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1 Kings 22 (Part 1) Bible Study (Ahab and the False Prophets) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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Well, praise God that we're here.
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It's such a joy to be here with you tonight.
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I invite you to come to 1st Kings 22 with me.
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As our brother prayed, we are coming to the close of our study
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of First Kings. We have arrived at the final
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chapter of our study of this book, which will also be the
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final chapter of King Ahab's life.
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The Count of Ahab's death clearly illustrates the
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detrimental consequences of spiritual compromise.
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Yes, Ahab has rebelled throughout his reign.
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But what you and I are going to examine today is one particular
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act of defiance that will cost this man absolutely everything.
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And right at the outset of this Bible study, I want to give you
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an exhortation. I want to remind you of an
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important universal truth. You and I may have the freedom
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to choose our sin, but we can never ever determine the
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consequences of that sin. And so a person may sin 1000
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times before he faces any significant ramifications, and
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yet his neighbour may sin similarly just once and alter
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the trajectory of his life drastically.
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I want you to view entertaining temptation as playing Russian
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roulette with your soul. That should be enough motivation
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for you to not deal with sin on any level, not to engage with
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it, to stay as far as way as possible from it.
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It's lethal, it's deadly, it's poison, it's deceptive, it's
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destructive. And what we're going to study in
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this final chapter will hopefully cement that conviction
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in your heart that you will not only love God more, but you will
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also heighten in your hatred for evil.
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The Bible commands you and I to hate things and one of those
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things is iniquity, sin, disobedience, rebellion.
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And he's given us texts like First Kings to see in, in real
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life example, what sin can do to a soul who fails to realize
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God's warnings about it. And so we're there at First
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Kings 22. I'm sure you've already got a
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glimpse of it to understand that we're not going to complete this
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chapter in one sitting, which has been our habit as long as
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this Bible study existed. So we're here at verse one.
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And I invite you, we're going to read the 1st 12 verses together
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just to have an understanding of the passage holistically.
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And then we will explore them verse by verse.
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So join me in First Kings 22, beginning in verse one.
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For three years Syria and Israel continued without war.
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But in the third year, Yehoshaphat or Jehoshaphat, the
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king of Judah came down to the king of Israel, and the king of
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Israel said to his servants, Do you know what?
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Do you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us?
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And we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the
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king of Syria? And he said to Jehoshaphat, Will
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you go with me to battle at Ramoth Gilead?
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Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my
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people, as your people, my horses as your horses.
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And Yehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, inquire first for the
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word of the Lord. And the king of Israel gathered
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the prophets together, about 400 men, and said to them, Shall I
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go to battle against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?
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And they said, Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand
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of the king. But Yehoshaphat said, Is there
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not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?
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And the king of Israel said to Yehoshaphat, There is yet one
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man by whom we may inquire of the Lord Micaiah, the son of
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Imlab, But I hate him, for he never prophesized good
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concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not
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the king say so. And the king of Israel summoned
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an officer and said, Bring quickly Makaya the son of Imla.
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Now the king of Israel. And Jehoshaphat the king of
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Judah, were sitting on their Thrones, arrayed in their robes
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at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria.
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And all the prophets were prophesying before them.
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And Zedekiah the son of Kanayana, made for himself horns
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of iron and said, Thus says the Lord, with these you shall push
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the Syrians until they are destroyed.
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And all the prophets prophesied so and said, Go up to Ramoth
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Gilead, and triumph. The Lord will give it into the
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hand of the king. Lord bless the reading, the
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exposition, the application of Your Word for the glory of your
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Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. As we sang, we long to be
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conformed to His ways. We long for the Holy Spirit to
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infuse in us the knowledge, the wisdom, and the grace to live
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for His name in Jesus name, Amen.
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Well, the only way to really make the most sense of this
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narration is to recall a recent episode related to the King of
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Israel and the King of Syria. It was the subject of one of our
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studies a few weeks ago, but may I remind you how what we studied
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in First Kings 20 relates to what we're here studying
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tonight? The king of Syria and the king
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of Israel were going to war. And the Lord, out of his sheer
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grace, gave Ahab, the king of Israel, more than one victory.
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He conquered over Syria on more than one occasion.
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And part of that deal, so to speak, was that the king of
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Israel had to completely exterminate Ben Haddad, the king
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of Syria and his army. And predictably, Ahab did not
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obey the decree of God. And the reason was because he
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was persuaded by Ben Haddad with these terms, these terms of
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peace. Ben Haddad the king of Syria,
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proposed something to Ahab and Ahab could not refuse.
