2 Chronicles 18:6,7
Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?
And [Ahab] the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Jehoshaphat and Ahab were attended with a crowd of flattering prophets, that could not think of prophesying anything but what was very sweet and very smooth to two such glorious princes now in confederacy. Those that love to be flattered shall not want flatterers.
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Great ones love it, they must hear pleasing things; or if told of their faults, it must be done with silken words.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Surely Ahab does not need Micaiah to prophesy smooth things to him, for there are already four hundred prophets of the groves who are flattering him with one consent.
WILLIAM GURNALL (1617-1679): The false prophets’ pleasing words, with which they clawed Ahab’s proud humour, could by no means be brought to fit good Micaiah’s mouth…Micaiah was made a scorn because he would not tune his pipe to Ahab’s ear, nor join with the whole college of his flattering chaplains in their judgment.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): As soon as Micaiah has delivered his message from the Lord, Ahab is filled with rage against him, and orders him to be put in prison, and to be fed with the bread and water of affliction.
ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): Depend upon it, faithful dealing must bring reproach.
MATTHEW HENRY: Faithful reproofs, if they do not profit, usually provoke; if they do not do good, they are resented as affronts, and they that will not bow to the reproof, will fly in the face of the reprover and hate him, as Ahab hated Micaiah.
J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): We need not wonder at this. When men and women have chosen their line, and resolved to have their own wicked way, they dislike anyone who tries to turn them. They would rather be let alone. They are irritated by opposition. They are angry when they are told the truth. The prophet Elijah was called a “man that troubled Israel.” The prophet Micaiah was hated by Ahab, “because he never prophesied good of him, but evil.”
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): Micaiah was purely God’s instrument in all his messages; and whatsoever evil he threatened, Ahab himself was the cause and procurer of it.
JOHN TRAPP: Hugh Latimer dealt no less faithfully with King Henry VIII in his sermons at court. And being asked by the king how he dared to be so bold to preach after that manner, he answered that duty to God and to his prince had enforced him to it; and now that he had discharged his conscience, his life was in his Majesty’s hands…Among others of his rank that gratified King Henry VIII with a new year’s gift, according to the custom, Latimer presented him a New Testament, with a napkin having this written upon it: “Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge,” Hebrews 13:4. The Scriptures, he knew, would deal plainly with him, and tell him that which others dared not.
J. W. ALEXANDER (1804-1859): The fearless tongue of John Knox, even against princes, has been noted as fully by foes as friends.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): The consciousness that they were servants of the living God was the very secret of the power of these men.
THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): Micaiah now appears before the kings and courtiers, alone, indeed, but not unsupported; God was with him, therefore could he not be moved.
JOHN TRAPP: He would not budge as other timeservers did, for any man’s pleasure or displeasure, and there is a wonderful sympathy between kings and court parasites, as was between Ahab and the false prophets… Flattery gets friends, but truth hatred. But truth must be spoken, however it be taken.
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): Man-pleasing professors would endeavour to escape all this disgrace and danger by getting into the favour of the great, the worldly, and the irreligious.
C. H. SPURGEON: There is no need whatever that you and I should be chaplains of the modern spirit, for it is well supplied with busy advocates.
CHARLES SIMEON: All idea of pleasing men must be utterly abandoned: for if we please men, or seek to do so, we cannot be the servants of Jesus Christ, Galatians 1:10.
HUGH LATIMER (1483-1555): The minister must reprove without fearing any man, even if he be threatened with death.*
J. R. MILLER (1840-1912): It is not enough just to put on a bold face and compel ourselves to be brave, or appear brave. It will not do merely to try to make ourselves think there is no danger, when we know very well that there is danger. The true secret of confidence and fearlessness in danger is faith in the divine keeping, not in thinking there is no peril. “In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” The great truth to be learned by all who would acquire true moral courage is the reality of God’s care for His people in all their dangers. Psalm 121 describes this care: “The Lord is thy keeper;” “The Lord shall keep thee from all evil;” He that keepeth thee will not slumber.”
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): The knowledge of this ought to overcome our fears, that we may speak boldly in the midst of dangers.
CHARLES WESLEY (1707-1788): In the church, while preaching, I have no superior but God; and shall not ask man leave to show him his sins.
WILLIAM GURNALL: Man-pleasing is both endless and needless. If thou would, thou could not please all; and if thou could, there is no need, so thou please One that can turn all their hearts or bind their hands.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): Whatever may be the present gain of pleasing men at the expense of displeasing God, the future loss will be immeasurably greater: prayerfully ponder Mark 8:38, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
C. H. SPURGEON: We stand in a very solemn position, and ours should be the spirit of old Micaiah.**
MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): It would be dishonouring to God if we were to act in any other way.
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*EDITOR’S NOTE: Martyred during the persecuting reign of king Henry VIII’s daughter Queen Mary, Hugh Latimer’s ministry was faithful unto death. Before being burned at the stake, Latimer turned to his fellow martyr, Nicholas Ridley, and said, “Be of good comfort, master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”
**EDITOR’S NOTE: The Scriptures abound with faithful ministers who stood before kings, and spoke truth to power, as did Micaiah. For examples, see Elijah to Ahab (1 Kings 17:1); Moses to Pharaoh (Exodus 5:1,2); Nathan and Gad to King David (2 Samuel 12:1-12 & 24:11-13); John the Baptist to Herod (Mark 6:17-20).
