Truth Seeker
or not
Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 18
2 Chronicles 18 chronicles (see what I did there) the truth-telling of a relatively obscure prophet named Micaiah. At the time, Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, had become allies and friends. Ahab was pushing Jehoshaphat to join him in a war against Syria. To his credit, Jehoshaphat wanted to get confirmation from the Lord that this was the right thing to do, and so he asked for prophets to be brought before them who would give them a word from the Lord.
Ahab sent for prophets and 400 men showed up and all spoke in favor of going to war. Jehoshaphat sensed that something was amiss and asked if there weren’t another prophet of the LORD to whom they might inquire. Ahab had to admit that there was, this man named Micaiah.
Micaiah was sent for and the man who summoned him to the kings warned him that all the other prophets were in agreement and favored the king’s plan, and if Micaiah knew what was good for him, he would just go along with the crowd.
Micaiah shows up and said to the kings, “Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.” I don’t know if it was the inflection of his voice, his facial expressions, or his body language; but something told the Ahab that Micaiah wasn’t sincere in this word. He insisted that Micaiah speak the truth. Micaiah did and warned that this war was going to end in disaster. He went further and spoke against the 400 prophets, saying that they all had lying spirits that were motivating their prophecies.
Jehoshaphat and Ahab knew what they were planning was a bad idea. The evidence is clear:
1. Jehoshaphat wanted a word from the LORD first, indicating his sense that it was a bad idea.
2. Jehoshaphat questioned the word of 400 prophets, indicating he knew they weren’t being truthful.
3. Jehoshaphat asked for another prophet, indicating he sensed this wasn’t God’s will.
4. Ahab rebuked Micaiah for his first prophecy, indicating he knew it wasn’t true that they would be successful in their planned campaign.
Despite their obvious misgivings, the two kings still marched off to war against the Syrians. They still held on to a strange hope that they might somehow be victorious, even though in their gut they knew trouble awaited them.
What Ahab and Jehoshaphat illustrate is not everyone who seeks a word from God about their plans wants true counsel and instruction. Some people just want a stamp of approval. They are going to do what they are going to do, but they’d like to get God’s go-ahead if they can. They are likely to get mad if they don’t. That is a telling sign that they never were seeking truth. The truth-seeker will change his plans and directions when God tells him he’s headed for trouble. In a word, the true truth-seeker repents.
Tomorrow we will consider the prophet’s pickle.