“The Guided Missile”
INTRODUCTION:
Do you really want to know God’s will? A lot of people DON’T. WHY? BECAUSE … it might NOT be YOUR WILL. THEN … that becomes a problem. We have to choose between:
o Doing what we KNOW is the will of God … BUT … what we DON’T REALLY WANT to do.
o OR … deliberately going against what we KNOW is God’s will.
The RESULT … we tend to NOT seek God’s will. We think that ignorance is bliss. We think that it’s better to just live our life the best we can, and not get God too involved in our life. It’s SAFER that way. We won’t have to put ourselves in the dilemma of deliberately disobeying what we know is the will of God.
In our story today, we see such a case. It’s found in 1 Kings Chapter 22. We find 3 central characters: Ahab, the King of Israel … Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah … and Micaiah, the Prophet of God.
This morning, I want to tell this story from the eyes of Micaiah, the Prophet of God. You can follow along in 1 Kings Chapter 22, if you like.
“My name is Micaiah. I am a Prophet of God, and I live in the land of Israel. You probably have never heard of me, because I’m not as famous as Elijah, or Elisha. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in King Ahab’s prison. He doesn’t like me very much!
King Ahab is the King of Israel, but he is a very vile and wicked man. You’ve probably heard of him, if you’ve read your Bible at all. He is married to wicked Queen Jezebel. She’s the one responsible for bringing the worship of Baal into our kingdom. When she married King Ahab, she was the daughter of the King of Tyre & Sidon. Her father was also a priest in the worship of Baal.
Queen Jezebel has a very strong hold over her husband, King Ahab. She brought 450 prophets of Baal into the palace … and at the same time began killing the Prophets of God. She’s the one who ordered the death of the Prophet Elijah, when he showed up her false prophets at Mt. Carmel. She’s the one who had Naboth killed, when he wouldn’t give King Ahab his vineyard. Jezebel holds a very strong influence over her husband, King Ahab.
On the other hand, King Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, is a Godly King. He ordered all the altars of Baal to be torn down, and even ordered that the Word of God be proclaimed throughout all his kingdom. He’s a good man, and a Godly man, whose heart seeks after the things of God.
Unfortunately, his oldest son, Jehoram, married the daughter of King Ahab and Jezebel. As soon as I heard about it, I knew that it would mean trouble for King Jehoshaphat. Their marriage united the 2 kingdoms, but it would prove to only bring problems for King Jehoshaphat. Your Bible teaches you in the New Testament not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, doesn’t it?
One day, King Jehoshaphat came up to Samaria to visit King Ahab. King Ahab was always looking to see how he could take advantage of people, and he was always looking out for #1.
They were out on the veranda one day, and King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Do you realize that the King of Syria has occupied my city of Ramoth-Giliad? I sure could use your help in getting it back. I’d like for you to join me in rescuing this part of my nation. After all … we’re family!”
Well, King Jehoshaphat didn’t want any hard feelings between them, so he agreed to go along with the plan. I wish I had been there, when they were discussing it, but I wasn’t. I would have warned King Jehoshaphat that he was making a league with the Devil. Your Bible in the New Testament tells you that Satan is like a roaring lion, going around seeking whom he may devour, doesn’t it? King Ahab was just a pawn of the Devil … and Satan tried to use Ahab to snare King Jehoshaphat.
Since King Jehoshaphat was a Godly man, he told King Ahab that he ought to first seek God’s will to make sure this was the right thing to do. King Ahab already had his mind made up, but he decided to go along with Jehoshaphat. After all, he didn’t want to appear to be too much of a heathen in front of this Godly King.
King Ahab called together 400 of his prophets. Let me remind you, that these were prophets of Baal. King Ahab had them in his palace and used them for his advisors. But, they were merely puppets, who told King Ahab whatever he wanted to hear. They were treated very good by King Ahab, and they knew that, if they wanted to keep their jobs, they had better say whatever the King wanted them to say. They knew which side their brad was buttered on. AND … they ate from the King’s table!
People are like that even today, aren’t they? They don’t want to hear the truth. They just want to hear what they want to believe. King Ahab didn’t care about knowing God’s will. He just wanted his city back.
When King Jehoshaphat sees who King Ahab is consulting, he realizes what’s happening. So, he asks Ahab, “Don’t you have a Prophet of God that you can consult?”
It had been awhile since King Ahab had even talked to a Prophet of God. But, he remembered one … ME! Oh, let me tell you, he remembered me! I’ve been a thorn in his flesh ever since he came to the throne. You see, I wouldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear. I told him what God wanted to tell him. And, that always irritated him. So much so, that I spent most of my time in his dungeon.
King Ahab said that he did know one Prophet of God … Micaiah … but that he hated me! That’s probably the best compliment I could have received! I’ve always felt that you could tell the character of a person more by his enemies than by his friends. And, when you have an enemy like wicked King Ahab, that’s quite a compliment!
King Jehoshaphat didn’t like hearing Ahab say that he hated me. After all, I am a Prophet of God. It wasn’t saying much for Ahab to hate a Prophet of God … it showed his true character. King Jehoshaphat should have bowed out of the deal right then, but he didn’t.