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And so turn to 1st Kings 20 and look at verse 34 to to remind
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yourself of why there was three years of peace to begin with.
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And Ben Haddad said to him, the cities that my father took from
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your father I will restore, and you may establish bazaars for
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yourself in Damascus as my father did in Samaria.
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And Ahab said, I will let you go on these terms.
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So he made a covenant with him and let him go.
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So Ben Haddad says, look, look, look, don't kill me.
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Have mercy on me. And look, I'm willing to restore
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to you the cities that my father took from you years prior and
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and you can establish trade in Damascus.
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And so in Ahab's natural political mind, he thinks it's
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helpful. This is good.
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This is good for me. We're we're building an
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alliance. We're securing our economy.
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We're thriving more in our economy this way.
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Let's do it at the cost of this obedient God.
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And what we see here is that three years ago, by according to
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the first verse of this chapter, and it dawns on the king of
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Israel that the king of Syria didn't keep his word.
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He kept back one city. And evidently that city is a
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strategic one. It's a valuable one.
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And this infuriated King Ahab to the point now he's ready to
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break this covenant and go back to war with Syria.
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Ahab's mistake cannot be our mistake in our war with sin.
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As you heard in that chapter when we studied together, sin
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will never fail to disappoint you and I.
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It will always disappoint us. And above that, we see here that
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three years has passed since he made this established deal with
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the king of Syria. Three years with no problems
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with peace, prosperity, problem free.
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And what happened? Now?
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The consequences of sin come. The consequences of sin are not
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always immediate. They sometimes take time.
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And the longer you remain in an unrepentant state, the more
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dangerous and the wider and the deeper those consequences can
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be. You know, there's a verse in Job
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20, verse five. You don't have to turn there,
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but listen to these words. In Job chapter 20, verse five,
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we're told that the wicked, when they exalt it's, it's short.
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Their state of exaltation is short.
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And the joy of the godless is but for a moment, it is for a
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moment. And Ahab would realize that
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because the the problems that would ensue out of his
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relationship with Benedad would outweigh whatever pleasure and
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peace and prosperity he thought he won from it.
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So he's lamenting in the presence of his servants.
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But there's an unexpected character in that very same
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scene, Jehoshaphat. And he's the king of Judah.
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What is the king of Judah? Remember, one of the most
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important things about First Kings is that it defines for us
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the, the split of the Kingdom of Israel.
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Now you have the northern Kingdom and the southern
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Kingdom. So generally the relationship
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between the north and the South, we're not on good terms.
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They, they were always at odds with one another.
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And that is certainly the case up to this point.
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Or is it because now you have the king of Judah visiting the
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king of Israel? And our suspicions grow even
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more when we see how the king of Judah responds to the request of
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the king of Israel, who tells his servants we got to come up
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with a plan and then turns to the king of Judah and invites
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him to go to war at Ramoth Gilead.
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So look here again at verse four and look at the response of the
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king of Judah. And he said to Jehoshaphat, will
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you go with me to battle out Ramoth Gilead?
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And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my
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people as your people, my horses as your horses.
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This is the language of collaboration.
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This is the language of alliance.
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And so if you feel as though at some point there was some kind
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of unification that took place, you would be right At an
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undisclosed time, there was an effort on both parts for these
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people to come together, this divided Kingdom to become one
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once again. Good thing or bad thing, Who
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says good thing? Who says bad thing?
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Good, Who doesn't know? Stick around, You would think,
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well, this is a leap towards unity.
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This nation has been fractured for decades upon decades, and
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now we see some sign of hope of things being restored and the
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way that God designed it to be originally.
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And what we're going to learn here is that unity should never
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be pursued at the expense of dishonouring.
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Truth should never be pursued. It should be absolutely rejected
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at the expense of truth being honoured and practiced the way
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God intended it to be practiced. And if you're if you're doubting
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that what the king of Judah is doing here is wrong, then turn
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to a parallel account again to remind you of how grasping the
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entirety of the Word of God will give us the greatest revelations
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of the Word of God. Look at Second Chronicles and I
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want you to look at the 1st 3 verses of chapter 19 of Second
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Chronicles. This is a detailed account of
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when Jehoshaphat comes back from war with Ahab against Syria and
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a prophet arrives on the scene and confronts Jehoshaphat.
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And notice what what is said to this king of Judah for his
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efforts and making peace with the king of Israel.
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Second Chronicles 19 verse one. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah,
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returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem, But Jehu the son
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of Hananiah the seer, went out to meet him and said, the king
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Jehoshaphat, should you help the wicked and love those who hate
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the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone
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out against you from the Lord. You know there is an
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illegitimate kind of love. God is love.
