GOOD MORNING SIBLINGS!
Today’s Readings are 2 Chronicles 18-20

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Rabbit Trails

Note about my spelling of names: I tend to read several translations in preparing my notes and many of them spell the names differently. As a result, you may notice me spelling a name one way on Monday and another on Tuesday. My apologies, in advance, on the days I don’t catch this.

We begin our reading today seeing that Jehoshaphat is growing greater in terms of riches and honor but not necessarily in terms of wisdom. A quick glance at our Kings of Israel and Judah charts (click here for a refresher ) reminds us that Ahab was an evil king and here we have Jehoshaphat joining forces with him.

To his credit, when Ahab suggests they go to war, Jehoshaphat asks him to inquire after YHWH first to see if this is His will, so Ahab calls his prophets – but there is a catch- He only calls a portion of the prophets.
As it turns out, like many leaders, he has assembled a group of men who tell him what he wants to hear and these four hundred men (there is never a shortage of yes men when you have power and wealth) all agree unanimously that the king’s desire is in line with God’s will. Convenient.

Apparently Jehoshaphat sees these false prophets for what they are because he asks “Is there not another prophet of YHWH that you can ask?” 400 men have agreed with King Ahab but Jehoshaphat wants to ask one more. Sounds like discernment to me.
I love Ahab’s answer, though, it’s hilarious and shockingly truthful. He basically says “there is one more but I hate him because he never says what I want him to say.” In my mind, I see Jehoshaphat smirk and half wink at the king “Yup! that’s the one I want to talk to then!”

2 Chronicles 18:12 And the other folks saw this coming, trying to convince Micaiah to go along with what everyone else says. It’s a dangerous thing when everyone just wants to appease the king – especially when that king is evil.
Fortunately, Micaiah stood his ground. This had to take a great amount of courage, just as it does today, when the Father puts us in a position where we are to be His messenger and the news we are to bear is not going to be well received. My heart and admiration go out to Micaiah.

BUT when the king first asks Micaiah the question, he answers him in the same way the false prophets have answered him. Micaiah is being sarcastic here, making light of the false prophesies and knowing that the king understands exactly what he is doing because the king becomes frustrated in his response, knowing that Micaiah has not told him the truth of what YHWH says.
Immediately, Micaiah responds with the fullness of YHWH’s revelation to him – and in doing so he is insulting the king by letting him know that YHWH takes pity on Ahab’s people because they have no real master.

Beginning in 2 Chronicles 18:18 we see the backstory of what has really happened here and both Ahab and Jehoshaphat go on to fulfill the prophecy of Micaiah exactly as he said they would.

2 Chronicles 20:14 Another incident of the Holy Spirit coming upon a person!  All my life I heard this didn’t happen until the “new” testament. I think everyone who taught that truly believed it though, and I don’t blame them for believing this, because they had never actually read the bulk of God’s word, or as Paul Harvey would say, The rest of the story.

A lot of rehashing of things we have already read takes place in these chapters but there are so many nuggets hidden within these passages that I couldn’t pull them out and explore each one. What jumped out at you? Did you notice the adherence to the law and commandments of YHWH and lack thereof in some and the results of each? What does Father teach us about seeking Him and walking in obedience to Him in these passages? What do we see of the model and setup of his kingdom in all of this? What does it show us about the company we keep?
Share your own rabbit trails in the group comments today!

Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21

We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!

May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!

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Christy Jordan
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