Would you turn to 2 Chronicles
18. Verse 1, now Jehoshaphat. had riches and honor in abundance
and joined affinity with Ahab. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name and we come with thanksgiving. Lord, we are
so grateful for the salvation that's in thy son, for the revelation
of his person, for the freeness of his grace, for the power of his blood, for
the perfection of his righteousness, for our standing in him. And
we ask in his name that you would enable us to worship him and
to believe on him and to see him in his glory. Lord, we confess
our sins. We pray for forgiveness and cleansing
for his sake. Lord, we pray for the preaching
of your gospel, that you would cause it to go forth in power,
that you'd give us hearing ears and receptive hearts. Oh, that
we might be found in your son, be with all your people wherever
they meet together. Give us grace to love you more.
Give us grace to love one another more. And Lord, give us hearts
hungering to hear your word. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Now remember who Ahab was. Ahab was a very wicked king. He was, well, he's the one that
Elijah dealt with. You'll remember in 1 Kings chapter
18, he had the 400 false prophets and so on. He was a very wicked
king. He was an evil man. As a matter
of fact, turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 16. Verse 29. And in the 38th year of Asa,
king of Judah began Ahab, the son of Omri to reign over Israel.
And Ahab, the son of Omri reigned over Israel and Samaria 20 and
two years. And Ahab, the son of Omri did
evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. He was the worst one of the bunch.
And it came to pass as if it had been a light thing for him
to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Neboth, that he took
to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbiel, king of the Zidonians,
and went and served Baal and worshiped him and reared up an
altar for Baal in the house of Baal. And he built it, which
he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove and Ahab
did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all
the kings of Israel that were before him. That's how bad this
man was. Look in 2 Chronicles 17. And Jehoshaphat his son reigned
in his stead and strengthened himself against Israel. He was
against Israel. He was against Ahab. He was against
the Baal worship. He was against these things.
And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set
garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim,
which Asa his father had taken. And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat,
because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and
sought not unto Balaam. But he sought the Lord God of
his father and walked in his commandments and not after the
doings of Israel under Ahab. Therefore the Lord established
the kingdom in his hand and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat
presence and he had riches and honor and abundance and his heart
was lifted up in the ways of the Lord." What a beautiful description
of this man's heart. Now what happened Now Jehoshaphat
had riches and honor in abundance and joined affinity with Ahab. Now Ahab had not changed. Ahab
was still worshiping Baal at this time. And yet we have Jehoshaphat
becoming one with him. He said, my people, as you go
on reading and ending in the King's account, he said, my people
shall be as your people. We'll be one. What happened with
this man? We know it displeased the Lord.
Look in chapter 19. And Jehoshaphat, the king of
Judah, returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. And Jehu,
the son of Hanaiah, the seer, went out to meet him and said
to King Jehoshaphat, shouldest thou help the ungodly and love
them that hate the Lord? Therefore wrath is upon thee
from before the Lord. Now, the Lord was displeased
with the fact that he had joined himself up with Jehoshaphat.
Now, why did he do it? I don't know how to say this.
without just saying it, because it was the Lord's eternal purpose.
Through this action, it was a wrong action. It was a wrong action,
and Jehoshaphat can never justify it. And it was displeasing to
the Lord. And let me say this by way of
looking at this. Anytime I make an unbeliever
my friend, I'm in trouble. They're always going to bring
me down. And this is what happened with Jehoshaphat. But through
this action, the Lord brings good out of evil. He always does. He's the only one who can do
this. Through this action, Ahab is put to death. Just like the
Lord said he would. Through this action, through
Jehoshaphat becoming one with him and going into battle with
him, Ahab lost his life, God's purpose. And that was a good
thing. Ahab had brought Israel into
much sin, and what a blessing. And isn't it wonderful to think
the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of
water, he turneth it withersoever he will. God's will and God's
purpose is done through this action. Aren't you glad the Lord
brings good out of evil? All the miserable things we've
done and yet the Lord brings good out of this. He's so glorious
and he does that here. Now let's go on reading chapter
18. And after certain years, he went
down to Ahab to Samaria and Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him
in abundance. Now at this time, Ahab was playing
up to him because he wanted something out of him. And for the people
that he had with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth
Gilead. And Ahab, king of Israel, said
unto Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-Gilead?
And he answered, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people.