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We are called to love. We're a faith that's known for
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our love. But there is a love that's
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illegal according to our faith. Love not the world.
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And in this case, love, not those who hate the Lord.
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Loving my enemies, What about that?
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This is not the context. The context here is partnering
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with someone who intentionally violates God's law, yoking
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yourself to someone to such a degree that you are compromising
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your testimony and your fruitfulness for the Lord.
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So he's not talking about this bitterness and his anger towards
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someone. The Bible has a different
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dictionary than we do in our English language, but I want you
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to see something in verse 3. This is important for the rest
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of our study. Nevertheless, some good is found
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in you. He's speaking to Jehoshaphat.
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Some good is found in you. For you destroyed the ashras out
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of the land and have set your heart to seek God.
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Remember that. Tuck that in your heart for now.
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So we can establish here that what Jehoshaphat does with Ahab
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was not in accordance to God's will, and the severity of the
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consequence of this one decision will only show itself when you
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continue to read in the Bible. So you're in Second Chronicles
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19. We're studying First Kings, but
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go to 2nd Kings and go to chapter 8.
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And I want you to see something with your own eyes.
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If we make this effort, we will see a wonderful chain of events
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that will bless our hearts. Second Kings 8, and look at
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verse 16 of Second Kings 8. Now you get her.
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If you're going to pay attention at any point of the Bible study,
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it's at this point because there's going to be a lot of
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names. And if you follow along here, it
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will be helpful. In the fifth year of Jaram, the
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son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of
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Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, began
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to reign. OK, pause here.
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So we're talking here about the king of Israel, who is the son
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of Ahab. What's his name?
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Joram, right? And now we're talking about
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Jehoshaphat, sure, but Jehoshaphat's son, whose name is
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what? Jehoram.
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So underlying Jahoram, right? The son of Jehoshaphat, king of
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Judah. So we're discussing here at this
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point the son of Jehoshaphat who succeeded his father.
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And look at verse 17. Now he was 32 years old when he
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became king. This is Jairam, the son of
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Jehoshaphat. And he reigned 8 years in
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Jerusalem, verse 18. And he walked in the way of the
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kings of Israel. The king of Judah walked in the
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ways of the king of Israel, as the House of Ahab had done.
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Why? For the daughter of Ahab was his
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wife. And he did what was evil in the
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side of the Lord. So are we, are we catching on to
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this? We're discussing the son of
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Jehoshaphat, and we're told here that he walked in the ways of
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the king of Israel, which is notoriously evil.
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That's the general reputation of the Kingdom of the North.
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And we're given the reason why the son of Jehoshaphat married
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the daughter of Ahab. Jehoshaphat is the focus of our
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study. In First Kings 22.
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Jehoshaphat made a decision to make a political alliance with
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Ahab. And what did that make way for A
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marriage alliance between Jehoshaphat's son and the
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daughter of Ahab. If if this woman is the daughter
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of Ahab, then who's this? Thank you.
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This woman's mother is Jezebel. Can you imagine your
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mother-in-law being Jezebel? You're going to find out how
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problematic that's going to be. And you, you begin to feel now
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the existential threat of this. You should at least you know
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why, Because the Kingdom of Judah ultimately represents what
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the Davidic line, the Davidic line, the the same line that God
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made a covenant with that would ultimately what?
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Usher in who? The Lord Jesus Christ, our
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Messiah, the Messiah of the world.
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And now you have through marriage, the spiritual
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corruption and influence of Jezebel infiltrating that line.
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So what's problematic about that?
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Does anyone know here the name of the woman of the daughter of
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Ahab that Joram married? Anybody have an idea?
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Any guesses? You can't use your phone if you
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don't know. Scroll down in Second Kings 8,
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verse 25 and you're going to get your answer.
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In the 12th year of Jerome, Joram, Rather the son of Ahab,
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king of Israel, Ahaziah, the son of Jairam king of Judah, began
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to reign. So now who are we talking about?
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We're not talking about the son of Jehoshaphat.
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We're talking about the grandson of Jehoshaphat, right?
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This is Ahaziah, the son of Jairam.
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So who is who is the wife of Jairam?
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Oh no, we forgot already. The daughter of Ahab, right?
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They had evidently a child, Ahaziah, the son of Joram.
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So now we're talking about Isaiah.
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Look at verse 26. Isaiah was 22 years old when he
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began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem.
