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For tonight, we're in second Chronicles 17. There's so much here. This text and passage is so rich. We have a lot to cover tonight. I'm going to do my best to get through chapters 17 and 18 tonight. We'll see what the Lord wants to do. Regardless, I'm glad you're here. It's not an accident. God desires to speak to your heart. You see, whenever we sit under the teaching of God's Word, it's not about me. It's not about, you know, whoever is on this platform or stage. We are submitting ourselves, myself included, to the authority of God and his Word. And so God, by his Spirit, he wants to do a wonderful fresh work in your hearts tonight. And when we sit under the teaching of His Word, what he does by his Spirit is he permeates our hearts and minds with his love, his power. He gives us a sound mind. One of my favorite verses is in Second Timothy, where Paul would write to Timothy. He says, the Lord has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. And so when we sit under God's Word, we're just going to pray in a moment and ask that His Holy Spirit would now just kind of filet our hearts wide open that he would teach us now and that he would do a wonderful work in our hearts tonight. Does that sound good to you? Well, Lord, let's start there. Let's pray and invite you, God. We trust that you've been here in our time of worship. But now as we open up your Word, we ask God that you would teach us, Lord, you as our chief shepherd. Would you shepherd your people tonight through your word, by your spirit. Would you teach us new things? Would you remind us of things we've forgotten? Would you just refresh our hearts tonight by your spirit? We want to hear from you, God, here We are desperate to seek after you. And your Word tells us that when we draw near to you, you will draw near to us. So we ask, Lord, as we draw near to you through the reading and teaching of your Word, would you draw us into deeper depths of fellowship with you, God? We're here for you. Teach us now by your spirit, glorify your son, Jesus Christ in our lives. We pray that you'd accomplish your purposes in our lives tonight in Jesus name and all God's people said tonight. Amen. So I hope you're there now in 2 Chronicles 17 by way of just kind of a quick review, this is where Pastor Tyler was last week. We're walking through the Histories of Israel and Judah. The nation of Israel at this time in Israel's history is divided. So you have the northern kingdom of Israel, and you have the southern kingdom of Judah. And last week, Pastor Tyler focused on King Asa, who was one of the rare good kings in the southern kingdom of Judah. And this kind of summarizes Asa's life. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He removed idolatry. He banished evil. His heart was loyal to the Lord, and he experienced peace in his kingdom during his reign. We're going to transition now here in chapter 17 to his son, King Jehoshaphat. Now, I like to kind of nickname this guy Japhat, because Jehoshaphat can kind of be hard to say, but just by way of. Again, quick review. Here's our map. Again, we're gonna be in second Chronicles 17 and 18. You have Israel to the north, its capital city is Samaria. You have Judah. To the south, its capital city is Jerusalem. We're gonna be focusing on King Jehoshaphat, who is again one of the rare good kings in the southern kingdom of Judah. He there were no good kings in the northern kingdom of Israel. It's an easy way to process the divided kingdom. Every king in the northern kingdom of Israel, bad king. There are a few good kings in the southern kingdom of Judah. Jehoshaphat is one of them. His name in the Hebrew Jehoshaphat means God has judged. Jeho or Yahweh. The first part of that name is the proper name of God, Yahweh, Jehovah, and Shaphat means to judge. So his name in Hebrew Jehoshaphat means God has judged, and he is a good king in the southern kingdom of Judah. Let's read Second Chronicles, chapter 17, verse 1. If you're there, say Amen. It says, then Jehoshaphat, his son, that is, Asa's son, reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel. And he placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa, his father, had taken. Verse 3. Now, the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the former ways of his father David. By father just means his ancestor David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the Acts of Israel. Therefore, the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honor in abundance. Pause there with Me. We're going to pluck some principles from chapters 17 and 18 tonight. The very first principle we see here from verses three to six, the Lord is with those who seek him and walk in his ways. It's very simple. We don't have to over complicate the Bible. Sometimes we think that when we approach the Old Testament, the New Testament sometimes seems easier to digest the Old Testament. How in the world can we apply the Old Testament to our lives? Well, we see here again in verse three, the Lord was with Jehoshaphat. Why? Just because Jehoshaphat was a cool guy, was a handsome guy. No, says because he walked in