"Go, and Prosper"

There is an interesting story at the end of 1 Kings about a prophet named Micaiah.  King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah had gotten together to see if they could go up against Syria.  King Ahab called together about 400 “prophets” to counsel him about whether he should go to war.  He said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?”  They responded with what he wanted to hear, “Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.”  One of them even went so far as to make a little object lesson for him: “And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.”  The problem was, though, that they were false prophets.  Jehoshaphat seems to have known that, for he said to Ahab, “Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him?”  Ahab responded, “There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.”  In other words, Ahab seemed to recognize that Micaiah was a true prophet, but he never liked what Micaiah told him because it went against what the king wanted (1 Kings 22:1-12). 

               Micaiah did come, though, and his interaction with the king teaches us I think about our agency.  When the messenger called Micaiah he tried to convince him to simply say what the king wanted to hear: “Let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.”  His powerful response shows how true prophets operate: “As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak.”  His concern was to say what the Lord wanted.  Ahab asked him if he should go up to battle, and Micaiah responded, “Go, and prosper,” saying exactly what the other prophets said (1 Kings 22:12-15).  The student manual explains the reply this way, “Ahab’s false prophets, or counselors, said yes, but Micaiah, a prophet of God, said no. The words of Micaiah in verse 15, ‘Go and prosper,’ were said with great sarcasm. It is as though Micaiah said: ‘All your false prophets have predicted success. You want me to do the same, so I will: ‘“Go and prosper.”’ This was said scornfully to let King Ahab know that it was contrary to Micaiah’s true advice.”  The king clearly understood what Micaiah was saying because he complained about it in his reply, and ultimately he rejected the prophet’s counsel and went to battle where he was almost immediately killed.  Micaiah’s reply to “Go and prosper” reminds us about choices and consequences.  Ahab clearly knew that he was not supposed to go to battle, and Micaiah’s words essentially said, “Sure, go—you can choose.  You know what the Lord wants, but the power of choice is yours and you can pick your consequences. 

This encounter reminds me of Nephi’s words to his brothers when they rebelling on the way back from Jerusalem: “Now behold, I say unto you that if ye will return unto Jerusalem ye shall also perish with them. And now, if ye have choice, go up to the land, and remember the words which I speak unto you, that if ye go ye will also perish” (1 Nephi 7:15).  The Lord won’t make us obey—He will warn us of consequences of certain actions, but ultimately our decisions are our own.  When the prophets today speak we have our choice to obey or to “go” and suffer the consequences like Ahab.