Well, as I said, we're going to our Young People's Address now, so if you have your Bibles, turn with me please to 1 Kings chapter 22. We're going to 1 Kings chapter 22. Again, there's quite a long reading here, but we're just going to take the time to do it because, well, I don't know how old or how young all my listeners are, but I've got an idea that they are old enough and smart enough to listen to the word of the Lord. And I do believe that notwithstanding the efforts that I make to provide a commentary upon it. The word of the Lord is more powerful than my words when all is said and done.

So we're going to read in First Kings chapter 22 and we're going to read together an account about the death of Ahab. Ahab killed in battle.

1 Kings chapter 22, I'm reading from verse one. This is the word of the Lord.

And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. And it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria. And he said unto Jehoshaphat, wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.

And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about 400 men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, besides that we might inquire of him? The king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire 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.

Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah, the son of Imla. And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, sat each on his throne, having put on their robes in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them. And Zedekiah, the son of Chenana, made him horns of iron. And he said, thus saith the Lord, with these shalt thou push the Syrians until thou have consumed them. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord shall deliver it into the king's hand.

And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah said unto him, saying, Speak 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. And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, What the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak. So he came to the king, and the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth Gilead 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.

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? 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. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil? And he said, Hear thou therefore. This is Micaiah that is speaking again. 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.

And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. 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 persuade him, and prevail also. Go forth, and do it.

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. But Zedekiah the son of Cainanah went near and smote Micaiah on the cheek and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee? And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

The king of Israel said, take Micaiah and carry him back unto Ammon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son. And say, thus saith the king, put this fellow in the prison and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction until I come in peace. Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and enter into the battle, but put thou on thy robes. The king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. 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.

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, that 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. 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 his driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host, for I am wounded.

And the battle increased that day, and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even. And the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot. And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, every man to his city, and every man to his own country. So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria.

and one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and they washed his chariot according unto the word of the Lord, which he spake. Amen.

May the Lord bless to us this reading from his word. Thank you for your patience in our extended reading. I said a few weeks ago that The unnamed, disguised prophet who withstood Ahab for his disobedience in letting Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, live following his battles with the Syrians, may have been this Micaiah. This is certainly that prophet. We meet Micaiah today. He and Ahab obviously have a history, which is why some people think that he was the earlier prophet as well, although he wasn't named on that occasion.

And actually, it is possible that Micaiah has been in Ahab's prison ever since that time. because of his obedience to God and for denouncing Ahab's peace treaty with Syria. Within a few years of Ahab letting Ben Haddad live, the old enemies are preparing to fight again. The terms of the treaty had been broken and Syria had rearmed. During this time, Ahab had become friends with Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. And you remember that in Judah, although in Israel the people had largely gone over to Baal worship or idolatry worship, in Judah there remained faithfulness to the worship of the true God. So this Jehoshaphat was king of Judah where the Lord was worshipped. Ahab was king of Israel where Baal was worshipped.

But Ahab and Jehoshaphat had become friends. Actually, it seems that Jehoram who is Jehoshaphat's eldest son, had married Athaleah, one of Ahab's daughters. So there may have been an attempt to restore peace between the divided nation of Israel, Judah and Israel. Ahab, or Jehoshaphat, went to visit Ahab. now that they were relatives. And Ahab called on Jehoshaphat and on Judah to assist him in the battle against Syria. Jehoshaphat agreed, but he had a request. He asked Ahab to inquire of God concerning the outcome of the battle. And Ahab called 400 prophets to discover God's will. but they weren't prophets of the Lord. In fact, they may even have been prophets of Baal, Jezebel's prophets of the grove, because the number is the same, that 400 is the same. These 400 had been preserved when Elijah had slain the 450 prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel.

These 400 prophets, these devious men prophesied what Ahab wanted to hear. They all came in in their robes and with their religious trappings. They all appeared outwardly religious, even to the point of speaking in God's name. But they were men-pleasers. They were man-pleasers. They tell the king, Go up, for the Lord shall deliver it. Probably they meant the victory when they said it. The Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the King. But Jehoshaphat, who was a worshipper of the true God, he was obviously unconvinced. But here he is sitting in Ahab's capital, sitting on Ahab's, or on a throne beside Ahab. And he's trying to be polite. But he knows that these men are not the prophets of the Lord. You see, true believers can discern error when they hear a message that is not from the Lord. And he asks, Jehoshaphat asks, is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides that we might inquire of him?

Well, Ahab knows there is because he's got him in prison. And he doesn't want to lose the potential of an ally in Jehoshaphat. So he agrees that Micaiah be brought forth to speak Nevertheless, he makes his opinion clear. I hate him says Ahab. I hate him for he doth not prophesy good Concerning me, but evil Micaiah is called for and Zedekiah is one of the false prophets. He brings out a set of iron horns that he has made and he acts out a little play in front of the king and all the other prophets to suggest that Ahab's power will destroy Ben-Hadad. And all the prophets agree that Ahab and Israel will prosper. The man who had been sent to bring Micaiah, meanwhile, suggests that Micaiah just, for the sake of peace, Micaiah just tell Ahab what he wants to hear. Just agree with what the other prophets say. And faithful Micaiah replies, as the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak. And so he does. Actually, the very first thing that he does is to mock these false prophets with sarcasm. Go ahead, he says. Do what all these other prophets tell you to do. Go ahead and fight and prosper.

But Ahab knows well that Micaiah is scorning the 400 false prophets and he tells him so. He tells him Micaiah had not yet spoken in the name of the Lord. Well, now he does. And he informs Ahab and Jehoshaphat, the two kings together, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills as sheep that have not a shepherd. Ahab will soon be dead. But rather than take the warning, Ahab merely repeats how Micaiah only speaks evil of him. But the prophet is not finished. He presents a picture of a greater king on a greater throne surrounded by the host of heaven. What a vision this man Micaiah had.