the former ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals or the Baals. Those were the false pagan God that Israel had succumbed to. Verse 4. But he sought the God of his Father and he walked in his commandments. And not according to the Acts of Israel. The Acts of Israel, what does that mean? They were stooped in all this pagan idolatry which worshiping baal. So he did not follow the Acts of Israel. Verse 5. Therefore, the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honor and abundance. We read in First Kings, chapters 19 through 22, we also see Jehoshaphat's life chronicled in First Kings. The Bible tells us that he became the King of Judah at 35 years old. And he reigned as the King of Judah for about 25 years. And we see here again in verses three through six, that he sought the Lord and he walked in the ways of the Lord and the Lord established his kingdom. Again, we don't have to overcomplicate the Bible. This principle is simple. This principle is timeless. That if you as a believer, if you set your heart on seeking the Lord and following in the ways of the Lord, he will establish your steps. He will bless you. Now, I want to be careful when I use that phrase, he will bless you because I don't always mean that that blessing will manifest itself materialistically. We sometimes think that the blessing of the Lord means, oh, that we'll be rich, healthy and prosperous. No, not. That's not always the case. But you will experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in ways you have never experienced before. When you seek the Lord and you follow his ways, when you set your heart on obeying the Lord, he's going to bless your life sometimes materialistically. And if so, that's awesome. Not all the time, but what's better than the materialistic blessings of the Lord is experiencing his spiritual blessings. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he will refresh your life. He will give you the power of the Holy Spirit in abundance. He will draw you so close to him as you seek him and as you follow his commands, as you obey what His Word says. As we conform our lives to His Word, it will go well for us. It's very simple. It's much harder to do. And we need to operate in the strength that God's Spirit provides us. But it is so simple. God, I want to seek you, so I want to get in my Bible and I want to conform my life to what your truth says. We overcomplicate the Christian life. God says, come to me in repentance. I'll forgive you of your sin when you trust in my son Jesus. And then I'll pour out My Spirit upon your life. And then, in response to all that I've done for you, walk in obedience. Conform your life to the truth of my word. That's what God desires for our lives. Psalm 128, verse 1 says, Blessed are those who fear the Lord who walk in his ways. Again, very simple. Blessed are those who fear the Lord who walk in his ways. What does it mean to fear the Lord? To have a healthy fear of the Lord? That word fear, in the Hebrew it is yara, and it means to be in awe of God. God, I am so in awe of you. And that then compels me to live a life of obedience. When we live a life in just this sheer awe of the Lord, we're going to want to conform our lives to His Word. And so Jehoshaphat does this. He sets his sight on seeking after the Lord, walking according to his ways. But it's not. It doesn't end there. Look at verse six. And his heart, Jehoshaphat's heart took delight. Oh, I love it. Circle that word delight. Highlight that in your Bibles his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord. Moreover, he removed the high places and wooden images from Judah. Okay, so the Bible says he delighted in the ways of the Lord and he removed the wooden images from the high places. What are high places? Well, again, in the nation of Israel, when they fell into idolatry on the high places or the hilltop regions of Israel and Judah, they would set up these pagan altars to worship these false pagan gods. And Jehoshaphat, because he's walking in the ways of the Lord, he notices. Well, this is worshiping all these pagan gods. This is demonic Practice. We're going to remove all these pagan gods and all this idol worship from the hilltops in the region, and we're going to get right with the Lord. Principle number two comes from verse six. To delight in the Lord is to remove that which dishonors the Lord from your life. See, you cannot delight in the ways of the Lord while still habitually living in unrepentant sin. It's impossible. It's impossible to profess I delight in the ways of the Lord and to be habitually practicing a life of sin. You can't do it. Romans 8, 8 says, you cannot please God in the flesh. Paul would write in Romans 8, 8, it is impossible to please God in the flesh. You see, for believers, if you have placed your faith in Christ, you're saved. You've been justified. You've been made right in God's sight by faith in what his son did for you on the cross. You now are filled with God's spirit. God's spirit indwells the believer. And so now we have these two opposing natures. We have the nature of the flesh because we still live in these fleshly, fallen, broken, sinful bodies. But now we're filled with God's spirit. And we love righteousness and we hunger after the Lord. And so there's this constant tug of war match. