"Have You Inquired of the Lord?"
BIBLE
READING: 1 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 18
In the final days of Ahab, King of
Israel, he is faced with a battle against the King of Syria. In his estimation, he was not allowed to
defeat them himself, so he solicits Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah to join him. Jehoshaphat agrees and unites with Ahab on
one condition; that they inquire of the LORD first. Ahab agrees and calls in 400 prophets and
asked them, “Should I go and face Syria in battle and Ramaoth- Gilead?”. “Go up” they replied. Jehoshaphat interjects “Is there not a
prophet of the LORD that we could ask?” (Evidently, Jehoshaphat noticed that
these prophets were not true prophets of the LORD.). Ahab replied, “There is one, Micaiah; but I
hate him, for he never prophecies good concerning me”. Don’t you just have to laugh at Ahab? Here he is, seeking out advice from those
that agree with him, rather than looking to a true prophet from God that will
reveal to him the truth. His reasoning
is that the true prophet of God never prophecies anything good for him. I wonder, does he ever think that maybe he
doesn’t get any good prophecies because
he has been evil and hasn’t lived a life that is pleasing to the LORD? The point being, he was willing to accept
lies just because he got to hear what he wanted to hear. People still do this today. They search for books and preachers that will
tell them the things they want to hear.
They know that the Bible condemns their behavior, yet they don’t want to
hear that they are wrong. Instead, they
have “itching ears” as Paul told Timothy.
“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but
having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their
own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into
myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). To us
as Christians it seems unthinkable to look for answers outside of the Word of
God, yet when peoples ears itch…they want them scratched and they don’t care
who does it. Let’s make sure we treat
the Bible as the only source from God. When it condemns our actions, we repent
and confess our sins, rather than look to someone to say what we want them to
say.
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