A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

Jehoshaphat agreed to unite his forces with those of Ahab, but there was a catch. The
godly king of Judah was accustomed to consulting with the prophets of the Lord before engaging
in major commitments, such as a battle. Ahab agreed to this condition and gathered 400 prophets
of the Lord together to put the question to them. “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or
shall I refrain?” (1 Kings 22:6)
Led by the evil Prophet Zedekiah ben Chenaanah, the prophets unanimously agreed Ahab
should go to war and would return victorious. But something about the prophecy did not sit well
with the visiting king of Judah. “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire
of Him?” he asked (v. 7).
Ahab acknowledged there was one prophet who had not been invited to appear before the
king. In the past, Micaiah had nothing positive to say about the king, and Ahab viewed it as
something of a personal vendetta against him. Because Jehoshaphat wanted to hear from him,
Ahab sent for him, but made it clear to his guest that he expected only the worst from Micaiah.
A trusted messenger was sent to the prophet requesting he appear before the king. Loyal
to his king, the messenger attempted to prompt the prophet concerning the nature of his message.
He urged the prophet to be favorable to the king on this one occasion and agree with the verdict
of the other prophets. But all Micaiah would commit himself to was to speak only the message of
the Lord.
When asked by the king what he should do, Micaiah urged him to go into battle. But
when the king pressed him, Micaiah prophesied a message different from the others and offered
an unusual explanation as to why his message differed. He claimed Ahab would lose his life in
this battle and that the other prophets were speaking under the influence of a lying spirit. He
argued God wanted to deceive Ahab into going to war and an angel of heaven had offered to do
so by being a lying spirit to the king. This claim upset Zedekiah, who sincerely believed he had
spoken under the influence of the Spirit of God. Ahab ordered the Prophet Micaiah to be
imprisoned “until I come in peace” (v. 27). But even under the threat of imprisonment, Micaiah
insisted his message was from the Lord.
Ahab disguised himself for the battle and rode his chariot to war, disregarding the
warning of Micaiah. During the course of the battle, an archer fired a random arrow with his bow
over the battle lines, wounding Ahab the king of Israel. By sundown, the wound had proved
fatal. The body of the king was returned to Samaria. Ahab had bled profusely in his chariot as a
result of the wound, so someone went to the city pool to clean the chariot. As he did, the dogs of
the city came out to lap up the blood of Ahab, just as Elijah had prophesied.
The reign of Ahaziah, son of Ahab, over Israel was to be a short one. Shortly after
assuming the throne, he fell through the lattice of his upper room and was seriously injured. In
his despair, he sent his messengers to the priests of Baal-Zebub in Ekron to learn if he would
survive. Elijah met the servants on their way to Ekron to give them the answer to their question.
The king should have recognized the reality of the God of Israel rather than run after the foreign
god of Baal. Elijah assured the messengers the king would not survive his fall.
Ahaziah was surprised when his servants returned so soon after they left for Ekron. When
he asked them why they were back so soon, they told him of their meeting with Elijah. When the
king heard the men describe the prophet, he immediately knew who the prophet was. He
responded by sending a captain with fifty men to arrest Elijah and bring him before the king.
When the captain arrived at the home of Elijah and called on him to surrender, God sent
down fire to destroy the captain and his men. A second group was sent to arrest Elijah, and they
met the same fate. A third group was sent, but this time the captain used a different approach.