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? This constant pull. You know, I don't know how many of you, you know, have been to maybe like a youth summer camp or something, but, you know, growing up here at Cornerstone, when we go to youth summer camps, and my youth pastor, Pastor Mike's on the front row, he'd have us do all these cool games and activities and obstacles. And I always remember there'd be this pile of mud in the middle. Two opposing teams, and one team is trying to drag the other team into the mud. And whoever drags the other team into the mud wins. And that's exactly what I feel at times in my walk with the Lord, like, there's Austin in the flesh, still craving the things of the flesh. Cause I still live in this fallen, broken, sinful body. But I'm a believer in Jesus Christ and dwelt with the spirit of God. And I hunger and thirst after righteousness. My attitude for sin is completely changed. And all of you who have entered into this relationship with Jesus know exactly what I'm talking about. Okay, so you've entered into this relationship with Christ. You're filled with the spirit and you still wanna. The Bible says sin is fun. For a season. And so, oh, there's still this, like cravings after the flesh. But when you come into relationship with Christ, it doesn't mean that you're gonna be sinless. Cause we still live in these fallen fleshly bodies. But it should mean as you're maturing in Christ, you should be sinning less. Because you're abiding by the Spirit and obeying the word of God. But there's this tug of war. And so when you become a believer, your attitude for sin completely changes. I don't want that life anymore. I don't belong to that kingdom. I don't belong to that life. I don't belong to myself. Paul would say, I'm a Doulos. I'm a slave of Jesus Christ. He's my master. I no longer run my own life. I'm no longer controlled by the power of the flesh. I'm controlled by the power of the Holy Spirit through. But there's this wrestling match. That's why Paul would say in Galatians 5:16, he would write to believers, I say to you, walk in the Spirit. So that you don't gratify the desires of your flesh. For the flesh wants what's contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what's contrary to the flesh. NLT says, and these are at war with one another. Oh, there's this battle between flesh and spirit. And listen, it is impossible to please God while indulging in the flesh. And this principle applies to us when it says, his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord. And so the result was he removed idolatry from the life of Judah. It's the same thing in our lives. It's impossible to delight and please the Lord while also living just a life of idolatry, chasing after empty substitutes, chasing after false gods, living a life, indulging in the flesh, habitually just practicing this lifestyle of sin. You can't please God. That's what Paul says. Paul says you can't please God in the flesh. But in Romans 8, 8, the latter part of that verse, he says, but you are not in the flesh, but in the power of the Spirit. So walk in the power of the Spirit that God provides you. To delight in the Lord is to remove that which dishonors him in your life. And again, if you feel like you're in a season where just the flesh just is constantly, just beating down on your door, just constantly drawing you into temptation and sin, you just cry out to the Lord, humbly submit yourself before the Lord and say, Lord, temptation and this battle that I've been wrestling with God, you know I don't want any part of sin, Lord, would you help me? I want to delight in your ways. I want to walk with you. I want to live a life of righteousness. But God, you have to help me, because I can't do this on my own. And when you humbly submit yourself to the Lord, you confess sin before the Lord, he'll forgive you. He'll wash you. He'll come alongside you. By the power of the Spirit, he will help you to live a life that pleases and honors him. Say God, would you uproot anything in my life that dishonors you? So tonight, when you go home, first thing in the morning, examine your life. Take inventory of your life. And you just a humble prayer, say God, if there's anything in my life, if there's anything I'm doing that I'm blind to in my life, if I'm doing anything that dishonors you, God, gently convict me by your spirit so I can repent. But help me, Lord. Cause I'm weak. That's a prayer that's often of mine. Lord, help me. I'm weak, Lord, in the flesh. I need your spirit. And God will help you. He'll help us uproot those things in our lives that dishonor him so that we can please him and delight in his ways. Let's continue in our text. Verse 7. Also in the third year of his reign, again continuing in the reign of Jehoshaphat. Here he sent his leaders, Ben Hale, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah. And with them he sent Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shamirimoth, Johannathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tobodenijah. Would