believing church to hear the Word
preached, and then go on about our business as though it never made any
difference. We can listen to the false prophets of our modern culture
who preach, "do your own thing and enjoy yourself. Don't listen to the
prophets of doom who preach a literal judgment and a real hell."
Let me ask you a personal
question. Have you come to Jesus Christ truly confessing your sins and
asking God to cleanse you? Have you told the Lord that you are willing
to forsake all your sins and live as a follower and disciple of Christ?
Come to him today and begin following him and his Word.
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The paper and sermon manuscripts from
Pastor
Todd W. Allen
are made freely available for review and
distribution. We only request that proper
web page attribution be provided if
distributed for any reason. Please be
gracious to forgive typos and errors of
expression. These notes are faithful
approximations of what has been preached.
May God be glorified in the preaching of
His Word. |