Today’s Scripture Reading (December 1, 2019): 1 Kings 22
I know that I have my critics. You have voiced your concerns to me over social media a few
times over the past few years. Your words are a warning from certain people regarding
some of my political and religious views. And if my critics are reading this,
let me stress that I do hear you. I also feel you. I understand your angst and
your frustration. But I think that you miss mine. So let me state it clearly.
I am
frustrated with the conservative and religious right. The problem is that my
goals, for the most part, match the political right more than they do the political
left. I want what you want. But I am greatly concerned about how we are getting
there. And if we have to violate our moral conscience, if we have to lie and
cheat, if we have to give ourselves over to a national anger, if we have to break
our responsibilities to the stranger who walks among us, or even if we just
react without compassion to people who are different from us, then I am afraid
for us because I do not believe that we are pleasing God. We are violating the
instructions of the prophet Micah, among others. “He
has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And
what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and
to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). We aren’t doing that. Instead
we have begun to believe the ends justify the means, and that thought is found
nowhere in the Bible. In the end, the Creator of this world will have the last
say. Babylon ruled for a time, but it fell. The Bible continually warns of a
new Babylon, and for the first time in my life I am beginning to believe that
the New Babylon just might be us. And that idea scares me.
The
King wanted to achieve a goal. There was nothing wrong with the goal.
Ramoth-Gilead was an Israelite city on the East side of the Jordan River. Initially,
the city had been within the territory of the tribe of Gad. But Ramoth-Gilead
was not just a Gadite city. Ramoth-Gilead was a Levitical City, one of the
forty-eight cities that were spread throughout Israel as the possession of the
Levites, who led the nation in the worship of God. It was also a city of
refuge, a place where those who had been found guilty of a severe crime could
run and be safe until their trial had concluded and they had been declared as
either guilty or innocent. Ramoth-Gilead was an important city.
So the
goal was righteous. All of the prophets that had been consulted, four hundred
of them, had declared that God would support the taking of the city. But it was
not God who had spoken. It was King Ahab. The prophets had no desire to
contradict the King.
And it
is here that the Prophet Micaiah enters the scene. Micaiah was known for being
forthright and honest, and in contact with God. Ahab wants to see him because
he suspects that the four hundred are not speaking the truth. But as the
messenger reaches the prophet, the messenger has a request. Please let your
prophecy match that of the other prophets. They are all predicting success.
Agree with them. Don’t rock the boat.
The
problem was that while the goal was good, this was not a path approved of by
God. And so Micaiah was left with a choice. He could either agree with the four
hundred, or stand alone and speak the truth.
To my
friends on the political and religious right, I beg of you to stand up and be
honest. We need to find a God honoring path that will carry us toward our
goals. Don’t stand among the four hundred, prophesying what the king wants to
hear. Your opponents may comment on Social Media that they wanted something different. And while that might be true, you will have risen up to the expectations
of your God.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Obadiah
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