Micaiah continued, "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. Sermons
I. THAT IT IS PREFACED WITH A SALLY OF IRONY. 1. He answers the king in the words of his prophets. (1) Cf. vers. 6, 12, 15. (2) These words are equivocal. "The Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king." What king? "The king" may mean either Ahab or Ben-hadad. What? This is not clear; for the word "it" is supplied. Is it Ramoth-Gilead or something else that is to be delivered into the hand of the king (of Israel)? or is it the king of Israel or something else to be delivered into the hand of the king (of Syria)? What kind of prophecy is this? (3) The utterance of these prophets resembles those of the heathen oracles, the following appropriate samples of which are given by A. Clarke: "The Delphic oracle spoke thus of Croesus, which he understood to his own destruction: 'Croesus, Halym penetrans, magnum subverter opum vim;' which is to say, ' If you march against Cyrus, he will overthrow you,' or 'you will overthrow him.' He trusted in the latter, the former took place. He was deluded, yet the oracle maintained its credit. So in the following: 'Aio te, AEacida, Romanos vincere posse. Ibis redibis hnunquam in bello peribis.' Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, understood by this that he should conquer the Romans, against whom he was making war; but the oracle could be thus translated: 'The Romans shall overcome thee.' He trusted in the former, made unsuccessful war, and was overcome; and yet the juggling priest saved his credit. The latter line is capable of two opposite meanings: 'Thou shalt go, thou shalt return, thou shalt never perish in war,' or, 'Thou shalt go, thou shalt never return, thou shalt perish in war.'" 2. But he repeats those words with significant expression. (1) The bare repetition, with proper emphasis, of the equivocal words of the false prophets would be a fine stroke of irony. But when to emphasis were added tone, gesture, play of feature, the irony would become very keen. (2) This sarcasm of Micaiah is worthy to compare with that of Elijah (see 1 Kings 18:27). "Go and prosper." This assurance of thy prophets is vague enough to encourage the confidence of a simpleton! 3. God uses terrible rhetoric in His wrath. (1) Irony and sarcasm are fitting weapons to be wielded against those who have neither conscience nor reason (see Proverbs 26:3-5). Ahab was a man of this class. Witness the logic of his hatred (ver. 8). He felt the sting (ver. 16). (2) These weapons are formidable in the hands of the Almighty (see Psalm 2:4, 5; Psalm 37:13; Proverbs 1:24-32; Ecclesiastes 11:9; Malachi 2:17 and Malachi 3:1; Romans 2:1-9). II. THAT IT COMPARES FAVOURABLY WITH THAT OF HIS COMPETITORS. 1. Its burden is the reverse of equivocal. (1) There is in sacred prophecy a double sense, but the sound is certain. It is not a dubiousness but a manifoldness of meaning, a development, an evolution, such as we find in a seed that opens first into the blade, then into the ear, and eventually into the full corn in the ear. (2) This prophecy of Micaiah gave a distinct answer to the question of Ahab (ver. 13). The advice was to forbear. These "sheep." The sheep is not a creature fitted for battle. They have "no shepherd." Their king, deserted by the Spirit of God, has not the qualities of a shepherd. Therefore "Let them return every man to his house in peace." (3) But the advice contains a prophecy. It is to this effect: their king who ought to be their shepherd, shall fall at Ramoth-Gilead, and his people shall be like sheep, "scattered upon the mountains" by the power of the enemy (compare Zechariah 13:7). 2. The vision shows that all worlds are under Divine control. (1) "I saw the Lord sitting on his throne." Here was a comparison with the scene before him, described ver. 10. Ahab and Jehoshaphat are enthroned as kings on the earth; but there is a King in the heavens immeasurably above them. (2) "And all the host of heaven standing by him on the right hand and on the, left." The host of heaven stood while Jehovah sat. They awaited His commands. Those on His "right hand" probably to render services of benevolence; those on His "left," services of judgment. (3) Then comes in another kind of agency (vers. 20-23). This scene is analogous to that described in the Book of Job (see Job 1:6; Job 2:7). Things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth, all serve the purposes of Divine Providence (see Job 12:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:11, 12; Revelation 20:7, 8). (4) The waywardness of Ahab showed how fully he was under the control of the spirit of falsehood. This is seen in his senseless resentment against Micaiah. Turning to Jehoshaphat, he said, "Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?" as if Micaiah's own utterances could control the providence of God. Then turning to his officers he had Micaiah marched back to the prison where Ahab knew he could find him (cf. ver. 8 with vers. 26, 27). Let us give due heed to the more sure word of prophecy. - J.A.M.
