Praying against evil and a lying spirit!
Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab
18 Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage. 2 Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead. 3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?”
Jehoshaphat replied, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.” 4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.”
5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?”
“Go,” they answered, “for God will give it into the king’s hand.”
6 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?”
7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”
“The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied.
8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”
9 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. 10 Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns, and he declared, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.’”
11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead(E) and be victorious,” they said, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”
12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.”
13 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says.”(F)
14 When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?”
“Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for they will be given into your hand.”
15 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”
16 Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel(G) scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd,(H) and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’”
17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”
18 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne(I) with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left. 19 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’
“One suggested this, and another that. 20 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’
“‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.
21 “‘I will go and be a deceiving spirit(J) in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.
“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’
22 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours.(K) The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”
23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped(L) Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked.
24 Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.”
25 The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son, 26 and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison(M) and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.’”
27 Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”
Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead
28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised(O) himself and went into battle.
30 Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.” 31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “This is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out,(P) and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him, 32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.
33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor. The king told the chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.” 34 All day long the battle raged, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. Then at sunset he died.(Q)
This is an amazing passage of scripture… What stands out to me the most is when it says in verse 22 the Lord has put a deceiving, lying, spirit in the mouths of your prophets for the Lord has pronounced your doom...
When you want to please or impress someone, it is tempting to lie to make yourself look good. His 400 prophets did just that, they were always telling Ahab only what he wanted to hear. They were then rewarded for making Ahab happy. Micaiah, however, ALWAYS told the truth and then he was promptly arrested. Obeying God doesn't always protect us from evil consequences. Obedience may in fact, provoke them. But it is always so much better to suffer from people's displeasure then from God's wrath Matthew 10:28
Matthew 10:28, ESV: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. ... Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
If you are ridiculed for being honest, remember that this can be a sign that you are indeed doing what is right in God's eyes.
We must remember that the truth will set us free and we should not back down from it… In this age where it seems that everything evil is good and everything good is evil… It seems that evil is winning and that the truth is nonexistent… But we know that God has plans for the wicked… And that God knows the truth…
We should not obsess over the seemingly "winning" of evil! We must not back down from the truth. The gates of hell shall not prevail!
I believe we will be held accountable for the things we do and the things we don't do.
We must stand firm!
As a Christian we have big shoes to fill… People are watching to see if we will cave under pressure or back away from the truth because it's not popular.
We must test the spirits and we must do our own research… Ask the Lord to show you the way… The truth… He will always make a way for us not to be snared in sin and evil. He always gives us a way out. The lying spirit is a picture of the false prophets entire way of life. Many things that are happening in our world today are lives built on lies, coverups scandal… And allowing people to only hear a one-sided skewed, manipulating agenda.
We know that lies will eventually catch up to you. Leaders will be certainly troubled if they surround themselves with advisers whose only thought
Is to please them… eventually all who spread malice will be caught in their own snares.
We are in the world but not of the world!
We must continually live lives steeped in integrity and following God's word… Persecution is real..
We must know the truth about God's word and its relevance to the narratives being played out.
God fulfills His will despite the defenses people try to erect. As in the above biblical account, God can use anything even an error, to bring His will to pass. This is very good news for God's followers because we can trust Him to be faithful to work out his plans and keep his promises no matter how desperate our circumstances are or how bad things look in the natural…
We are God's believing believers… We will speak truth!
Fear the Lord and judge with integrity for the Lord our God does not tolerate perverted justice, partiality or taking bribes
2 Chronicles 19:7
Yes indeed God will hold us accountable for the authority that we exercise.. realize that you are not doing the judging for God, be impartial and honest, be faithful and act only out of fear of the Lord not man… The fear of man is a snare.
Let God's word be truth and every man a liar… We will see the goodness of the Lord here in the land of the living… We will not grow weary in well doing and we must remember to give God praise… Give thanks to the Lord because his faithful love will endure forever! I love the scripture that says at the very moment they begin to sing and praise, the Lord caused the enemy armies to start fighting among themselves. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped!
God is our vindicator… When we do what is right the Lord himself will fight for us and bring us victory and rest on every side!
Live a life steeped in integrity and truth! God honors truth!
Truth always wins in the end!
2 Chronicles 20:30
So Jehoshaphat's kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.
Proverbs 12:22 – The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.
Luke 16:10 Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
Proverbs 10:9 – Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.