you like to say that five times fast? Let's do that again. Verse eight. That was fun. No, let's keep going. On the Levites and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. So they taught in Judah and had the book of the law of the Lord with them. They went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people. All right, pause there with me. You see what's going on here again, as Jehoshaphat continues to make reform in the land of Judah, he sends out the Bible says teachers, Levites and priests. Three different categories. Teachers, Levites and priests. And what is he tasks them to do? He tasks them in verse nine. So they taught in Judah and had the book of the law of the Lord with them. They went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people. Wouldn't it be, like, an amazing thing if our president commissioned, like, the top, like, three just best Bible teachers in America and just said, just go throughout all the cities. We're gonna have, like, this tour across all America and you just teach God's Word. Wouldn't that be, like, an awesome thing? That's what's going on here. Jehoshaphat sends teachers, priests, Levites, and he says, listen, if we're gonna be a nation that honors God, we need to get back to the word of God. And we need to be founded and grounded and rooted in God's word. Because blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Amen. And so Jehoshaphat does this. He says, if we wanna experience God's peace in our nation, we have to make God's Word the center of everything that we do. So he commissions these three different types of people. The teachers, the priests and the Levites. He says, I want you to go out and I want you to teach throughout all the cities of Judah. And it says, and they taught the people. Look at this verse 10. And the fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands. Check. That were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. Also, some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver as tribute. And the Arabians brought him flocks. 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats. You see what happens here? They make the Word of God the center of the kingdom of Judah. And it says, as a result of the teachers, priests and Levites going throughout all the cities of Judah preaching the word of God, that the kingdoms around the nation of Judah, the fear of the Lord falls upon them. And even check that the Philistines, the perennial enemies of Judah. Remember a guy named, I don't know, Goliath? The Philistines, the perennial enemies of Judah, they're bringing them tribute. They're bringing them presents and silver and as tribute. And the Arabians brought them flocks and 7700 rams. Seven. 7700 male goats. Like, what is going on here? Because they make the Word of God the center of all that they do. Even the nations around them begin to fear the Lord. This is an amazing thing. And I think we can learn something from this. Number three. God will use your personal time in the Word to touch the lives of those around you. Listen, when you just get on fire for the Lord. And you, like, just can't get enough of God's Word in your life. When you can't get enough of this and you just want to constantly just feed on this book that will be contagious to every single person you run into. You might not necessarily even need to say anything. I guarantee it. People notice there's something unique and different about you when you spend time in God's Word and you feed on the spiritual nutrients of his Word. People notice when you spend time, your personal time in your devotions. You read God's Word, you're listening to good, solid Bible teachings, and you're just soaking in this book. It's gonna touch the lives of those you come in contact with. Whether some of you, you're the only believer in your home, you're the only believer in your family. For some of you, you feel like you're the only person who is following after the Lord at work. So you might be the only believer in your home, you might be the only believer at work, you might be the only believer at your school. You feel like I'm the only one following after the Lord. Listen. You do not be discouraged. But use that as motivation to continue to get in God's Word. Because when you do that, it will just naturally overflow out of your life. Because people will approach you, they want to have conversations with you about the Lord, or the Lord will give you a window to have a conversation about him. And just because you've been spending time in his Word, Bible verses will just come to memory. You didn't even remember that. You, you thought, you thought, you forgot that verse. You didn't even know that you had that verse memorized. But just the more you're in God's Word, it will just naturally pour out and overflow. It's contagious. It's contagious. It's infectious. So continue to get in God's Word. It's gonna touch the lives of those that you come in contact with. And the nation of Judah, corporately, they're experiencing this. The fear of the Lord falls on the surrounding nations. Cause they are abiding by the word of God. In verse 12. So