So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but place no fire under it.” Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they limped about the altar which they had made. Now it happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or relieving himself, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” So they cried with a loud voice and gashed themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. Now it happened when noon had passed, that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.

Baal was relieving himself. That’s pretty funny. Baal was on the chamber pot feeling a little constipated. He was too busy busting a hernia to answer the cries of his prophets.

Elijah mocked the false prophets in the midst of Israel. He mocked them because they deserved mocking. And they deserved death for leading Israel after false gods. And they got what was coming to them. Elijah was telling Israel these alleged prophets are powerless, full empty words and they ought to flee from them and return to the God who lead them out of Egypt.

The false prophets and false teachers deserve the same treatment. They make boasts about miracles and healings but don’t offer proof. We to just believe them just because….they have a microphone, wrote books, have a tv show, podcast, speak at multiple conferences, and have a microphone. We should mock as we demonstrate how they are not God’s anointed. They love money and fame. They are insecure narcissists who need attention.

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of Yahweh here that we may inquire of him?” And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Hasten to bring Micaiah son of Imlah.” Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, clothed in their royal garments, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are consumed.’” All the prophets were also prophesying thus, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king.” Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, “Behold now, the words of the prophets, as if from one mouth, are good towards the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.” But Micaiah said, “As Yahweh lives, what Yahweh says to me, that I shall speak.” Then he came to the king, and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” And he said to him, “Go up and succeed, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king.” Then the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear that you will speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of Yahweh?”

This is a long quotation from the Bible but I wanted to keep the context.

Micaiah mocked Ahab’s prophets, who were there just to say what the king wanted to hear. From the way Ahab acted I would say he was petulant and unstable, so he needed positive affirmation from the people around him. Look at Micaiah’s response. Let me paraphrase: “Oh sure, oh mighty king, you definitely will win the battle. For realsies. God is on your side. You are the head and not the tail. No weapon formed against you will prevail, and so on and so forth.” A complete dressing down of the false prophets dripping with sarcasm.

Remember that the people in the Bible used sarcasm to make a point about false prophets and teachers.