Verse eighteen says, Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the Lord; I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. Micaiah then began to tell Ahab the rest of what God revealed to him. God will always show us what is right and what is wrong if we are listening to Him, and then we must always share His truth with the world. Verse nineteen adds, And the Lord said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner. Micaiah said he saw the Lord asking who would entice Ahab to go against Ramoth-Gilead and fall, and different ones said they would do it by various methods. God always knows what is going on in the world and will always let us know what we should do if we look to Him for the answers. Verse twenty continues, Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? Then, a lying spirit came before God and said he would entice Ahab, and God asked him how he was going to do that. First, God does not have to ask how any part of His creation is going to do anything, but he may give us an opportunity to attempt to justify what we are doing. Second, if God doesn't allow it and we put our faith in that fact, no one nor anything can entice us to turn away from Him, but He still gives us free will to do so even as Christians. Verse twenty-one states, And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so. The lying spirit said he would entice Ahab by being a lying spirit in the mouths of the prophets, and God gave him permission to do so. God still gives Satan and his forces power in the world today, but they have no power over us if we are followers of Christ. Verse twenty-two adds, Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee. Micaiah then told Ahab that God had put a lying spirit in the mouths of his prophets, but the Lord had spoken evil against him. Once more, I believe it would be more accurate to say that God had allowed an evil spirit to influence the false prophets. People today may claim that they are speaking for God and instead be guided by an evil spirit, which would be anything that goes against what God's word says, but God will never be the One to send them. Verse twenty-three continues, Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee? Zedekiah the hit Michaiah and asked him when the Spirit of the Lord left him and went to Micaiah. Zedekiah was saying he spoke for God and Micaiah didn't. Some people may sincerely believe that they are speaking for God when they are only saying what the people of the world want to hear and become angry if we as Christians disagree with them. Verse twenty-four states, And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself. Micaiah said that the truth of God would be revealed when Zedekiah went into the inner chamber to hide himself. The truth of God will ultimately be revealed when Jesus Christ returns, and there will be no place for those who have not repented and accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord to hide. Verse twenty-five adds, Then the king of Israel said, Take ye Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son; Verse twenty-six continues, And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace. For his faithfulness in speaking the truth of God, Micaiah was returned to Amon the governor of the city where he had been and put in prison with a diet of bread and water. He could have avoided this by simply telling Ahab what he wanted to hear. We must never compromise the truth of God even if it causes us to suffer at the hands of the government today. Verse twenty-seven concludes, And Micaiah said, If thou certainly return in peace, then hath not the Lord spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, all ye people. Micaiah answered that if Ahab returned in peace, he would know that Micaiah had been wrong, and he asked all the people to remember that. We can only present the truth of God and then let people decide if we are telling the truth. If we are speaking the truth of God, what we say will always come true, even if it isn't in our lifetime here.
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