LIVE BY TRUTH NOT PROPHECIES

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi
2 Chronicles 18:4-5 AMP "And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire first, I pray you, for the word of the Lord today. So King [Ahab] of Israel gathered together the prophets, 400 men, and said to them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, for God will deliver it into the king's hand."
        Ahab, the king of Israel ,was at war with Samaria and he made an alliance with Jehoshaphat; kind of  Judah, whom the lord had shown extraordinary favour by given him victory over his enemies.  Jehoshaphat always sought God’s counsel before embarking on any major venture. The scriptures says in Matthew 6:33 AM "But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides." We are to put God first in our plans.
             On the other hand Ahab had no personal relationship with God,  he was rich , arrogant, presumptuous and was willing to buy his way through any situation. He was self centered and despised teachers of God's word and evaded spiritual authority (Rom.13:1-4,2Cor10:7).
       The alliance between these  kings  did not meet with divine approval yet Ahab thought he could arm-twist God into answering his prayers through celebrity prophets in the land . These prophets had been under his payroll and were motivated by love for money .
     The voice of a true prophet is the voice of the conscience therefore, he or she who operates in that office should display the highest level of decorum and impeccable integrity speaking the truth ,the word of God is truth (John17:17) Unfortunately, these prophets had become puppets in the hands of the king.  The scriptures speaks against this in  Micah 3:11-12 AMP "Its heads judge for reward and a bribe and its priests teach for hire and its prophets divine for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, Is not the Lord among us? No evil can come upon us. [Isa. 1:10-15.] Therefore shall Zion on your account be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps [of ruins], and the mountain of the house [of the Lord] like a densely wooded height. [Jer. 26:17-19.]" A society suffers gross moral and infrastructural decay and political instability whenever prophets become motivated by monetary gains.Avoid that prophet who teaches favour as being always in the company of the political elite. Favour is grace and does not exist in sizes and we have all received the fullness of grace in Jesus Christ ,therefore , it is wrong to teach that wining and dining with presidents is a measure of being highly favoured.This is common doctrine in underdeveloped nations were such prophets partner with corrupt leaders in looting the people's commonwealth.
      Ahab had hired four hundred false prophets to pray for his political and military campaign  and they were headed by Zedekaiah ; a celebrity prophet. God's plans are devoid of human influence and cannot be altered through prayers. The theme of our prayers therefore should always be that  His will be done not as we will but as He wills. We cannot change God's will through religious devotion He is not  moved by our pains ,fasting, prayers and tears but by His  written word (Ephesians 1:11)
         It is against this backdrop that king Jehoshaphat was dissatisfied by the oratory of these prophets and sought for another. The truth came from a less prominent prophet by name Michaiah a name which in Hebrew  means 'who is like Jah? ;Jah is another word for Jehovah. He was described as the son of Imla a name in the Hebrew which means 'consecrated'.  These prophets weren't so popular because they understood the importance of leaving a consecrated life as their names implied.  Micaiah spoke with the voice of the conscience and was not appealing to Ahab. Nobody likes being told the truth because it comes with responsibilities .
          Persons who prefer popular opinion to righteous judgment have a base mind,  scriptures says in Romans 1:28 AMP "And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of Him or consider Him worth the knowing, God gave them over to a base and condemned mind to do things not proper or decent but loathsome," they easily fall victim to the antics of false teachers .  This is the reason why we should individually make a commitment to search the scriptures daily (2Timothy 2:15).
       Ahab was deceived by these prophets and was killed in the battlefield just as Micaiah predicted through the Spirit of the lord. He was a victim of popular opinion. Popular opinion isn't necessarily the voice of God.  A rethink while in consecration was all that was needed to save Ahab . The scriptures says in Exodus 23:2 AMP"You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you bear witness at a trial so as to side with a multitude to pervert justice." God isn't far away,  let's seek Him while He can be found . Psalm 145:18-20 says   "The Lord  is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon  him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.  The Lord  preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. " As you receive Jesus Christ as lord and saviour

and read this now, receive grace for discernment in Jesus name.
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Email : Michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com

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