In An Age That Needs Michaiah, The Church Prefers the Spirit of Ahab
“But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.”
(Pastor Bob Sawvelle seems to be confusing God with Santa Claus)
One of my favorite Bible stories is tucked away in 1 Kings 22. It is the story of the seldom heard of prophet, Michaiah; not to be confused with Micah.
Jehoshaphat, King of Judah comes to visit King Ahab of Israel as they consider whether to go to war against Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat implores Ahab to first inquire of the Lord so he gathers his 400 false prophets to ask them and they all say to go and he will be victorious.
This brings us to the key verses today which always make me laugh. Jehoshaphat says – hey c’mon, do you have another prophet we can ask and not one of your 400 sycophants? Reluctantly, Ahab admits there is this one other prophet named Michaiah but he never prophesies good concerning me! As if that is what should matter when hearing from God! Sure enough, Michaiah prophesies that God put a lying spirit in the 400 false prophets and that if they go to war, Ahab will die. For his troubles, Michaiah is thrown in jail until the king returns from war and Michaiah’s answer is priceless:
“And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you peoples!”
King Ahab dies in that war, exactly as prophesied. Michaiah fades into the background of Scripture having his moment memorialized forever. Fast forward today and we see a church that seeks out the 400 false prophets and persecutes anyone who would bring the correct Word of the Lord, such as Michaiah.
The above link is to a recent posting on Charisma News from Pastor Bob Sawvelle from Arizona.
I had never heard from him but he perfectly sums up the state of the church regarding prophecy today. The text is actually pretty short so let us reason again together through it…