Britain’s position before God.

In this deeply significant phase of Britain’s history, it is of the utmost importance for us to be clear on our nation’s standing with God. In this article we consider some passages from the Prophet Jeremiah that are directly relevant to our situation.

Speaking First to Judah

Jeremiah spoke for around 40 years to Judah, often through tears, up to the beginning of the Babylonian captivity. As a young man, Jeremiah saw the best of days for Judah. He began to prophesy in the days of Josiah (Jer 1:2), whose account is in 2 Kings 22-23. Josiah led the people of Judah to return to the Law of Moses, cleansed the land of idolatry, restored the Temple and celebrated the Feasts of the Lord in Jerusalem. It was said of him:

Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his might, according to the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him. (2 Kings 23:25)

As a young man, Jeremiah would have experienced these good and blessed times in his nation. These would have stood in stark contrast to the days of decline that followed – but these were inevitable. Judah had already fallen so far, prior to King Josiah, that God’s anger was turned back only temporarily, during Josiah’s reign:

Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, with which his anger was aroused against Judah, because of the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. (2 Kings 23:26)

Britain: Hope or Concern?

There are applications from this period of Judah’s history that we can apply to modern Britain.

In Jeremiah’s day, blessings on the nation as a whole depended on how they were led. It was the King’s responsibility to lead the nation according to God’s laws. In our day and our nation, the monarch has a prominent role, but so do the Government and all the institutions that exercise authority on behalf of the Crown.

The Prophet Jeremiah experienced good and blessed times in his nation – which would have stood in stark contrast to the days of decline that followed.

Our current leaders are rapidly descending into the ways of King Manasseh, discarding belief in the God of Israel, opening the way for any and every form of idolatry, rejecting God as Creator, sacrificing our unborn babies and many other things that displease and bring sorrow and anger to Almighty God.

We have also had our good days – days when the truth of the Gospel rang out from our shores and when the Laws of God were engrained in our national heritage. Yet, no more than Judah could rest on the blessed days of Josiah can Britain rest on the blessed days of the past. Just as in the latter days of Judah, there is hope, should we raise up uncompromising leaders like Josiah, but there is also real concern over the extreme vulnerability of our current position.

Conditions for Blessing

When Jeremiah went to the potter’s house (Jeremiah 18) he was shown a principle which applied not only to Judah but to all nations:

If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.

And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. (Jer 18:7-10)

The British Empire in 1897 / See CreditsBritain was once in the former of these situations. Once we were a pagan nation not knowing the ways of God, but gradually, over many years, the laws of God were made central to our culture and national life: the Lord did not destroy us, but built us up.

Now, we are deeply into the latter part of this message. Disaster of some sort is inevitable - likely precipitated by the hardship following a mighty collapse of the economy. What follows remains to be seen. God’s judgments can be redemptive - but it depends on how the nation responds.

No more than Judah could rest on the blessed days of Josiah can Britain rest on the blessed days of the past.

Contrasting 2 Chronicles 7:14

Centuries before Jeremiah’s day, God’s covenant heart for Israel and Judah was shown to Solomon at the time of the dedication of the Temple. Solomon realised that a time would come when his nation would turn from God and he interceded with God in advance to make a way back. That way back, a specific promise for Israel and Judah, was summarised in 2 Chronicles 7:14:

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

It is time for Christians in Britain to fine-tune their understanding of this and realise that, though we hear the heartbeat of God through this passage, it is nonetheless a promise given directly and only to Israel. We have to twist the meaning of the words “my people” and “their land” to make it read that if Christians pray, God will heal Britain. The Jeremiah 18 passage quoted above requires more than this: namely, repentance across the entire nation.

Of course Christians must pray, but repentance must sweep across the entire nation, especially among its leaders, not just in the Church. We can intercede for others but they themselves must repent (turn from their own sin). Even Jeremiah could not repent on behalf of his nation – hence they went eventually into Babylonian captivity.

