Micaiah, the son of Imlah

Hebrews 11:36 and 1 Kings 22:1-28. Micaiah, the son of Imlah, (848 BC ) a Levite. He was put in prison by King Ahab 7th King of Israel.

Micaiah foretold the fall of King Ahab at the battle of Ramoth Gilead.

There are a least six other men called Micaiah in the Old Testament.

Micaiah in Hebrew means: Who is like Jah.

Background Reading:

Still others endured taunts and floggings, and even chains and imprisonment – e.g. in a water cistern as a prison, Micaiah by King Ahab,
Hebrews 11:36

and

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

22:1 Three years passed without war between Aram and Israel. 2 During that third year, King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to visit the king of Israel. 3 The king of Israel asked his servants, “Were you aware that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, but we aren’t doing anything to remove it from the control of the king of Aram?”

4 Then he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you join me in battle against Ramoth-gilead?”

“I’m with you,” Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel. “My army will join yours, and my cavalry will be your cavalry.” 5 But Jehoshaphat also asked the king of Israel, “Please ask for a message from the LORD, first.”

6 So the king of Israel called in about 400 prophets and asked them, “Should we go attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I call off the attack?”

“Go attack them,” they all said, “because the Lord will drop them right into the king’s hand!”

7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of the LORD left here that we could talk to?”

8 “There is still one man left by whom we could ask the LORD what to do,” the king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, “but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me. Instead, he prophesies evil. He is Imla’s son Micaiah.”

But Jehoshaphat rebuked Ahab, “Kings should never talk like that.”

9 Nevertheless, the king of Israel called one of his officers and ordered him, “Bring me Imla’s son Micaiah quickly.”

10 Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were each sitting on their respective thrones, arrayed in their robes, on the threshing floor at the entrance to the city gate of Samaria, and all of the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 11 Chenaanah’s son Zedekiah made iron horns for himself and told them, “This is what the LORD says, ‘With these horns you are to gore the Arameans until they are eliminated!’”

12 All the other prophets were saying similar things, like “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and you will be successful, because the LORD will hand it over to the king!”

Micaiah Predicts Failure

13 Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone off to summon Micaiah advised him, “Look, everything that the other prophets were saying was unanimously favorable to the king. So please, cooperate with them and speak favorably.”

14 “As the LORD lives,” Micaiah replied, “I’ll say what my God tells me to say.”

15 When Micaiah approached the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?”

“Go to war,” Micaiah replied, “and you will be successful, because the LORD will hand it over to the king!”

16 When he heard this, the king asked him, “How many times do I have to make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth? Now do it in the name of the LORD!”

17 So Micaiah replied:

“I saw all of Israel

scattered on the mountains

like sheep without a shepherd.

And the LORD told me,

‘These have no master,

so let them each return to his own home in peace.’”

18 Then the king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he wouldn’t prophesy anything good about me, but only evil?”

19 But Micaiah responded, “Therefore, listen to what the LORD has to say. I saw the LORD, sitting on his throne, and the entire Heavenly Army was standing around him on his right hand and on his left hand.

20 “The LORD asked, ‘Who will tempt King Ahab of Israel to attack Ramoth-gilead, so that he will die there?’ And one was saying one thing and one was saying another.

21 “But then a spirit approached, stood in front of the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’

22 “And the LORD asked him, ‘How?’

“‘I will go,’ he announced, ‘and I will be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets!’

“So the LORD said, ‘You’re just the one to deceive him. You will be successful. Go and do it.’

23 “Now therefore, listen! The LORD has placed a lying spirit in the mouth of all of these prophets of yours, because the LORD has determined to bring disaster upon you.”

24 Right then, Chenaanah’s son Zedekiah approached Micaiah and struck him on the cheek. Then he asked him, “How did the Spirit of the LORD move from me to speak to you?”

25 Micaiah replied, “You’ll see how when the day comes that you run away to hide yourself in a closet!”

26 Then the king of Israel ordered, “Take Micaiah and place him in the custody of Amon, the city governor. Hand him over to Joash, the king’s son. 27 Give him this order: ‘Place him in prison on survival rations of bread and water only until I come back safely.’”

28 “If you return alive,” Micaiah responded, “then the LORD has not spoken by me.” Then he added, “Listen, all you people!”
1 Kings 22:1—28


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