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His mother's name was Athalia. So what is the name of the woman
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that Joram married, the daughter of Ahab?
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Athalia. And if you have any doubt about
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that, her identity is confirmed to the last part of verse 26.
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She was a granddaughter of Umri, king of Israel.
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Amri being the father of Ahab. So her name is Athalia.
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Heziah only reigned for one year.
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Does anybody know why he only reigned for one year?
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Because God's going to raise up a man by the name of Jehu.
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Jehu is going to be anointed by God to exterminate the House of
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Ahab. And who got caught up in in that
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Jehoram or Surah Aziah. Heziah would be put to death as
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a result of his association with the House of Ahab.
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Athalia is still alive though. Now Athalia is going to do
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something in Second Kings 11 verse one.
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Notice what she does. Remember Athalia is the daughter
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of Jezebel, so you don't have to wonder too much where she got
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this inspiration from. Second Kings 11 one.
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Now when Athalia, the mother of Isaiah, saw that her son was
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dead, that being Isaiah, she arose and destroyed all the
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royal family, and she attempts to seize the throne of the
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Kingdom of Judah. Where did she get the idea of
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being such a vicious person and a vicious rule?
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Any idea? Maybe Jezebel.
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So she seizes the throne and she attempts to wipe clean the royal
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family. Who's the royal family?
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The true royal family, the Davidic dynasty.
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So you're seeing a woman who had a very bad upbringing.
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No, no, you have to see beyond that.
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You have to see the spiritual reality of this.
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You're seeing Satan trying to delete the messianic seed and
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it's not until you read later on in Second Kings 11 how God and
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His sovereignty interferes and preserves 1 descendant, 1
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descendant. That's why we praise God for His
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faithfulness, because if it was left up to us, we would have
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been done a long time ago. God's sovereignty interferes and
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He restores this line. He saves this line.
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Here's my question for you. Do you think Jehoshaphat had any
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idea of the domino effect of this one decision to partner
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with Ahab? I doubt it.
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And he serves as a strong Old Testament illustration to a New
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Testament command that is very familiar to Christians today.
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But I would I'm afraid some who are unwilling to adhere to do
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not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
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What partnership has righteousness with lawlessness
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and what fellowship has light with darkness?
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I I pray that you would take First Kings 22 as a constant
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reminder of how consequential your choice of fellowship is,
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the ministries that you choose to be in partnership with, who
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you decide to be your spouse. These decisions can have, as we
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see here, generational consequences for good or for
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bad. Well, God ended up preserving
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the line of David anyway. Yeah, but what happened along
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the way? Death, pain, hurt.
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So, yes, we trust in God's sovereignty, but why don't we
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also apply God's wisdom? Yeah, and know his maximum
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blessing for our lives. Now we come back to our main
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text in verse five, because after studying that, we might be
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under the impression that Jehoshaphat was just as warped
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and wicked as Ahab was. But that's not the case.
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Look back at verse five, the first kings 22 and Jehoshaphat
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said to the king of Israel, inquire first for the word of
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the Lord. So what is he saying to Ahab?
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He accepts the request, the invitation to join him in
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battle. But he says, can we pray about
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this first? Can we inquire of the Lord?
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You know what I thought when I read this?
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I thought, why didn't you pray about partnering with Ahab?
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Why are you praying now? But he here is showing some
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level of discernment, some level of conviction, and he tells
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Ahab, why don't we do this? And Ahab here is willing to do
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so, but we have to 1st discuss about Jehoshaphat's character.
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This seems strange, right? We may be confused.
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You're partnering with an evil man, but you want to pray about
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moving forward. And as strange as this may be,
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it's not as uncommon as you might think.
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Because Jehoshaphat has a picture of an inconsistent
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believer, a man with divided devotions, a man who has some
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good qualities but is foolish in key areas.
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And if you doubt that, then look back here at First Kings 22.
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Scroll down to verse 42. You get a summation of his reign
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and it describes this divide perfectly.
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First Things 22, look at verse 42.
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Joshua was 35 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 25
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years in Jerusalem. His mother name was Azuba.
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Azuba, the daughter of Sheila, he walked all the way and all
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the way of ASA, his father. He did not turn aside from it,
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doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.
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Good yet OK. The high places were not taken
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away, and the people still sacrifice and made offerings on
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the high places. Jehoshaphat also made peace with
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the king of Israel. There are tons of people like
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this, tons of people like this. They generally have some
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spiritual insight. They wouldn't necessarily be
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ashamed to name the name of Christ.
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They might even take the opportunity when it arises to
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testify of the truth of the gospel.
