“Glory to the Precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Proverbs 21: 30

There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen

We, the bride, the church should receive the counsel of the Lord and be as those who do everything according to it.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the portion of the Bible that we meditated upon in the past days, we meditated that we, the bride, the church should never make the Lord angry, and we must humble ourselves.

Next what we are meditating upon is that 1 Kings 22: 1 – 9 Now three years passed without war between Syria and Israel. 

Then it came to pass, in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to visit the king of Israel.

And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, but we hesitate to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” 

So he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” 

Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the Lord today.”

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?” So they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?”

So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”

Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imlah quickly!” 

The above-mentioned verses because Ahab humbled himself to the words of warning from the Lord, so the Lord did not allow his calamity to come upon him in those days, but he said that he will make it come upon the days of his son. Now three years passed without war between Syria and Israel. Then it came to pass, in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to visit the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, but we hesitate to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?”  So he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of the Lord today.” Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?” So they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?” So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!” Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imlah quickly!” And he said and send him saying in 1 Kings 22: 10 – 13 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat each on his throne, at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. 

Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” 

And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand.”

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.”

When Micaiah came to king what Micaiah said is that in 1 Kings 22: 14, 15 And Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”

Then he came to the king; and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall we refrain?” And he answered him, “Go and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king!”

After both of them said the above-mentioned things the king said to Micaiah, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” Then he said in 1 Kings 22: 17 Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’”

When the king of Israel heard the above-mentioned prophecy then he said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”

My dear people, when we meditate upon the previous words of the Lord, whatever matter it may be even if it is the work of the Lord, we must not put our head into things which the Lord has not told us. That is, when Ahab humbled himself before the Lord, then the Lord showed mercy towards him. But three years when Israel and Syria were quiet without any war, Ahab without receiving the counsel of God is preparing to go to war against Ramoth. Whatever thing or any thing concerning any land we must not fight against the enemy by ourselves. The Lord who has called us is faithful. Not only that but his things and our things he knows everything. Also, how we must receive the counsel of God is that through true servants of the Lord. Who they are is that for the name of the Lord those who have considered all worldly related joys, happiness as loss and rubbish and those who humble themselves and exalt only things related to the kingdom of God in their lives and live in this manner. If the Lord from within them speaks regarding our mistakes to us then only they are true prophets of the Lord. But among the four hundred prophets whom the king of Israel called we see that they prophesised according to the thinking of man. But in these days, many people believe such kind of false prophecies as true and consider the true words of God as lies and we see that they are making the Holy Spirit grieve. This is because God does not do according to what is suitable for them, so they think in this manner. They will not realize why the Lord did not do that thing for them. They think that they have devout fear and holiness, and they will not change their evil deeds. But they will not think regarding what are the facts that the Lord revealed and will not change themselves and walk speaking against the Lord so how much ever punishments they receive from the Lord still they walk like those who have no sensation in their skin and make themselves desolate and dwell in desolate places and make their soul weary and then they do not realize this, and we see them being destroyed and going in this manner. Those who are reading this, each one of us should think how we are. Therefore my dear people, we should not receive the counsel of God like Ahab, the king of Israel and know that we should not put our head into any matter and submit ourselves to the Lord.

Let us pray. May the Lord bless you all abundantly. 

       - To be continued