Readings for today: 1 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 18-20
Do you have a Micaiah in your life? Someone who is willing to be honest? To give it to you straight? Someone who is unafraid to spare your feelings? Do you have someone in your life who holds you accountable? Who asks you hard questions? Who is willing to confront you on your sin? Do you have someone in your life who you listen to? Respect? Love enough to receive their critique well? Sadly, it’s my experience that most people, even most Christians, do not have such a person in their life.
Ahab had such a person...and he hated him. "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil." (1 Kings 22:8) Ahab was an insecure king. He didn’t want to hear the truth. He surrounded himself with people who would tell him what he wanted to hear. Sycophants. “Yes-men.” People who did not have Israel’s best in mind but only their influence and position before the king. This is one of the reasons power tends to corrupt. The more success and fame and influence one gains in life, the more one attracts such people. Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac and it takes great humility and intentionality to surround oneself as President Lincoln once did with a “team of rivals.” Ahab was clearly no Lincoln. It was so obvious, King Jehoshaphat immediately picked up on it as they planned their attack on Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat wanted to hear from the Lord so he asked Ahab to call a real prophet. Someone who was willing to speak the truth. To share God’s Word even if it involved judgement. So Ahab calls Micaiah. And Micaiah delivers the bad news. "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, 'These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.” (1 Kings 22:17) Ahab throws up his hands. I told you so. This guy has it out for me. He never brings me good news. And then Micaiah goes on, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; and the Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, 'I will entice him.' And the Lord said to him, 'By what means?' And he said, 'I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.'” (1 Kings 22:19-22)
This section is key. When we refuse to repent. When we refuse to humble ourselves before the Lord. When we refuse to listen to His voice. He brings judgment. He forces us to our knees. He actively opposes the proud. God sends a lying spirit into the sycophants that Ahab surrounded himself with. He uses the very means Ahab had chosen to insulate himself against the Word of God to bring about Ahab’s destruction. Let that sink in for a minute. These men were ALREADY lying to Ahab. In fact, they had based their entire careers on deceit and telling the king exactly what he wanted to hear. So God was not treating Ahab unfairly or unjustly. He simply was using their sin to bring about His sovereign will.
So let me ask again, do you have a Micaiah in your life? Someone who can speak hard truth to you in love? Someone who is bold enough to hold you accountable? Someone you submit to in humility? Someone who is close enough as a brother and/or sister and who is faithful enough to confront you on your sin? If you do not have such a person in your life then let me suggest you have made the same mistake - wittingly or unwittingly - as Ahab. You have surrounded yourself with people who do not have your best in mind and you need to go deeper. You need to challenge yourself. Make yourself vulnerable. Empower another person to hold you accountable. The reality is we do not “die to self” naturally. We must be forced to give up our life. We must be challenged to give up self. We must be held accountable as we struggle along this narrow way.
Readings for tomorrow: 2 Kings 1-4