1 Kings 22 1/26/25 a.m.
When Life Slaps you Down
There’s kind of a new sport now. It’s called Power Slapping. Pull it up on Youtube and you can watch it. NOT NOW!!! Put your phones away, you can watch it later when you get home. It’s kind of like boxing but more organized. Two men or two women stand facing each other and one will hold on to a stick with their hands down. The other will open hand slap them, as hard as they can.
There are all kinds of rules like you can’t lift your feet and take a step when you’re the SLAPPER and you can’t slap them in the ear, mouth or nose. You can’t just use the HEEL of the hand. Your hand has to flatly slap the other person’s cheek. If you’re the one being slapped you can’t dodge it. You have to take it. And if you aren’t knocked out then you get the chance to slap the other person. If you fall down and don’t get up before the ten count then you lose. If no one is counted out then it goes five rounds and the judges score it on different things and a winner is declared. So come on up here Brother Donald Lewis and we’re gonna demonstrate it. JUST KIDDING!!! So now here’s what I really think. I think it’s kind of STUPID but no more than PRIZE FIGHTING and UFC fights.
This morning we’re going to look at 1 Kings 22. King Ahab, of the Northern Nation of Israel, wants to go and take back Ramoth Gilead from the Syrians.
And so King Jehoshaphat, from the Southern Nation of Judah, is there visiting and King Ahab asks him if he will go with him to fight against the Syrians. Now here’s something kind of important. King Jehoshaphat was a GOOD KING who feared God and kept His commandments.
Ahab, the king of Israel, was one of the most wicked kings that Israel had ever seen. Maybe, just maybe, King Jehoshaphat should pick his friends a little better.
Anyway, BEFORE King Jehoshaphat agrees to go, he asks King Ahab to ENQUIRE of the Lord. Verse 5 of Chapter 22.
“And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to day.”
He basically says, “I want to know what God thinks!!!”
Can I take a little side road for a minute here. Before you do anything in your life, whether it be MINOR or MAJOR, you better know what God thinks about it.
And so Ahab gets some of his trusted partner Prophets to tell Jehoshaphat that everything is gonna be alright. They should definitely go up and retake Ramoth Gilead from the Syrians. But Old Jehoshaphat says hang on a second. Is there a REAL PROPHET of God that we can ask? And that’s where we’re going to start reading. So if you would turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings 22, we’ll start reading at Verse 8 and read through Verse 24.
“And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
9 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah.
10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.
12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the king's hand.
13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.
14 And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak.
15 So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
16 And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord?
17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.
18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
19 And he said, Hear thou therefore 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 hand and on his left.
20 And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.
22 And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
23 Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.
24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?
And so this morning I want to talk to you about getting SLAPPED DOWN. Now I’m NOT talking about LITERALLY being SLAPPED, though it could happen, but I’m talking about different things that we go through, different trials that we face, different times that people may come against us for taking a stand, and it may seem like LIFE slaps us down.
But before I do, let’s go to the Lord in Prayer.
Brother ____, would you lead us?
I. The first thing I want you to see, sometimes ... you may be HATED and even SLAPPED DOWN for telling the TRUTH. So when Jehoshaphat asks for a REAL PROPHET of God Ahab says well there’s ONE. His name is Micaiah. BUT!!!
“I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.”
Do you know what the definition of PROPHESY is? It means: To say that a specified thing will happen in the future. In other words Ahab said, “I hate Micaiah because he tells me BAD THINGS are going to happen in the future.” Micaiah wasn’t BRINGING BAD THINGS or CAUSING BAD THINGS, he was just relaying to King Ahab the TRUTH!!!
And so AHAB had a HATRED for Micaiah for simply telling him the truth.
You know, I’ve figured out a few things in my 58 years of life. Can I tell you one thing that I’ve learned? People don’t always like the truth. Why? Because sometimes the TRUTH really does hurt.
ILLUS: I was reading about Winston Churchill who later became Prime Minister of England. This was taken from when he was in parliament. Bessie Braddock was a fellow member of parliament and she became angry with Churchill and said to him, “Winston, you are drunk, and what’s more you are disgustingly drunk.”
Churchill replied, “Bessie, my dear, you are ugly, and what’s more, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly ugly.”
