Note: Tomorrow (Thursday, October 29) we do not expect to post a message. Today we will be spending time with Brooksyne's brother and his wife who are visiting from the Tulsa, OK area. Tomorrow I will be at a Christian Worldview Workshop all day and Brooksyne is attending a senior luncheon with friends.

Message summary: Let us, like the prophet Micaiah, be faithful in declaring God’s Word regardless of the cost.

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Micaiah declared (to King Ahab), “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!” (2 Chronicles 18:27).

“Mark my words” is an idiom used to emphasize certainty about a future event. It means “listen carefully and remember what I’m saying, because it will prove true” and is typically used before a confident prediction or warning.

“Mark” in this context means “take notice of” or “pay close attention”. It's not instructing one to write something down. It is always forward‑looking and not used for events that have already happened.  Today's text uses that phrase (in the NIV). Other versions state, "Hearken" (KJV), "Pay attention to this" (NOG), or “Take note” (NET).

Micaiah was a little-known prophet who took a stand for the Lord in his generation.Something we all need to do in our generation. Today we want to share an insight from the account when the kings (Ahab and Jehoshaphat) had consulted the prophets regarding their battle plans.

The majority of "prophets" confidently said, “Go, for God will give it into the (enemy) king’s hand" (v.5).  In fact one of them by the name of Zedekiah added some flamboyant visual effects, similar to the style of some very showy evangelists of our time! (1 Kings 22 account)

But Micaiah had a contrary word, a minority report. He stated, “As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what my God says” (2 Chronicles 18:13). What God had directed Micaiah to say was certainly not well received. His prophetical word is summed up in this simple pronouncement: “The LORD has decreed disaster for you" (.22). That’s certainly not what Ahab wanted to hear, yet his riches, his alliance with Jehoshaphat, and his kingly position did not change such a deadly pronouncement!

After receiving Micaiah’s news of disaster Ahab attempted to silence the prophet with these orders: “Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.”

The king thought his order for imprisonment and food deprivation would surely force Micaiah to modify his original prophecy.  But it didn't. In his parting prophetic statement Micaiah boldly proclaimed to the king: “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!” (2 Chronicles 18:27).

Notice the responsibility Micaiah took. He forthrightly stated that if Ahab did return safely, "the LORD has not spoken through me". Over my lifetime I have heard some who claim to speak for the Lord and miss the mark in situations that parallel our story today. Yet they make excuses or go on to try again and again. Guess enough on the issues and at some point they’re going to get it right! This is true of astrologists as well.

Ahab ignored Micaiah's counsel and died on the battlefield, validating the prophecy. An amazing detail about Scripture that intrigues me is that the very last we read about Micaiah is that he’s in prison. There’s no record of what happened to him after Ahab died.  Micaiah is one of the lesser known prophets that I want to have a conversation with when I get to heaven. I’m anxious to hear “the rest of his story”!

The main encouragement to end this message with is this: Let us, like the prophet Micaiah, be faithful in declaring God’s Word regardless of the cost.

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13.

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, far too often we want quick fixes or to know the exact means in which You are going to work in our lives.  But even as the Gospel is in ways a mystery unfolding, so is Your leading in our lives. If we had it all figured out and knew exactly how everything was going to fall into place, we’d be walking by sight rather than trusting by faith. We know that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.” Reassure our hearts  as we keep the words of Solomon before us, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” May Your Voice of Truth always be our guide in testing the spirits of those who are quick to say, “Thus saith the Lord” or “God told me…” If they are truly Your prophetic messengers their actions and words will be confirmed through Scripture. Amen.

Read today’s Bible story in its entirety online 2 Chronicles 18