We will be with thee in the war. Now he's going to go to war with
Ahab against these people. And Jehoshaphat said unto the
king of Israel, inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord
today. Now you find out what the Lord
says about this. You find out if he is going to honor us going
to battle. Therefore the king of Israel
gathered together of the prophets 400 men. Now these are the same
men that were called prophets of Baal. You remember when Elijah
was confronted with these 400 prophets of Baal, and Elijah
ended up killing them all at the end. But these were the prophets
of Baal, but they could just as easily become prophets of
the Lord if it was for their advantage. That's the way false
prophets operate. They found out that they would
have Jehoshaphat's help, and they knew that they possibly
could win this battle if they had his help. So they say, OK,
so let's go on reading. Therefore the king of Israel
gathered together the prophets 400 men and said unto them, shall
we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle or shall I forbear? And they
said, go up for God will deliver it into the king's hand. You know, why didn't they say
Jehovah? He said, is there a prophet of Jehovah? And they said, God.
will deliver them into your hand. Watch out if you hear somebody
talking a lot about God and not using the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I want to hear what someone says concerning Christ. And they
avoid the name of Jehovah. They say God will deliver him
up into your hand. Verse six, but Jehoshaphat said,
is there not here a prophet of the Lord? Jehovah, that's what
Lord means. That's the way it is in the original,
Jehovah, besides that we might inquire of him. Now look at Ahab's
answer. And the king of Israel, Ahab,
said unto Jehoshaphat, there's yet one man by whom we may inquire
of Jehovah, but I hate him. I despise the man. He never prophesies
good unto me, but always evil. The same is Micaiah, the son
of Imlon. Now, a true prophet is always
going to be a hated man. You know why? Because what he
says regarding man is never good and always evil. Isn't that so? Somebody that tells the truth,
what he says regarding the natural man. Just like Jehoshaphat says,
I hate him. All he says about me is bad,
evil. He never says anything good about me. He would not acknowledge
this man because of his message. Now, what this tells me is a
true prophet, when he speaks concerning man, he has nothing
but evil to say with regard to man. Nothing but evil, never
anything good. But that's so negative. No, it's
not. If you've ever seen the Lord,
you'll know why somebody says that way. And you'll think the same
thing about yourself. If you ever see who the Lord is, with
regard to yourself, you'll have nothing good to say, but only
evil. With regard to yourself. You're gonna see that you're
a sinner. And that's what is said about
this True prophet with regard to Ahab, he has nothing good
to say, but only evil. Now, isn't that scriptural? Genesis 6, 5, and the Lord saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. There is none righteous, no,
not one. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. They that are in the flesh cannot
please God. Now this is where he came from.
And he said, well, I hate him. Verse eight. And the king of Israel called
for one of his officers and said, fetch quickly Micaiah, the son
of Imlam. And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat,
king of Judah, set either of them on his throne, clothed in
their robes, and they sat in a void place at the entering
in the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets, these 400
prophets prophesied before them." Now, Micaiah had not got there
yet. They went to go after him, but
all these false prophets are prophesying. And look what they
say. And Zedekiah, the son of Janiah, made him horns of iron
and said, thus saith the Lord. With these thou shalt push Syria
until they be consumed. Now I think it's interesting,
they had been using God's name, but when Jehoshaphat asked for
a prophet of Jehovah, now they use Jehovah's name. These are
the same men that were prophets of Baal. But they can do anything,
they'll be true if it's to their advantage. So now they use Jehovah's
name. And he said, this is what's gonna
happen, he makes this thing of iron, we're gonna push him until
They are consumed, and all the prophets prophesied so, saying,
go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord Jehovah shall deliver
it into the hand of the king. Now, the message of the false
prophet is peace, peace, when there is no peace. You're gonna
win. You're gonna win, everything's
fine. The Lord's gonna deliver them into your hand. You're gonna
win this battle. Peace, peace. when there is no
peace. That's the mark of a false prophet.
He's going to prophesy good rather than evil toward man. Verse 12. And the messenger that went to
Colmacchia spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophet
declare good to the king with one cent. Let thy word, therefore,
I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good. He knew
what was going on. And he said, all these fellows
said, good, you say the same thing. Don't provoke the king
to wrath. I mean, you've been so negative
in the past. Try to be positive for a little bit. Try to bring
something good in our eyes. And Micaiah said, as the Lord
liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak. And there's the true prophet.
