And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.
What the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak. On the way, the messenger who conducted him to the royal presence, informed him of the tenor of the prophecies already given, and recommended him to agree with the rest-no doubt, from the kindly motives of seeing him released from imprisonment. But Micaiah, inflexibly faithful to his divine mission as a prophet, announced his purpose to proclaim honestly whatever God should bid him. On being asked by the king, "Shall, we go against Ramoth-gilead, or shall we forbear?" the prophet gave precisely the same answer as the previous oracles that had been consulted; but it must have been given in a sarcastic tone, and in ironical mockery of their way of speaking. Being solemnly urged to give a serious and truthful answer, Micaiah then declared the visionary scene the Spirit had revealed to him - "I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd." The purport of this was, that the army of Israel would be defeated and dispersed, that Ahab would fall in the battle, and the people return without either being pursued or destroyed by the enemy.