SERIES: Enlightening Epitaphs of the Kings and Prophets
Micaiah: “He Never Prophesies Anything Good About Me.”
Introduction: Chances are many of you have never heard of Micaiah. He’s mentioned only in 1 Kings 22 and the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 18. We know nothing of his family, his ministry, or his death. Yet the Scriptures tell us enough to know he’s the kind of person we would trust with our lives, and he stands on a par with some of God’s choicest servants, particularly when it comes to courage and faithfulness.1
Let’s turn in our Bibles to 1 Kings 22. My approach this morning will be simple–to examine the historical context, evaluate the ministry of Micaiah, and then seek principles for our own lives.
For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel (Ahab). The king of Israel had said to his officials, “Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?”
So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?”
Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the LORD.”
So the king of Israel brought together the prophets–about four hundred men–and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”
“Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”
But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?”
The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”
“The king should not say that,” Jehoshaphat replied.
So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.”
Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.'”
All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the LORD will give it into the king’s hand.”
The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, as one man the other prophets are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.”
But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what the LORD tells me.”
When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”
“Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for the LORD will give it into the king’s hand.”
The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?”
Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.'”
The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”
Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’
“One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’
” ‘By what means?’ the LORD asked.
” ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.
” ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’
“So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.”
Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from the LORD go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked.
Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.”
The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.'”
Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”
Historical background (1-7)
The story of Micaiah comes near the end of Ahab’s reign, between the murder of Naboth the Jezreelite and Ahab’s death three years later. Our chapter opens with the notice that three years have passed with no war between Syria and Israel. Israel had won the two previous engagements handily, due to God’s sovereign intervention. However, according to chapter 20, Ahab disobeyed God after capturing the Syrian king, Ben Hadad. Instead of executing him, as God had commanded, Ahab offered to let him go in exchange for the return of some cities the Syrians has captured, and certain trade concessions, like the right to set up Jewish bazaars in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
But as soon as Ben Hadad’s life was spared, he reneged on his agreement and refused to return the occupied territory, including the city of Ramoth-Gilead. That fact seems to be the principal motive for the summit conference we just read about between Ahab and Jehoshaphat, a conference that resulted in …
An unwise political alliance. Just for the sake of reminder, we might mention that these two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, were formed as the result of a civil war shortly after Solomon’s death, which occurred about a century earlier. Ten of Israel’s 12 tribes formed the Northern Kingdom of Israel, of which Ahab is now the eighth king. Two of the tribes, Judah and Benjamin, formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah, of which Jehoshaphat is the fourth king. I guess godly kings live longer.
Jehoshaphat is one of the few godly kings of Judah (there were none in Israel), but he had one notable weakness–he was a lover of peace to the point he was willing to compromise to achieve it. The most notable example of this was his arrangement to have Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, marry his son Jehoram in order to cement a political alliance for the future. Athaliah turned out to be nearly as wicked as her mother and nearly brought about the extermination of the royal family of Judah. Now we find Jehoshaphat agreeing to another, equally unwise, political alliance as he becomes an ally of Ahab against Syria. He had no business doing this, because Ahab’s political and moral values were so very different from his own. But besides being an unwise political alliance, this was also …
An unholy religious alliance. These two kings reigned simultaneously for 20 years, but they were cut out of very different cloth. Ahab was a wicked king, actually encouraging idolatry among his people, while Jehoshaphat was essentially a good king, whose few recorded sins include the fact that he hobnobbed with Ahab.
But why shouldn’t they have this summit conference, and why shouldn’t they be at peace with one another? Aren’t they both Jews? That’s Jehoshaphat’s contention in verse 4: “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” Yes, racially they were both Israelites, but certainly not spiritually. As the Apostle Paul wrote centuries later, “He is a Jew who is one inwardly.” And Ahab was certainly not a Jew by that criterion. 2 Cor. 6:14-16 speaks very pointedly to us about the danger of an unequal yoke:
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?… What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?… Therefore, come out from them and be separate.