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But at the same time, when you observe their lives, there's
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questionable behavior, questionable decisions that
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would taint their testimony or even contradicts their faith.
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You've probably encountered some of those people.
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Maybe you have a mutual friend and you ask about the person
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that you just met. Are they Christians?
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And that person responds, yeah, yeah, they're believers, But but
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what? Yeah, the the way, the way they
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talk and just when you look at their social media, just don't,
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don't be taken off guard, you know?
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Yeah, they're believers, but but what strive for better than
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that? Strive by the power of the Holy
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Spirit. And when people look at your
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life or when they inquire about your life, the response is
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they're the real deal. They're the real deal.
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They love Christ, they really love Christ.
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Christ is everything to them. George have unfortunately
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doesn't have that testimony and it's going to cost him as we see
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here. He asked to inquire first of the
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word of the Lord and look at the response of King Ahab in verse
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6. Then the king of Israel gathered
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the prophets together about 400 men and said to them, shall I go
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to battle against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrain?
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And they said go up for the Lord will give it into the hand of
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the king. But Jehoshaphat said, is there
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not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?
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This seems like an odd dialogue here, but if you pay attention
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closely then it'll all make sense.
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You know this very well. Whenever the word Lord is all
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capitalized, it signifies the covenant name of the God of
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Israel, Yahweh. And so Jehoshaphat asked Ahab,
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can we inquire the word of Yahweh?
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Right, Ahab seems to agree. He summons 400 men.
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But notice after asking these prophets what they should do,
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how these prophets respond, we see here at the end of verse six
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and they said go up for the Lord will give it into the hand of
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the king. Is the word Lord They're all
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capitalized. No, they are not implementing
27:26
the covenant name of Yahweh. What are they doing?
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They are applying the word Lord, which in Hebrews Adonai, which
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speaks of the title of a master, and it can be directed towards a
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human master or even to a deity. So it's more generic.
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And then what you have here is that they say, yeah, the Lord
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will give it into the hand of the king.
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And then Jehoshaphat is hearing this.
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He's not convinced and he realizes that they're not
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representing Yahweh. And so he asked in verse seven,
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is there not yet another prophet of Lord?
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The Lord capitalized, capitalized.
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So if these are not genuine prophets of Yahweh, then who are
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they? We've touched on this before.
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Does anybody remember who who they can potentially be?
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That's right. And here's the confirmation for
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that. Scroll back to First Kings 1819.
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Elijah confronts Ahab, He challenges him for a face off at
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Mount Carmel. And he doesn't want just Ahab to
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be in attendance. He asked for these specific
28:29
people as well. Now, therefore, send and gather
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all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of
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Baal and the 400 prophets of Ashra who eat at Jezebel's
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table. You read on, and what do you
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realize? Who shows up?
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Out of the 850, only the 450 prophets of bail, the 400
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prophets Ashra do not come. And they in a sense evade
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judgement. And we argue that it's highly
28:57
plausible that this was a strategy on the part of Ahab and
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Jezebel, that they were to preserve some of their profits.
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Suspicious of Elijah's invitation for the showdown.
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And the next time we read a 400 prophets is when First Kings 22,
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when Ahab summons the prophets, and you have 400 of them.
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So it's very likely that these are the prophets of Asherah.
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And if that is the case, then what a lesson we have before us.
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Because Ahab thought, right that he can trick God.
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Ahab thought that he can escape God's chastisement, God's wrath.
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But the very same prophets that Ahab treasured would turn on him
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and would be the main means to lead Ahab into his own
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destruction through false prophecies, the wisdom of God.
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And it's also a picture of what what we just learned about
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Jehoshaphat, that whatever compromise you hold on to and
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you refuse to repent from will end up coming back to haunt you.
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So he thought that he preserved something for his own good, but
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because these were false prophets, they would turn on
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him. And what he thought would be to
30:07
his aid would actually be to his demise.
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You can't run from God. You can't run from God in this
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life and surely in the next life.
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So Jehoshaphat here is hearing these prophets speaking in the
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name of Lord Adonai Master, but he wants somebody who represents
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the true God of Israel. And what happens?
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Verse 8, Ahab isn't a big fan of the idea.
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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, there is yet one
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man by whom we inquire of the Lord Makaya, the son of Imlab.
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But I hate him, I hate him. Why do you hate him, Ahab?
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For he never prophesized good concerning me, but evil.
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We've seen this attitude from Ahab before, right?
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Pouting, self absorbed. It's, it's, it's my world.
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You're living in a kind of attitude.
