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What the Lord says - Speak
by A.J. Wilson

“Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, "Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement." And Micaiah said, "As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak." 1 Kings 22:13-14

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;” 1 Peter 3:15

As Christians we are told to proclaim the Word of the Lord to those around us, no matter the situation.  Moses called the Israelites to be God’s holy nation of priests (Ex 19:6) and Peter reiterated that in the new testament (1 Pet 2:9).  A little known prophet from 1 Kings Chapter 22 ( & 2 Chron. 18) is Micaiah (Mi ca’iah meaning “Who is as Jehovah?”)  He gives us a mighty example of proclaiming God’s Word.  He stands up to Ahab, one of the most sinful kings of Israel, in a mighty way.  His story also gives us another reason we must study and proclaim the truths from God’s Word, and not our reason.

In the passage quoted above we see that all the prophets of Ahab had proclaimed victory in battle for the king, yet they had not consulted with God.  These ‘prophets’ only wanted to tickle the ears of the king and save their own lives from his wrath.  So Ahab’s messenger, like so many church-goers today, tried to tell Micaiah to only preach good and encouragement to the king.  However this was not God’s message for Ahab, so Micaiah told Ahab that if he went to battle, his armies would be scattered by the opposition (v.17) which was fulfilled in verse 36.  This message upset Ahab greatly (v18), but instead of heeding the Lord’s warning, he marched off to destruction following his own ways.  This will happen when we proclaim God’s word today also.  Despite our best efforts, the lost and backslidden will often reject our warnings of the consequences of sin.  We can take comfort in knowing that when we are obedient and faithful to God’s call, He will delight in us.

We have a second influence working in this story and in the world today.  Verse 22 of the passage speaks of a “lying spirit in the mouth” of prophets.  Unfortunately we still have preachers, teachers, and evangelists today who are afflicted with these “lying spirits.”  Satan (the father of the lying spirits) is constantly at work trying to distract the lost, and disable the saints, so he even uses preachers to spread his perversions of the Bible.  A Christian should not neglect their responsibilities to verify sermons and teachings by the Bible.  A Christian without their Bible, is worse than a soldier without their weapon.

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