He's only going to say what God has said. He's afraid to say
anything else. Whatever the Lord tells me to
say, that's what I'm gonna say. Now, that's what a true prophet
says. Verse 14. And when he was come
to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to,
this is Ahab speaking, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle,
or shall I forbear? And he said, go ye up, prosper,
and they shall be delivered into your hand. Now, I have no doubt
that he said this in such a sarcastic way that Ahab heard. He knew he was not being serious.
He was being totally sarcastic. Go, you're going to win, go.
He was kind of making fun of the false prophets in doing this,
but he was using utter sarcasm at this time. go up, the Lord's
going to deliver me into your hand. And Ahab heard by the tone
of his voice that he was being sarcastic, because look what
he said. Verse 15, and the king said to him, how many times shall
I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name
of the Lord? All I want is the truth at this
time. He didn't really like the truth
because he'd already made that manifest when he said, I don't
like what this Micaiah says to me because it's always negative,
it's never positive, it's always evil, it's never good. But here
at this time, he says, I wanna hear the truth. Will the Lord
deliver them into my hand? Now he gives his answer, verse
16. Then he said, I did see all Israel
scattered upon the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd. In other words, you're gonna
be dead. And all of Israel is no longer
gonna have a shepherd. They're gonna be scattered. You're
gonna get killed. These have, and the Lord said,
these have no master. Let them return. Therefore, every
man to his house in peace. No, if you go, you will most
certainly be defeated and you will be killed. And the king
of Israel, Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, did I not tell thee that he would
not prophesy good unto me, Medieval? He, I knew this was the way it
was going to be. He always does this. He was upset.
Again, he said, and this is the prophet Micaiah speaking, therefore
hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting upon his
throne. Now anytime anybody sees the
Lord, and he doesn't, he's not talking about a physical sight,
you know that. But anytime someone sees the
Lord, and the only time you're gonna see the Lord, or I'm gonna
see the Lord, is when he makes himself known. You and I are
utterly dependent upon him revealing himself to us. When he does make
himself known, there's only one way we see him. On a throne. Ruling, in reigning, in absolute,
uncontested sovereignty. That's how, how did Isaiah see
him? In the year the king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting
on a throne. Now that's how Micaiah saw the
Lord. Now look, this is a very interesting
passage of scripture. And all the host of heaven standing
on his right hand and on his left. Now I wouldn't have thought
this in reading this passage of scripture, but one man I read
said this represents You know, the devil's called the prince
of the power of the air. This is talking about the good
angels and the devil and his demons. The ones on the right
hand, the unfallen angels, the ones on his left, the devil and
his demons. And I don't know if that's what
it means, but it could mean that. But I want us to remember this,
the devil's God's devil. On God's chain, doing God's will
all the time. Don't you like it that way? I
do. I mean, now the devil doesn't
intend to do the Lord's will, but he's God's devil on God's
chain. Yes, he's powerful, the prince
of the power of the air, and you and I are no match for him,
but he's no match for God. And everything he does serves
God's purpose. Not willingly, but everything
he does serves God's purpose. So this could be talking about
all the heavenly hosts, both angels and And I can see that
now as we go on reading. Verse 19, and the Lord said,
who shall entice? And that word means deceive.
Deceive. Who shall deceive Ahab, king
of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead, and
one spake saying after this manner and another saying after that
manner. Then there came out a spirit and stood before the Lord and
said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, wherewith?
And he said, I'll go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth
of his prophets. And the Lord said, thou shalt
entice him, deceive him, and thou shalt also prevail. Go out
and do even so. Now somebody thinks, would the
Lord do something like that? Would he cause somebody to be deceived? Well, turn with me to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Now, whatever the Lord does is right. He doesn't do anything because
it's right. It's right because He does it. And we don't have
any business trying to sit and do, you know, when people say,
are you saying God's the author of evil or sin? I'm just reading
the Bible. I feel real comfortable with
that. And I give no apology for anything God does. Whatever he
does is right. But look here in 2 Thessalonians
2, verse 7. For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work. Only he who now letteth or withholds
him will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall
that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the
spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming. I love to think about his second
advent, his coming is gonna be so bright, it's going to destroy.
This wicked one, even him who's coming is after the working of
Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. Now look
at this because they receive not the love of the truth. The love of the truth. Now it's one thing to receive
the truth. I see the Bible teaches that,
I gotta agree with it. It's another thing to receive
the love of the truth. And because they receive not
the love of the truth, that they might be saved, and for this
cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe
a lie, that they all might be damned, who believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Now, who sent them this strong
delusion? God did. God did. Now, these angels that
he calls upon to go deceive Ahab, were they demonic or were they
good? I don't know. But God's in control of everybody.