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And he hates Makai. That Makai is the guy that
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springs to his mind. Surely they've interacted with
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one another before. And Ahab turns to Jehovah.
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He goes, I absolutely despise this guy.
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It's not because he's a hypocrite.
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It's not because he's an evil man.
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It's because what of how his messages made him feel.
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That's why he only tells me evil things about me.
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And you know what? I if I was George, if I or I
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wish George if I would have just just said this right away.
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Maybe because you are evil. Like he's not pulling this out
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of nowhere. You're an evil man.
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What do you expect? Good.
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Of course he's going to prophecy evil concerning you because
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you're a man that's drenched in sin, bent on rebellion,
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stiffening your neck, though God has showered you with mercy upon
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mercy. I don't know what Ahab thinks
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Ahab thinks. I think Ahab thinks like what
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many people think. They want the benefits of God,
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but they don't want conformity to God.
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Doesn't work like that way in God's economy.
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So he says here that he hates this man because he never
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prophesized good concerning me, but evil.
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And you know what he did? As a result of that, Ahab
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intentionally pushed away the true voice of the Lord and
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recruited for himself. Yes, men, be very mindful,
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please. I'm actually now leaning into
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you and asking you here to be very mindful of the standard
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that you use in determining the spiritual leadership in your
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life that will preach and teach to you God's Word.
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Be very mindful. What standard are you using?
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What evaluation do you apply? Because Ahab's choice here would
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prove to be a matter of life and death.
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And it's no different for us today in 2024, that who we
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choose, who we allow, who we decide to give us spiritual
33:10
guidance will either lead us to spiritual life or even spiritual
33:15
death or decay. And there are many who are
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making the same fatal error that Ahab has made at this point of
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his life. Like Ahab, you have many people
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who choose churches that do not teach the whole council of God,
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but in clever ways present to him a God that caters to what
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their selfish desires desire anyway, right?
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So they strategically avoid places that call you to examine
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yourself, that call people to repentance, that called people
33:43
to conformity to Christ like this, that called people to
33:46
sacrifice. I want to hear it.
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But like Ahab, the same people here have soothed their
33:54
conscience because they have surrounded themselves by a
33:57
charade of spirituality, but have zero concern of the lack of
34:00
substance. And like Ahab, there are those
34:05
who are under the impression that if the majority rules, then
34:07
it must be true. You realize Makai is going to
34:10
come on the scene and you're going to have 400 who have
34:14
consensus about the word of the Lord.
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And then you're going to have one who's going to say,
34:17
actually, that's not the case. And like Ahab, there are many
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who think if it's popular, that's the arbiter for truth.
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No, no, no. It's what God said that
34:27
determines everything. But how many believe that?
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Really? How many are even persuaded?
34:32
Or they are blown back and forth with every wind of doctrine just
34:37
because it's the newest thing, or because so and so adheres to
34:40
it. Who cares?
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What does God say? And here's my favorite part,
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that although Jehoshaphat is not the best example of consecration
34:50
on to Christ in this very moment, he is a wonderful,
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wonderful picture of the true believer.
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In what way? That no matter what options are
34:59
out there, like Jehoshaphat, the true Christian will not be
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satisfied with anything less than what God has to say and
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with a true servant of God speaking into their life, right?
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He had 400 options, so to speak, and he didn't care.
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That did not ultimately satisfy him.
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He came to the point where he said what a true believer would
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say. I want the word of the Lord,
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whether it's a rebuke or it's an encouragement, whether it's
35:30
comfort or it's correction. I want the whole counsel of God.
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So give me a true prophet of God.
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Give me a true prophet of God. I don't care if he's popular, I
35:38
don't care if he gets invited to the biggest conferences.
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I don't care if he's known. I just want to know if he walks
35:44
with God. That's what Jehovah, Jehovah
35:46
Shabad is craving. That's what the true Christian
35:48
will crave. So he asked for the true word of
35:53
the Lord, and he gives a mild rebuke to the king of Israel.
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He says, let not the king say so.
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So let's see what happens next. In verse 9, the king of Israel
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summoned an officer and said, bring quickly.
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Makaya, the son of Imla, now the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat,
36:17
the king of Judah, were sitting on their Thrones arrayed in
36:20
robes at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of
36:24
Samaria. And all the prophets were
36:26
prophesying before them. It's as though the Holy Spirit
36:29
wants us to just pause, and he wants to paint for us a very
36:32
colorful picture, right? You can almost envision it.
36:36
So you have these two kings with their portable Thrones.
