One Lonely Prophet!

Reflection:  Oftentimes leaders surround themselves with people that tell them what they want to hear.  We call these people who give such advice “yes men”.  The problem with this is oftentimes a leader can critically miss something that is happening and this can be to their detrimental end. 

In today’s Old Testament passage, all of the prophets were telling the king he should go up to attack Ramoth Gilead for the Lord would give it into his hands and victory would be assured.  When the King Jehosphaphat of the Southern Kingdom asked King Ahab in Samaria, Ahab brought in 400 “yes men” who all told him to go to war.  Jehoshaphat detected something was not quite right.  There was a check in his spirit and he asked, “Is there no longer a prophet we can inquire of?”  Ahab said there is such a man but I hate him because he never prophecies anything good!  Jehosphat says, “You should not say such a thing!” The lonely prophet Micaiah tells them if they go to war the king will die. 

Sure enough they go against the one lonely prophet’s voice and King Ahab is killed in war!  Ahab’s reliance on “yes men” led to his destruction!  Meanwhile we see a different kind of leader in the apostle Paul.  He realized that in order to reach the Jews he had to become one of them so he had his men join in the purification rites.  Was he compromising the gospel by doing this?

There were some cases were Paul made a stand like in Galatians where the people wanted new believers to be circumcised.  There Paul said, “No way, if you do that you might as well castrate yourselves!”  Quite strong words!  But here Paul uses wisdom and joins in the Jewish rites of purification, because he didn’t see it as a compromise to the Gospel, but helped to gain a hearing with the Jewish believers.  Paul makes a compromise and tells the Gentile believers they should avoid food offered to idols and sexual immorality, so as not to be an offense to fellow Jewish believers.  Nonetheless he is persecuted by his own and brought to trial for being a “lawbreaker”. 

We see here that those under grace, there are no black and white rules for every situation.  Paul relied on the Holy Spirit to make important decisions as for the practices of these new Gentile believers and still got thrown in jail for it.  Jesus doesn’t guarantee us approval by the world, and in fact tells us if he was persecuted we can expect to be persecuted.  

The Old Testament passage reminds us to listen to those with a prophetic voice.  God still calls prophets in the church see Ephesians 4 to keep the church in line with the truth.  There is a balance between understanding culture so as to make the Gospel relevant and compromising it.  Prophets remind us when we are in danger of compromising God’s Word and lead us back to it!  We would do well to listen to them! 

Psalm 22:29-31

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;

    all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—

    those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30 Posterity will serve him;

    future generations will be told about the Lord.

31 They will proclaim his righteousness,

    declaring to a people yet unborn:

    He has done it!

2 Chronicles 18

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

18 Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage. 2 Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead. 3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.” 4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.” 5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?” “Go,” they answered, “for God will give it into the king’s hand.” 6 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?” 7 The 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.” “The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied.8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.” 9 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. 10 Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns, and he declared, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.’” 11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.” 12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.” 13 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says.” 14 When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?” “Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for they will be given into your hand.” 15 The 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?” 16 Then 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.’” 17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?” 18 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left. 19 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that. 20 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “‘By what means?’ the Lord asked. 21 “‘I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said “‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’ 22 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked. 24 Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.” 25 The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son, 26 and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.’” 27 Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. 30 Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.” 31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “This is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him, 32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him. 33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor. The king told the chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.” 34 All day long the battle raged, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. Then at sunset he died.

Acts 21:17-30

Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem

17 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us warmly. 18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. 19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.” 26 The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.

Paul Arrested

27 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28 shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” 29 (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.) 30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut.

I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good, who leads you in the way you should go. Isaiah 48:17

Jesus said, “Do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.” Matthew 23:10 (NKJV)

Instructor of the universe, we wait with open and longing hearts for you to teach us the ways in which we should live in a right relationship with all you have created. Amen.