Be Careful Who You Ask

1 Kings 22:1-28
1 For three years Syria and Israel continued without war. 2 But in the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. 3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” 4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
5 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” 6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” 7 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” 8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” 9 Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” 10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ” 12 And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” 


Hopefully, there are people in your life who will always tell you the truth and you know who they are. Now whether or not you allow them to speak truth into your life is another matter! In our story for today we experience what happens when you surround yourself with people who only tell you what you want to hear rather than what you need to hear. We are not surprised after spending all this time with Ahab to find that he has chosen 400 more "prophets" to replace those killed by Elijah on Mt. Carmel. These are not prophets who are associated with God. They are yes men and best and minions of Jezebel's idols at worst. Either way, they are not going to give Ahab the straight scoop. As the story progresses, we will find that it is indeed a twisted tail of "tell me what I want to hear."

Lest we shake a finger at Ahab too quickly, we need to remember that we can be guilty of the same deceptions. Are you surronded by "yes men" and flatterers or do the important people in your life have the right to say the tough things to you? Are you willing to hear the truth or do you avoid those people? It's an interesting question for each of us to ask ourselves.

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