1Ki 22:6 | KingComments | STEP | It seems that Jehoshaphat suddenly thinks of the LORD. He wants to hear a word from the LORD. He should have done this first. But how are we? Have we not often made decisions, and have we taken a certain path, and only then asked the Lord to go with us? How important it is to be led through the eye of the Lord and not to be like a horse that needs to be corrected because we always want to go the wrong way ( ). We follow a zigzag route. We must first ask the Lord for His guidance and only then go that way. Jehoshaphat did not have to ask if the proposed road is the right one, because the road is evil. We should ask if we do not know whether the road is a good one. If it is perfectly clear that we are going the wrong way, we should not pray. The Lord does not listen to such a prayer and says that we should not pray, but listen to the Scriptures. Praying for something against the Scriptures is asking the Lord to bless a way of disobedience. In order to comply with Jehoshaphat’s request, Ahab has no fewer than four hundred prophets to show up. However, they are not prophets of the LORD, but prophets who moderate themselves to speak in the name of the LORD. The prophets are not just people who mean well, but who see it wrong, no, they are people who speak through demons. They are not false prophets because they speak the wrong word, but because they are controlled by evil spirits. These people are not interested in the will of the LORD, but in the advantage of the king. It may be that these are the four hundred priests of Astarte who have escaped judgment and who have now adopted a different name. The LORD is for them a new idol. Ahab chooses teachers who speak what he wants to hear ( ). We must be careful not to listen only to the speakers we like to hear because they say things we like to hear. We may ask the Lord to keep us from any compromise with people who profess to belong to God’s people, but only for their own benefit. We too must learn to listen, not to a message that sounds good, but to God’s Word. As for our speaking, it is necessary to ask the Lord’s help to speak only God’s Word and not what one likes to hear. It is clear that the church is not going in the right direction. We see that a gospel is being preached with a message that things will be better and more beautiful. It is all presented more gloriously: ‘There will be a revival’, this will happen and that will happen. They propose: ‘Go into battle, enter into discussion with the world, start governing, join in.’ There are some ‘doomsayers’ who go against this. Of them is told that they preach nothing but doom and disappointments and that the world will be worse off. Whosoever preaches the Word of God in a warning manner will be seen as such. Ahab is also interested in hearing what he should do. He has a very primitive idea of God. If he only gets a favorable message, then, he thinks, the gods are forced to give him the victory. The prophets prophesy under the influence of demons. This is evident from what Micaiah says later in this chapter. They are wizards or witches who open themselves up to demonic powers that use them to respond to people’s superstition. The greatest witch is Jezebel. She is a woman who not only believes in idols made of wood and stone, but she is a charmer of evil spirits who could bring this evil to God’s people. Every witch had to be eradicated inexorably, because they can cause so much evil from the realm of darkness. Dark powers are controlling the land. That tidal wave has also come over the Netherlands. They are not fairy tales, but what was once Christian is increasingly falling prey to pagan superstition. However, Jehoshaphat is not satisfied. Deep inside him is still the awareness that the true God is also there and that He must be asked. Therefore he asks for “a prophet of the LORD”, emphasizing “of the LORD” because the other prophets are not. This means that Ahab will again have to deal with a prophet of the LORD. Not only Elijah is sent by God on his way, and not only Elijah is his enemy, but also every other true prophet of the LORD. The man who speaks the truth is an enemy of Ahab. Ahab’s enmity also concerns Micaiah. He sees in Micaiah someone who brings evil upon him. In his folly and short-sightedness, he attributes the evil that Micaiah professes to Micaiah himself. This is the superstition or blinding work of Satan who excludes God. It does not come to mind in Ahab that evil is in himself and is the reason for the truth that the prophet speaks.

‏ 1 Kings 22:6

Jehoshaphat Wants to Consult the Lord

It seems that Jehoshaphat suddenly thinks of the LORD. He wants to hear a word from the LORD. He should have done this first. But how are we? Have we not often made decisions, and have we taken a certain path, and only then asked the Lord to go with us? How important it is to be led through the eye of the Lord and not to be like a horse that needs to be corrected because we always want to go the wrong way (Psa 32:8-9). We follow a zigzag route. We must first ask the Lord for His guidance and only then go that way.

Jehoshaphat did not have to ask if the proposed road is the right one, because the road is evil. We should ask if we do not know whether the road is a good one. If it is perfectly clear that we are going the wrong way, we should not pray. The Lord does not listen to such a prayer and says that we should not pray, but listen to the Scriptures. Praying for something against the Scriptures is asking the Lord to bless a way of disobedience.

In order to comply with Jehoshaphat’s request, Ahab has no fewer than four hundred prophets to show up. However, they are not prophets of the LORD, but prophets who moderate themselves to speak in the name of the LORD. The prophets are not just people who mean well, but who see it wrong, no, they are people who speak through demons. They are not false prophets because they speak the wrong word, but because they are controlled by evil spirits.

These people are not interested in the will of the LORD, but in the advantage of the king. It may be that these are the four hundred priests of Astarte who have escaped judgment and who have now adopted a different name. The LORD is for them a new idol. Ahab chooses teachers who speak what he wants to hear (2Tim 4:3-4). We must be careful not to listen only to the speakers we like to hear because they say things we like to hear.

We may ask the Lord to keep us from any compromise with people who profess to belong to God’s people, but only for their own benefit. We too must learn to listen, not to a message that sounds good, but to God’s Word. As for our speaking, it is necessary to ask the Lord’s help to speak only God’s Word and not what one likes to hear.

It is clear that the church is not going in the right direction. We see that a gospel is being preached with a message that things will be better and more beautiful. It is all presented more gloriously: ‘There will be a revival’, this will happen and that will happen. They propose: ‘Go into battle, enter into discussion with the world, start governing, join in.’ There are some ‘doomsayers’ who go against this. Of them is told that they preach nothing but doom and disappointments and that the world will be worse off. Whosoever preaches the Word of God in a warning manner will be seen as such.

Ahab is also interested in hearing what he should do. He has a very primitive idea of God. If he only gets a favorable message, then, he thinks, the gods are forced to give him the victory. The prophets prophesy under the influence of demons. This is evident from what Micaiah says later in this chapter. They are wizards or witches who open themselves up to demonic powers that use them to respond to people’s superstition.

The greatest witch is Jezebel. She is a woman who not only believes in idols made of wood and stone, but she is a charmer of evil spirits who could bring this evil to God’s people. Every witch had to be eradicated inexorably, because they can cause so much evil from the realm of darkness. Dark powers are controlling the land. That tidal wave has also come over the Netherlands. They are not fairy tales, but what was once Christian is increasingly falling prey to pagan superstition.

However, Jehoshaphat is not satisfied. Deep inside him is still the awareness that the true God is also there and that He must be asked. Therefore he asks for “a prophet of the LORD”, emphasizing “of the LORD” because the other prophets are not. This means that Ahab will again have to deal with a prophet of the LORD. Not only Elijah is sent by God on his way, and not only Elijah is his enemy, but also every other true prophet of the LORD. The man who speaks the truth is an enemy of Ahab.

Ahab’s enmity also concerns Micaiah. He sees in Micaiah someone who brings evil upon him. In his folly and short-sightedness, he attributes the evil that Micaiah professes to Micaiah himself. This is the superstition or blinding work of Satan who excludes God. It does not come to mind in Ahab that evil is in himself and is the reason for the truth that the prophet speaks.