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They're sitting at the gate of Samaria, and we're told here
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that they're arrayed in their robes.
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And before them are just multitudes of of prophets
36:49
speaking supposedly the word of the Lord in unison.
36:55
What's that supposed to provoke in us?
36:58
A sense of anticipation? What is Micaiah going to do now
37:04
as he arrives at this scene? Because you, you see these kings
37:08
and you get this brief description, but it's enough for
37:10
you to feel intimidated. 2 kings sitting on their throne and
37:14
their robes are flowing in in the breeze.
37:17
And then you have the pressure of all these prophets all saying
37:20
the same thing. And Jehoshaphat has enough sense
37:23
to say this isn't right. And if Micaiah is a true
37:26
prophet, then he has a different word.
37:28
What is Micaiah going to do? Well, you have to come to the
37:32
next week Bible study to find out, but that's what it's
37:34
supposed to produce in us, is we're supposed to get excited
37:37
now, but we get a little glimpse of what these prophets were
37:43
saying as they were awaiting the attendance of this true prophet.
37:46
Look at verse 11. Zedekiah, the son of Canaan,
37:52
made for himself horns of iron and said, thus says the Lord,
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with these you shall push the Syrians until they are
37:58
destroyed. So now he's getting theatrical
38:02
and he puts on this whole passionate demonstration, and he
38:06
says, king of Israel, with these horns, you're going to gore the
38:10
Syrians and you will completely destroy them.
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You know, I've said this so many times in our study of the Old
38:18
Testament, so I'm hesitant to say it again.
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But it's worth remembering passion doesn't equate
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truthfulness, right? Sincerity doesn't mean it's
38:30
true, and that's certainly the case here.
38:34
You got a guy who built horns of iron, and he's showing the king
38:39
what they will do if they go to the battle at Ramoth Gilead.
38:43
But notice what he says in verse 12.
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And all the prophets prophesied so and said, go up to Ramoth
38:48
Gilead and triumph. The Lord will give it into the
38:50
hand of the king. Look again, look at verse 11 and
38:56
verse 12. In what name did these prophets
38:58
speak in the same 400 prophets? What name are they speaking in
39:01
now? Is it the generic term Lord?
39:05
No, now they are imploring. Now they are invoking the name,
39:09
the covenant name of God. This has LED some to believe
39:13
that these are not necessarily the false prophets of Ashra, but
39:17
these are unfaithful prophets of Yahweh.
39:20
And that's a possibility, but there could be another
39:22
explanation that these 400 and realizing that Jehoshaphat was
39:27
adamant about having a prophet who would speak the word of
39:31
Yahweh assimilated to his request.
39:34
OK, he wants he wants the word of the Yahweh.
39:37
Yahweh says Yahweh says OK, you want Yahweh, we'll give you
39:43
Yahweh. What's what's the lesson here?
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The lesson is very obvious. False prophets are very
39:51
comfortable utilizing the name, the true name of our God, even
39:55
the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to win an
39:58
audience. I hope all of us in here, if
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you've been a believer for at least a year, have read through
40:06
the New Testament. Have you ever noticed how much
40:10
in the New Testament is geared towards warning Christians about
40:14
false teachers? Have you ever read that?
40:16
Have you ever seen that in the epistles?
40:20
Isn't it strange that we don't hear too much about those
40:22
warnings in our churches? Virtually every apostle warned,
40:29
almost not in all their letters, but in a lot of their letters,
40:31
about false teaching and false teachers.
40:36
So let me do my part and tell you how false teachers operate.
40:40
False teachers have no problem applying, preaching, teaching,
40:47
referring the name of Jesus Christ, though what they are
40:51
saying is absolutely untrue. They have, they have no issue
40:56
appealing to His authority, claiming that their ministry is
40:59
under His authority, that their message is signed off with His
41:02
authority, all the while they're deceiving the people before
41:05
them. And so it's not enough for you
41:09
to know or to hear from somebody that they represent or that they
41:15
are under or that they love Jesus Christ.
41:19
That's not enough. Because again, we see here and
41:23
throughout the Bible that they have no issue applying his name,
41:26
though they misrepresent His message.
41:28
Let me give you an example of that, Jeremiah 23 because I want
41:32
you to see then if if somebody's giving me the name of Jesus, how
41:37
am I supposed to see past that? What is then the litmus test?
41:42
What is then that I'm supposed to look for that will qualify
41:45
the authenticity of a supposed messenger of God?
41:51
Look at Jeremiah 23 and I want you to look here at verse 25.
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Lord says, I have heard what the prophets have said.