Our Responsibility to Israel is Key

There is yet another key passage in Jeremiah that affirms how deeply serious the days are for Britain. In Jeremiah’s day, Babylon was the empire that took Judah into captivity, so the words spoken by Jeremiah were first applied to this empire. Babylon was God’s chosen instrument for judgment but the Babylonians also had responsibilities towards the Jews whilst they were in exile:

This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbours who seize the inheritance I gave to my people Israel, I will uproot them from their land and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country.

And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’ – even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal – then they will be established among my people. But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord. (Jer 12:14-17)

The words also speak of the exile of the Jews among the nations since AD 70 right up to today. A positive consequence of this diaspora is that the lands where the Jews were scattered have been given opportunity to know the God of Israel. In following his ways, foreign nations could be counted among the commonwealth of Israel.

But, if instead these foreign nations reject the God of Israel, especially once he has gathered his people back from exile to their land, the foreign nations will be plucked up and destroyed.

If foreign nations that have hosted Jewish exiles reject this opportunity to follow the God of Israel, they will be plucked up and destroyed.

This is the condition of many Western nations today, having influenced many Jews over the years with their philosophies and false gods. Consider, for example, the way many Jews during recent years have been turned to the New Age movement in both Europe and America.

Now, at the time of the re-gathering of Israel, there is an increased turning to those false gods as the God of Israel works to fulfil his final covenant promises to Israel. The above passage from Jeremiah applies! Britain, America, Russia, Germany and all other countries that have known him and his way, in turning now away from the God of Israel, are setting themselves up for eventual utter destruction.

In these ways, embedded in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, we can discern the deeply vulnerable situation before God, of Britain today. We must seek him whilst there is still time.

Brexit’s woes in spiritual perspective.

I knew I had to write about Brexit in this week’s editorial, so this morning I listened to the news more carefully – a depressing experience. I turned to my Bible for a word of comfort.

It fell open to the fall of Jerusalem and the Lamentations of Jeremiah. The word of the Lord came to me strongly, “This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips…The Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath” (Jer 7:28-29).

Of course, that was written to Israel, a nation in a covenant relationship with God, but Jeremiah was also given a promise for all nations: “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned” (Jer 18:7).

With these scriptures in mind we can turn to Brexit and ask what God is saying to us and to the people of Europe. What is God doing to work out his purposes today?

Rebellion Leads to Destruction

We cannot deny that Britain and the nations of the European Union have all turned away from the word of God. Though they have had the Gospel for more than a thousand years, each of these nations has been invaded by secular humanist philosophies that have devoured their good Judeo-Christian heritages. Europe has adopted an atheistic culture and God-denying policies that have, in large measure, brought us to the disastrous situation we face today.

The European Union is imploding under the weight of multiple crises. Its leaders are terrified of seeing Hungary, Poland, Italy and other key nations breaking away from the union as populist movements gain momentum across the continent.

The European Union is imploding under the weight of multiple crises.

In desperation, the Brussels gravy train, frightened that it is going to lose power and wealth, is trying to close ranks, punishing Britain in order to frighten off rebel elements in other nations. Of course, British politicians should know that they will never get a good deal from Brussels! The EU’s tactic now is to delay and delay – always holding out the hope of a deal but never actually concluding one, so that Britain continues to pay vast sums into EU coffers, but never actually walks away free.

The EU elites are exploiting the confusion they know surrounds British politicians of all persuasions in Westminster. But Christians should not be surprised at this confusion - because it is a classic sign of the judgment of God promised upon those who deliberately turn away from his truth: “The Lord will inflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind…You will be unsuccessful in everything you do” (Deut 28:28-29).

The Shaking of the Nations

For those who are familiar with the whole word of God in the Bible, it is obvious that we are going through a period which was revealed to the great Prophets of Israel more than 2,500 years ago. God said that there would come a time when he would bring judgment upon all the nations by shaking everything – the world of nature, politics and every structure of society: which is precisely what we are seeing today (see Haggai 2:6-7, cf. Hebrews 12:26-27).

As well as economic and political turbulence and societal breakdown, we are also seeing incredible storms, hurricanes and tsunamis hitting many parts of the world – as well as earthquakes and famines. The terrible wars and bloodshed in Syria and much of the Middle East, the upheavals taking place in Venezuela, Brazil and many other parts of the world, are all evidence of the great shaking of the nations.

Jeremiah’s Revelation

The great revelation that was given to the Prophet Jeremiah is one that we ought to be studying today. Jeremiah was facing the destruction of his country and the demolition of his city, Jerusalem, by the Babylonian army. His prayer (Jer 32) enabled him to see beyond the immediate tragedy and understand what God was doing: how, through it all, he was working out his purposes.

It is obvious that we are going through a period of worldwide shaking, revealed to the great Prophets of Israel more than 2,500 years ago.

The prayer began with the words, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you!” Then Jeremiah came to his central conundrum: although he knew that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed, he had been told by the Lord to buy a field at Anathoth - already enemy-occupied.

In his prayer Jeremiah said to God, “Though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, you, O Sovereign Lord, say to me, buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed” (Jer 32:25). God’s response revealed to Jeremiah the significance of this symbolic act: “As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them. Once more fields will be bought in this land…because I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord” (Jer 32:42-44).

Jeremiah realised that God had to allow a whole generation to suffer judgment before they would repent and be open to the truth. This is the way that God has always dealt with nation-wide rebellion – starting with Israel’s grumbling in the wilderness. And it enables us to understand what he is doing today in allowing the turmoil that is enveloping the nations.

God’s ultimate purpose, of course, is to see as many as possible come to a knowledge of salvation in Jesus – restored to right relationship with God and able to enjoy all the blessings he has to bestow upon his children. But persistent rebellion only brings more destruction.

If we are truly to understand the ‘Brexit Battle’, we have to see it in the context of the purposes of God revealed to us in the Bible. This is not just a little political wrangle. We are at a major crossroads in the history of the world and the unfolding and working out of the purposes of God.

Being Careful in Prayer

This is why Christians need to be very careful how they pray. We have said many times before on Prophecy Today that if we pray “Peace, Peace” when the Lord is saying “There is no peace!” we will actually put ourselves against God. We have to understand God’s nature and purposes and ensure that our prayers are aligned with what he is doing today.

Jeremiah’s prayer enabled him to see beyond the immediate tragedy and understand what God was doing: how, through it all, he was working out his purposes.

If we do this, declaring God’s truth and his good purposes to our godless generation so that people can understand what has gone wrong, and if this leads to a spirit of repentance and turning away from the ways of darkness, Britain will undoubtedly see days of revival come through this time of great shaking. This is the other message we have been emphasising recently on Prophecy Today.

Bible-believing Christians will undoubtedly ask, where does the Second Coming of Christ fit into this scenario? The answer is that it is not for us to know the times the Lord has set in his own timetable: but we may be nearer to that event than any of us knows. We have to obey the command of Jesus to “Watch and pray”.

What he said resulted in the reformation of a nation.

One can easily be excused for not having heard of Azariah before. He appears once in the Old Testament for a few brief moments, during which he delivers a short message, before disappearing. However, what he said resulted in the reformation of a nation.

His few words were power-packed, not because of natural ability or personal charisma, but because ‘the Spirit of God came upon him’. He could have borrowed the words of one of the greatest of all the prophets, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach...” (Isa 61:1).

A Banishing Change

Azariah came at a critical time in Judah’s history. The days described as the ‘golden age of Israel’ were but a memory. Solomon had been succeeded by his son, Rehoboam. The nation became divided during his reign and, after ruling for seventeen years, his epitaph was, “He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord” (2 Chron 12:14). He was succeeded by his son Abijah, who followed in his father's footsteps, and in his short three-year reign, “committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God” (1 Kings 15:3).