Micaiah relates his vision as a discussion to show the many ways in which the Lord's decrees can be accomplished and Ahab's death will take place. He's showing by this conversation in heaven how Ahab will be deceived to going into battle despite the word of the Lord. and he speaks of a spirit that comes forth. Likely this spirit is Satan, though it's not mentioned by name. And it is given leave to put a lying spirit into the mouths of the 400 prophets that they might in turn deceive Ahab. Micaiah tells Ahab, The Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.

At once Zedekiah, the prophet with the iron horns, strikes Micaiah and claims the spirit of the Lord for himself. But Micaiah, but Zedekiah will be judged for his action. Micaiah is returned to prison to await Ahab's return. But as the prophet of the Lord leaves, he informs those who are gathered, Ahab won't be coming back. Ahab's death follows as Micaiah had foretold. An arrow is shot at a venture. That means that it is shot at random. Some archer on the side of the Syrian army simply pointed his bow to the sky, fired his arrow into the air without any specific target. But that arrow nevertheless was directed by the Lord and it pierced the king's armour. where the join was, and he withdrew from the battle to have his wound treated. Later he returned and he fought with his soldiers until the evening when he died. His body was taken to Samaria and his chariot was washed down. And there, in accordance with Elijah's prophecy, his blood was licked by dogs.

Here are some lessons that I want to leave with you from this narrative today. The first one is this. 400 false testimonies against one faithful prophet. Who is to be believed? Now I'm speaking particularly with young people in mind here. Let me say this to you. As you grow older, you will be confronted with lots of religious claims. Be aware, just because a lot of people agree on something does not make it true. These 400 prophets were united, they were consistent, and they were wrong. They did not inquire of the Lord. They worked out what Ahab wanted to hear, and they gave him the message they desired because they were man-pleasers. They did not please the Lord and deliver his word. So beware, men can use the Lord's name and yet not be the Lord's servants. And today many preachers refuse to preach the pure gospel of God's sovereign grace, but instead deliver another gospel, one that their hearers want to hear.

Paul tells Timothy, 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. Wherever you end up as far as your church life is concerned, as far as your witness is concerned, beware that you are not listening to teachers with itching ears. Find a preacher who preaches God's word and tells you the truth.

If you ever find yourself looking for a church to attend, seek out a faithful preacher. Look for a Micaiah. Someone who'll be true and faithful to the gospel. Someone who will say, as the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak. We don't need 400 false prophets who have submitted to a lying spirit. We need just one faithful preacher who will speak to us of Christ crucified and all that he has accomplished.

Here's another lesson for us. We've spoken a bit about this man Jehoshaphat today. He was the king of Judah. And I want to refer to him, even although Ahab is the man who is in the main picture here, I want to speak about Jehoshaphat for a moment or two. I think it'll be helpful.

I want to mention that this incident of him making a pact with Ahab was a low point of his reign. And it was a long reign. He reigned for many years in Judah. But this was a low point of his reign. Jehoshaphat was a faithful worshipper of God and he did much to promote the ways of the Lord. Under the reign of Jehoshaphat, God blessed Judah and the nation prospered.

And yet we read this in 2 Chronicles. We read this. And it's to do with this battle in which Jehoshaphat aligned himself with Ahab. This is what the Word of God says. After this battle, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. And Jehu, that was one of the prophets, he was the son of a seer, Jehu went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, shouldst thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.

Jehu told Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat, you have sinned in making this alliance with Ahab. Nevertheless, you will obtain forgiveness with the Lord. Now the application here is not that we should withhold from helping those in need. It is that we should be careful not to form alliances and not to support those who are opposed to the gospel that we believe.

Those who love the Lord cannot, in all honesty, unite with those who hate the Lord. And this is true in worship, and it is also true in our relationships. The Bible tells us, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Jehoshaphat had unequally yoked himself to Ahab. We should not do that. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?

There were warning signs for Jehoshaphat. It was obvious to him that Micaiah was a faithful prophet and the 400 were liars. But he was already involved with Ahab and he was already committed to him. And he learned his lesson the hard way. If you are a believer, the Bible warns us that no good thing will come from pursuing a relationship with someone who is not a believer. Let me say that again. The believer warns us that no good will come from pursuing a relationship with someone who is not a believer.

And here's my third point. In the battle, Jehoshaphat was targeted by the Syrian generals because they thought that he was Ahab. Little bit of shenanigans going on there. Ahab dressed up in common clothes and went into the battle. Perhaps he was thinking that these people will think that Jehoshaphat is me and they will attack him. Jehoshaphat was surrounded by the generals of Ben Hadad and he was in danger of being killed. In that moment, he cried out for help.

Actually, a parallel passage in 2 Chronicles tells us that he cried out and the Lord helped him and God moved them to depart from him. That's what the Chronicler tells us. The Lord helped Jehoshaphat and God moved the Syrians to depart from him. among all the evil dealings of Ahab who despised God. Here in time of trouble, Jehoshaphat cried to the Lord for help. And let us note that and let us follow it. When you get yourself into trouble, when you are in a dangerous place, cry out to the Lord for help. When you're anxious, in the circumstances of your life, or when you're anxious for your soul, for your safety, for your situation, cry out to the Lord for help.

The psalmist, he writes in Psalm 120, in my distress, I cried unto the Lord and he heard me. And our Lord Jesus Christ will hear you too. Isaiah 55 verse 6 says, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Seek his help. Trust in him. He will not let you down. Amen.