What Strange Message Did Micaiah Give to King Ahab?

When men in the Bible were called to be prophets and were wholly devoted to God, He often did amazing things through them to get His message across. That was true in the case of Micaiah, son of the prophet Imlah, who prophesied during the time of King Ahab of Israel.

Ahab came to power when his father, King Omri, died. Ahab reigned over Israel for 22 years from the royal palace he built in Samaria. Ahab “did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of the kings before him,” according to 1 Kings 16:30. One of those evils was to marry Jezebel, the daughter of the pagan king who ruled over Tyre and Sidon. Within his palace in Samaria, he set up an altar to Baal, a false God whose worship his Phonecian wife Jezebel would have brought into the marriage (1 Kings 16:32). During his reign he would also make peace with King Jehosophat of Judah for the first time since the division of the Israel into two nations after King Solomon’s death.

Before he met the prophet Micaiah, Ahab had a lot of interaction with the prophet Elijah. Elijah was sent to show Israel the evil of their ways and encourage them to return to the Lord. He wasn’t successful–in fact, Ahab and Jezebel wanted to put him to death. Years later, King Ahab asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah to join him in taking over an area he believed belonged to them. Jehosophat said he would engage with Ahab, but before doing so, he tells Ahab, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.”

What Does the Prophet Micaiah Tell Ahab?

King Ahab brought in 400 false prophets that he kept on staff and asked them what they thought of the invasion. They were all “yes men,” so they said, “Go . . . for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand” (1 Kings 22:6). Ahab then told Jehosophat that there was one other prophet they could ask, but he hated the man for the way his prophecies always went against him. They brought Micaiah anyway and asked him to speak to the Lord and learn whether they should attack.

Mockingly, Micaiah answered like the other prophets: that God would give the country into their hands. When Ahab asked for the real prophecy, Micaiah told an amazing story of how God responded. He said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace” (1 Kings 22:17). King Ahab didn’t like that answer.

Micaiah went on to tell an amazing story of a vision that he had of the LORD sitting on his throne surrounded by all the hosts of heaven. Then, God asked a question that no one expected. “Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?” God was going to allow this to happen but was asking which spirit would do it. When one came forward, God asked how he would do so, and he said he would send a lying spirit into the mouths of the 400 prophets (1 Kings 22:19-21).

Once again, Ahab didn’t like the words that Michaiah brought from the Lord and ordered him to be imprisoned with nothing but bread and water until he returned. But Ahab was killed; this is the last we hear of Michaiah.

What Does the Name Micaiah Mean?

The Hebrew translation of Micaiah means “Who is like Jehovah?”

The most famous Micaiah in the Bible was the son of Imlah, a faithful prophet of Samaria. Knowing a portion of his life story in his interaction with King Ahab, we can see that “Who is like Jehovah?” sounds like a challenge. God chose Micaiah to be a prophet before he was born, so to have a name that emphasizes God’s power and sovereignty would speak volumes to the people he encountered.

How Many People Named Micaiah Are in the Bible?

The name Micaiah appears in several Bible verses, but not always in this spelling. Besides the prophet who gave God’s message to King Ahab, there are others with this pronunciation but with the spelling “Mica” or “Micah.”

1. The mother of Abijah, king of Judah, was named Maacah (1 Kings 15:2), which is a form of Micaiah.
2. When reparations were being made to the temple in 621 BC, King Josiah learned that his high priest Hilkiah found the “Book of the Law” (believed to be the book of Deuteronomy) and had it read in front of the king. He tore his robes because he knew the people had not followed the law. Achbor, son of Micaiah, went with the high priest to “inquire of the Lord” what they should do about the fact that they hadn’t been following the law.
3. A prince of Judah was sent by Jehoshaphat to teach in the cities of Judah (2 Chronicles 17:7).
4. An ancestor of Zechariah, part of the priestly procession at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 12:35).
5. A man who leads the priestly procession at the wall dedication (Nehemiah 12:41).
6. A prophet at the end of the Old Testament who prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (750-686 BC).

What Does Micaiah’s Story Teach Us about Following God?

Micaiah is so quickly on and off the stage of Biblical history that there are many questions we could have, yet we can learn some things about following God.

God allows Micaiah to see such an unusual vision and glimpse into the spiritual realm to retrieve a negative message from God for King Ahab. He actually shared that God was looking for a spirit to entice Ahab to attack Ramoth Gilead. I’m sure that shocked Ahab, who thought he was in control and was just looking for a “yes” or “no” from God. To his credit, Ahab asked Micaiah to inquire of the Lord, but when he heard a negative prophecy, he didn’t want anything to do with Micaiah and sent him away to prison.

Micaiah’s story would tell us that we need to allow God to use us in any way, regardless of what the world would say. He trusted God’s will would be done even if his words weren’t popular. He stood his ground and didn’t shy away from speaking the truth.

That’s what Micaiah’s story can teach us. We don’t know what happened to Micaiah, but we do know that He honored the Lord: he fulfilled his role. Prophets did not always receive popular assignments: Jonah famously ran away rather than deliver the message God wanted him to give to Ninevah. While Micaiah did make Ahab work a little before giving a full answer, he fulfilled his role. He pleased God even when it involved doing something unpopular. If we are walking with the Lord and He asks us to do something in His name, including picking up our cross and following Him, we must do so. We need to follow His commands to love Him with everything we have and love our neighbors as ourselves. In a time in our history when it’s very unpopular to share our faith with unbelievers, we need to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to do so, living lives that glorify God and give people a reason to look into the truths of the gospel for themselves.

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Mary Oelerich-Meyer is a Chicago-area freelance writer and copy editor who prayed for years for a way to write about and for the Lord. She spent 20 years writing for area healthcare organizations, interviewing doctors and clinical professionals and writing more than 1,500 articles in addition to marketing collateral materials. Important work, but not what she felt called to do. She is grateful for any opportunity to share the Lord in her writing and editing, believing that life is too short to write about anything else. Previously she served as Marketing Communications Director for a large healthcare system. She holds a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Cornell College (the original Cornell!) When not researching or writing, she loves to spend time with her writer daughter, granddaughter, rescue doggie and husband (not always in that order).  

This article is part of our People from the Bible Series featuring the most well-known historical names and figures from Scripture. We have compiled these articles to help you study those whom God chose to set before us as examples in His Word. May their lives and walks with God strengthen your faith and encourage your soul.

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