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I. JEHOSHAPAT'S PROPOSAL. To inquire at the Lord (ver. 4). A proposal:

1. Good. Commanded by God (Proverbs 3:5, 6), recommended by the pious (Genesis 25:22; 1 Samuel 23:2, 4; 1 Chronicles 21:30), approved by experience as indispensable for safety (Jeremiah 10:23), and one that can seldom be neglected without loss (Zephaniah 1:6), and even hurt (1 Chronicles 10:14).

2. New. At least in Israel, where the custom had been to say, 'Inquire of Baal' (Hall). As such, it probably appeared to Ahab unnecessary, as to ungodly men generally religion and its forms mostly do; though to Ahab it should likewise have served as a rebuke, reminding him of his apostasy from Jehovah and inviting, him to return. "A word fitly spoken," etc. (Proverbs 25:11).

3. Untimely. It should have been made not after but before the conclusion of the treaty, and was now too late. It is not clear that God will direct those whose minds are fixed before they consult him.

4. Insincere. Jehoshaphat's suggestion not that of an honest man who desired guidance from Heaven, but of one who half suspected he had entered on a doubtful course, from which, however, he did not care to withdraw, but for which he wished Divine permission, if not approbation. Cf. Balaam with the messengers of Balak (Numbers 22:7, 8).

II. AHAB'S CONSULTATION. (Ver. 5.)

1. The oracle inquired at.

(1) Seemingly safe. The advisers were "prophets," whose calling was to pronounce upon cases of conscience, and deliver authoritative utterances concerning Heaven's will (Exodus 7:1; Deuteronomy 18:22; Ezekiel 14:7). The recognized media of communication between Jehovah the theocratic King and his subjects; they were likewise four hundred in number, and had not Solomon said, "In the multitude of counsellors there is safety"? (Proverbs 11:14; Proverbs 15:22; Proverbs 24:6).

(2) Really doubtful. "These four hundred privy councillors were prophets, not of Jehovah, but of the calves introduced by Jeroboam, who gave themselves out, indeed, as prophets of Jehovah worshipped under the symbol of the calves," but who "came forward of their own accord without a Divine call, and were, if not in the pay, at least in the service of the idolatrous king" (Keil).

(3) Wholly misleading. Not being in the secret of Jehovah (Psalm 25:14), Ahab's prophets could not reveal Jehovah's mind. Merely calling their answer, or believing it to be, Jehovah's would not make it so. Men have been known to dignify as "revelations" and "visions" from God what was purely the product of their own imaginations or the whisperings of lying spirits.

(4) Perfectly useless. Since Ahab's prophets could not tell the mind of Jehovah, they were not the advisers Jehoshaphat wanted. Their answer would shed no light upon the problem that perplexed him.

2. The question proposed.

(1) Wrongly expressed. Instead of asking, "Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall we forbear?" Ahab should have said, "Have we done right in deciding to go to Ramoth-Gilead? or have we done wrong?" When men consult God they should state the case submitted to his judgment with accuracy. Perhaps, however, so far as Ahab was concerned, the statement was correct enough, as it cannot be supposed the rightness or wrongness of the contemplated expedition would much trouble him. That Jehoshaphat did not check his royal brother looked suspicious.

(2) Insincerely moved. Ahab did not want to know the mind of Jehovah upon the subject; Jehoshaphat secretly wished that mind to accord with his own inclinations. With both the Ramoth campaign was a foregone conclusion. Under such circumstances to have asked Jehovah at all was hypocrisy and insult. Compare the conduct of the Jewish remnant who pretended to consult God through Jeremiah about going into Egypt (Jeremiah 42:20).

3. The answer returned.

(1) What the two kings wanted: "Go up to Ramoth-Gilead." To Jehoshaphat's uneasy conscience this ought to have given relief, though it did not.

(2) What Jehovah intended: that Ahab should at Ramoth receive his death-stroke.

(3) What the prophets invented: they derived it from their own deceived imaginations.

4. The reason given.

(1) A fiction, framed by the speakers to please their royal patron.

(2) A falsehood, since it was not the Divine purpose at this time to permit the recovery of Ramoth-Gilead.

III. JEHOSHAPHAT'S QUESTION. (Ver. 6.)

1. Dictated by suspicion. The King of Judah was not satisfied with the answer of the prophets; which was not wonderful, considering:

(1) Whose prophets they were - Ahab's: "Like master like man."

(2) What sort of prophets they were: "of the calves," not "of Jehovah." Men usually become like the deities they worship; so do prophets.

(3) What inducements they had to return such an answer to Ahab's interrogation. Ahab being their master, by whose favour they lived, their interest clearly was to please Ahab.