Jehoshaphat became increasingly powerful. And he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah. He had much property in the cities of Judah. And the men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem. These are their numbers according to their father's houses of Judah. The captain of the captains of thousands, Adna, the captain. And with him 300,000 mighty men of Valor. And next to him was Johannan, the captain. And with him 280,000. And next to him was Amasiah, the son of Zicri, who willingly offered himself to the Lord. And with him 200,000 mighty men of valor. Of Benjamin Eliade, a mighty man of valor. And with him 200,000 men armed with bow and shield. And next to him was Jehozabad. And with him 180,000 prepared for war. These served the king, besides those the king put in the fortified cities throughout all Judah. So the Lord not only blessed them materialistically, but he blessed them militarily. They have a strong military. Let's transition into chapter 18. This is where things get a little bit fun and dicey all at the same time. Chapter 17, the Lord blesses the southern kingdom of Judah in chapter 18. What we're going to see here is that Jehoshaphat, although he was a good godly king who delighted in the Lord, he obeyed the Lord, was grounded and rooted in the word of the Lord. He's going to make a very dangerous alliance here. And he's going to make an alliance with the southern king of Israel, King Ahab. So again, you have, sorry, the northern king of Israel, King Ahab. You have Jehoshaphat, who's the southern king of Judah. He's gonna make an alliance here, a very bad, dangerous, unhealthy alliance here with the northern king, King Ahab. He oversees the northern kingdom of Israel. We're also gonna see Ben Hadad, the king of Syria, I don't think by name, but that's his name, King Ben Hadad, the king of Syria. They're going to go against the king of Syria to recapture that city, Ramoth Gilead, which is on the east side of the Jordan River. So let's unpack this text a little bit, and if any of that was confusing, you'll see what I mean here. Chapter 18, verse 1. Jehoshaphat had riches and honor and abundance. And by marriage. You can circle that. By marriage, he allied himself with Ahab. So what does that mean, by marriage? That Jehoshaphat allied himself with Ahab. Jehoshaphat's son, Jehoram marries Ahab's daughter. Her name is Athaliah. I'll say that again. Jehoshaphat's son marries Ahab's daughter. And remember, wicked King Ahab. Alright, so again, all kings of the northern kingdom of Israel, bad kings. Ahab was one of the worst. Ahab set up the practice of pagan worship to the Baals and Asherahs it was a very sexually perverted type of pagan idolatry. And Ahab was at the center of it. Remember, he married the wicked queen Jezebel. There's a reason nobody's naming their daughters Jezebel anymore. Cause she was a bad girl. Very bad girl. Ahab marries Jezebel, and their daughter marries Jehoshaphat's son. So this was a very common practice in ancient times, where you wanted to build alliance with foreign territories. You intermarried. That was not God's will for Jehoshaphat, but his son again, whose name was Jehoram. Jehoram would be a very bad guy. We'll learn about him in the next few weeks. Jehoram was a very bad guy. He would follow after Jehoshaphat as the king of Judah, but he didn't follow in the ways of his dad. He was a very bad king. So bad Jehoram marries bad Athalia. And there's this inner marriage here. And that's how these two guys, Japhat and Ahab, are allied by marriage. Verse 2. After some years, he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead. So Ahab, king of Israel, said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead again? As you can tell by our map, Ramoth Gilead is east of the Jordan River. It once belonged to the tribe of Gad. But the king of Syria, King Ben Hadad, captured the city of Ramoth Gilead, which was about 50 to 75 miles away from Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah. The king of Syria captures Ramoth Gilead again, originally belonging to the tribe of Gad as a part of the larger nation of Israel. And now Ahab, the king of Israel, wants to recapture Ramoth Gilead and bring Ramoth Gilead back into the fold of the nation of Israel. Ahab then calls on Jehoshaphat. Hey, Jehoshaphat, will you go with me to fight against the king of Syria to bring Ramoth Gilead back into the nation of Israel? Check this out. And he answered him. This is still verse three. Jehoshaphat answered Ahab, I am as you are and my people as your people. We will be with you in the war. Big mistake. Principle number one of chapter 18. Be careful not to enter alliances or partnerships with unbelievers. Be friends with unbelievers. Absolutely. Be friendly with unbelievers? Absolutely. Share the gospel with unbelievers? Absolutely. We live in a lost and dying world that needs to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have the truth. So go out and be salt and light to a lost and dying world. Share the gospel with unbelievers. You can be friendly with unbelievers. Not saying you're not supposed to be friends with unbelievers, although your