I saw the Lord sitting on His throne. We read elsewhere of "war in heaven." The text suggests a different subject, apparently connected with it, namely, "council in heaven." Micaiah describes what he saw as a vision. We are presented with one of the most imposing descriptions of the heavenly conclave which Holy Scripture contains. It is one of those rare occasions when we are permitted to learn how in the councils of heaven the things of our earth are ordered. Men are unwilling to believe a Providence; they trace out cause and effect, and this they deem sufficient. The text shows that "cause and effect" indeed are but the results of God's decree, and it teaches us how He directs also even individual circumstances. In this way it may be a natural effect of a natural cause which shall bring a plague within a certain city or village, and yet God shall direct who shall fall by it, and who escape, The cause of death may be natural; the individual application is providential. You, then, are the subjects of Satan's malignity, of the love of God, and of the wonder and ministrations of angels t It may be, that at this very hour a council is proceeding in heaven which may secure blessings of the highest order for you or for our land. Not impossible but that our arch-enemy too yet presents himself in that blessed assembly, and pointing to the many national sins of our country, or to our individual transgressions, may be prompt with a slander, followed by the suggestion, "I will go and deceive them yet more, and so I will destroy them entirely!" St. Paul meant something when he spake of wrestling not so much "against flesh and blood" as against principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places.(G. Venables.) 1. The duties of life will not all be pleasant. We Shall sometimes be required to do very unpleasant things; but if, like this brave prophet, we have a clear vision of the Lord on His throne, and recognise that God has the first claim to our service, then we shall be able to do unpleasant duties in a brave and cheerful spirit, because we are pleasing God. 2. We are only fitted to do Christian work in the right spirit when like Micaiah, we seek to please the Lord, having Him always before our eyes. I have noticed that when I have witnessed the falling away in service on the part of a Christian it has almost universally come from a lessening of true devotion. A man ceases to pray with regularity; he becomes absorbed in business or pleasure; sets his mind on material things, until his thought is taken away from God. He does not see the Lord, and so he becomes indifferent to earnest Christian effort. 3. The man who looks upon the Lord as his God, his Heavenly Father, his Saviour, will feel that earthly affairs are of very small moment compared to the importance of spiritual victories. He will feel that it is infinitely more important to be good than it is to be rich. The man who has looked upon the face of God in loving reverence before he goes forth to his work in the morning will not be a fit subject to delude into taking bribes, or into receiving fraudulent money either in business or in politics. 4. He who sees the Lord in daily communion finds God a present help in every time of trouble. (L A. Banks, D. D.) People Ahab, Ahaziah, Amon, Aram, Asa, Azubah, Chenaanah, David, Geber, Imlah, Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, Jeroboam, Joash, Micah, Micaiah, Nebat, Ophir, Shilhi, Sodomites, Syrians, Tarshish, Tharshish, ZedekiahPlaces Edom, Ezion-geber, Jerusalem, Ophir, Ramoth-gilead, Samaria, Syria, TarshishTopics Army, Beside, Continued, Ear, Heaven, Heavens, Host, Micaiah, Micai'ah, Places, Power, Round, Seat, Seated, Sitting, Standing, ThroneOutline 1. Ahab, seduced by false prophets, by Michaiah's word, is slain at Ramoth Gilead37. The dogs lick up his blood, and Ahaziah succeeds him 41. Jehoshaphat's good reign 45. His acts 46. Jehoram succeeds him 51. Ahaziah's evil reign Dictionary of Bible Themes 1 Kings 22:19 1690 word of God 6241 seduction Library Unpossessed Possessions'And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?'--1 KINGS xxii. 3. This city of Ramoth in Gilead was an important fortified place on the eastern side of the Jordan, and had, many years before the date of our text, been captured by its northern neighbours in the kingdom of Syria. A treaty had subsequently been concluded and broken a war followed thereafter, in which Ben-hadad, King of Syria, … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ahab and Micaiah The Prophet Micah. The Poetical Books (Including Also Ecclesiastes and Canticles). The Assyrian Revival and the Struggle for Syria Use to be Made of the Doctrine of Providence. The Shepherd of Our Souls. Of Councils and their Authority. That the Employing Of, and Associating with the Malignant Party, According as is Contained in the Public Resolutions, is Sinful and Unlawful. Of Passages from the Holy Scriptures, and from the Apocrypha, which are Quoted, or Incidentally Illustrated, in the Institutes. He Does Battle for the Faith; He Restores Peace among those who were at Variance; He Takes in Hand to Build a Stone Church. Sovereignty of God in Administration Tit. 2:06 Thoughts for Young Men General Principles of Interpretation. 1 Since the Bible Addresses Men in Human Language... Commerce The Figurative Language of Scripture. Instruction for the Ignorant: Kings Links 1 Kings 22:19 NIV1 Kings 22:19 NLT 1 Kings 22:19 ESV 1 Kings 22:19 NASB 1 Kings 22:19 KJV 1 Kings 22:19 Bible Apps 1 Kings 22:19 Parallel 1 Kings 22:19 Biblia Paralela 1 Kings 22:19 Chinese Bible 1 Kings 22:19 French Bible 1 Kings 22:19 German Bible 1 Kings 22:19 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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