Hated Prophets

Friday, April 12, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.”

1 Kings 22:7–8

As a godly king, Jehoshaphat should not have made a military alliance with the wicked king Ahab, but he did. He did retain enough wisdom, however, to recognize that the prophets Ahab had gathered around him were not speaking for God. They were delivering the message Ahab wanted to hear, but they were not telling the truth. When Micaiah was called to stand before the kings, he was warned to say only good things so that his words would match the other prophets and please Ahab. Instead, he boldly proclaimed God’s judgment, willing to be hated and pay the price for the sake of the truth.

Charles Spurgeon said, “God gave me this great book to preach from, and if He has put anything in it you think is not fit, go and complain to Him, not to me. I am simply his servant, and if His errand that I am to tell is objectionable, I cannot help it. Let me tell you, the reason why many of our churches are declining is just because this doctrine has not been preached.”

In our day, faithfully proclaiming what God has said is becoming less and less popular. But while we should certainly be kind to others, our purpose is not for them to like us, but to be warned. Jesus said, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). Do not allow a desire to be well thought of keep you from speaking the truth.

Today's Growth Principle: 

Those who make small compromises to avoid conflict will soon find the truth completely abandoned.