Capturing Christ

1 Kings 22:3-4, 8, 16, 19-20, 31

The lying spirit from the Lord led to some notes on the spiritual principles outlined in this chapter. They concern leadership, Scriptural prophecy, and order in the kingdom of God. The miracle here is the city of refuge which used to belong to Israel; now by faith it is owned by people which were not those of promise. The miracle of God's divine purpose is that by all means he might save some in 1 Corinthians 9:22. John 1:12 states that to "as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." We can praise God for he makes the things which were not as the things that are. Those which once were called the children of promise he made to be as those who are not. 1 Corinthians 1:29-30 says God sets at naught those things which are so "that no flesh" could "glory in his presence." Ramoth Gilead, as a place of refuge, is a picture of Christ. What happened to this city shows how he would become possessed by not only the Gentiles but also the whole world. The reason for this widened audience is because of the rejection from his own people as Israel's Messiah. We see the wounds received on his body in Zechariah 13:6; they will ask him how he got them. Then, he will say 'I got them in the house of my friends.' They will look on him whom they pierced, according to Zechariah 12:10, and they will mourn for what they have done. Under the Mosaic law he came to abolish, what was once Israel's is now not but that of those who claim God's name.

The king of Israel had said to his officials, "Don't you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?" So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?"

What do you do when something is lost that once belonged to you but is now in the possession of the enemy? The subject was the city of Ramoth Gilead at first; it quickly shifted to the nation of Israel's leader. Here we see him consulting other human leaders without seeking the wisdom of the Lord. This is what happens when earthly leadership operates independently of the Heavenly. Who told the king of Israel that Ramoth Gilead used to be his? Under Mosaic law, the cities of refuge were considered sacred where no blood could be shed; those who had sinned would run to them and be safe in Numbers 35:25-28. The method of this man's usual operation is not to consult the Lord. He consults the human prophets working for him rather than the Lord's. Question, are these still the Lord's prophets? Without God's input on the matter, it is difficult to say. They sit in earthly courts before the king prophesying what the Lord told them. They may even make their own devices like the one prophet who made the horns of the bull to gore with in verse eleven. The king of Israel was wounded between the sections of the armor with the arrow just as the horns of the bull. The devices of judgement were made when they prophesied victory. The subject was the king; it was not the people nor even the land. This was not God's time for Ramoth Gilead to be released back to the Israelites' possession.

Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?'

However, God declared it was time to remove this king of Israel. We see the divine question asked before God about enticement to which a lying spirit obeyed God's purpose. The control of God over the hosts of Heaven and even of the devil, as an instrument of his destruction, is absolute. We see here the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction spoken of in Romans 9:22. When God has decreed judgement, proclaimed justice, and the fulfillment of his purposes, who is the man that can stand against him. His divine purpose was the removal of the king of Israel; up to this point in this chapter the leader was nameless. The subject does not matter when God has purposed. Verse twenty-four sees the false prophets asking, "which way did the lying spirit go when it went from me to you?" The lying spirit caused all to speak the same thing from the one prophet of God to the many. The text indicates they were the king's prophets, not God's. Nowhere does God claim ownership of these 400 prophets even though they claimed his name but answered to the king of Israel. They were set up on earth in mimickry of the set up of Heaven's throne room. The prophets of the king sat in front of his earthly throne praising him. The hosts of Heaven sat silent before God as the greater contemplated the destruction of the lesser.

The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." The king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?"

Verse eight gives a greater clue to the condition of the king; he hated the one he considered the prophet of God. Hatred of his servant showed a hatred of God. Otherwise, the king would not be allowing his prophets to sit around imitating him. Blasphemous imitation and mimickry is seen in the description: "he never prophecies anything good about me - only bad." Such speech correlates with verse sixteen: "how many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?" Why would you seek the truth when you hate the messenger of such. By such hate, the source itself was blunted. To this point, the truth would rather tell you what you want to hear than to tell you what God really said. Note the victory that was obtained for the people of Israel. The smiting was only of Israel's false leader who set himself up in the place of the true leader God.

Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, "Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel."

Note the words of the king of Aram. Even with the king disguised, God had decreed that his purposes would be done. By his divine permission he used even enemy forces, lying spirits of Satan, and trickery of Israel's ruler. He was judged because he set himself up in the place of God; the building, order, and leadership thereof should have been God's. The dogs licked up the king's blood where he rested according to verse thirty-eight. There is a story told of Matthew 15:22-28 about a Gentile woman hungry for the word of God over her demon-possessed child. The story shows that even this Gentile woman found she was merely a dog in the Lord's sight under the Mosaic law. Yet, she received more than crumbs from Jesus's miracles, mercy, and favor; generations before, these dogs received not only the city of refuge but also the body tossed from the king's chariot and licked up his blood. The divine justice of God is offered in worship. Even though these Gentiles were not the children of God, by their acts they declared their faith in the same God. Is it any wonder God did not tell the king of Israel to take back the city of refuge which was once Israel's.

The parallel to us today is that "when a man's ways please the Lord he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him" according to Proverbs 16:7. God provided safety to all who feared his name; in this example, not only to the children of Israel benefited but also the foreign nation of Aram. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe" in Proverbs 18:10. When they came to kill the false prophets, the one with the lying and the slapping spirit found he was not safe even though he ran to the Lord's house as in 1 Kings 22:25. We see the blessing and provision of God for the enemy who feared his name in the city of refuge, Ramoth Gilead. By Levitical law, the enemy could not be attacked nor driven out of this place of refuge for they claimed the name of the Lord. These cities were created so if you accidentally killed someone, you could run to the city of refuge for safety in the Lord's name. God will make even what was meant to destroy you and what was meant to judge you to be to your benefit. Even if you are the enemy of the Lord and run to him, he will "in no wise cast" you out according to John 6:37. Even the unrighteous are declared righteous in the name of the Lord. Those who were not, became the children who are. Even the woman with the demon possessed child remembered the story of her ancestors, recognized Christ, and knew just what to ask. They got what the children of the promise still have not obtained through their unbelief. Her cheekiness and impudence in the face of the King of Kings was her faith. See, faith makes you do bold things in the name of the Lord. The supernatural was been worked out in the natural.