All Weekly Sharpening Posts

November 16, 2023

402 vs. 1 & Not Outnumbered

All the other prophets (400 of them) were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”

This is the scene in 2 Chronicles 18: Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, were trying to decide whether to wage war against Ramoth Gilead.  Jehoshaphat wisely suggested that they seek the counsel of the Lord before they took action. King Ahab consulted his 400 prophets, who all agreed and said to fight!

⁶ But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?”

⁷ The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

If Ahab had an ounce of humility or wisdom, he might have benefited from Micaiah’s prophesies.  Instead, he sought men to tell him what he wanted to hear.  There’s more we could explore in Ahab’s leadership philosophy, but what happens next is the part I want to focus on.

¹² The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorably.”

¹³ But Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says.”

In the face of 400 dissenting voices and in the presence of two kings, Micaiah had a decision to make.  He could go with the flow, cave in, and simply agree with the masses or speak the truth that God gave him.

But in Micaiah’s mind, the decision was a simple one. He wasn’t intimidated by the number of men opposing him.  He was not influenced by the powerful position of the two kings.  He was going to remain true to his God.

I’d like to think that I would do the same thing, but my track record proves otherwise.

The Holy Spirit has brought to mind several examples where I didn’t speak boldly in the face of opposition, and I faced significantly fewer dissenters than Micaiah.  Micaiah’s life was at stake, but he cared more about what God thought of him than those other men.  He was not concerned with his reputation or being “canceled.”  He was going to proclaim the truth no matter what.

There’s a lesson in this for me.  Is there for you?

The Word of God has never been less popular in our country than it is right now.  It’s never been more countercultural.  And like Micaiah, we are still called to proclaim God’s truth in the face of opposition.

To a man of God, the numbers shouldn’t matter.

With God on your side, you are never outnumbered.