In First Kings, chapter twenty-two, verse six, these four hundred prophets of Ahab were not men of the Lord but religionists who prophesied what the king wanted to hear. These are false prophets of Ahab, such as he had put together by rewards and promises, who knew how to suit his humor, flatter his vanity, and who yet gave their answer in the name of Jehovah. Either in compliance with Jehoshaphat or by Ahab’s direction, Jehoshaphat might receive a convincing opinion of the war through deception.
These cannot have been the prophets of Baal, for their ringleader, Zedekiah, in First Kings twenty-two, verse eleven begins his speech, ‘Thus saith Jehovah,’ and in First Kings twenty-two, verse twenty-four, speaks of ‘the spirit of Jehovah’ as being with him. But they were not true adherents of the Lord. Otherwise, Jehoshaphat would certainly have been content with their words. These four hundred prophets all predicted a prosperous result for the campaign. He went on with the project even after Micaiah’s prophetic warning; he never would have sought more satisfaction had he heard four hundred true prophets of Jehovah say, ‘the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.’
These men were the prophets who served in the worship of the calves. They would use Jehovah’s name, just as constantly as the men who had not forsaken His commandment, and throughout the whole of Israel, this number of them could no doubt gather, and these, though not his Baal-priests, Ahab would bring before Jehoshaphat.
The four hundred prophets are a prime example of Second Timothy three, verse five, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” This verse explains why Jehoshaphat was not at ease with their prediction because it was just mouth talking with no power or authority behind it: empty words.