In the final saga of King Ahab's story, we find him asking King Jehoshaphat (of Judah) to go to battle with him against Ramoth-gilead. So Jehoshaphat inquires of the prophets. But these prophets have been given a "lying spirit" and Jehoshaphat recognizes that. "Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides these?" he asks...
"Well, yes there one... but I don't like him because he doesn't say good things about me!" Ahab reluctantly admits. Isn't this interesting. I think many people turn away from God and His Word because like Ahab, they don't want to be convicted of their sins, and they for sure don't want to repent. So since the Bible speaks the piercing truth (it's the two-edged sword that divides light from the darkness), they turn away and close their ears.
However, Jehoshaphat wants the true prophet. So they call this man, named Micaiah. As Micaiah is being brought, the messenger encourages him, "This is what the other prophets are saying. Let your word be like theirs, a good word." I love the prophets response, "As the Lord liveth, what the Lord says to me, that will I speak." Didn't Micaiah understand that his life was on the line and if he spoke the truth, Ahab might say, "Away with you?" Micaiah was willing to take that risk, and he suffered the consequences as a result. He prophesied that Israel would be scattered... and they were. And the wicked king Ahab died in the battle, and the dogs licked up his blood, just as God had said would happen.
In Psalms 60 and 61, we see the cry of David for Israel. "O God, thou has cast us off, thou has scattered us, O turn thyself to us again." Although coming from different time periods of the Kingdom, what an interesting parallel to what happened to Israel in the final days of King Ahab.
David continues his plea to the Lord, "Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man." (Ps. 60:12). But I can't stop here, for one of my favorite promises comes in the very next chapter, Ps. 61:2, "From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I."
We may be overwhelmed with the day to day spiritual battle that we face, we may be overwhelmed by circumstances that seem to be going against us. It may seem that we live in a generation that has been scattered. But He is still our Rock. And if we turn to Him, continue to humble ourselves before His throne, He will not fail His people in their day of adversity. He will yet save His people and answer the prayers that David cried.
Tomorrow's Reading: 2 Kings 1-3 and 2 Cor. 2
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