And he says, you go and deceive Ahab and make sure that this
takes place because he's going to be killed in this battle.
And go back to our text. Verse 22, now therefore behold,
the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets,
and the Lord, this is Micaiah speaking to Ahab, the Lord hath
put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets, thy prophets,
these people who tell lies in my name. For the Lord has spoken
evil against thee. There he is again. The Lord has
spoken evil against thee. Then Zedekiah the son of Chanath
came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said, which way
went the spirit of the Lord for me to speak unto thee? I mean,
he took his fist, hit him. He was mad because Micaiah was
saying regarding him, the Lord's put a lying spirit in his mouth.
So he's indignant. And he's saying, you know, he's
speaking on his own. He comes up, hits him in the
cheek and says, tell me which way the spirit of God went. He
was making fun of him. And Micaiah said, behold, thou
shalt see on that day when thou shalt go in an inner chamber
to hide thyself. You're going to hide yourself
from the trouble that's going to come upon you. Then the king of Israel
said, take ye Micaiah and carry him back to Amnon, the governor
of the city, 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, with water of affliction until
I return in peace. And Micaiah said, if thou certainly
return in peace, then hath not the Lord spoken by me? And he
said, hearken, all ye people. He wanted everybody to hear this
message. If he does return in peace, I'm not real. I'm false. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat,
the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth Gilead. Now, once again,
I think Jehoshaphat wanted to hear the true prophet. The true
prophet gave him the message. What's he doing going down there
then? Why is he doing this? Well, once again, it's because
it was God's purpose to kill Ahab. That's why he did it. He
was wrong in doing it. And he's rebuked by the prophet
in the next chapter for doing it. But God brings good out of
evil all the time. And so here he goes down with
him. Verse 29. And the king of Israel
said in Jehoshaphat, I'll disguise myself and go to the battle.
But put thou on thy robes. Now, I'm not going to look like
a king. You're going to look like a king. I mean, it seems
like Jehoshaphat would have seen this because the king's the person
they wanted to kill. And he says, I'm going to act
like I'm not a king, but I want you to be seen as a king. I guess
if somebody was going to go after him, they wanted him to go after
him. So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went to the
battle. Now the king of Syria had commanded
the captains of the chariots that were with him, saying, Fight
ye not with small or great, save only with the king of Israel.
He's the one I want dead, the king of Israel, Ahab. Verse 31,
And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw
Jehoshaphat, they said, It's the king of Israel. They were
wrong. They thought Jehoshaphat was the king of Israel. Therefore
they compassed about him to fight, But Jehoshaphat cried out, and
the Lord helped him, and God moved them to depart from him.
I think that's so glorious. Everything that happens is the
Lord orchestrating everything. Jehoshaphat cries out, the Lord
moves them, they depart. Verse 32, for it came to pass
that when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was
the king of Israel, they turned back again from pursuing him,
that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back again from pursuing
him. And a certain man drew a bow at a venture. He wasn't aiming
at anybody. He just puts the bow up, a random
act. A certain man, the man God ordained
to do this, it's always certain men, isn't it? He draws the bow
at a venture to just up in the air. Look what happened. and
smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness." That's
his nail. The arrow would have bounced
off it. It went through the joint, just as God determined for it
to do. A certain man drew a bow at a
venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of
the harness. Therefore he said to his chariot, man, turn thine
hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host, for I am wounded.
And the battle increased that day, how be it the king of Israel
stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians, until the
evening, and about the time of the sun going down, he died. Just like God said he would. Now in this story of Ahab's death,
we also have a beautiful picture of the gospel preaching. In preaching, You shoot the bow
at a venture. You don't know what God's going
to do with it. And you're a man, a sinful man, just like everybody
else. No different than anybody else.
You shoot the bow at a venture preaching the gospel and the
arrow goes exactly where God determines for it to go. And
it always is effectual. My word shall not return unto
me void, but it shall accomplish the thing whereunto I have sent
it. At a venture, no control, a certain
man, sinful man, just like everybody else, nothing special about him,
but there's something special about the gospel. He shoots that
bow and it goes exactly where the Lord intends it. And Ahab
is slain. And you know, if the Lord speaks
to you, you know what it's gonna do to you? It's going to slay
you. You're going to see your death. Oh, I pray the Lord slays every
one of us because it's not till I'm slain that I'm going to look
to Christ as everything in salvation.