Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (OTA)

1 Kings 22:13-28

¹³ And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. 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 will speak.” ¹⁵ And when he had come 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 triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” ¹⁶ But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁷ And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’ ” ¹⁸ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” ¹⁹ And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; ²⁰ and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. ²¹ Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ ²² And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ ²³ Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has declared disaster for 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 go from me to speak to you?” ²⁵ And Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” ²⁶ And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, ²⁷ and say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace.” ’ ” ²⁸ And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you peoples!”

I always wonder what it must be like to give a king bad news. You know the old adage of don't kill the messenger. I am sure there have been many prophets that have been killed because they did not tell the king what he wanted to hear. Likewise, I think there have been many wise kings that have listened to these prophets who tell them they are going to their destruction.

There have been many prophets that have proclaimed peace to the people of Israel, but peace never seems to come. Even the name Israel means one who wrestles with God. You need to remember the struggle we face within our own flesh. There is a battle within us. The battle between the new man who will hear the Word of God, and the Old man who turns to the ways of the world. This two men wage a war in our flesh.

These men attack each other. The old man continues to lead us into sin, and points out our failures. The new man looks to Christ who raises him to life, and continues to help bring him back to life. Christ has died to kill in his flesh our old man, and rises to new life to renew our new man. The final victory will be won by the new man through Jesus Christ.