Now this passage cannot be interpreted as forbidding all cooperation and interaction between believers and unbelievers, for the Scriptures clearly indicate we are to be in the world but not of the world. And sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a certain kind of alliance with unbelievers is wise or foolish, holy or unholy. We need God’s wisdom as well as His Word in such situations. But God is certainly not pleased with this unholy alliance and I believe Jehoshaphat knows he is in dangerous territory. That is why he suggests to Ahab in verse 5, almost as an afterthought, “First seek the counsel of the LORD.”
An unappreciated afterthought. I’m sure Ahab wasn’t pleased with this suggestion. But I fault Jehoshaphat more, because he should have known better than to wait until this point to ask God. But do you ever find yourself doing the same thing? You lay your plans, you make key decisions, and then it suddenly occurs that you need to ask God to endorse your plans. So you ask, “Lord, is this what you want me to do? It must be, because I’ve already committed myself. Now will you bless the results?”2
Ahab responds to Jehoshaphat’s suggestion by rounding up 400 prophets to ascertain God’s will in the matter. Are these prophets of Baal, supported and sponsored by his wife Jezebel–replacements for the 400 prophets of Baal whom Elijah killed after the battle of Mt. Carmel? I hardly think Jehoshaphat would have tolerated the presence of prophets of Baal. Besides, the one prophet of these 400 who is named, Zedekiah, has a name which means, “the righteousness of Yahweh,”implying that he at least professes to be a true prophet of the Lord.
I think it more likely that these 400 prophets are the establishment Jewish religious leaders, tolerated by Ahab primarily because they seldom give him any trouble. They are like the spiritual leaders of whom Paul spoke when he said, “They have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.”
Responding to Ahab’s request for confirmation from the Lord as to whether to go up to battle, these prophets respond with enthusiasm, “Go for it, Ahab, for the Lord will give you victory.” That’s exactly what Ahab wants to hear, and he’s delighted, for now Jehoshaphat should have no hesitation about joining him in taking on Syria. But then Jehoshaphat expresses some lingering doubts: “Is there not yet a prophet of the LORD here whom we may inquire of?”
What do you suppose raises suspicion in Jehoshaphat’s mind that Ahab’s prophets may not be speaking for God? Perhaps it is the fact that someone with Ahab’s reputation could get such quick and unanimous approval. Or perhaps it is one of the words these prophets use. In verse 6 they use the term “Lord,” but it is a different word in Hebrew than Jehoshaphat used in verse 7. He used “Yahweh,” the personal name for Israel’s God, while they use “Adonai,” the more formal name (by the way, the difference is indicated in your English Bibles by the fact that in verse 6 “Lord” is spelled with a capital L, small o-r-d, while in verse 7 “LORD” is all in caps). It’s like the difference between saying “my Father” and “God.” Maybe they give themselves away by their hesitancy to use God’s personal name.
Now with that as historical background, we are ready to meet Micaiah, God’s prophet, who has an incredible reputation for honesty and integrity.
The prophet Micaiah has a reputation for honesty and integrity. (8-16)
Ahab condemns himself with his attitude toward Micaiah. Look again at verse 8: “The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.’” First, you will note that Ahab himself uses the term “LORD” with all caps. Yes, there is one prophet who can tell you what Yahweh says. What a sad commentary on the spiritual condition of his kingdom that there is only one who can be counted on to speak for God. But at least there is one.
His reputation for truthfulness is Micaiah’s greatest asset. The fact that Ahab hates him is also a pretty good indication of his godly character. But not only does Ahab condemn himself with this attitude toward Micaiah. I believe Jehoshaphat also condemns himself with his wimpy response to Ahab.
Jehoshaphat condemns himself with his mild rebuke of Ahab. He responds by saying in effect, “Naughty, naughty, Ahab. You shouldn’t say such things about Micaiah. You shouldn’t hate anybody.” I’m being a bit sarcastic because one could have hoped for a more forthright response from Jehoshaphat. Ahab’s attitude toward this true prophet should have been a dead giveaway to Jehoshaphat and should have sent him hightailing it back to Jerusalem. But he doesn’t, so Ahab calls for Micaiah.