I’ve also figured out the last 11 years, since I’ve been pastor, that there are times that people refuse to hear the TRUTH even from the Word of God. Listen, Hebrews 4:12 tells us,
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Hey, this BIBLE CUTS DOWN to the very SOURCE of the problem. It TELLS the TRUTH whether people want to believe it or not.
Listen, I know there are some Verses found in the Bible that are hard to understand and they can be INTERPRETED in different ways. That’s why we have different denominations and different churches. But the majority of Verses, especially the ones that deal with MORALITY and SOCIAL ISSUES, they are CLEAR and PLAIN. I’ve had people get mad at me and quit our church over some of these issues. But here’s where I’m going. IT’S NOT MY TRUTH, IT’S GOD’S TRUTH!!!
I have a desire for people to like me. But I WILL NOT change what I believe and what I preach to make people happy. I can’t and you can’t either. You all PREACH a sermon everyday by the way you live, the places you go, and the things you say. People may HATE YOU and they may even want to SLAP YOU DOWN but don’t give in. Stick to the TRUTH of God’s Word.
We see there that Micaiah was sent for. In Verse 13, the fellow who was sent to get him told him,
“let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.”
And so we see Micaiah getting pressured before he even gets to King Ahab and Jehoshaphat. “You better AGREE with what the other fellows are saying!!! But Jehoshaphat answered in Verse 14,
“And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak.”
And so we need to have the same determination that Micaiah did just to tell the TRUTH whether people want to hear it or not.
II. And so Micaiah is brought before King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat. And Ahab asks him whether they should go and retake Ramoth Gilead or stay home. And so in Verse 15 Micaiah says, “Go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.”
Now this is exactly what King Ahab wanted to hear BUT... most scholars believe that Micaiah said it in TOTAL SARCASM” “Oh sure King, no problem, you’ve got it made. No problem!!!” And so AHAB demands a TRUE ANSWER, still hoping that Micaiah would give him the go ahead.
But instead Micaiah tells him the VISON that God had given him. Verse 17
“I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.”
And King Ahab said to King Jehoshaphat,
“I told you so. I knew he would prophesy evil against me.”
Listen to this, Even though he demanded the TRUTH, he really didn’t want to hear the TRUTH.
I want you to get this. There were 400 men who were glad to tell King Ahab what he wanted to hear. 400 men who were putting on a real show to convince him that he was RIGHT. Look there at Verse 11. Old Zedekiah was a real SHOW BOATER wasn’t he. He wanted to give a little object lesson by making IRON HORNS and showing how they would PUSH the SYRIANS ASIDE until they were destroyed. Kind of SILLY. But look here. There was ONE MAN. ONLY ONE MAN!!! who would tell King Ahab the truth and save his life. And instead of listening to him, Micaiah gets SLAPPED DOWN!!!
I don’t know about you, but sometimes it seems like I’m just spinning my wheels. I know there are times for all of us when it seems like we’re not effective.
I mentioned this a few weeks back that we’re down in our numbers. We don’t have as many here on Sunday mornings as we used to. And I went into different reasons why. And here’s what people will say,
“Don’t let it get you down. Don’t look at the numbers. Just keep pressing forward.”
And that’s good advice but I have to tell you that I do look at the numbers and here’s why. Each one of those numbers represents a SOUL. A SOUL that will either go to Heaven or Hell. A SOUL that hangs in the BALANCE. A SOUL that will decide WHO they’re going to listen to.
You see, they HEAR all of the NOISE from the majority of the people who are telling them to not WORRY just be HAPPY.
They HEAR the NOISE from the “400 preachers” telling them to just live their best life. Nothing about COMMITMENT.
They HEAR the NOISE from other religions telling them to just do their best and eventually they’ll work their way to the top.
There’s a LOT of NOISE out there but when it comes down to it, there’s only ONE MESSAGE of SALVATION.
John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
And then Romans 10:14 tells us,
“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”
Let’s preach the truth. Now we aren’t the only place that they will hear that message. There’s other churches and missions preaching the truth. But what WE are preaching and what THEY are preaching is ONE TRUTH!!! ONE WAY!!! ONE MESSAGE!!! And some don’t like it. Some subscribe to the idea that everyone goes to Heaven. And if you try to tell them what the Bible says, they don’t want to hear it.
