Do you want good news, bad news or fake news? We live in a world where word travels instantly around the globe at the push of a button. Sometimes it doesn’t even require physically pushing a button. With that great power comes the greater responsibility of deciphering truth from untruth.
But often, we listen to what we want to hear. When I hear something I agree with or want to agree with, I am quick to take it to heart. But the bad news, the things I disagree with, I am quick to discount. The problem is, sometimes the bad news is the truth and the good news is the fake.
In chapter 22, when the king seeks guidance he turns to his 400 prophets for guidance. The problem is, not one of the 400 is a prophet of the one true God and every one of them wants to tell their king what he wants to hear. And the king wants to hear only good news.
Eventually, Micaiah, a prophet of the true Lord, is summoned despite the king hating him for his prophecies always being “bad news.” As a side note, if the prophecy of your life is always terrible, you probably have some character traits to take a good long look at.
Micaiah refuses to change the truth even when it will mean suffering. He declares in verse 28, that if the king returns safely, “the Lord has not spoken through me.” This not so coincidentally echoes the criteria for determining the truth of a prophet from Deuteronomy 18:22, “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken.”
In a time of great and infinite influence, it is evident we need to be on our guard against false teaching. We must proclaim truth in the face of overwhelming odds. We must also listen for and accept the truth when it may oppose us.
Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is doing it. God’s Word alone defines the boundaries.
Nathan Rogers
Extended Scripture: 1 Kings 21–22 (NIV)
