Have you ever struggled to go against the crowd in order to do what is right? Then perhaps you can relate to the situation of the prophet Micaiah who stood alone in delivering a dismal message in contrast to 400 other so-called prophets with their happy talk.
In I Kings 22, King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah have formed an alliance. Their sights are set on reclaiming the territory of Ramoth-gilead that has been taken over by the Arameans. However, Jehoshaphat first asks that the guidance of the Lord be sought before taking on this enterprise (vs. 5).
Ahab calls in about 400 prophets who all agree that the kings will be successful in their undertaking. For some reason - perhaps because he was skeptical of their unanimity, perhaps because he recognized that they were not truly prophets of the Lord - Jehoshaphat wants a second opinion. "Is there no other prophet of the Lord here of whom we may inquire?" (vs. 7) Grudgingly, Ahab summons Micaiah, a prophet that has been nothing but trouble for him and is always prophesying against him.
As Micaiah is ushered to the kings' presence, his fellows urge him to agree with the favorable verdict of the rest of the prophets. That would be the easy way out, but Micaiah knows he has a higher obligation than knuckling under to peer pressure. He says, "As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak" (vs. 14). [As a preacher myself, I have always tried to live by those words!]
At first Micaiah appears to agree with the other prophets (vs. 15). Personally, I feel he took a sarcastic tone that made Ahab realize he was being insincere. When pressed, Micaiah tells Ahab that the campaign will be a disaster and leave Israel leaderless. Ahab, feeling justified in his prior opinion of the prophet, says to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you he never prophesies anything favorable about me?" (vs. 18).
In response, Micaiah reveals that the 400 false prophets were inhabited by a lying spirit sent from God to deceive Ahab and lead him into a battle from which he would not return. And that is precisely what happened!
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