Sure enough, the prophets of Baal told King Ahab exactly what he wanted to hear. One of them even made 2 horns out of iron, and told him, “Just like these strong horns, you will gore the Syrians to death!”. That made King Ahab happy … because that’s exactly what he wanted to do anyhow.
When the officer came to get me, he told me what the false prophets had told King Ahab. He told me, “You’d better tell the King the same thing, or you’ll get into big trouble!” But, I told him, “I’ll tell him whatever God tells me to tell him!”
You know, sometimes it’s lonely going against the crowd, and taking a stand for God. I’ve experienced it many times … and I’ve had to pay the price. But, I’ve learned that when you stand up for what God stands for, you’re never alone. God was always with me, just like He’ll always be with you. Didn’t Jesus tell you, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”? When Jesus left this earth, didn’t He tell you, “Lo, I am with you always.”?
I’ve found out that there’s a difference between being alone … and being lonely. I’ve never been alone … God has always been with me … whether it’s been standing before King Ahab, or locked up in one of his prisons.
Well, when I came out to speak to King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat, I saw that I was outnumbered 400 to one. But, it didn’t bother me, because I knew that me and God always make up a majority.
King Ahab asked me, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against the King of Syria, or not?” I told him, “Sure, go ahead. Do whatever you want. You’ve already made up your mind anyway. Do what you want to do … God will give you the victory!”
I couldn’t help but say that with a smirk on my face, and a twinkle in my eye. I always did have an ornery streak in me. I was playing with King Ahab, and he knew it. King Ahab said, “Didn’t I always tell you to tell me the truth?”
I told him, “King Ahab, you didn’t want to hear the truth. But, if you want to know the truth, I’ll tell it to you. I had a vision, and in the vision I saw your army scattered on the hillside like sheep without a shepherd. Then God told me, ‘Their master has been killed. Let them all go home.’”
King Ahab turned to Jehoshaphat and said, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything but bad news for me?” I had to chuckle at that.
Then I told King Ahab, “Listen to what God told me. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne with all the armies of Heaven around Him. He asked them, ‘Who can entice King Ahab to go to war against the armies of Syria, so he can be killed there?’ There were lots of suggestions, and then one of them told the Lord, ‘I know how to do it. I’ll entice all the prophets of King Ahab to tell him lies. Then, he’ll do exactly what they say.’”
I told King Ahab, “All these prophets of yours have told you nothing but lies. But, since that’s what you want to do anyhow, you’ll go out and do exactly what they suggest.”
Just then, one of the false prophets walked up to me and slapped me in the face. He said, “When did God stop talking to me, and start talking to you?” I told him, “You’ll find out soon enough, when you find yourself hiding in a dark room, fearing for your life!”
What I said, didn’t set too well with old wicked King Ahab. He sent for the guards and told them to put me back into prison, and give me nothing but read and water. He told them that, when he returned victorious from battle, he would deal with me then. I told him, “Listen to me now. If you do return, then God has not spoken through me.”
You know, sometimes you just have to take a stand. We have a choice every day, don’t we? The approval of the world, or the approval of God. I found out that it isn’t always popular to stand up for God. But, I would rather get God’s approval, even if it means that others don’t approve.
For some strange reason, King Jehoshaphat went along with King Ahab into battle against Syria over Ramoth-Gilead. But, what I said, had King Ahab shaken up a little. So, he tells King Jehoshaphat that he will disguise himself so that no one will recognize himself as the King of Israel. HOWEVER, King Jehoshaphat should dress up in his royal robes. I think King Ahab still had my voice echoing in his head.
The King of Syria hated King Ahab, so he ordered his men to attack and kill the Ahab. That’s why Ahab dressed in regular soldier’s clothes, and not in his royal robes. Well, when they saw King Jehoshaphat in his chariot, and thought it was Ahab, they chased after him. When they caught up to him, they realized it wasn’t Ahab, so they let him go.
One of the Syrian soldiers had an arrow left over from the battle. He didn’t want to go back and let his Sergeant see that his quiver wasn’t empty, or he would think that he hadn’t been in the battle. So, he takes his last arrow, and just shoots it toward the enemy soldiers.
Guess where it landed? Right between the joints in the armor of wicked King Ahab! Did God direct that arrow, or what? Ahab orders his driver to get him out of there as fast as possible. The battle lasted all day, and by night, Ahab was dead … just like I had told them that God had said.
You know, Ahab’s armor didn’t protect him. Your Bible tells you that “the wages of sin is death”. You can put on the armor of good works, the armor of self-righteousness, the armor of respectability, or the armor of a good, moral life. But, it won’t protect you from the arrow of sin.
There’s only one thing that will protect you from the wages of sin … and that is the death of Jesus. “The wages of sin is death … but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Do you want to know the will of God? It is God’s will that you come to Him for the forgiveness of your sins. Nothing else will protect you from sin … nothing else will protect you from Hell. No one else has the power to forgive your sins, and give you eternal life.
Do you want God to be an active part in your life? King Ahab didn’t. And, he died, and is now paying for his sins in the eternal flames of Hell. He chose his will, over God’s will. Don’t make the same mistake he made.”
STAND – PRAYER
HYMN - #190 – “Softly & Tenderly”