42:05
Who prophesied lies in whose name?
42:10
My name, you know God hears it. He hears every single time
42:17
somebody uses His name righteously or in vain.
42:23
I thought about this one once. How many apologies do you think
42:27
the Lord is going to receive on Judgement Day from all the
42:29
people who said God told me this when it was their imagination
42:32
speaking? Huh.
42:34
Have you ever thought of that? I thought about that a lot.
42:38
What kind of line are we going to see on that day totally
42:43
designated for people who have used God's name to authenticate
42:47
something, whether it was a sermon or suppose a prophecy or
42:52
whatever message they claim they're getting.
42:55
What kind of apologies? I'm thinking hundreds of years
42:59
are going to go by, he says. I've heard what they have said.
43:06
Those who prophecy lies, lies in my name.
43:12
They soften their lies. They master lies with my name
43:16
saying I have dreamed. I have dreamed.
43:21
So false prophets can use the true name of God to convey their
43:29
ministry or their message. But again, do you know what a
43:32
false prophet can't do? Scroll down to verse 28.
43:36
Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who
43:40
has my word speak my word faithfully.
43:45
What a strong common with wheat declares the Lord.
43:50
A false prophet may use God's name, but he cannot speak God's
43:54
word faithfully. He won't be able to, or else he
43:58
wouldn't be false. Now notice it doesn't say here
44:01
that he won't use God's word. The false prophet can take
44:06
Scripture out of context, and in fact that's what they do.
44:09
They manipulate and they twist. But Jeremiah is very specific.
44:14
Who speak my word, what faithfully, Who divide my word
44:20
rightly according to the words of Paul.
44:24
So it's not even if that person is holding a Bible in their
44:27
hands or is even quoting Scripture, do they do it
44:31
faithfully? Do they interpret it the way God
44:34
intended it to be interpreted? Do they consider the whole
44:38
counsel of God, what God says in his entire word when developing
44:42
a doctrine? Or do they take one verse here
44:44
and make a whole thing out of it?
44:46
Who speak my word faithfully? So what do you look for?
44:50
What do people do with God's word?
44:53
And do they handle it faithfully?
44:58
And that's what Jehoshaphat realized.
45:01
They're using God's name, but not speaking faithfully on
45:06
behalf of this God. And what that's going to prove
45:12
is that when people believe that kind of thing, it's absolutely
45:15
disastrous. And to our surprise, though,
45:18
Jehoshaphat was so desperate to hear from a true prophet of the
45:22
Lord. Is he going to listen to what
45:26
that prophet is going to say? Keep coming to Friday night
45:30
Bible study. Let's pray,
45:54
Lord, our hearts realize the astounding wisdom of Your Word.
46:01
It never fails to amaze us. It never fails to move us.
46:07
It never fails to intensify our love for You.
46:12
But we pray that the things that we've heard in these brief
46:16
verses would revolutionize our lives.
46:21
We asked, Lord, that we would trust every command that you
46:25
have issued in your word, including the command to not be
46:28
unequally yoked, including every warning that you have prescribed
46:35
concerning sin. So, Lord, as much as we're
46:38
praying for you to help us love you, help us hate sin more and
46:41
more, to step on it when it is in seed form, to squash it when
46:48
it is yet a spark to extinguish it, Lord, because we realize
46:53
through Ahab and many others of what sin can do when it is
46:57
tolerated and fed. Lord, in this place we pray that
47:02
we would treasure the Word of the Lord more than ever.
47:05
Father, especially in these days of great deception, especially
47:08
in these days where biblical illiteracy is intensifying, help
47:12
us, Lord, grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus
47:15
Christ. Lord, if there is anyone here
47:21
who has been ignoring you as Ahab has ignored you, where you
47:26
have spoken to them about a particular thing over and over,
47:28
where you've even dispensed good to them, though they are not
47:31
right with you, Lord, let tonight's Bible study be the
47:35
instrument to redirect them once and for all.
47:40
Lord, we worship You because we believe Your word.
47:45
As a psalmist said, they believed his words and they sang
47:50
joyfully. So Lord, at this very time, we
47:53
want to respond in that way. Our hearts are swelling with
47:56
excitement knowing that we are in the truth, that Your word has
48:00
never failed, that it is endured scrutiny throughout history and
48:05
has stood the test of time. It is defeated, every single
48:08
skeptic, and it will remain forever.
48:14
The grass Withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God
48:17
will endure forever. We give you glory for that in
48:20
Jesus name, Amen. Let's stand and worship the King
48:23
of Kings and the Lord of Lords.