We find the two kings sitting on their portable thrones near the gate of Samaria, dressed up in their royal regalia. All the establishment prophets are prophesying and their leader, Zedekiah, is using a visual aid to get his point across. He has made a couple of iron horns and uses them to illustrate how Israel will gore the Syrians and defeat them. Meanwhile the messenger sent to summon Micaiah (apparently from prison), is filling the prophet in on what’s happening and encouraging him not to rain on Ahab’s parade. “Micaiah, don’t make waves. Everyone is agreed we should go into battle, and you will be odd-man-out unless you join them.” But Micaiah responds, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me.” Wow! That’s the kind of courage and integrity we love to see. But then in verse 15 we begin to wonder whether this man’s reputation for honesty is entirely deserved. In fact,…
Micaiah, God’s honest prophet, “lies” to both of them. Ahab asks him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” Micaiah agrees immediately with the judgment of the other 400 prophets: “Attack and be victorious, for the LORD will give it into the king’s hand.” But immediately Ahab smells a rat. Never before has Micaiah had anything positive to say to Ahab and, besides, I suspect Micaiah’s tone of voice betrays a distinct lack of sincerity. It’s as though Micaiah responded, “Sure Ahab, God will give you anything you want because you’re such a devoted follower of His.”3
Knowing in his heart that the prophet is putting him on and pulling his leg, Ahab screams at Micaiah, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”! He’s ticked. He doesn’t really want to know the truth (or he wouldn’t have chased the true prophets out of Israel), but he doesn’t like being toyed with either. In the next scene we discover that …
Micaiah delivers on his reputation for honesty and integrity. (17-23)
He responds to Ahab, saying in effect, “OK, you want the truth, I’ll give you the hard, unadulterated truth.” And he reveals a vision the Lord has given him, a vision that begins, “I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.” Let me stop there. The two rich and powerful kings before him are sitting on their thrones in all the royal splendor they can muster, but friends, when you have seen God on His throne, you are not impressed or threatened by an Ahab or a Jehoshaphat sitting on theirs.
Micaiah predicts judgment on Israel and on Ahab. The vision shows an army in disarray. The commander-in-chief is dead, and the leaderless people are in retreat to their homes. That, says, Micaiah, will be the end result if Ahab and Jehoshaphat go into battle against Syria. Ahab turns to Jehoshaphat: “I knew it. I told you so, didn’t I? He never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad.” But Micaiah continues, revealing the fundamental reason why the score is 400 to 1. He explains to us once for all why truth cannot be established by majority vote. It all has to do with spiritual warfare invisible to human eyes.
Micaiah reveals the truth about spiritual warfare. He tells us about a meeting going on up in Heaven. God is looking for a spirit messenger to entice Ahab to launch the battle in which he will be killed. Look again at verse 21:
Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, “I will entice him.”
“By what means?” the Lord asked.
“I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,” he said.
“You will succeed in enticing him,” said the Lord. “Go and do it.”
I see several important truths here that we must grasp about spiritual warfare:
1. God is deeply involved in human affairs. In fact, He is in control of His entire universe. Not even political evil and religious apostasy are outside His knowledge and His sovereignty. While Ahab is plotting military strategy, God is planning the end of Ahab.
2. God can employ evil as well as good instruments to accomplish His purposes, while never Himself committing evil or approving the evil. He can use an evil angel as well as a good one; He can use a wicked nation as well as a righteous one. This bothers some of us, but we’re not in bad company–it also bothered the prophet Habakkuk. He didn’t appreciate it one bit when God raised up the Chaldeans to punish the Jews, because, though the Jews certainly deserved to be punished, the Chaldeans were even worse. He chided God for being “silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” And how did God answer? He said essentially, “Don’t worry about it. If I decide to use the wicked, that’s My business. But it still doesn’t excuse the Chaldeans. Someday they will get theirs.” God can use any instrument He chooses to accomplish His purposes. In this case He uses an evil spirit to deceive the prophets, who in turn deceive Ahab.