When you tell some folks that their LIFESTYLE is sinful they get ANGRY.
Others are ready to SLAP YOU DOWN for what you believe. But yet we still MUST TELL THEM the TRUTH.
III. In Verses 19-22, Micaiah begins to tell both King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat the entire VISION that God had given him. I know we’ve already read it but if you don’t mind, I’d like to read it again.
“And he said, Hear thou therefore 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 hand and on his left.
20 And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.
22 And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.”
This is an interesting VISION that Micaiah saw.
Some believe that he actually saw into Heaven and others believe it was a parable.
Some believe that those on the R/H of God were His Holy angels and the ones on the L/H were His fallen angels. The lying Spirit was one of these fallen angels.
Others believe that all the angels were His and the one who came forth with a LYING SPIRIT was Satan himself.
I don’t know but either way the MESSAGE was the same.
There had to be a REASON that 400 PROPHETS were LYING and only ONE was telling the TRUTH. The 400 had been DECEIVED by a LYING SPIRIT. Whether that was SATAN or a FALLEN ANGEL, it doesn’t matter. THESE 400 PROPHETS WERE LYING to KING AHAB. Only Micaiah was telling the truth and if AHAB refused to listen, he would soon be DEAD!!!
I spoke earlier about so many people believing a LIE. So many people being DECEIVED. And listen, it’s just the beginning. In 2 Thessalonians 2, the Apostle Paul is speaking about the end times.
He tells us in Verse 2 that the day of Christ is at hand.
In Verse 3 he says that there will be a Great Falling Away.
Verse 3 also tells us that the Anti-christ will be revealed.
And Verse 4 explains that he will exalt himself above God.
Now I want to read Verses 10-12 of 2 Thessalonians 2,
“And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
THIS IS THE PRICE OF BELIEVING A LIE. ETERNAL DEATH and DAMNATION.
Old King Ahab didn’t want to HEAR the TRUTH and when he did, he didn’t want to BELIEVE IT.
Do you remember the Prophet Zedekiah. You know, the SILLY FELLOW who made the horns. In Verse 24 he goes over and SLAPS the Prophet Micaiah on the CHEEK. How dare he be insulted. How dare Micaiah say that he was lying. But did that make what Micaiah said any less true? NO!!! Looking on down there to Verses 34 and 35,
“And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
35 And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.”
People today may get angry at the TRUTH. They may not want to hear what you have to say. They may even SLAP YOU DOWN but that doesn’t make what you have to say ANY LESS TRUE.
ILLUS: In the sixteenth century, there was a protestant reformer in England by the name of Hugh Latimer. He was known as a great preacher of his day and as a result he had many opportunities to speak. Once he found that he was to preach before the King Henry VIII of England.
As he thought about his great responsibility to bring a message before the king he realized that the message that God laid on his heart was not the message that the king would want to hear.
As he began his sermon he said, “Latimer! Latimer! Do you remember that you are speaking before the high and mighty King Henry VIII; who has power to command you to be sent to prison, and who can have your head cut off, if it please him? Will you not take care to say nothing that will offend royal ears?”
He then paused and continued, “Latimer! Latimer! Do you not remember that you are speaking before the King of kings and Lord of lords; before Him, at whose throne Henry VIII will stand; before Him, to whom one day you will have to give account yourself? Latimer! Latimer! Be faithful to your Master, and declare all of God’s Word.”
Latimer faced the choice: would he preach what man wanted to hear or would he preach what Christ would have him preach. Latimer did take his stand for truth and preached boldly. Eventually, he was martyred by Henry’s daughter Queen Mary. Bloody Mary.
Right now, today, we don’t have to worry that someone will kill us for proclaiming the TRUTH. And if someone wants to slap us down for the TRUTH, they’ll be in trouble. But the day may come where the TRUTH will be so offensive to people that a person could lose his or her life for it.
In John, Chapter 8, Jesus is teaching the Jewish people. And this is what it tells us in Verses 30-32,
“As he spake these words, many believed on him.
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Do you know the TRUTH today? Some people REFUSE to HEAR IT. Others REFUSE to BELIEVE IT. But some will accept it and let it change their life. What about you today, have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? He stands waiting.
Let’s Pray
