There are passages of Scripture in the Old Testament that relate to events happening in today's world; for example, the story of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, partnering with the evil king of Israel, Ahab. The king of Israel wanted Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to join him in recapturing the city of Ramoth Gilead from Syria. But before entering the partnership, Jehoshaphat seeks prophetic guidance from God. We can learn a lot from Jehoshaphat's example. How often do good leaders ally with those on the enemy's side? Godly leaders must seek Godly counsel first.
The evil King Ahab turned to the day’s fake news; 400 prophets tuned into the spirit of the world. The four hundred prophets appeared before the kings, and all said the same thing: that the two kings should attack and would have victory. But Judah’s King Jehoshaphat was sensitive to the Spirit of the Lord and wouldn’t listen to the false claims from the faithless prophets. He wanted to hear from someone spiritually aligned with the Spirit of God. On that day, the prophet Micaiah was the only one known as a true prophet, but there was a problem—all he ever prophesied for the evil king, Ahab, was bad news.
7But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?” 8The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet 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” (1 Kings 22:7-8).
We live in a time similar to that of these two kings; the spirit of this evil world prompts us to draw deeply from the well of numerous news outlets and prophets of our day. No matter what the many before us say, we must look and listen as Jehoshaphat did: "Is there a prophet of the Lord?" we can hear. When Ahab's servants brought forth the true prophet of the Lord, Micaiah, he was intimidated by the servants of the evil king to say the same thing as the fake prophets were saying. He knew that his career and possibly his life were at risk by speaking against the world's prophets. Leaders in today's churches feel intimidated by the numerous voices they hear on news outlets. Many understand what God is doing but hesitate to oppose the spirit of the world. Jehoshaphat instructed Micaiah, the true prophet, to speak only what he knew God was saying.
16The 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?” 17Then 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.” 18The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?” (1 Kings 22:16-18).
Micaiah prophesied a word from God that was accurate for that time. Ahab was defeated and lost his life in the battle at Ramoth Gilead. We live in an era filled with numerous false prophetic news outlets that daily urge us to follow the desires of the spirit of the world. However, just because many voices echo the same message, we must not be intimidated into acting against the Spirit of God. We need to hear from God in our day and develop a sensitive ear to His voice. The Spirit of God rested on the good king Jehoshaphat, and he would not rest until he heard from God. The people of God would do well to learn this lesson as well. Keith Thomas