3. Satanic blindness covers the eyes of those who do not believe, resulting in incredible darkness. While there are countless examples of this in the Bible, I think it most worthwhile to turn directly to the NT teaching on this subject as found in 2 Cor. 4:4: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” And in 2 Thessalonians 2:11,12 the influence of Anti-Christ in the end times is described this way: “God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
In 1 Kings 22 we see a clear illustration of how this Satanic blindness operates. But I want to take a risk and apply this to the ecclesiastical situation in our day. Here in St. Louis there are about five thousand houses of worship. I would estimate that in a large majority of those churches the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not preached so that people can be saved and nurtured in their faith. Why? Are those pastors and priests and rabbis and imams purposely deceiving their people in order to lead them to Hell? No, of course not. They are themselves victims of a deceptive plan by which Satan is leading both clergy and people to Hell.
Many religious leaders (and this was just as true in Jesus’ day as it is today), are sincere but sincerely wrong; they are blind guides of the blind. And that is why Micaiah is standing alone. He is the only one whom the evil spirit has not been able to seduce. Thankfully in St. Louis there are a number of churches in a variety of denominations which do preach the true Gospel, though I sadly suspect they are still a distinct minority.
So far we have seen that Micaiah has a reputation for honesty and integrity, and that he has delivered on his reputation. Now we see finally that he must pay the consequences for his honesty and integrity.
Micaiah pays the consequences for his honesty and integrity. (24-28)
Sometimes God rewards His faithful servants immediately for acts of courage. But at other times the rewards are deferred. Micaiah’s rewards are deferred. In the meantime, he begins to pay the consequences for being truthful. The first of these is enduring the anger of the other prophets. Verse 24 says that Zedekiah, the leader of the 400 deceived prophets, approaches Micaiah and slaps him in the face. This action provides some important insight into human nature. When someone tells us something we don’t want to hear and we know down deep we’re wrong, how do we react? Often in anger, don’t we? In fact, anger and bitterness are frequently a sign of insecurity and guilt.
But when we know we’re in the right and are falsely accused, it is much easier to respond with calm and even pity towards our accuser, confident that the truth will vindicate itself, confident that God will vindicate us. Think about that the next time you’re tempted to slug someone, either physically or verbally, because they told you something you didn’t want to hear.
But Zedekiah doesn’t just strike Micaiah–He also asks him a question: “How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?” In other words, “Prove that you’re telling the truth and we’re all deceived.” Micaiah’s answer is simply, “Wait and see. You’ll find out on the day you have to find a hiding place.” In other words, “After Ahab is killed in the forthcoming battle and the army returns home in disarray, there’s going to be a bounty out on you prophets who promised victory. Then you will realize I was telling the truth.”
But Zedekiah is not the only one to bring consequences to bear upon Micaiah for his honesty. In verses 26 & 27 we read that the King orders him to be returned to prison and placed on survival rations until Ahab returns safely. To which Micaiah confidently responds, “If you do return safely, then the Lord has not spoken by me.” And with that he turns and addresses the people, “Mark my words, all you people!” He is not hesitant to call the whole nation to witness the outcome– hopefully many people will turn to God in repentance.
That’s the last we hear of Micaiah. We don’t know whether he died in prison or was released following Ahab’s death. We do know, however, that he trusted in God, and God has promised to reward His faithful servants, either in this life or the next.
Before concluding with some important practical principles which we can apply to our own lives, perhaps a brief postscript is in order regarding the outcome of our story. Despite Micaiah’s warning, Ahab and Jehoshaphat went ahead with their battle plans against the Syrians at Ramoth-Gilead. Ahab thought he could protect himself by wearing a disguise in battle, but a certain archer drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of his armor. He died that evening, and the dogs licked his blood as the prophet Elijah had predicted years earlier.
Jehoshaphat himself was saved only by the skin of his teeth and was rebuked strongly by one of God’s prophets for disobeying the Word of the Lord. We read of this rebuke in 2 Chron. 19:1-3: “Jehu the prophet said to King Jehoshaphat: ‘Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord and so bring wrath on yourself from the Lord? But there is some good in you, for you have removed the idols from the land and you have set your heart to seek God.”
Principles to Ponder and pursue:
1. God’s faithful servants are always in the minority. Friends, nothing should be clearer from the Word of God than this: if you speak the truth, if you live for Christ, if you take a stand for righteousness, you’re going to be in the minority, and probably in a very small minority. You’ll be different, you may be laughed at, you may be hated. Remember that Jesus said, “Don’t be surprised if the world hates you. It hated Me before it hated you.”