(4) What reason he had to suspect their deliverance - it was too like the response he himself desired.

2. Prompted by caution. Jehoshaphat would not act precipitately. If possible, he would have Jehovah's mind upon the matter. He would imitate David, and urge Ahab to inquire at Jehovah again (1 Samuel 23:4). Good men should ponder the paths of their feet (Proverbs 4:26), remembering that he who hasteth with his feet sinneth (Proverbs 19:2), and that the prudent man looketh well to his going (Proverbs 14:15).

IV. AHAB'S ANSWER. (Ver. 7.)

1. Promptly given. To Jehoshaphat's inquiry, "Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah besides?" etc. (ver. 6), Ahab responded there was one. Ahab probably at the moment did not know where Elijah was, or was afraid of the Tishbite. Most likely he mentioned Micaiah because he expected either that Jehoshaphat, heating Micaiah was in jail, would never dream of proposing he should be called, or that Micaiah, though summoned, would not have courage to speak in presence of two kings and four hundred prophets. In both expectations Ahab miscalculated and outwitted himself, as wicked men usually do.

2. Instantly qualified. The prophet's name was Micaiah, the son of Imlah - conjectured, without historical foundation, to have been the disguised prophet who had announced to Ahab his doom for permitting Benhadad to escape (1 Kings 20:38), and by the rabbis to have been either he or the unnamed prophet mentioned earlier (1 Kings 20:13, 22, 28). That Ahab disliked him was a point in his favour, it being a dubious commendation to be liked by a bad man. Moreover, the ground of Ahab's displeasure was an additional certificate to Micaiah, though a heavy condemnation of Ahab. Unless Micaiah had been a true prophet he would not so invariably have spoken evil of Ahab; that he did so was unmistakable evidence that Ahab was a bad man (Isaiah 3:11; Isaiah 48:22). Then Micaiah at the moment was in prison, which Ahab probably imagined would end the matter. But it did not, Jehoshaphat perhaps remembering that good men were often imprisoned unjustly (Genesis 39:20), and that Micaiah's incarceration, like Hanani's (2 Chronicles 16:10), might be to his credit rather than the opposite.

V. JEHOSHAPHAT'S REMONSTRANCE. (Ver. 7.) The speech of Ahab told of:

1. A great wrong to Micaiah. Ahab would have sinned in hating Micaiah even had Micaiah been an offender (Leviticus 19:17 ); much more when Micaiah was innocent and Ahab's anger was without a cause (Psalm 35:19; Matthew 5:22); most of all when Micaiah was a prophet of Jehovah (Psalm 105:15), who had only spoken the words Jehovah put into his mouth (Jeremiah 1:7; Jeremiah 7:27).

2. A greater wrong to Jehovah. Just because Micaiah's words were not his own so much as Jehovah's, a reflection on Micaiah was a virtual reflection on Jehovah. When Ahab charged Micaiah with always speaking evil concerning him, he practically charged Jehovah with being malignant towards him. But if Micaiah prophesied calamity for Ahab that was conditional on Ahab's disobedience, and would have been averted by repentance and reformation (Ezekiel 33:14)); if Jehovah put minatory language into his prophet's mouth; - this was out of love to Ahab, to turn him from his evil ways.

VI. AHAB'S SUBMISSION. (Ver. 8.) An officer (or eunuch) was hastily despatched to fetch Micaiah from his cell. The haste may have indicated:

1. Ahab's sense of the importance of the question under consideration; and certainly nothing can be of greater moment for any than to understand what the will of the Lord is. Only this can be ascertained by none but renewed hearts (Romans 12:2). More likely, however, it marked:

2. Ahab's sense of his own importance, which could brook no delay in the execution of his royal commands. An earthly king's business, even when insignificant, is commonly supposed to require haste (1 Samuel 21:8); how much more the business of the King of kings (John 9:4; Romans 12:11)! The haste may even have been due to:

3. Ahab's inward irritation with Jehoshaphat, to whom he had submitted, possibly not with the best grace. It requires a large amount of magnanimity to enable even good men to accept the rebukes and yield to the persuasions of others. Learn:

1. The propriety and wisdom of consulting God in everything (Proverbs 3:6; Philippians 4:6; James 1:5).

2. The unlikelihood of learning God's mind from the world's prophets or teachers (John 3:31).

3. The certainty that God's faithful servants will not be liked by their contemporaries, and that in exact proportion to their faithfulness (John 7:7; John 15:19).

4. The danger of playing fast and loose with conscience. - W.

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KJV: And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.

WEB: Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Please inquire first for the word of Yahweh."