Память святого пророка Михея

The holy prophet Micah, son of Iamlay 266, was a contemporary of the prophet of God Elijah and lived during the time of Ahab, king of Israel 267 and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah 268. Micaiah prophesied orally and foretold the unhappy end of Ahab's war against Syria. One day Jehoshaphat arrived in Samaria 269 to visit Ahab. Remembering that Ramoth, the city of Gilead 270, which was owned by the Syrians, formerly belonged to the kingdom of Israel, Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to go with joint forces to war against Syria 271. The pious king of the Jews agreed to this, but before setting out on the campaign he wanted to find out the will of God from the lips of the prophets. Then Ahab called to him the prophets of Baal 272. These false prophets, appearing before both kings who were sitting on magnificent thrones in the gates of Samaria, foretold Ahab's victory over the Syrians. But Jehoshaphat asked if the prophet of the Lord was still here, so that he could inquire of the Lord through him. “There is another person through whom you can ask the Lord,” answered Ahab, “but I do not love him, because he does not prophesy good things about me, but constantly prophesies bad things; this is Micaiah, son of Imbelaius. “Don’t say that, king,” Jehoshaphat objected. Ahab immediately ordered Micaiah to be called. - Micaiah, should we go to Ramoth-gilead or hold out? “I saw all the children of Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd, and the Lord said: They have no leader; let them return every one to his home in peace.” Then Ahab gave the order to take the prophet Micah to prison and give him there only a little bread and water until he (Ahab) returned in peace. “If you return in peace, then it was not the Lord who spoke through me.” Ahab did not listen to the prophetic words of Saint Micah and opened war with the Syrians, but in the very first battle he received a mortal wound, 273 and Jehoshaphat and his army returned to Judea. This prophet Micah did not belong to the 12 so-called “lesser prophets” and lived in the 9th century BC. The holy prophet Micah, from among the “lesser prophets,” lived and prophesied 130 years later. Ahab son of Omri, king of Israel; he married the wicked Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon, and together with her introduced a new idolatry in the kingdom of Israel - service to Baal and Astarte - the deities of Sidon. The prophet of God Elijah the Tishbite lived with him and threateningly denounced his wickedness. Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, the pious king of Judah, reigned from 914 to 889 BC. Samaria is the main city of the kingdom of Israel. This city was built by Omri the king of Israel, the father of Ahab, 925 years BC and until the destruction of the kingdom by Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, it remained the main city and residence of the kings of Israel. Ramoth is the city of Gilead, now Salt, lying at the foot of Mount Gilead. - Gilead is the country of Transjordan. Syria - in a broad sense means the vast land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Euphrates. During its independence, it was divided into many kingdoms, of which the most powerful was the kingdom of Damascus, which in the present case is here of course. During the reign of Baasha and Omri, kings of Israel, Ben-hadad, king of Syria, took possession of several cities of Israel. Under the son of Omri, Ahab, Benhadad 2nd, the son of the previous one, besieged Samaria itself, but was captured and forced to make peace, returning to Ahab the cities conquered by his father; however, Ramoth-gilead remained in the hands of the Syrians. Baal is the main deity of the Phoenicians, under whose name they mainly idolized the sun. Having introduced the service of Baal and Ashtoreth with Jezebel into the kingdom of Israel, Ahab especially patronized the false prophets of Baal, supporting them, numbering about a thousand people, as his royal dependents. This was around 878 BC. You might be interested in: