I Kings 22:8:  “And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said; Let not the king say so.”

 

I Kings 22:13: “And the messenger that was gone to call Micahiah spoke unto him, saying: ‘Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one of them, and speak that which is good.”

 

As I float around the prophetic community I sometimes run into people who will react very quickly if I happen to say something negative.  They will put their fingers to my lips and say: “No, No, you mustn’t speak anything negative.”  I am not too clear on what violation I had committed but I think it has something to do with the power of words and the ability of spoken words to bring something about.   I understand the psychological based behind this but I sense my brothers and sisters who react this way are thinking in terms of something mystical.

 

Indeed, there is some evidence in ancient Jewish mysticism of a belief that speaking certain words will bring an event about.  In the occult you have incantations where you speak certain magical words and it brings about some desired effect.

 

The story in I Kings 22 reflects this ancient Jewish mysticism gone wild.  Prophets were common in the land, especially with the false Gods such a Baal. It was believed that these false prophets had the ability to persuade and manipulate the gods by just speaking a word.  They could alter events by just saying so and the gods would submit their desires.  Such prophets were highly prized and in demand. I want a new Jeep Wrangler, so all I need to do is seek out one of these prophets and he just speaks the word and persuades the gods to give me a Jeep Wrangler. That is pretty heady stuff, don’t you think?

 

We have in I Kings a curious event.   The kings of Judah and Israel had allied themselves to go against the Syrian armies.  The King of Israel gathered 400 prophets and they were all agreed (with one of them – one, echad a collective unity), that they would have a great victory. The prophets had spoken and thus the gods must give them victory.  However, the king of Judah asked for a prophet of God Jehovah.  I mean he had to have all the gods in agreement on this victory and this God Jehovah could be a real stickler; it would be nice to have Him on their side. The only prophet they could come up with was Micahiah, but he only spoke evil things. We just assume that the word evil here means a bad report or a report that is not pleasing to hear.  Yet the word used for evil in the Hebrew here is ra which is spelled Resh Ayin.  Generally all words in Hebrew have at least three letters to make up your triliteral root. When we have two letters like this it is generally a word which has a Semitic origin and is common among all or most Semitic languages. In its Semitic origins the word ra has the idea of self-serving or selfishness. This is curious as the false prophets would be the ones prophesying ra (evil, self-serving). More than likely what Ahab is saying is that Micahiah does not prophesy things that are a benefit to the king and kingdom.  He just won’t get with the program and prophesy or manipulate God Jehovah for his own benefit. Micahiah, however, the good subject to the king that he was, did obey the king and say some good things but insinuated, “I will say good things for all the good it will do you, but it will not manipulate God. Sorry king old boy but unlike the false prophets who manipulate their gods, I don’t have any power to manipulate the true God.”  Poor Micahiah found himself in prison not so much for speaking the mind and heart of God but because he could not manipulate God and control God to perform Ahab’s bidding.

 

Sounds crazy? No? How many people will dip into their savings to fly to a convention to hear and hopefully have someone who claims to have the power of God pray over them as if this person can call upon the power of God more effectively than their local pastor? Put more locally, how many will seek the prayers of their pastor rather than a member of their church family because they feel their pastor, by the very office he holds, has more persuasion over God than their own brothers or sisters.  For that matter what makes you think old Charlie next you in church have more persuasive power over God than you do?   Ok, I am not talking about someone having more faith, agreement in prayer, or spiritual gifts here for crying out loud.  Let’s lay all that aside.  If we honestly believe in a personal God why do we have to run to someone else to plead our case before God?   Doesn’t God love you just as much as Old Charlie or Preacher Bob?  Sometimes is it nice to have someone pray with you, it is encouraging or supportive and we are communal creatures who need a body or family to support us, but when it comes down to it, can we not just approach God on our own?  Sometimes someone has a spiritual gift which can aid us in our relationship with God and help our faith along, but still, can we not plead our own case before God?

 

Perhaps, somewhere inside of us is that pagan belief that there are those prophets, preachers or church leaders who have more persuasive power over God than we do and we seek them out to pray for us because they can do a better job of manipulating God than we can on our own.

 

I think the lesson of Micahiah is not just for Ahab, but for us as well. Prophets, preachers and other leaders are out there to speak the heart of God, nothing more.  They have no more persuasive or manipulative power over God than we do and that is to say, God cannot be manipulated.  God has already chosen to do and give us the best He can give us.  It is not a question of manipulating God or persuading God it is a question of, will we submit to the will of God which is always directed in our best interest.  Pagan gods never had the people’s best interest in mind, they did not love their people, so their people needed prophets and shamans to persuade and manipulate their gods as Ahab believed.

 

Our God, Jehovah, loves us and is looking out for us, He has our backs, we just have to obey Him and trust Him. All our persuasive and manipulative powers will not increase God’s caring and love for us.  We just have to trust Him and thank Him for watching out for us and providing.  Who says praying specifically for a Jeep Wrangler will persuade God to give us one, unless He has already decided from the start of creation to give us one.  Then we just thank Him for it, even if it is not yet sitting I our garage. Now there you might need a prophet to reveal what is truly in the heart of God and it might just be a Ford Focus.

 

 

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