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Macaiah The True Prophet 1Kgs 22
Macaiah the TRUE prophet.. 1Kgs 22:1-28
Not all of the prophets in the Old Testament were writers (called literary prophets). One such prophet appears in 1 Kings 22. While planning for war against Syria the king of Israel sought guidance from God. He gathered about 400 of 'the prophets' together and asked them to tell him what 'the word of Yahweh was'. The OT doesn't use the phrase 'false prophets' but that is what these men were. They were the kind to 'tickle the ear' rather than tell the truth. Apparently the king saw them for what they were - 'yes men'. He wants another opinion.
There is another prophet, but he is only a bearer of bad news! When Macaiah enters the scene the prophets are all telling the king that he will surely win the war. He is thus encouraged to join them in only declaring 'good things' unto the king. Amazing to me, if they are going to tell him what to say why are they asking for his advice? The answer is clear!
Micaiah answers: “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak.” (vs. 14).
At first Micaiah sounds like all the other prophets. Yet there was something going on that made the king know that such was NOT the true message. What makes it difficult is we don't see the facial and body expressions of Micaiah. We don't hear his tone of voice. An easy answer to why Micaiah said these things is that he spoke them in sarcasm. Such was evident to the king! He demands that Micaiah tell him the true word of the LORD. At that point Micaiah foretells the loss of the battle and the destruction of Israel's army.
He stands alone in telling the king that the war will turn against him and he will lose.
- When we set out to confirm our own thoughts rather than learn what God says, God will allow us to believe a lie. (2 Thess. 2:9-12).
- Many religious teachers are 'ear ticklers' that preach to those with 'itching ears' wanting only to hear what suits their own passions ( 2 Tim. 4:1-3)
- Standing for truth often entails going against the grain of society.
- Standing for God is often politically incorrect.
One of the ways of telling a true prophet was simply that his words would prove true and what he says will happen does happen (Deut. 18:21-22). If it doesn't happen, he is a false prophet. The hard part for the king at this point was that the word of the prophet is: "you will surely die in this battle". How would the king know which 'word of the Lord' was true? When he dies, he will know. Too late.
What should have been apparent is that Ahab was an ungodly man who had rejected the law of God. He did not worship the LORD, but served Baal. He paid no attention to God's law in his personal life but walked according to his own thoughts and whims. God had already warned that He would be against all such people of Israel, even the kings. The false prophets prophesied against the whole premise and teaching of the scriptures. Ahab could have known who the true prophet was by the simple test of consistency of God's word. Instead, he found out by dying that Macaiah was the true prophet of God. Some lessons are learned the hard way.
The same situation can confront us. Paul warned the Galatians: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8-9). Be careful what you believe.
