Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20031019.htm

1 AND 2 KINGS: ENJOYING GOD'S BLESSINGS IN AN APOSTATE ERA
Part XXVIII: Blessing By Unconditionally Heeding God's Word
(1 Kings 22:1-40)
  1. Introduction
    1. A temptation exists in a number of circles to believe the "feel good," "positive" words that the majority or the popular or influential entities in Christendom assert rather than what God's Word actually states.
    2. Of course, once one has left God's Word to heed "feel good," "positive" words the majority or popular or influential assert, it is hard to return to God's Word if it doesn't pacify our drive for what is pleasant to us!
    3. Yet, what Scripture teaches IS God's TRUTH, a fact 1 Kings 22:1-40 powerfully illustrates (as follows):
  2. Blessing By Unconditionally Heeding God's Word, 1 Kings 22:1-40.
    1. When King Ahab decided to take back Israel's city of Ramoth-Gilead from the Syrians, he made an alliance with Judah's king Jehoshaphat and called 400 prophets to see if the plan would succeed, 22:1-6.
    2. Jehoshaphat discerned these were 400 questionable prophets Ahab hired to say what he WANTED to hear, so he urged Ahab to get a TRUE prophet of God to discern God's insight on their plans, 22:7.
    3. Ahab admitted that, Micaiah, the son of Imlah was a prophet of God, but because Micaiah spoke only bad predictions regarding Ahab, Ahab hated him and didn't like to call Micaiah to prophesy, 1 Kings 22:8!
    4. Jehoshaphat urged Ahab to call for Micaiah anyway, for he really wanted GOD'S insight, 1 Kings 22:9.
    5. When Ahab decided to heed Jehoshaphat's request, the author of 1 Kings noted the huge pressure Micaiah faced to say only what Ahab wanted to hear rather than the words God had actually given him, 22:10-13:
      1. First of all, the two kings, Ahab and Jehoshaphat were enthroned on a lofty threshing floor near the gate of Samaria with a lot of onlookers, a site that pressured any subject to want to agree with rather than oppose the king in this his impressive court, 1 Kings 22:10a.
      2. Second, there was a lot of peer pressure on Micaiah to predict success for Ahab, for all four hundred of Ahab's prophets were present at this court to predict success for Ahab, 1 Kings 22:10b, 6.
      3. Third, an influential prophet of Ahab, Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself iron horns as a symbol to teach Ahab and Jehoshaphat would figuratively gore the Syrians in the battle, 1 Kings 22:11.
      4. Fourth, this influential prophet's words were backed up by all of the other 400 prophets, 1 Kings 22:12.
      5. Fifth, the messenger who was sent to call Micaiah told him all 400 prophets were predicting battle success, so he should also plan on predicting success for the coming battle, 1 Kings 22:13.
    6. However, Micaiah chose to give only God's true Word, and did so to his own initial harm, 22:14-27:
      1. Micaiah told the messenger he would speak only God's Word, 1 Kings 22:14.
      2. When he came before Ahab, Micaiah revealed through initial sarcasm and later revelation that he alone was telling the truth; Ahab would die and Israel be defeated at Ramoth-Gilead, for all of the other 400 prophets were lying by means of a demonic spirit's influence, 1 Kings 22:15-23.
      3. For this revelation, the influential false prophet, Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah, retributively struck Micaiah across the mouth, a terribly offensive deed in that era, and Ahab had Micaiah put in prison until he returned to punish him, 1 Kings 22:24, 26-27; Bible Knowledge Commentary, O.T., p. 534.
    7. Nevertheless, Micaiah noted Zedekiah would be humiliated by hiding in his inner room after the battle's conclusion, and that if Ahab returned alive, he was not a true prophet of God, 1 Kings 22:28.
    8. As it happened, even when Ahab and Jehoshaphat tried to minimize the chances of Micaiah's prediction coming true by how they functioned in the actual battle, not only was Micaiah's word fulfilled, but Elijah's prediction about Ahab's death came true: Ahab was slain and his blood lapped by the dogs where Naboth's blood had been lapped by them in accord with Elijah's word, 1 Kings 22:29-40 with 21:19.
Lesson: Though the VAST MAJORITY of the POPULAR and INFLUENTIAL prophets of Ahab predicted FEEL GOOD, POSITIVE success for Ahab in the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, Micaiah's LONE MINORITY, UNPOPULAR, NON-INFLUENTIAL, FEEL BAD, NEGATIVE prediction about Ahab's FAILURE happened to be GOD'S TRUTH! Accordingly, Micaiah ALONE came out of the battle looking GOOD while all the other prophets, Ahab, Jehoshphat and the people knew failure and shame!

Application: There is blessing for heeding God's Word above all other sources, no matter WHAT pressures may exist to the contrary! May we thus unconditionally heed Scripture!