A Lone Voice

Introduction

A. We make 100’s of decisions every day. Most of those decisions are made without giving much thought. That is good. We would not be able to function if we had to stop and think about every decision we make. Shall I use my fork or my spoon? Shall I lift my drink with my right or left hand? Which tooth shall I begin brushing first? Shall I turn the page of the newspaper now or read another article? You get the point. Then there are other decisions which require much prayer, thought, and sweat. These decisions are not often made quickly unless required and only with the passing of time do we know if it is a good decision. Is this the person I want to marry? Shall I take this job? Where does God want me? Shall I pursue this career or another interest? These decisions are less frequent, but, nonetheless, extremely taxing emotionally and mentally.

B. 1 Kings 22 presents us with one of those monumental decisions of life. Ahab must decide if he is going to war against Aram. You will recall that Ahab had the opportunity in chapter 20 to kill Ben-Hadad, king of Aram. But he didn’t. God told him then that his life would be given in exchange for Ben-Hadad. Three years have passed. It is now God’s time. Ahab wants to go to war against Aram again to reclaim the city of Ramoth Gilead. This is a monumental decision. As far as the text tells us, Aram is glad to leave Israel alone. Probably Ahab is upset because Ben-Hadad had promised to return political control of Israelite cities. This is one city he failed to turn over. Ahab is intent then on taking the city back. But he didn’t inquire of God. Some decisions are like that. We make up our minds without seeking God’s direction. But when we do seek God’s direction, how can we know what God’s will is? Hopefully, we can learn some truths from 1 Kings 22 including how to discover God’s will.

The Story

A. Ahab wants to reclaim the city of Ramoth Gilead. He asks the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, if he would be willing to join in this war. Why is the king of the Southern Kingdom and the king of the Northern Kingdom working together? Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram, married Ahab’s daughter (2 Kings 8:16ff). This unhealthy alliance brought the two kingdoms together for a brief time. Let it be noted that Ahab’s daughter did the same thing to Jehoram that Jezebel had done to Ahab—both women led their husbands away from God. Jehoshaphat is unwilling to go with Ahab without trying to discover God’s will. Or at least that is what he says. He does after all go with Ahab into battle after Micaiah told him not to. Either he wasn’t listening or this was just a formality for him and I suspect it is the latter. This is a good lesson for us. Nothing can be taken for granted with God. Going through the motions and expecting God to be pleased is ludicrous.

B. Ahab brings his prophets together and they rubber stamp what Ahab wants to do. Ahab already has his mind made up what he wants to do and doesn’t need a bunch of prophets to tell him otherwise. In other words, he is going to do what he wants to do whether God wants him to or not. Jehoshaphat is not fooled. He asks if a real prophet is available. Ahab consents and has Micaiah brought. Ahab detests Micaiah because Micaiah never says anything good about Ahab. Micaiah is threatened to say only what Ahab wants to hear. So when asked Micaiah tells Ahab exactly what he wants to hear.

C. Notice Ahab’s reaction in verse 16. He knows that Micaiah is not telling him the truth. Ahab has admitted the truth—Micaiah tells only the truth. When the truth is told to him, he knows that his own prophets are lying. Tripped up by his own words. Ahab already knows what he wants to do and he doesn’t need anyone to confuse him with the facts. So Micaiah pulls out all the stops and in verses 17-18 he tells Ahab his vision. Ahab hears this as a prophecy against him. But the vision is about the people. God’s desire is not to see his people scattered like sheep without a shepherd. The prophecy is a call to change. It would be similar to our telling someone, “there’s a car coming—you’ll be run over.” If the person moves then the words fulfill their purpose. But if the person doesn’t move then there is no satisfaction in fulfillment.

D. Micaiah then goes to Ahab’s heart. Verses 19-24 are often misunderstood. Does God send a lying spirit to Ahab? Micaiah is trying to soften Ahab’s heart. This is a matter of life and death not just for Ahab but for God’s people. Micaiah tells Ahab that he is being tricked or conned by his prophets. The words “entice” as used in verses 20 and 21 is also used in the Old Testament in Hosea 7:11. The KJV translates “silly dove” and the RSV translates “dove, silly and senseless.” In our vocabulary, Micaiah is calling these prophets a bunch of “bird brains.” They are trying to entice, persuade, deceive Ahab. Then Micaiah uses the word “lying” in verses 22 and 23. This word is used in Jer. 14:13-14 in reference to lying prophets who are speaking out of a self-serving heart. Micaiah’s message is not misunderstood for Zedekiah the head of Ahab’s prophets slaps Micaiah. Zedekiah is diverting attention from his understandable predicament.

