Today's Daily Lesson comes from 1 Kings chapter 22 verses 13 through 18:
13 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, ‘Look, the words of the prophets with one accord are favourable to the king; let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favourably.’ 14But Micaiah said, ‘As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.’
15 When he had come to the king, the king said to him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?’ He answered him, ‘Go up and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.’ 16But 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?’ 17Then Micaiah said, ‘I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd; and the Lord said, “These have no master; let each one go home in peace.” ’ 18The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy anything favourable about me, but only disaster?’
Four hundred false prophets gave the green light to the Kings of Judah and Israel in the runup to battle with Aram. But the light was actually red. Talk about group think.
Only Micaiah, a disciple of that troubler of Israel Elijah, spoke the truth. Though others tried to sway his report, he was determined to prophesy what the LORD told him to prophesy. And for it he received a prophet's reward -- he was beaten and imprisoned.
But Ahab the King of Israel must have feared what Micaiah said was true. When he went off to war with Aram he disguised himself as a common soldier. But the disguise did not work and Ahab was killed. I am sure that as he died Ahab wished he had listened to Micaiah.
It's hard to dissent against the crowd -- especially in a runup to war. And it maybe even harder to listen to dissent. But 20 years after the runup to our own nation's longest war, I think we can see the truth in the minority report.
Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
No comments:
Post a Comment