POPULAR OPINION IS NOT NECESSARILY THE VOICE OF GOD
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 sought to make an alliance with Jehoshaphat ;king of Judah whom the lord had shown extraordinary favour by given him victory over his enemies. Jehoshaphat had a tradition of always seeking God’s counsel before embarking on major projects as commanded by the Lord ( Matthew 6:33).
Ahab on the other hand had no passion for God's word and no personal relationship with God, he was rich , arrogant, presumptuous and was willing to buy his way through any situation. He only sought God through intermediaries only when he was in need . He was not interested in making a commitment with God and no preacher was qualified enough to be his pastor : he had no symbol of spiritual authority over him which was against God's kingdom principles.
The alliance between these two kings did not meet with God's approval yet Ahab thought he could arm-twist God into answering his prayers by gathering the largest number of prophets in the land. These lacked spiritual discipline and prophesied for monetary gains.
The voice of a prophet is the voice of the righteous human conscience therefore he or she who operates in that office should display the highest level of decorum and impeccable integrity. Elijah demonstrated this by refusing an offering from Naaman ;a highly placed public officer (2Kings5:16) unlike what is obtainable today where the love of money and social recognition seem to be the motivation for many preachers .Such prophets are led by their carnal nature and not the Holy Spirit. They prophesy to satisfy their lust.
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 infrastructural decay and political instability once prophets demand to get paid for their services in the name of "miracle seeds". Morality is relegated to the background and selfish interest overrides sound judgment with such prophets in the corridor of political power.They are a major reason behind marital failures.
Ahab hired four hundred of such prophets headed by a celebrity prophet Zedekaiah to pray for his political and military campaign . God's will is devoid of human influence and cannot be altered through the prayers of the saints. 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 jamborees. God isn't moved by our pains ,fasting, prayers and tears but by faith in His 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'. They weren't so popular because they understood the importance of living a consecrated life as their names implied ; they were devoted to seeking God’s counsel and prayerfully enforcing His will on earth. Micaiah spoke with the voice of the conscience and was unpopular with Ahab.The truth hurts but saves.
The refusal to make amends after several corrections results in a reprobate mind which is easily prone to deceit.Bias to popular opinion against righteous judgment leads to a repropbate mind, 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 ... mind to do things not proper or decent but loathsome," Under this state we become easy pray to fraudsters in clerical garments. We should make a commitment to know God personally through scriptures (2Timothy 2:15).
Ahab was deceived by these prophets and was killed in the battlefield just as Micaiah said through the Spirit of the lord. He was a victim of popular opinion. Popular opinion isn't necessarily the voice of God. Exodus 23:2 AMP says "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. ..." Prayer : Heavenly Father, forgive me of my sins against you, I believe Jesus Christ died and was raised again for my salvation, I receive him as lord and saviour and receive grace for discernment in Jesus name.
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