What the Lord says to me, that I shall speak.

1 Kings 22 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Three years passed without war between Aram and Israel. ² In the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. ³ Now the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we are still doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?” ⁴ And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

⁵ Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the Lord.” ⁶ Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” ⁷ But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?” ⁸ 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.” ⁹ Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah son of Imlah.” ¹⁰ Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹¹ Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are consumed.’” ¹² All the prophets were prophesying thus, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and prosper, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

¹³ Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, “Behold now, the words of the prophets are uniformly favorable to the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” ¹⁴ But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I shall speak.”

¹⁵ When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” And he answered him, “Go up and succeed, and the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” ¹⁶ Then the king said to him, “How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁷ So he said,

“I saw all Israel Scattered on the mountains, Like sheep which have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace.’”

¹⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”

¹⁹ Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. ²⁰ The Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this while another said that. ²¹ Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ²² The Lord said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.’ ²³ Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.”

²⁴ Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?” ²⁵ Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you enter an inner room to hide yourself.” ²⁶ Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; ²⁷ and say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this man in prison and feed him ^[g]sparingly with bread and water until I return safely.”’” ²⁸ Micaiah said, “If you indeed return safely the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Listen, all you people.”

²⁹ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead. ³⁰ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. ³¹ Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone.” ³² So when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel,” and they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³ When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

³⁴ Now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the fight; for I am severely wounded.” ³⁵ The battle raged that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot in front of the Arameans, and died at evening, and the blood from the wound ran into the bottom of the chariot. ³⁶ Then a cry passed throughout the army close to sunset, saying, “Every man to his city and every man to his country.”

³⁷ So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸ They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots bathed themselves there), according to the word of the Lord which He spoke. ³⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did and the ivory house which he built and all the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁴⁰ So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

In today’s text it says:   Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” 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.” Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah son of Imlah.” Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are consumed.’” All the prophets were prophesying thus, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and prosper, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, “Behold now, the words of the prophets are uniformly favorable to the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I shall speak.”     Micaiah was a true prophet. As he said, so every prophet should speak what the Lord says, not their own opinion or not what is pleasing to those who are listening.  

There are many today who, like the king of Israel prefer to hear a favorable word, rather than the truth. Paul spoke of this in 2 Timothy 4:1-5 saying:  I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.   As we saw yesterday in Ephesians 4:11-14     He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ…  speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.     Whether we are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers or just members of the body, speaking the truth, what the Lord has said, should be what we do. Look though what Paul says to Timothy: reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. The goal of our speaking truth is not that they would be condemned, but rather that they would be built up and would grow up to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.   

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord God does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets.    If God will reveal His counsel, His plans, His will, then we who hear and speak what the Lord says should be those who reveal His heart. In Jeremiah 29:11-13 God says:  I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.   2 Peter 3:9 says:   The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.   Our words to others should reflect the same heart and desire as the Lord, that they would know the good plans that God has for them, that they would know that His desire is that they would not perish but would come to repentance. The truth we speak should be spoken in love, with patience. Even discipline and correction should be motivated by love, not with a critical or condemning attitude. The psalmist says:  Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)   Even the discipline and correction of the Lord should bring comfort, because it is rooted in love. 1 Corinthians 14:1-3 says:   Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.

To be a spokesperson for the Lord is a high calling. It comes with great responsibility. In Ezekiel 3:17-21 God says:   “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”     We should not; we cannot ignore what God has spoken. We are responsible to speak truth. If we will listen, if we will know both the heart of God and the truth of God, then all that we say will be said in love, and:   Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1Corinthians 13:4-7)  

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for always speaking the truth and thank You that it is spoken by Your everlasting love. May I hear and know Your words and Your truth. May I speak as You, speaking the truth in love, that others would know Your plans for them, plans for good, that they would know your love demonstrated through Jesus Christ.   Amen.