ON VIDEO
.Kings review
.Jehoshaphat and Ahab
.The lone prophet
.The vision of God on the throne
.The lying spirit in ‘all’ the prophets
.The majority report was wrong
.Ahab’s plot
.The lucky arrow hit the target
.Prophets- prophecy and 5 fold ministry
.The Word of the Cross
.Why Kings?
.Finish the task

TEACHING-

Ahab and Jehoshaphat make a league- they will war with the king of Syria to take back the city of Ramoth [Gilead].
Jehoshaphat makes one request, lets seek God first-
1Kings 22:5 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.
Ahab calls his 400 prophets and they with one voice agree with Ahab- prophesying that God will prosper him in the battle-
1Kings 22:6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
But something doesn’t seem right- at least to Jehoshaphat, because he asks Ahab ‘are there any other prophets besides these?’
1Kings 22:7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?
Sure enough- there is one prophet missing this day- but Ahab knows his record- this prophet is not a ‘yes man’- he doesn’t just tell the king what make’s him happy- but speaks the word of God-
1Kings 22:8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
Never the less Ahab will call him- and this lone prophet will be the contrary voice and speak the word of God- after stumbling a little at first-
1Kings 22:13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.
1Kings 22:14 And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.
1Kings 22:15 So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
1Kings 22:16 And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?
1Kings 22:17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.
1Kings 22:18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
I mentioned on the video that Ahab is quite frank in his assessment and view of this prophet-
He said ‘I don’t like him- because he speaks a hard word’-
And sure enough- the prophet did it again.
Notice something here- Micaiah actually tells the king what is going to happen in the battle- the Syrians will target the leader- and the people will be scattered- this is a true word from the Lord.
In essence- Ahab is hearing the truth here- yet for some reason he will believe a lie- as we will see in a moment- and still go to the battle- why?
Remember- in the last chapter the prophet Elijah spoke a word of judgment to Ahab-
He will die and the dogs will lick up his blood.
In a way- Ahab had no choice- because the prophecy of Elijah came first- and though Micaiah will speak a true word to Ahab- yet his demise is going to happen.
Lets look at the next passage-
1Kings 22:19 And he said, Hear thou therefore 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 hand and on his left.
1Kings 22:20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
1Kings 22:21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
1Kings 22:22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persude him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1Kings 22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
The bible teaches us that in the last days people will seek for teachers who will tickle their ears- make them happy-
2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
In a way- God permitted Ahab to hear what he wanted to hear- from these false prophets.
Yet Ahab still tries to get around it- because the actual prophecy from the true prophet said the king will be targeted in this battle- and the people will be scattered.
So look what Ahab does-
1Kings 22:29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.
1Kings 22:30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
1Kings 22:31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.
Ahab did not do this out of a sense of nobility- no- he wanted the king of Judah to be dressed as ‘the king’ so the Syrians would target him- and not Ahab.
Yet- you can’t escape the word of the Lord-
1Kings 22:32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.
1Kings 22:33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
1Kings 22:34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
Some Syrian soldier- by ‘accident’- shoots an arrow- and yes- this arrow had an unknown target- and the target was hit.
Ahab will die in the battle- his chariot brought back to Samaria- and the dogs will lick Ahab’s blood in fulfillment of the prophecy of Elijah-
1Kings 22:37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
1Kings 22:38 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake.
As we end the kings study- we see that in the end- the Word of the Lord always prevails.
When the bible speaks of ‘he that has ears to hear- let him hear’- It is not just talking about ‘hearing’ in the sense of words going into our physical ears.
But it speaks about being obedient to the word.
Ahab heard the actual word of the Lord in this chapter- and it was indeed contrary to what all the other prophets were speaking at the time.
These other prophets all had a common message ‘King- go up- you will prosper’.
Now- most leaders want to hear a message like that- and some times God will give you what you want- even if its not the best for you.
These 400 hundred prophets were being ‘inspired’ by a spirit- yet we read that it was a lying spirit.
When the people of God stray from the right paths- they can’t benefit from the real word [Micaiah] even when it is told to them.
Ahab knew that Micaiah was speaking the truth- that’s why he hatched the plan for the king of Judah to be the only one wearing the royal robes.
In a sense- Ahab had more wisdom than Jehoshaphat because the king of Judah agreed to Ahab’s request.
Yet in the end- the word of the Lord- spoken by Elijah in the last chapter- still prevailed.
Ok- I’ll add my past teaching on this chapter below- and for now I will close the Kings study.
I did write a commentary on Kings 2- and will add that link with some others to this post.
John

Other links that relate-
https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/
https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/

MY BOOKS-
https://ccoutreach87.com/the-great-building-of-god/
https://ccoutreach87.com/further-talks-on-church-and-ministry/
https://ccoutreach87.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/

(1073) 1st KINGS 22- Well, this study went fast! I basically write a chapter a day and it fly’s by. Ahab consults with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. He convinces him to fight against Syria and take back [Some sites see here https://johnchiarello.blogspot.com/2024/09/kings-22.html

Ramoth-Gilead. Jehoshaphat asks Ahab ‘are there any prophets we can get advice from?’ Ahab brings

Kings 22

Written by John Chiarello

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