II Chronicles 18:1 Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab.
2 And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people that he had with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramothgilead.
3 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war.
4 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.
5 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.
6 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?
7 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
8 And the king of Israel called for one of his officers, and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imla.
9 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
10 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the LORD, With these thou shalt push Syria until they be consumed.
11 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
12 And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent; let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good.
13 And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak.
14 And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand.
15 And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the LORD?
16 Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace.
17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?
On March the 25th, 2026 the parliament of Canada passed a draconian bill that puts it in the history books along with the events that happened in Acts chapters 4-5 in particular. The bill I’m sure most of those reading this will know as Bill C9. That bill is supposed to protect people from hatred. We already have bills to deal with that. The problem is that our government does not know the meaning of hatred. They believe lying is good and telling the truth is bad. Just listening to any one of the politicians answer any serious question, will prove my point. They do not answer anything with honesty.
Canada is no longer at a crossroads. It has long ago passed over the crossroad and is on a collision course. That did not happen with this current bill. It happened with the expressed hatred for God and for the nation of Israel. It is also expressed in the hatred for life in the acceptance of the murder of unborn children. They have recently added the murder of children and adults through the MAID program they are promoting. Then of course there is the promotion of the sodomite agenda which God hates.
Canada is simply digging a hole now that is getting bigger and deeper all the time.
It is not time for true Christians to give up. It is time for true Christians to become bolder in proclaiming the truth. Yes, the threat of financial loss and prison are becoming more and more real, but the possibility of seeing a few people get saved is worth the inherent danger we are living in.
In our text, we read of two kings. Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah and Ahab was the king of the northern ten tribes known as Israel. Jehoshaphat was a man of God, but a very compromised man of God. His lack of obedience to who he should be, cost him and it cost the south/Judah. Ahab was a wicked king who despised God. In our text we read that Ahab had four hundred counsellors that he called upon for counsel on a matter that was very important to him. He had an enemy named Syria. He was afraid to go after them alone. Jehoshaphat foolishly had an affinity with Ahab. He promised to go to battle with Ahab. However, he wanted some assurance that they could win. King Ahab gathered his godless counsellors and asked for their counsel. They all agreed that they should go to war. They were sure that the king and his men would win the war and defeat the Syrians.
Jehoshaphat, deeply compromised, still had a little discernment left in him. He doubted these four hundred men. He knew they were not men of God. He asked if there was not a prophet of the LORD in Israel.
King Ahab had to admit there was one such man in Israel. King Ahab also admitted he hated this prophet. Why did he hate him?
II Chronicles 18:7 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
It was not that Micaiah was speaking lies. It was that he spoke the truth and the king did not like the truth. This is a very telling picture of what is going on in our parliament right now. It is not just the Liberals who do not like the truth. It is other parties as well.
This week our country held the 60th national prayer breakfast. It was touted as an historical event because it was the 60th year. This event was a very clear display of ecumenism. There were prayers offered but not to the God of the Bible. The entire event was a sham and those involved were either deceived or willfully ignorant or intent on deceiving others. This event gained national attention. The mainstream media was happy to cover the event. The question that should be asked in the midst of such an ungodly event should be: is there not a man of God here that we can inquire of God by? No God-fearing man would be a part of such an event, just as no God-fearing man would be a part of Ahab’s original meeting. They had to call for Micaiah to come to meet them. He was not with them. That meeting was no place for any faithful servant of God.
Micaiah was brought into that meeting and as they were bringing him, they counselled him as to how the four hundred false prophets had prophesied and they urged him to agree with the message already given. Micaiah was not a puppet of the king. He was a true man of God. He played along with the king at first, but the king knew he was being mocked. The king then demanded that Micaiah speak the truth. Micaiah went on to speak the truth and warned that this battle they were embarking on would be the death of Ahab and the defeat of the north.
Ahab reminded Jehoshaphat that this was the reason why he hated Micaiah. Ungodly leaders do not want to hear the truth. They want to hear from false prophets. They want their ego stroked. They are so hardened that they cannot discern truth from error. When they hear the truth, they attack the messenger.
This is exactly what our government is doing. They have been against the truth for a long time, but they have not had the tools to be able to shut down the truth sufficiently. Bill C9 is another piece of the tool kit they want to have to silence the truth. When they begin to implement the next phase of their hatred against God, they will go after those who speak the truth in love.
It is not hatred to speak the truth. It is loving to warn people when they are going the wrong way. It is loving when a God-fearing person points out the right way to go and condemns the wickedness that is being promoted.
When you read the rest of II Chronicles 18 you will find that Jehoshaphat almost lost his life due to his foolishness. King Ahab did lose his life and his empire began to crumble from that time forward. His wife would eventually be killed as well as his wicked daughter and her husband.
God’s justice is always one hundred percent accurate. We may think it is too slow in being enacted, but God is merciful. He sometimes allows the lost to dig their hole just a little deeper, but at just the right moment He takes the wicked person out of the way.
In our country, we wrongly assume that speaking the truth is hatred. We wrongly assume that protecting evil is loving and compassionate. The wise person takes God’s Word as his authority and does not allow wicked people to intimidate him. Those who are genuinely born again need to pray for one another. It would be good to be able to be protected from prison and financial attacks. However, we need to be reminded:
II Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Don’t be duped by the heavy hand of the wicked. Trust in the Lord and glorify Him in your life. The time is short. There is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents. Let us keep the goal in mind and realize that the prize will be realized in its fullness in heaven for those who are saved.
Pastor Bartel