The Hated but True Man — Ian Paisley

Micaiah's Prophecy Before Ahab and Jehoshaphat

You'll find an authorized version of the Holy Scriptures in front of you in the pew. Pick it up and turn with me to the 18th chapter of 2 Chronicles. I'm going to read this passage to you. We usually all read it together, but this morning I'll read the passage and you can follow me in the reading.

The 18th chapter of 2 Chronicles. Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance and joined affinity with Ahab. And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance.

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, Will thou go with me to Ramoth-Gilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people, and we will be with thee in the war.

And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today. Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, And said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead, and to battle, or shall I forbear?

And they said, Go up, for God will deliver it into the king's hand. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, That we might inquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, But I hate him, for he never prophesieth good unto me, but always evil, The same as Micaiah the son of Imlach.

And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. And the king of Israel called for one of his officers, And said, Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlach. And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Sat either of them on his throne, clothed in their robes.

And they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria, And all the prophets prophesied before them. And Jehoshaphat, the son of Shinaanah, had made him horns of iron, And said, Thus saith the Lord, with these I shall purse Syria until they are consumed.

And all the prophets prophesied, So say, Go up to Ram of Gilead and prosper, For the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent.

Let thy word, therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thy good. And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak. When he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, Shall we go to Ram of Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?

And he said, Go ye up and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand. 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?

Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, As sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, These have no master. Let them return, therefore, every man to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me but evil?

Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing in his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, That he may go up and fall at Ram of Gilead?

And one spake, saying, After this manner, and another saying, After that manner. And there came out a spirit, who stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith?

And he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail. Go out and do even so. Now therefore behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, And the Lord hath spoken evil against thee.

Then said it, Micaiah the son of She-Namah came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, And said, Which way went the spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee? Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

Then the king of Israel said, Take ye Micaiah, and carry him back to Ammon the governor of the city, And to Joash the king's son. And said, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, feed him with the bread of affliction, And 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, Harken, all ye people. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-Gilead.

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and go to the battle, for thou had put on thy robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle. But the king of Syria commanded the captain of the chariots that were with him, Saying, Fight ye not with small or great, save only with the king of Israel.

And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, That they said it is 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.

For it came to pass that when the captains of the chariots perceived 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, 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. Albeit 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. God will bless and seal this reading from his own infallible book. With his own divine seal of approval and blessing. 2 Chronicles chapter 18 and verse 7.

The Corrupting Alliance of Judah and Israel

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him. They hate it, but true man, Micaiah. The kings of Judah and the kings of Israel set out in their history a sad and tragic story of departure from God's ways and God's truth.

They pursued the God of their fathers and that resulted in the corruption of their whole kingdoms. It is a sorry and sad record of the iniquity of these dynasties of kings. Which led to the pollution of both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.

As went the king, so went the kingdom. Here and there in the history, but only in the kingdom of Judah did there come to the throne a righteous king. For example, the king of Judah in the history of 2 Chronicles 18, Jehoshaphat, was one of the best kings that Judah had since David, the first king of Judah.

But reigning at the same time and contemporary with him in the northern kingdom was a devil incarnate by the name of Ahab. In 1 Kings chapter 21, 25 to 26, we read these words of Ahab. But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

And he did very abominably in following idols according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. In reading the books of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, you need to see the distinct difference between 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings and then the two books of the Chronicles.

These books do record some of the same events, but they are recorded from a distinct different standing. In Samuel and in Kings, the review is from the world's standing, but in the Chronicles, it's from God's.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate this is to remind you that in the Chronicles you will find no record whatsoever of the terrible sin of David. They are recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 11, but no mention is made of that sin in the book of Chronicles.

Herein lies the difference. The happenings in this chapter would have never happened if Jehoshaphat of Judah had not ventured into this unholy alliance with the Beel worshipping Israel and the devil's partner, King Ahab.

