“So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”
Nobody wants to get into trouble when they do bad things. As kids, we often want to do something that we know is wrong. Why? Because what is wrong seems fun and obeying is boring. So we justify our actions based upon the advice of some kid who says, “go ahead and do it, you won’t get caught.” We all know what happens after that.
Ahab is still king of Israel. The Bible tells us that the king of Israel had three years of peace between Aram and Israel. When Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, comes down to see him, Ahab starts in on a bad idea. You know those bad ideas that only come only when you are bored? He says to his officials in verse 3, “Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram.” He asks Jehoshaphat to join him he agrees but first he says in verse 5, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.” So Ahab summons about 400 of his prophets, none of which are true prophets of God. They are false prophets, just like the ones Elijah had killed a few years ago. They all say what the king wants them to say which is “you will win over the Armenians.”
Jehospahat speaks up in verse 7 and says, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?” Ahab tells him yes but he does not like the candidate. His name is Micaiah. Ahab tells Jehoshaphat that Micaiah always prophesies bad and nothing good. But they summon Micaiah anyway. He comes before the king and sarcastically tells him the same thing the other prophets say. This time Ahab makes him swear to tell him what the Lord says. Reluctantly, Micaiah tells him in verse 17, that “he saw all of Israel scattered on the hills like a sheep without a shepherd and the people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.” Ahab turns to Jehoshaphat and says, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but bad only.” (Verse 18)
Micaiah continues by saying that he saw the Lord asking in heaven “who will go down and entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead so he will meet his death?” (Verse 20) One spirit says he will do it and the Lord told him to go, and that he will be successful. It ends with Micaiah telling king Ahab that the Lord has put a deceiving spirit into the mouth of all your prophets for the Lord has decreed disaster for you. (verse 23) Ahab then sends Micaiah back to Judah and puts him in jail.
When the kings went to war, Ahab disguises himself like a soldier. He then tells Jehoshaphat to dress like he was king Ahab. It sounds like someone might be worried about Micaiah’s prophecy. Sure enough, as the battle rages, Ahab gets shot by one arrow shot from an archer and dies. His son becomes king in his place and is murdered within two years of his reign. This fulfilled what the Lord told Elijah years before.
We get a small glimpse into what happens in this story from God’s point of view. Ahab, when he is confronted by this harsh reality. went ahead and disobeyed the Lord. For us, we need to make sure the people we get advice from are wise in the Lord and obey their advice. The Bible says in Proverbs 27:6, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”
Who are you listening to? Who are you getting advice from? Ahab chose all the false prophets because they only told him what he wanted to hear. But when a real man of God came, he would not listen. Today, don’t turn a deaf ear to the Lord when he is rebuking or correcting you. Being a righteous person means staying in right standing with the Lord all of the time. This means we sometimes have to turn away from the things we want to do so the Lord can protect us from harm. He only wants what is best for us.
Prayer: Father help us only listen to you when we are surrounded by bad advice. Help us to hear only your wise counsel in all things. Drive the false prophets away from us Lord and tune our ears to your voice. In Jesus name, amen.
Let It Go 
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