circle of influence should really be with solid believers. I'm just gonna shoot straight with you. Your small circle of influence. That should be a small group of biblically grounded believers. Be careful not to enter into alliances or partnerships with unbelievers. How do we apply that to our lives today? Jehoshaphat makes this very unwise alliance with Ahab, who's a very wicked king. What can we learn from this? Principle number one of chapter 18, do not marry an unbeliever. Do not enter into that covenant relationship before the Lord with an unbeliever. Paul would say, don't be unequally yoked. Now, some of you are in a situation where maybe you didn't know and you married an unbeliever. Listen, don't leave your marriage. That is God's will for you. Now be a good example of Jesus Christ to your unbelieving spouse. Okay? But if you're not married, do not run with or yoke yourself with or marry someone who is also not running after the Lord. It will be very messy. It'll be very messy. And you want to raise your kids in a household where both of you are believers, rooted in God's word. That's God's best. That's what he desires for us as well. And so be very careful not to enter into a marriage, a covenant with an unbeliever. The Bible says that is very unwise. Do not do that. I would say, and my dad has said this before, do not enter into business partnerships with an unbeliever. Don't enter into a 50, 50 partnership with an unbeliever. You at least make sure that you own majority of that company because your business partner is operating on a completely different scale. But you, as a believer, are grounded in the truths and principles of scripture, and that's how you want to operate your life. That's how you want to operate your business. That's how you want to treat your employees. So we can learn some things from this very bad example here. He entered into this very unwise alliance with Ahab, who was a wicked guy. He says in verse three, I am as you are, and my people as your people. No, you're not. No, you're not. You're not as he is. You delight in the ways of the Lord. You follow the ways of the Lord. You conform your life to the ways of the Lord. You sent out teachers to the land of Judah. Ahab, remember again. Ahab. Wicked king, sexually perverted king who sets up the Baals and Asherahs. You're not as. What are you talking about, Jehoshaphat? You're not like this guy, but you're tying yourself to Him. Verse 4. Also, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, but please inquire for the word of the lord today. Verse 5. Then the King of Israel gathered the prophets together, 400 men, and said to them, shall we go to war against Ramoth, Gilead, or shall I refrain? And so they said, go up, for God will deliver it into the king's hand. But Jehoshaphat said, is there not still a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him? All right, so what's going on here? So Ahab says, jehoshaphat, hey, come with me. Let's fight the king of Syria. Let's take Beth, Ramoth, Gilead, and Ahab, Jehoshaphat says, sounds great. But first, before we do that, let's inquire of the Lord. So ahab gathers his 400 prophets who are false prophets, not following after the Lord, although they claim the name of the Lord, and they give them bad counsel. They say, yep, go up and you're gonna be fine. Go up against the king of Syria, you're going to be just fine. And I think Jehoshaphat, because he's a believer, he knows, like, something's not right here. Like, something's fishy here. He says. He says again in verse 6, is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, like the 400 guys, Ahab, that you've gathered, the 400 prophets, you've got. I'm not, like. I'm not buying it. Something's off here. Like, so can you get, like, a legit prophet of Yahweh into this room so we can truly know what to do here? Let's keep going. Verse 7. So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, check this out. This is so good. Says, there is still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord. But I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah, the son of Ibla. I mean, I I don't. I'm just kind of putting that tone to his voice. I don't know if that's what he was kind of sounding like, but he kind of just seems like a whiny baby here. He's like, well, there is this one prophet. His name is Micaiah, but he never prophesies anything good to me. And Joshua says in verse, he said. He says in. He says, let not the king say such things. It's the bottom of verse seven. He says, let that. He's, like, calming down his child. He's like, micaiah never promised anything good to me. Always. He always says evil. And Joseph's like, it's okay. Like, don't say that. It's going to be fine. And then in verse eight, he says, then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said, bring Micaiah the son of imla. Quickly. Verse 9, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, clothed in their robes, sat each on his throne. And they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. That was a very ancient custom practice. You would sit and make decisions in the courtroom of the entrance of the city gates. They're