If you’re out in the work-a-day world and refuse to cuss and swear, expect to be in the minority. If you’re in school and you refuse to laugh or even to listen to dirty jokes, expect to be in the minority. If you live faithfully with your spouse, expect to be in the minority. If you spend a quiet time with God each day and get into a discipleship group, expect to be in the minority. If you give regularly as God has blessed you in the support of God’s work, expect to be in the minority. And if you serve God unselfishly in His Church, expect to be in the minority. God’s faithful servants are always in the minority.
2. God’s faithful servants have reputations for honesty and righteousness, even among their enemies. You know, it’s one thing to have a good reputation among your friends and fellow church members. It’s another thing to have the same among your enemies. Ahab said of Micaiah, “I hate him because he always tells the truth about me.” How many of God’s enemies hate you because your walk is so consistent that you bring conviction on them whenever you’re around them?
3. God’s faithful servants have boldness and confidence in the Lord. Micaiah is a great example in that he didn’t confer with flesh and blood (no polling data needed), he didn’t waver, and he didn’t consider the negative consequences to himself, but rather boldly spoke and lived the truth, come what may. You know, God is still looking for men and women and young people to stand boldly for the truth.
Conclusion: On February 4, 1994 Mother Teresa was invited to speak at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. President Clinton and his wife were sitting on the front row, and many cabinet members and political leaders from the Clinton administration were present. There were a number of topics Mother Teresa could have addressed that would have generated accolades from the powers that be–she could have spoken of the power of prayer or the need to love one another or the goodness of America. Everyone would have eaten that up. But instead, she focused her remarks on the last, the least, and the lost. Standing before political leaders who had done more to make abortion legal and acceptable than any before them in history, she spoke with power and conviction:
I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?
Please don’t kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child and be loved by the child. From our children’s home in Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3000 children from abortion. These children have brought such love and joy to their adopting parents and have grown up so full of love and joy.
That, friends, is a great example of the kind of honesty and integrity we need today. God’s call on your life may be different than Mother Teresa’s, but whatever that call is, it will require courage and fortitude and honesty. As a matter of fact, even more important than being honest about abortion is the need to be honest about the lost condition of people all around us and the fact that Jesus is the only Way to God. Our culture doesn’t want to hear that, but it needs to hear it. It needs to hear that sins are forgiven only at the Cross.
If you take a stand on truth, you are going to be odd-man-out; you are going to be unappreciated, unpopular, perhaps even persecuted. Yet that is what God is calling us to do. It is not peace at all costs; it is truth at all costs. May God find us faithful.
DATE: June 23, 2002
Tags:
Honesty
Lying
Spiritual warfare
Satanic blindness
Boldness
“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets (there’s Micaiah!), who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised …. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison … the world was not worthy of them.”
2. David Roper, Hard Words, sermon preached February 29, 1976, 2.
3. By the way, this is not the only time a prophet of God has told a “lie.” Elisha did the same thing. In 2 Kings 8:10 Elisha tells the emissary of King Ben-Hadad, who was inquiring of him as to whether the king would survive his illness, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover’; but the LORD has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” I believe it is instructive in both of these cases that the prophet made it obvious to his immediate listeners that he was not telling the truth.
There are other examples in Scripture of falsehood which seems to be tolerated or even approved by God, but in which the listener does not readily ascertain that the speaker is “pulling his leg.” For example, the Hebrew midwives in the first chapter of Exodus lied to their Egyptian oppressors in a scheme to save their children from being exterminated. Christian ethicists have justified such “lying” on the grounds of a hierarchy of values. In other words, they contend that it is a greater good to save a life than it is to tell the truth. Such a philosophy is fraught with potential danger, but we clearly cannot categorically rule out the possibility that a falsehood might on occasion be justified.
Nevertheless, this is not the same as agreeing with Dan Rather, CBS News anchor, who said regarding former President Clinton during a Fox News interview, “I think at core, he’s an honest person …. I think you can be an honest person and lie about any number of things.” (U.S. News and World Report, May 28, 2001, 8).