E. Ahab refuses to listen to Micaiah’s warning and has him imprisoned. He is to remain there until he, Ahab, returns safely from battle. Such bravado in what will be certain death. Ahab even tries to get around God’s words by disguising himself. In regular garb rather than his royal clothes he will escape God’s attention and hopefully the attention of the enemy. And he does. Unintentionally an arrow finds its way through Ahab’s protection and he is mortally wounded. Now what are we to get from this story. There are numerous lessons concerning stubbornness, listening to God, the ridiculousness of trying to fool God, speaking the truth even though the outcome isn’t what we would like for it to be. Numerous lessons, but I want us to focus on how we can know what God’s will.

Lessons

A. We don’t have a prophet who we can call and ask to discern the will of God for us. So how can we know the will of God? Before we get into that, I want to make one important point from this story. The reason we search for God’s will is because he knows the future. Micaiah reported what was going to happen to Ahab before it happened. He knew that because God had revealed it to him. God allowed Ahab an opportunity to know the future. But he didn’t take it. Sometimes we say I wish I could know the future. Maybe Ahab teaches us that a sinful heart wouldn’t pay attention anyway. But because we would like to know the future at times in order to honor God, we would do well to make sure that we search for God’s will because he knows the future.

B. So how can we know the will of God when it is time to make a decision. Let me give you five things to do and three things not to do.

1. Pray. I know we say it, but do we understand. I received an email this week from a friend asking me to pray for his daughter as she is making a decision about college. There are pros and cons on both sides. She must decide soon. So he asked his friends to pray. Through prayer we seek God’s wisdom and direction.

2. Listen to his word. How does the Bible help us in making decisions? When we are consistently in the word we begin to pick up on the attitudes and traits of God which we would like to incorporate in our lives. No the Bible will not give us specific answers, but it will give us some insight into the heart and mind of God.

3. Listen to God’s people. This means we have to find those that we trust and who we believe are trying to discern the will of God in their own lives and share with them the issues. Then we allow them to speak to us what they understand. This is dangerous because we may leave out some points of the story and it is dangerous because we may hear something we don’t want to hear. But if we believe God sees the future and we believe that we are not the only container of all knowledge and insight then we open ourselves for someone else to point the way for us.

4. Learn to be patient. Most major decisions do not have to be made overnight. Most of the time we have time to wait for an answer. There have been times when God closed doors before I ever had to make a decision. If we learn to be patient we may get our answer without sweating over the decision.

5. Look for signposts. I believe that God gives us a clear direction when we are seeking his will. We have to be willing to look for them and once seen to pay attention. I have known some who will keep trying to go in a direction when the doors have obviously been closed. They like to chalk it up to determination. Pride will get us in trouble. Learn to pay attention to the signposts God gives.

C. What are we not to trust when trying to discern God’s will?

1. First, put emotions and feelings on a shelf. These are unreliable. I have known people to decide to do the wrong thing simply because they “felt” like God was leading them in that direction. It could have been a touch of the flu. We will have an emotional response once the decision is made, but we must try to make feelings and emotions servant to prayer, seeking advice, and waiting for God to act.

2. Second, do not trust whatever is blatantly false when compared to scripture. Let me be real practical. Most decisions are not should I murder or not. Most decisions seem inconsequential. But we must be careful about what our decisions require. My opinion is that any major purchase—house, car, appliance—we have to judge our motive in what we buy. This is not to speak against anyone. But if that purchase produces pride in being able to say “look at what I can afford” or detracts from one’s dependence upon God, then it is a poor decision. This is not to judge anyone. Each must know his own heart and make his own decision. But any decision which will lead you away from God must be denied.

3. Finally, don’t listen to those who are not seeking God’s ways. This may seem obvious, but in our work world we come into contact with a number of people who are not God seekers. In casual conversation we might talk about a decision we have to make. Be careful not to trust what one might say who is not a God seeker. They have the ways of the world too entrenched in their minds and their thinking is not after God. It is selfishly motivated.

D. Hopefully this will help you in learning to discern God’s will when you have a decision to make. Let’s end with a time of prayer and then a closing song.

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