Sharing of Godly Truth is Not Popular

I Kings 22:5-8: "But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, 'First seek the counsel of the LORD.' So the king of Israel brought together the prophets-about four hundred men-and asked them, 'Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?' 'Go,' they answered, 'for the Lord will give it into the king's hand.' But Jehoshaphat asked, 'Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?' The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, 'There is still one man 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.'"



As we compare our world today with the history of the Israelites in the book of I Kings, we see similarites, namely, that the sharing of Godly truth is not very popular. In the era of King Ahab of Israel, being a Godly prophet who shared the truth of God resulted in alienation and persecution. King Ahab ruled Israel for 22 years and he "did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him" (I Kings 16:30). The king started his wayward path by marrying the pagan Jezebel, daughter of King Ethbaal of Tyre/Sidon. Jezebel, named after a pagan god of fertility was ruthless in her attacks against the prophets of the Lord, killing off every prophet that was obedient to the One True God (18:4). To replace these fallen prophets, the king and queen put their own pagan prophets in places of prominence within the kingdom. These prophets were loyal to the regents first; they were never known to discredit the wishes of the royal family. Their support of Ahab was not only the popular thing to do; it was the profitable thing to do.



Only a few men stood up for the truth of the Lord instead of caving to the political correctness of that day. One of these men was Micaiah. When Ahab was consulting with King Jehoshaphat of Judah about attacking the Arameans to reclaim lost territories in Ramoth Gilead, Jehoshaphat suggested that they seek the counsel of the LORD. Ahab was not interested at all in God's will in the matter, he wanted to hear someone support his own personal appetites. He summoned his 400 prophets, and as expected they all supported the king's desire to wage war against Aram. They exclaimed that the king would be victorious over his enemy. One prophet in particular by the name of Zedekiah made a rather demonstrative proclamation of the king's pending victory by presenting iron horns that he had made and said, "With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed" (2 Chronicles 18:10). Of course, these "prophets" would only share positive news to the king; to announce anything else was to risk the threat of the king's anger toward them directly. Being supportive of the king was important for these prophets' own personal well being. They were looking out for themselves, even if that meant selling out the truth for a lie.



Still, Jehoshaphat was able to see that the king only had a bunch of "yes men" around him. The King of Judah was not satisfied with the answers that were given and again asked if a true man of the LORD was available to present God's opinion about the war to come. One can just imagine the sullen face of Ahab at this remark. The last thing that he wanted was to consult a true prophet of God; Ahab had not had much success with the Lord's messengers. They had been known as men who brought messages of judgment to the king for his wickedness (e.g. Elijah). Nevertheless, Ahab told Jehoshaphat that there was a prophet who could inquire of the Lord, but Ahab was quick to mention that he hated the man because he never shared anything good. Micaiah was not the type of prophet that would share only what the king's itching ears wanted to hear (see 2 Timothy 4:3); rather, he was bold in sharing the truth no matter what personal consequences may befall him.



True to form, when Ahab summoned Micaiah, the prophet of the Lord told the king that disaster would occur, with the Israelites losing the battle and the king losing his life. Before Micaiah was presented to the king of Israel, he had been encouraged by a messenger that all of the other prophets were speaking victory for the king and he should follow suit. Still, Micaiah could speak nothing other but the truth. He told the messenger, "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him (the king) only what my God says." This proclamation of truth by Micaiah is noteworthy, for with it came a lot of personal consequence. At once the prophet Zedekiah slapped Micaiah in the face for such a statement of defiance to the king and denigration to the other prophets. Enraged at this very unpopular response, the king had the prophet imprisoned and insisted that Micaiah only receive bread and water until the king returned from battle victorious, to prove the prophet was wrong.

The king went ahead with his plan to invade, but the battle was disasterous. The people of Israel were scattered and Ahab was killed by a wayward arrow shot into the air. Truth prevailed as the Word of God was accomplished; still, with the continuance of the evil reign's of Ahab's sons, Ahaziah and Joram, as well as with the continued influence of Jezebel for at least 14 more years, it is quite possible that Micaiah remained in prison.

We must remember that telling the truth of God as revealed in His Word is not very popular today; nonetheless, we are called to obedience to the Lord by faithfully proclaiming His truths. We may find that we suffer personally for taking a stand for the truth of God, but we press on knowing that the Lord is still on the throne and is still in control.