there in the capital city of Samaria of Israel. And all the prophets prophesied before them. Verse 10. Now Zedekiah, the son of Shekoniah, had made horns of iron for himself. And he said, thus says the Lord, with these you shall go the Syrians until they are destroyed. He brings these two horns, and he's trying to illustrate this alliance between Judah and Israel. And he brings these two horns, and he says, with these two forces, with these two horns, we will gorge the Syrian king. In verse 11, he says, and all the prophets prophesied so, saying, go up to Ramoth, Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king's hand. Do you appreciate any of this, like, drama? Okay? I'm trying my best. So I didn't. I didn't need the applause, but I appreciate it. So this one guy, Zedekiah, he's like, got these two horns. He's like, go. He's like. He's like, you'll be fine. The two forces will clash against Syria. And all these little baby, you know, guys, the other 400 guys, they're like, yes, we agree. Go up and defeat the king of Syria. But then verse 12, it says, Then the messenger, messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him. So this is like a private conversation between the messenger Guy. And Micaiah, the real prophet, he says, okay, now, okay, so we're in verse 12. Now listen, the words of the prophets, with one accord, encourage the king. Therefore, please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragement. So the messenger here, he brings Micaiah, 1st Kings 22, says that he brings Micaiah from prison. Okay, so Ahab does not like this Micaiah guy, a true prophet. He pulls him from prison to bring him to the courtroom. And he says, listen, everybody's in agreement here, okay? We've all decided that they should go against the king of Syria. Can you just like, be a source of encouragement? Can you agree with these 400 guys? Now check out Micaiah's response in verse 13. And Micaiah said, as the Lord lives, whatever my God says that I will speak. Oh my goodness. I wrote in the margin of my Bible, oh yeah, let's go. I was just nerding out, like, oh yeah, let's go. Like, this is an awesome response. Micaiah is like, listen, whatever God gives me, that's what I'm going to speak. Principle number two, majority doesn't always equal morality. Be faithful to boldly speak biblical truth. You see, we have the majority of the prophets here. They're like, yep, go, you'll defeat the Syrian king. And Micaiah goes into this saying, I'm going to speak the word that God gives me. I'm not going to follow after the majority. Because majority doesn't necessarily always mean morality. And we know that from American history. We know that from world history. Be careful that you're not just so quick to jump on the bandwagon of the majority voice. Because majority doesn't always equal morality. But Micaiah here, he sets his heart on. I am going to boldly speak whatever God gives me. We are living in a culture of conformity. There are so many loud voices. One of those voices is just get on the bandwagon. Everybody accepts same sex marriage. We have normalized abortion in our nation. So let's just all jump on the bandwagon. And that voice seems loud, but do not follow the voice of the majority because it doesn't necessarily mean morality. We have to conform our lives to the truth of God's word. We have a standard. It's God's word. So we don't just blindly follow the voice, loud voice of the majority. We say, God, here's what's being cried out in the corners of the world. But I'm going to run that through the grid of God's word. And if you call that unholy, so do I. If you call that sin, so do I. Even though it might not be popular, I'm going to speak bold biblical truth now. You don't have to be a jerk about it. I'm not saying you just have to go and you just be. Be. Be abrasive and harsh. No. Wrap the truth in love, certainly, but no. Just know this. Truth by nature is offensive. Truth cuts, truth stings. But the Bible says Jesus would say it is the truth that sets people free. So if you truly love people, you're gonna tell them the truth. The highest form of respect and love you can show someone is to tell them the truth. So be a biblical voice in our day and age, conform to the majority. Let's be Micaiah's in Our day. Verse 14. Then he came to the king, and the king said to him, this is Ahab, Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain? And Micaiah said, go and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand. Now he's being sarcastic here. He is mocking. How do we know this? Because verse 15. So the king said to him, how many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord? So he knows Micaiah is just being sarcastic. And if you read ancient rabbinic tradition, they will tell you this, that Micaiah came with the sarcastic tone. He said, okay, you want to hear that? You want to. You want to be encouraged? You want me to tickle your ear? Okay, I'll tell you. Yep, go. You'll go. You'll be fine. Take the Syrian king, you'll take Ramoth Gilead, you'll be just fine. He knows Micaiah is not telling him the truth. Verse 16. Then he said, this is Micaiah, okay? Verse 16. Then he said, okay, you want the truth? Basically, 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 house in peace. So Micaiah gets this word from the Lord, and he says, okay, you want me to tell you the truth? You're not going to like it. I see Israel like scattered sheep on a hill with no leader. This is an affront to Ahab because he's their leader. And God is telling Micaiah to tell them, go, this is going to be bad news. Verse 17. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, did I not Tell you, he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. Then Micaiah said, therefore hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and his left. And the Lord said, who will persuade Ahab, king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth, Gilead? So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, I will persuade him. The Lord said to him, in what way? So he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, you shall persuade him and also prevail. Go out and do so. Verse 22. Therefore, look, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you. I'm going to do my best to kind of summarize what we just read in like five minutes because we have some people to baptize. This is one of the most, in my opinion, interesting passages in all of the Bible. We get a snippet into the heavenly throne room of heaven, and Micaiah has this heavenly vision where he basically says that God calls the heavenly hosts to court. Now he says that there are some on his right and some on his left. Most Bible scholars believe that the angelic hosts on his right are the good angels. The angelic hosts on his left denote fallen angelic creatures. Now this is very interesting because we learn here that even fallen angelic creatures still have limited access to God's throne room by permission only. We see this in the book of Job, Job, chapter one, verse six. We see that God has permitted Satan to enter his heavenly courtroom to accuse Job. So even the fallen angels, this might be new to some here, but even some fallen angelic creatures have limited access to God's throne room on as God permits it, as God allows it. And he takes court here, the good angels on his right, the fallen angels on his left. And he says, listen, I've determined we're going to defeat Ahab. How are we gonna do it? Now this is mind boggling because God does not need the angels to carry out his will. God could strike down Ahab in a moment. But what is so interesting here is that God desires that his heavenly family, that his heavenly hosts, participate in accomplishing and carrying out his will and purposes. It's the same thing for us as people. God doesn't need us, but he desires that we participate in his plans and purposes. It's the same thing with the heavenly hosts. God desires that the angelic creatures participate in carrying out his will. And he sometimes will even use fallen angelic creatures to carry out his will. We see that right here. How do we know that this is a fallen angelic creature? Because the angel that stands up and says, I know how. And God says, yeah, how are we going to do this? How are we going to kill Ahab? He says, I will be a lying spirit in the mouths of his prophets, and they will believe him. This is a very amazing thing. And God says, do it. You will accomplish my purposes. All right, let's just finish out this section here and then we'll go outside. Verse 23. Then Zedekiah the son of Kenai went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, which way did the spirit from the Lord go for me to speak to you? And Micaiah said, indeed, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide. Then the king of Israel said, take Micaiah and return him to Ammon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king's son, and say, thus says the king, put this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peace. But Micaiah said, if you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me. And he said, take heed all you people. Third and final principle. The Lord always offers a way out. See, even through Micaiah, he is displaying his mercy to Ahab, saying, if you would only follow Micaiah's advice. I think that the Lord would have refrained, but he doesn't. The Lord is trying to offer, as one last measure, he's trying to offer Ahab a way out, but he doesn't take it. And this should be something for us to learn as well. In the context of temptation. The New Testament says that the Lord always provides a way out. If you're right now in the middle of something you know you shouldn't be doing, listen, the Lord wants to provide you a way out. Take it. Obey him. Repent, and the Lord will be merciful to you. Let me pray and then I'm gonna get a thumbs up or thumbs down regarding baptisms. Lord, we love you so much and we end our night there. Lord, we ask that you would use this Bible study just to permeate our beings, Lord, with your truth. I pray that you would just continue to encourage us as we go about the rest of our week. Keep our eyes fixed on you at all times. The author and perfecter of our faith. We love you, God. We pray this all in the wonderful name of Jesus and all God's people said amen and amen.