But Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I shall speak."
When I was still with my parents, I found a way of making sure my actions will not go against their will, or in teen’s term: how to keep thyself from being scolded, haha :> I realized that since the bulk of the stories were coming from me, I could do some editing and highlight the good and bury the 'not'. For example, they need not know that in between Saturday classes and church rehearsals, I was out with friends. If it leaks, plan B says I use the general word ‘friends’, and not ‘girls with boys’. There was also that time when I failed an exam and I still bubbly went home and bragged about the other results. They’re happy and my image was good. Who cares about deleted scenes?
When Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, visited Israel, he surely received a warm welcome being the father of Jehoram, Ahab’s son-in-law. Aside from that, he was being eyed as an ally against Aram. Any wish and it will be granted. Jehoshaphat agreed but on the condition that they seek God’s counsel first. So Ahab called his four hundred prophets and whether it was by his prompting or in pleasing him and his guest, they were unanimous in saying that the Lord will give them victory. Discerning some faulty wires there, Jehoshaphat asked again, specifically for ‘a prophet of the Lord’. Ahab warned him that there was one but his prophesies were always bad on him (Was he expecting blessings for his ungodliness?). As the prophet Micaiah was being brought to the entrance of Samaria’s gate, the messenger tipped that all others predicted success for the king and that it would do well for him to agree with theirs, and speak favorably. He did. Possibly in much sarcasm because Ahab asked him a second time. And so he unveiled God’s truth, that is, Ahab’s death, Israel’s scatter, even the lying spirit in the mouths of the four hundred. He got a slap in the face for that last one, and was imprisoned for the first two. Truth hurts!
Jehoshaphat need not know they were false prophets. He need not know they weren’t communing with God at all. All Ahab cares was to please his terms and seal the deal. So like today’s advertisers tickling us with pleasures and wants under the pretense of needs. So like our friends supporting our ungodly relationships and vices and calling it earned rights. Who cares about truth nowadays? The Bible has that reputation of hindering our joys and making us uncool. More like a NO book to this tech-y generation. But given our limited capabilities and wavering will, our feet will surely be tossed here and there by every changing season. Without God’s solid ground and truth-based allies, we’ll easily lose grip on life. Proverbs say 'better is open rebuke than hidden love', and 'whoever flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his feet'. So don’t edit your talks. Don’t delete those scenes. Truth will hurt. But in the end, it will save.
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