God in Our Own Image: The Story of King Ahab and Today’s Church

It baffles me, as a sinner who has been saved by the grace of God, when I hear others rejoice in their unrepentant sin, while claiming a strong relationship with the Lord. It is a sad sign when men are told what they want to hear; when their itching ears are scratched by every kind of false teacher (2 Tim. 4:3). There is a lying spirit in the Church today. It says, “Go ahead, sin all you want. God still loves you.” It is this great half truth that has seduced us with sweet words, leading us from God to idolatry. We have turned from the God in whose image we are created and created Him in our own image.

A lesser-known prophet in the history of Israel, Micaiah experienced the same idolatry in his day. 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18 recounts Micaiah’s story. Ahab, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah have made an alliance by marriage. Jehoshaphat comes to visit Ahab, who is a wicked king, and Ahab entices his ally to go to war with him. Ahab has surrounded himself with the prophets of a false god. The Lord has put a lying spirit on the lips of these prophets (1 Kings 22:22, 23 and 2 Chron. 18:21, 22), to speak the words Ahab desires to hear. He inquires of these prophets before going to war and all tell him that God has blessed this war.

Jehoshaphat asks Ahab, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire (1 Kings 22:7)?” He recognizes the false prophet and seeks a word from the true God. Micaiah is summoned to the court, but Ahab tells Jehoshaphat of his hatred for Micaiah, “for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil (v. 8).” Immediately, we should recognize that Ahab has shown his true allegiances. He hates the words of God, because they are never good news. He is only interested in good news.

Micaiah appears before the two kings, and with the most sarcastic and mocking tone he can muster says, “Go up and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king (v. 15).” Ahab recognizes that Micaiah is buttering him up and makes him swear to tell the truth. Micaiah then proceeds to tell the two kings, “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 (v. 17).’”

Ahab’s response to the word of God is most telling. He turns to Jehoshaphat and says, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil (v. 18)?” Ahab is not interested in what the Lord has to say unless it fits his plans. He has set his heart to go to war, and will not be swayed. Micaiah tells the king that he will die in battle, and his prophecy is fulfilled.

Our churches today stand together before the word of the Lord, as Ahab and Jehoshaphat stood before Micaiah. We have the Word of God, which we may choose to obey or disobey. When the Word of God tells us that lust, fornication, and homosexuality are sin, or that women are to submit to their husbands, we have a choice. We may chose to listen to the lying spirit in the mouths of the false prophets or to the Word of God. Many are choosing to turn aside to the way of the lying spirit, walking in the ways of Ahab.

You see Ahab was king in Israel as a result of the sin of David and his sons. The people of God had been divided in two kingdoms: Israel and Judah. Judah, the kingdom of Jehoshaphat, was the promised kingdom of David, the sceptre of Judah. It was through the line of Jehoshaphat that the Messiah, Jesus who is the Christ, would come to reign on the throne of David forever. The kingdom of Israel was an illegitimate kingdom, separated from God, and under judgment. Her kings did evil in the sight of the Lord, for they did not listen to the words of the prophets and surrounded themselves with idols and false prophets. Align yourself with the kingdom of God and heed His words, otherwise, there is judgment in store.