There then came a refreshing change, when his son Asa took the throne. Asa was to be king of Judah For 41 years. He did what “was right in the eyes of the Lord” (1 Kings 15:11). He started to rid the nation of its idolatry, expelled those guilty of sexual perversion, and deposed the queen mother because of her blatant idolatry.

Azariah’s few words were power-packed, not because of natural ability or personal charisma, but because ‘the Spirit of God came upon him’.

While he was in the process of purging the nation, the task still unfinished, he was met by the prophet Azariah. Azariah brought a message from God of encouragement, commendation and comfort, but also of warning. He said:

Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him he will forsake you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.

In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. (2 Chronicles 15:2-7)

That’s it, end of message. It was first addressed to Asa personally, and then to the nation. First to the leader, then to the people. Here is God's recipe for blessing any leader, and any nation. It is completely up to date. It could be delivered to any national leader, and any nation; to the Prime Minister of this land, or the President of the United States; to every king or queen, every dictator, and also to you and me personally.

Let us consider the word and apply it.

Listen

When God speaks it is important to look for two things: first what God says he will do, and second what God tells us to do. The first thing he wants is to get our attention. With a multitude of voices we need to hear and recognise his voice, and to obey. What is the message? Put God first. If God is first, then God is with you. If you forsake God, he will forsake you. And if God is not with us we're in trouble.

When God speaks, look for two things: first what God says he will do, and second what God tells us to do.

This is the truth that Jesus taught: “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt 6:33, emphasis added). It is the truth that Asa’s great-grandfather taught, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Prov 14:34).

The failure to put God first is the cause of every personal or national failure. What a wonderful promise the prophet gave to the king and nation, ’If you seek him, he will be found by you,’ Again, this truth is confirmed by Jesus: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matt 7:7-8, emphasis added). The choice is presented: “if you seek him”…”if you forsake him”…”the Lord is with you when you are with him”.

Learn

The prophet encouraged Asa to learn from the history of his own nation. When Israel forsook God, and his word was not being taught, and God's standard set before the people, there was nothing but trouble. It wasn’t safe to travel. There was turmoil, chaos and confusion. There was international conflict and inter-city strife, and “every kind of distress”. Who was causing all these disasters? Who was responsible? It was God!! The prophet stated it clearly, “God was troubling them” (2 Chron 15:6).

They were learning by experience that when a people forsake God, he forsakes them. However, the good news is that when ungodliness is acknowledged and confessed and repented of, and the people seek the Lord, God in his great mercy, grace and compassion is found by them, and he delivers them from all their fears.

What lessons can we learn from our own history? When God was acknowledged in this land, it prospered. In World War Two, when we faced defeat and distress, and the nation was called to prayer to seek God, God heard and delivered us.

Today we are in great need yet how often do we hear national leaders declaring our need of God? How often do we hear God acknowledged at all? Without God we are doomed. Thank God for all his faithful people, for his church who acknowledge him day by day, who intercede, who pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”! People who look to the future with hope knowing, as Isaac Watts did, that:

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run,
His Kingdom stretch from shore to shore
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Today we are in great need yet how often do we hear national leaders declaring our need of God?

Look

Having looked to the past, Asa is encouraged to look to the present and to the future. Irrespective of the mistakes others have made, the personal word comes ‘as for you’. There must be for Asa, and for you and me, the personal application of God’s word to us.

At the end of his life, Joshua resolved: “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15). “As for you…be strong” and remember what Moses sang: “The Lord is my strength and song, he has become my salvation” (Ex 15:2). Be strong…don't give up…keep going. Asa had started a good work, but there was still much to do.

Look to the future, “your work will be rewarded”. In spite of opposition, discouragement and obstacles: when you are with God, God is with you. When you seek him he will be found by you. Be of good courage, there is only one direction, forward.

