Do Not Be Silent

The Lord speaks, Do not be silent. He says, They will hear only what they want to hear. I am in the book of Jeremiah. I open here and am drawn to Jeremiah 26:18 "Micah, the Morashthite, prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah (his message from the Lord was a hard one, just like Jeremiah's). I ask the Lord what He wants me to see here. He reminds me of I Kings, Ch.22, a story of the prophet Micah. There is more than a sermon here but I will try to catch the essence of it. He or she who will, let them hear....

I Kings 22:3 "And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours." In essence, we can take this land away from the Syrians if we fight for it. The king of Israel then asks the King of Judah to go with them into battle against the Syrians. King Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, then says to the king of Israel, before we go into battle, Let us "Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today." Now that is a really smart idea! So the King of Israel gathers his prophets, about 400, and they tell the king exactly what he wants to hear. "And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it (the land) into the hand of the king. King Jehoshaphat of Judah, sees right through this and asks, "Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides these, that we might inquire of him?" The king of Israel replies (I'm sure with a dramatic sigh), "There is yet one man, Micah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I HATE HIM, FOR HE DOES NOT PROPHESY GOOD (not what I want to hear) concerning me, but evil. Yet King Jehoshaphat still wants to hear from this prophet before going to war with Syria. Meanwhile, the other prophets continue to speak in all kinds of fancy ways, what the king of Israel wants to hear. Then comes Micah. "And the messenger that was gone to call Micah spake unto him saying, Behold now, the word of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth (they all say the same thing), (Micah), Let your word, I pray thee, be like the word of the others and speak that which is good (in other words, we'll like you then; come join us, don't cause trouble). Micah responds, "As the Lord lives, what the Lord says unto me, that I will speak." So he goes to the king (and under a lot of pressure to conform) says (with sarcasm, I'm sure), when asked if the kings should go against Ramoth-Gilead, Micah says "Go, and prosper, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king." Here;s where it get a bit funny (although very sad too). "And the king said unto him, "How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but that which is TRUE in the Name of the Lord?" So Micah lets him have it. He prophesies what the Lord has truly said to him. He says, " I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd; and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace. In other words, don't go up to fight. Go home in peace. Not what the king wants to hear. The king of Israel is enraged.

See, he says to King Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?" Micah goes on to tell the king that his prophets (false prophets) have a lying spirit and that the king of Israel will die in this battle against the Syrians if he pursues his own way without following the TRUE word of the Lord. The king of Israel commands that Micah be put into prison and Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, goes near to Micah and strikes him on the cheek and mocks him.

They go to battle despite the Word of the Lord, and the king of Israel is killed just as was prophesied by Micah. For the bravery and boldness of Micah, he is put in prison, mocked and rejected. . And God says to all of us, The Word of the Lord holds true no matter the response of the people. Obedience is better than fitting in with the crowd. Micah understood this. We as God's people need to understand this as well. What does it cost you to stand for God, to stand for Truth, to stand for ALL of His Word?? My prayer is we would be like Micah and stand with God no matter if the whole world says differently. In Jesus/Yeshua's Name I pray, Amen