The Prophet's Pickle

Scripture Reading:  2 Chronicles 18

Yesterday I laid out the situation. Ahab was trying to get Jehoshaphat to go to war with him against the Syrians. Jehoshaphat wanted a word from the LORD through a prophet. What he got was 400 false prophets and Micaiah, a true prophet of God.

Micaiah was put in a pickle. Consider all the forces arrayed against his godly inclination to speak the truth. The messenger who summoned Micaiah told him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them and speak favorably” (18:12). To speak the truth, Micaiah would have to stand alone. He would be going against the majority. There wasn’t one other prophet who would side with him. Not only would he be standing alone, but he would also be saying what the king didn’t want to hear. The truth wasn’t “favorable” to the king. Therefore, he knew going in that to say what needed to be said potentially meant trouble for him. There would be a price to pay.

In times like these, we need Micaiahs. Not prophets in the Old Testament sense of people foretelling future events, but men who forth-tell the truth with boldness and courage. That’s not easy. The cultural consensus right now is not on the side of truth. Those speaking truth will be a minority voice. Sometimes they will be the lone voice. Truth heals, but it often hurts before it heals. Those who are cut by truths scalpel often squeal and resist. They may even raise their own knife to inflict very real harm on the Micaiah who speak the truth. To be a Micaiah you have to be willing to pay the price. It’s easier in the short term to just say what everyone else is saying. Go along to get along. The coward's path is one of falsehood and obfuscation. Don’t be one of the 400. Be the one.

Tomorrow we will conclude this look at Micaiah by considering how Micaiah manned up.