Liberation

Asa heard the prophet and obeyed the message. He took courage, returned to the unfinished task with all his heart, destroyed the idols, repaired the altar of the Lord, assembled the people together, and unitedly entered into a covenant with God to seek him (2 Chron 15).

The result was great joy among the people, and rest to the land. News of God's blessing spread and large numbers of people came to join them. The verdict on Asa's life was that, “Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life” (2 Chron 15:17).

Listen…the Lord is with you, when you are with him…be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.

Originally published in Prophecy Today, 1999, Vol 15(2).

The story of Micaiah.

In the fourth part of a series which examines the relevance of the message and ministry of the non-writing prophets for today, Campbell McAlpine looks at Micaiah.

The writer to the Hebrews begins his letter with the memorable words – “God who at various times and in different ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets” (AV). How wonderful of God to leave a record of what he said for our learning and encouragement!

Micaiah’s ministry was during the reigns of Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. The setting was the meeting of the two kings with much pomp and ceremony. Their characters were completely different. It is written of Ahab, “There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel and his wife” (1 Kings 21:25). In contrast, it is said of Jehoshaphat that “he sought the God of his father, and followed his commands” (2 Chron 17:4). The two kings were linked through marriage, Jehoshaphat’s son having married Ahab’s daughter.

During this reunion, Ahab asked Jehoshaphat if he would join with him in war with the king of Syria to recover a city, Ramoth Gilead, which rightly belonged to Israel. He agreed, putting his army at Ahab’s disposal. Then he asked Ahab if they could enquire if there was any word from the Lord. It would have been better if he had asked that before he made his decision!

Jehoshaphat made an agreement with Ahab before seeking God’s approval.

Searching for True Prophecy

Ahab immediately sent for his prophets - four hundred of them. They all brought the same message: “Go…for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand”. To reinforce this message, one of them, Zedekiah, confirmed it with a sign. He had made horns of iron and declared: “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans [Syrians] until they are destroyed.’”

This probably brought great applause, with many shouts of ‘praise the Lord’. However, Jehoshaphat had a lack of peace in his heart (which should never be ignored) and asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom we can enquire of?" Ahab said there was another one, but he hated him for he never prophesied anything good about him!

It is generally believed that Micaiah was the unnamed prophet who met Ahab returning from a victory over Ben-Hadad, king of Damascus. After the battle, Ahab spared the life of the king of Syria in exchange for certain cities. The prophet said to Ahab, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people.’” This was not good news! (1 Kings 20:42).

The king sent for Micaiah, and asked him if he should go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or refrain. Sarcastically Micaiah replied, “Attack and be victorious…” In other words, isn't that what you want to hear? The king turned on him, and said, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

Then Micaiah said: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.'” Ahab turned to Jehoshaphat and said, “Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me”.

Jehoshaphat had a lack of peace in his heart, which should never be ignored.

“I Saw the Lord”

What made one prophet stand alone, against four hundred? What drained from him the fear of man, in preference for the fear of God? “I saw the Lord.” What were two earthly kings to Micaiah when he had seen the King? Who were four hundred prophets when he had seen the mighty hosts of Heaven standing on the right-hand and the left, around the throne of God?

He had not only seen the Lord; he had heard him discuss Ahab. The Lord had asked the question from his throne: “Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?” Suggestions were made, but the one accepted was from an evil spirit who offered to be a lying spirit in the mouths of Ahab’s four hundred prophets. He could not do that without Sovereign God’s permission, which was given: “You will succeed in enticing him. Go and do it.”

There was no applause for Micaiah when he gave this revelation, rather the reverse. Then, as now, if you don’t like the message, attack the messenger. Zedekiah, who had taken such trouble to make the horns of iron, rushed up to Micaiah, struck him on the face, and said, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?”

Micaiah told Zedekiah that he would find out which had been the true message, when he was running for his life, and trying desperately to find somewhere to hide.