The Unequal Yoke and Its Consequences

The alliance with Ahab was to bring disaster to Jehoshaphat. Between the godly and the ungodly, there should be a distinct line of demarcation, separation. There must be no touching of the unclean thing for the ungodly.

The unequal yoke is the undiminishing yardstick of disaster. Did Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, join himself? He is a king of Israel who did very wickedly. He joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarsus.

Then Elisha, the son of Dodabah of Mereshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahijah, the Lord hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, and they were not able to go to Tarsus.

The alliance brought about economic ruin to Jehoshaphat. And then again, Jehoshaphat entered into an evil marriage union with the house of Ahab. And he married his son to King Ahab's sister. Hear this comment of God upon this unequal yoke.

2 Chronicles 21, verse 1 and verse 5 and 6. Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram, his son, reamed in a sack. Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to ream.

And he reamed eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab. For he had the daughter of Ahab in wife. And he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

The result of the unequal yoke was demonstrated and declared upon those who disobeyed God. Compromise of God's holy law always brings a harvest of confusion, corruption, and condemnation. Child of God, beware of such evil partners.

Jehoshaphat's Compromise with Ahab

Come to this incident in this great eighteenth chapter of Chronicles. Ahab was eager to stamp out a rebellion of Syria. And so he invited his sister's father-in-law to join with him. Jehoshaphat did that to his own undoing.

He lined himself up with this devil-controlled Ahab. He could not have made his relationship clearer. Listen to what this man of God said to this child of the devil. He said to him that my people are thy people.

My horses are thy horses. I am as thou art. How could a man of God stoop so low to align himself with a child of the devil? But he did. Jehoshaphat sold himself out to affinity with Ahab, the Beal worshipper.

No wonder the old prophet came to him and said, Shouldst thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. God will punish those who break his laws and enter into unequal yokes with the ungodly.

And then here in this chapter, Jehoshaphat shows his uneasiness. Four hundred prophets came. Who were they? They weren't prophets of the Lord. They were the prophets of Beal that escaped from the sword of Elijah.

Four hundred of them. Prophets of Jezebel. And Ahab convened these men to prophesy. For Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides that we might inquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire, but I hate him.

Micaiah's Faithfulness in the Minority

The hated man. Let's have a look at this man, Micaiah. Notice first of all, he was in the tiniest possible minority. A minority of one. We live today when people say, Oh, he's a minority. He is only one voice.

He's a nobody and a nothing. But God takes the nobodies and the nothings. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Don't enter into any crookedness.

Make his path straight. That wicked toad Ahab said, There is one man and we could inquire of the Lord through him. This man was a marked man. A minority of one. But even the old ungodly idolatrous Ahab said, That man can inquire of the Lord.

Habeeb is the man who has the ear of God. Habeeb is the man that heaven stops to listen to his prayer. And as a result, God stops the machinations of hell in time. What a testimony from such a quarter.

Micaiah had been faithful in the past. He had been a member of Elijah's school of the prophets. God had not left himself without a witness and never will. As long as this world exists. There will always be a man.

A single man. A despised man. A hated man. But a faithful man. To speak the word of the Lord. Secondly, he was not only in the tiniest possible minority. But he was faithful. What did Ahab say about it?

He said, this man never preached a good sermon. Embracing me or helping me. He never proposes good unto me. What a faithful man this was. The royal bounty didn't bribe him. The royal patronage did not alter his devoted allegiance to the King of Kings.

A Lord of Lords. He cared not for Ahab with his ivory palace. He cared only for the honor of God. Micaiah was an old compromise. He was an old surrender preacher. He didn't blast the wicked king. It was his duty to blast the wicked king.

And he blasted him on every occasion. If you read his sermons, you wouldn't find one sermon commending the king. Not one. He was faithful. The royal ears of Ahab burned every time Micaiah spoke. Micaiah was the ambassador of the throne of the Most High God.

And Ahab's ivory throne was like a perch in a hemlock compared to the great throne from which that man of God worked. No wonder he was hated. And every man that stands for God in every age will be a hated man.

