How to Be Unpopular
“But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?” The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.”
1 Kings 22:7-8
I’m pretty sure that Micaiah was not on King Ahab’s Christmas card list. Also, it’s not likely that King Ahab invited Micaiah over to the palace to drink beer and watch NASCAR chariot races.
King Ahab hated Micaiah. Why? Because he always stood for the truth. He didn’t tell the king what he wanted to hear. Instead, his counsel was what the LORD gave him to say.
King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat from Judah had a meeting. King Ahab said let’s go up and fight against Ramoth-Gilead. King Jehoshaphat said sure, but let’s inquire if the LORD. So, King Ahab brings in the prophets. They tell the kings that they will be successful and win the war.
King Jehoshaphat was a godly king, and so he asked if there was a prophet of the LORD they could ask.
King Ahab said yes, but that he hated that prophet because he always prophesied evil, and not good.
They send a messenger to get Micaiah. He tells Micaiah to go along with the other prophets. In other words, don’t stir up trouble. Be like all the others and you will be ok.
Micaiah said no. “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I shall speak.”
1 Kings 22:14
So, Micaiah tells the kings that they will not win, and King Ahab will be killed.
King Ahab gets mad and throws Micaiah into prison.
Turns out, Micaiah was right. King Ahab died in battle, just like the LORD said.
It didn’t have to be this way. King Ahab had a choice. He could have heeded the warning, repented of his sins, and live. But, he didn’t.
May we be like Micaiah and speak the truth. Sometimes it may not be the popular thing to do.
The other takeaway from this is that we need to listen to, and take seriously the word of the LORD, which is something King Ahab didn’t do…