Into the Valley of Death Rode the Four Hundred

Ahab’s response was not only rejection of the message, but also the messenger. He gave orders to put Micaiah in prison, and put him on bread and water rations until his return. “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me” responded Micaiah. Then, turning to the people, he shouted “Mark my words, all you people!”

In spite of his bravado, Ahab decided to go into battle disguised, but asked Jehoshaphat to go dressed in his kingly robes. The Syrian king had given orders to his army to concentrate on killing Ahab. During the battle Jehoshaphat became the target, but he shouted out, and they realised that he was not the king of Israel, so left him alone. Ahab could disguise himself from men, but not from God. During the battle “someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armour. The king told his chariot driver, ‘Wheel round and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.’”

What made one prophet stand alone, against four hundred? What drained from him the fear of man, in preference for the fear of God? “I saw the Lord”.

The battle went on and increased. Ahab was propped up in his chariot mortally wounded, and that night he died. His army returned to their homes like ‘sheep without a shepherd’, all according to the word of the Lord.

The Relevance of this Message for Today

The inspired scriptures are useful for “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (1 Tim 3:16). What can we learn from Micaiah’s witness? I would suggest: the importance of judging prophecies.

Today there seems to be a proliferation of prophecies. Unfortunately, many are not ‘judged’ or weighed, sometimes resulting in confusion, disillusionment, frustration and a questioning of the real. What happened to the prophesied revival which was going to take place in May of 1997? As we saw in this story, the oft repetition of the same prophecy doesn’t necessarily make it true. Remember the question Jesus asked Pilate: “Is that your own idea or did others talk to you about me?” (John 18:34).

Many optimistic statements are made which can bring applause from the congregation. I haven’t heard too many cheers when you quote Isaiah 26:9: “When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.” We are not called upon to make people happy, but to help them to be holy, then the two go together.

I remember in the early days of what was called ’renewal', when a prophecy was given, the people were called to silence. The prophecy was considered by the leadership, who encouraged the application of the word - or to correct, if it was not a true word, but just something out of a person's own spirit. That was never for condemnation but for learning.

The oft repetition of the same prophecy does not make it true.

Revelation of and from the Lord

“I saw the Lord.” When Micaiah had revelation of the Lord, then he had revelation from the Lord. One of our greatest needs today is the knowledge of God which is supplied to us mainly through the Bible.

There is the danger of seeking quick guidance, instant revelation, rather than being like Jehoshaphat who ‘sought the Lord’. The danger is following the signs, rather than letting the signs follow. When Micaiah ’saw the Lord’ his desire was to obey God, rather than please men.

When Isaiah ’saw the Lord’ his desire was to be holy, and call others to holiness (Isa 6). When Ezekiel ’saw the Lord’ he was enabled to fulfil his ministry in the most difficult of circumstances (Ezek 1 and 2). When Paul saw the Lord, he was homesick, for Heaven “is far better”. When John ’saw the Lord’ he fell at his feet as though dead and was faithful in receiving and delivering the messages given to him — whether of judgment or of blessing.

Getting Things in the Right Order

As we saw in this story, Jehoshaphat agreed to ally himself with Ahab before enquiring of the Lord. How many times have we sought confirmation from the Lord on what we had already decided to do?

When Jehoshaphat returned to Jerusalem from the battle he was met by a prophet who brought him this question from God: “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is upon you” (2 Chron 19:2). Scary isn't it? Multi-faith, beware!

There is danger in following the signs, rather than letting the signs follow.

Conclusion

Let's thank God for all true prophecy, and all true prophets. Let's pray for people of courage, free from the fear of men. Let's pray for discernment, to know the false from the true. Let's pray for leadership to rightly judge prophecy. Let's pray for hunger and thirst to know God through his word, so that we might ‘see the Lord’.

The full story of Micaiah can be found in 1 Kings 22, and 2 Chronicles 18.

Originally published in Prophecy Today, Vol 14(1), 1998. Revised July 2017.