The devil is no lover of God's truth. And the devil's agents are no lovers of God's promise. But notice thirdly, he was uncowed by the ecclesiastical piggies of his day. He was God's man. He feared no consequences.

He had God's message and he delivered it without fear or fever. Notice in 2 Chronicles 18 .12. The messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king.

With one assent they're all unanimous. Let thy word, therefore, I pray thee, be like theirs. And speak thy good. But this man was not going to be cowed by the ecclesiastical piggies of the day. Notice, this man dreaded not the false prophets nor their pope, Zedekiah.

The fisty cuffs of that belligerent preliate with his homemade horns, the man of God treated with disdain and pronounced a sentence of death upon the leader of these false prophets. And Zedekiah had made him horns of iron and said, Thus saith the Lord with these, thou shalt pursue them till they be consumed.

Then Zedekiah came near and spoke Micaiah from 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 on that day when thou shalt go into the chamber to hide thyself.

But there was no hiding from God's wrath. And this man wallowed in his own blood. Judgment was upon him. Notice fifthly, that this man Micaiah, he made no plea against the sentence of imprisonment that was passed upon him and pronounced by the wicked king Ahab.

He could have said to Jehoshaphat, I am a prophet of the Lord. Interfere here. Don't let them put me in prison. You defend me, Jehoshaphat. But this man didn't run for cover. He stood boldly and joyfully on the side of the Lord.

He didn't make any appeal for leniency. He was prepared to suffer for his God. Sixthly, notice, he was prepared to eat the bread of affliction and drink the water of affliction rather than be unfaithful.

And save us, saith the king, said Ahab, put this fellow in the prison. Feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction until I return in peace. And notice seventhly, his last word ever recorded of what he said was a message of affirmation.

He withdrew nothing. And the last word that he speaks in the Bible is verse 27 of chapter 18 of 2 Chronicles. And Micaiah said, If thou certainly return in peace, then hath not the Lord spoken by thee?

And he said, Hearken, all ye people. Bear witness. Micaiah was more than vindicated. Ahab returned as a corpse. It happened in this wise. And 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. Howbeit, 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. The hated man lived. The hating man died. And so shall it be in all the records of God's Chronicles. The divine proverb of Ecclesiasticals 9 .4 was fulfilled.

For to him that is joined to all the living, there is hope. For a living dog is better than a dead lion. Micaiah, the living prisoner, was better than the dead prince. It was Cotton who once said, Physical courage, which despises all danger, will make a man brave in one way.

And moral courage, which despises all opinion, will make a man brave in another. The former would seem necessary for the camp, the latter for the council chamber. But to constitute a great man, both are necessary.

Spiritual Courage and Faithfulness to Christ

But it is not physical courage that Micaiah had. Nor was it moral courage. It was spiritual courage. This man had the power of God. That's what made him strong. Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

Not be strong with moral courage. Or strong with physical courage. But be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Please remember, child of God, that you cannot take a straight course trying to face both ways.

And how many Christians are trying to face both ways in this day of apostasy. And they cannot go straight. Only the path of faithfulness to Christ, fidelity to our Lord Jesus. Blessed is he to whom is given the instinct that can tell that God is on the field when He is most invisible.

Work, man, of God. Oh, lose not heart. But learn what God is like. And in the darkest battlefield, thou shalt know where to strike. For right is right. Since God is God, and right the day will win. To doubt would be disloyalty.

To falter would be sin. May God save us from that sin. And keep us faithful to the blessed Son of God, whom we love and serve. Amen. That's bow our hands. Heavenly Father, bless Thy Word. Write it on our hearts.

Prayer for Separation, Courage, and Divine Strength

And keep us from compromise and evil unions with evil people. Keep us separated unto the Lord. Willing to be outside the camp, bearing His reproach. Oh, God, give us the courage that's spiritual and divine.

May we not lean on our own strength, but lean ever on the strength of God. For Jesus' sake. And everybody say, Amen.