A Devotional Thought From 2 Chronicles

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the King say so.     2 Chronicles 18:7

One of the sinful missteps of Jehoshaphat’s administration in Judah was to become good friends with the evil king of Israel, Ahab. Ahab talked Jehoshaphat into joining with him to make war against his enemy Syria at the battle of Ramothgilead. Jehoshaphat true to his faith despite having put his foot into this cow pie, asked Ahab if they couldn’t enquire of the LORD to see if this endeavor would be blessed. Ahab was only too glad to indulge his ally and called forth four hundred prophets, apparently those who were followers of false gods or, at least, not in touch with the true God of the Jewish people. They said, paraphrased, God says do it you will win.

Jehoshaphat was uneasy, apparently recognizing the sketchy connection of these prophets  with real Jewish faith, and he said to Ahab, Isn’t there a prophet of the LORD we can ask? Ahab’s response is  striking. There is yet one man, by whom we may inquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil.

Ahab, the king and government of Israel, liked to be told that whatever he wanted to do was good, would work, and everything would be honky dory. That’s why when he got religious he called the false prophets. They told him what he wanted to hear. That’s why Micaiah was usually persona non grata, and was only called on when necessary. Micaiah told it like it is. His prophesies or sermons were based upon what God said, and often what God said, and therefore what Micaiah said, contradicted the administration’s policies. If you read on in this chapter you will find Micaiah paid a price for his faith candor, imposed on him by the king (Ahab) who rejected God’s truth.

In western  societies we have a similar thing today. The Bible preaching church stands in the place of Micaiah, and is rarely listened to regarding the cultural changes sought by a reckless unfaithful society. When the leader of our country, the administration, the special interest groups, or the courts decide to redefine what is appropriate and moral, and then accuse traditional morality of being wrong and bad and hurtful, they do not call the Bible preachers to ask them for the revelation of God’s truth from the Bible. They don’t want to hear that. It will not tell them what they want to hear. They can always find a “clergy person” who will support the liberal redefinition of what is right and wrong, and rather that openly and honestly state that they don’t believe the God of the Bible, they will say that the Micaiahlike Bible teachers just don’t understand it.

Then the poor parishoners (church attenders and members) who have been taught the Bible and have believed it, whether they be bakers, college students, bathroom attendants, or whoever gets caught up in the redefinition du jour, ends up getting clobbered by an unsympathetic legal system that has decided free speech is for those who tow the new cultural line. Let not the king say so.

Our nation and the nations of the world need Jehoshaphats not Ahabs!