You’re like “Who’s Micaiah?” He was a prophet that prophesied the truth.
You can read about him here: 2 Chronicles 17:1-18:25
I feel like Micaiah in 2020.
2020: The year when the obvious is confusing.
God won’t continue to bless a hot mess.
I love good news.
Some Christians think good news means their health, wealth and prosperity.
You know what the good news is? Though we can all be a hot mess on any given day, we can ask for forgiveness, repent and go in the opposite direction.
And guess what? He keeps on forgiving. That’s good news.
But people like prophets that say….God will continue to bless your hot mess. They might not come out and say it like that, but it probably comes out more like “God only speaks positively. God only wants your best….of course whatever that means to you. God wants you to be safe and secure with at least a retirement plan saved for. God would not tell how to live your life or what to do with it. You can choose. He wants to give YOU the desires of your heart. God won’t allow America to collapse on its face…we are His people. God won’t bring judgment. He is a God of love, not wrath. God made me like this, so that means I can’t help it that I am like this.”
In the Biblical story I mentioned above, it starts with showing how King of Judah, Jehoshaphat, really was committed to following the Lord. He even sent people out to teach the word of God. They went out with copies of the Word and taught people all throughout Judah. The fear of the Lord fell after that to the surrounding Kingdoms.
King Ahab entices Jehoshaphat to form an alliance with him to go to war against Ramoth-Gilead.
Jehoshaphat knows enough to seek the Lord first.
King Ahab gathered 400 prophets to inquire of the Lord if they should go to war. All said…good news….you will defeat who you are going against!
Jehoshaphat: “Isn’t there another prophet through whom we can consult the LORD?”
(This is my favorite part and how I feel in 2020.)
Ahab: “There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me; it’s always something bad.”
Note to self, TT: Kings can lose sight of their people they are leading and can actually start to hate the true prophet of the Lord because of the truth he is preaching.
The rebuke comes from the King who is actually following God..Jehoshaphat replies “That’s not the way a King should talk! Let’s hear what he has to say.”
Note to self: Kings close to the heart of God know when another King is “off.”
Here comes the threat to agree with the message of the lying prophets: Meanwhile, the official who had gone to fetch Micaiah said to him, “Be sure that you agree with them and promise success.”
It’s like the lies of the prosperity gospel right there “make sure your prophesy is always encouraging!” And “you have to agree with the false prophets.”
Nah dawg.
Here comes the assurance: But Micaiah answered, “By the living LORD, I will say what my God tells me to!”
Micaiah answered, “I can see the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These men have no leader; let them go home in peace.’
”Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I told you that he never prophesies anything good for me; it’s always something bad!”
Micaiah went on: “Now listen to what the LORD says! I saw the LORD sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him. The LORD asked, ‘Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and get killed at Ramoth?’
Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, until a spirit stepped forward, approached the LORD, and said, ‘I will deceive him.’ ‘How?’ the LORD asked. The spirit replied, ‘I will go and make all Ahab’s prophets tell lies.’
The LORD said, ‘Go and deceive him. You will succeed.’ ”
And Micaiah concluded: “This is what has happened. The LORD has made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he himself has decreed that you will meet with disaster!”
Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah, slapped his face, and asked, “Since when did the LORD’s spirit leave me and speak to you?”
“You will find out when you go into some back room to hide,” Micaiah replied.
Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers, “Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash. Tell them to throw him in prison and to put him on bread and water until I return safely.”
Ahab, of course, died.
But it begs me to wonder, how in the world did King Jehoshaphat, a lover of God, listen to Micaiah and STILL go to war with King Ahab? Why did he get sucked into what the lying prophets prophesied?
All of us have to be EYES WIDE OPEN in 2020. You gotta be on alert and be sensitive to God’s word. I recently was teaching our 3rd van going out for WR America and said “You only need to study the light to know when something is dark.”
In 2020, I am clinging to the truth more than ever before. Maybe I will go to prison too. You know, I always wanted to do more prison ministry. I’m not looking for a crowd to tell “good news lies” with….I am looking for those hungry saints who will speak the truth even when it hurts.
And in the interim, I encourage myself with stories like this one and how Jesus said:
“Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.” Luke 6:26
You will be hated by everyone because of Me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. Matt 10:22
Pray I will stand firm, even if that means standing alone in a crowd.
When we face Jesus….that crowd and all those people we were trying to please with fake news won’t be there. We will be staring into the face of truth. And maybe then, we will gain some fear of the Lord instead of fear of man.
