For three years Syria and Israel continued without war. But in the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
1 Kings 22:1-4
I have officially opted to talk about love in a few more blogs, preferably three for now but should there be a need for more by God’s grace, we will discuss. In what will now be considered the first part of the love series, we discussed briefly the dangers of love lacking a definition as well as where the true definition of love is found namely, Christ Jesus. Today we are going to explore a bit more on the topic.
When discussing matters of love, there is something that is often seen as a noble way of handling things; compromise. This is to say, as an unbeliever would say; ‘Look, brother, I completely understand your position and it’s cool and beautiful and all but like we already have other definitions and we don’t seem to harm people as you claim. Instead of trying to see some fictional war between us all, the better path is to seek humanity. You talked about us loving each other, the agape thing, correct? We can do that without having to necessarily follow your method. Together we can come together and be one in love even if we don’t completely understand each other.’ If you have this perspective, then wonderful. Let’s discuss a couple of reasons why this plan may not work as well as it initially sounds.
So as not to be too political or opinionated on this, we will be drawing our context from 1 Kings 22, a perfect example of everything the world suggests is the answer, why it did not work then and why it would not work today. Before we get to the verse though, let’s lay some groundwork.
Fraternization with The Enemy
“These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way.
Deuteronomy 12:1-4
The history of mankind has always been an interesting one when viewed through a Biblical context. In each step, God makes it absolutely clear that his intention is to bring man to rest, and in each step, mankind consistently finds new ways to disrupt said system, God punishes sin and brings man to rest, a period of obedience and then disobedience reigns once more and the cycle continues. Beginning from Genesis, God makes Adam and Eve and gives them only one rule and they quickly break it. God punishes them, a punishment that dictates and shapes all of mankind, and then gives them rest outside of Eden. Cain and Abel are born and quickly after that Cain performs murder. God punishes Cain and drives him off, Genesis 6 tells the story of wickedness so explicit that mankind is involved even with angels, and look at what verse 5 says…
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Genesis 6:5
God decides to exercise divine punishment on all men save for one. Noah survived out of God’s mercy. This is exactly why the Gospel cannot really be inoffensive. God pronounces his divine judgment upon wicked men and wicked men see this and are angry. Can you afford to be anything but when you know you attract wrath from a God who is nothing but Holy? Unfortunately, rather than tackle the issue as Christ says in Matthew 5:25 by attempting to settle before you get to court, men would find it better to sear their hearts of this God and spit on His face whether in ignorance or full knowledge as though that will fix anything. It is as though you head to jail and you constantly insult the man who leads you there and hurls insults at the judge presiding the case. There is no mercy anyone would offer to such a man, much less a Holy God.
God brings Noah and his sons to rest as mankind resets and even then, men are back to wickedness. Genesis 11, the men build a tower to get to God and he confuses their languages. Genesis 11 is an interesting tale because it is the first time the idea of a worldly union and universal gathering in one place against God’s plan occurred. At first, before research, I was going to lightly pass over this section but it is an interesting tale. God in Genesis 9 wanted people to fill the earth and here are the people not trusting in God’s providence in diversity and opting instead to be united in strength since its more profitable to them and God simply says, ‘Nope’ and reminds the human race that He who is in the heavens is the only one who runs things. By the time we get to Lot’s era, like Genesis 6, there are men who still seek to find pleasure in the ministers of God.
This tale in Genesis 19 happened because Lot was in Sodom. Yes, that Sodom. Angels visited his home and when, by dusk, the people of Sodom knew that Lot was hosting what appeared to be men fair of complexion, both young and old rushed to Lot and demanded that he let them have their way with the visitors. Sexual sin knows no boundaries, ladies and gentlemen, and cannot be tamed once let loose. Now here is the saddest part of the story. These men were all struck with blindness and in that state still sought for the visitors until exhaustion. Lot then is instructed to leave as God brings Sulphur rain to Sodom and Gomorrah and they are told not to look back but Lot’s wife felt rebellious and turned into sodium chloride. This narrow escape from those that are too wicked is a lesson the people of God never truly learn.
We fast forward to Israel and they are in Canaan and they are instructed by God to destroy the idols and worship places of those who reign there so that they may not be tempted to disobey God and worship idols as their ancestors had done basically hours after Moses left them. Unfortunately, young Israel had the same misunderstanding that the believers have right now; the idea that they are capable of loving the outsiders and not being like their judgmental God. Look at how they worship idols and their prayers are answered. Our God likes us to follow rules and we don’t like that. We want our will done without having to go through God. So we worship idols. Look at how they have kings and how these brave kings lead the men to battle. We want kings too. One we can see and bring our petitions to, not a Holy God we cannot approach, but a fallen man for he may understand us better. God gave them freedom over both. Idol worship soon became an affair of sacrificing children to the idols, often with loud music played so the parents would not hear their young ones’ screams. Kings overtaxed the people, made alliances against God’s will and each king led them slowly to more idolatry and more sin than the previous king (save for a few, of course). And so we come to the king Ahab.
Now that we have the full context, let us quickly go over the reasons why acceptance and a false union will fail.
Shallow Waters
Now, in my research, I came across articles that wanted to sympathize with Ahab and his wife Jezebel with at least one for each prompting a look into their lives a bit deeper and seeing that they weren’t all that bad. They were just your typical idol worshipers and comparing their deeds to those in power before them, can they really be given a stink eye? We want to sympathize with these people because we have been taught by society to always want to know the perspective of those who are despicable. Narratives are now being changed for those who were once unquestionably bad to show a dual side of morality so that as a sinner watches it, they are soothed. Surely, everyone has a good side, right? Of course, that guy we canceled last week is an exception but he’ll get a good narrative in a year or two. Of course, there are those friends I couldn’t forgive but they might have something good. If they were sorry, I’d have forgiven them. And if you go deep down the rabbit hole, you will realize that it is less about others being good and more about you.
So Ahab goes to his friend King Jehosophat and reminds him that they own Ramoth-Gilead and that they should attack it. I want you to notice something important about their alliance. Though the two were friends, Jehosophat was not able to convince Ahab of his wrongdoing to Yahweh and his need to be reconciled to God. Ahab retained his evil nature and while Jehosophat was a man that did right by God, he was more likely to do something Ahab wanted than the other way around. This is the principal issue with the idea of a false unity between believers and non-believers; it is surface-level at best. I am very sure Ahab was aware of God’s presence in Judah as they still held on to their Creator but he still remained an idol worshipper. The other interesting thing is that his wife that affirmed him also knew about the God of Israel and they were in the presence of prophets, people who literally foretold the future and God’s plans and the two were still seeking idols. I have said it before and I will say it again…
Ignorance has never been a non-believer’s issue. They could be a non-believer that sees God work in majestic men like Solomon and see the wisdom displayed and yet still not believe. This is how deceitful sin is. This is how dark a man’s heart is. Ultimately, God Himself could come, and He did, and they would still remain sinful.
Your alliance with the unbelievers helps you in no way. Just because they are not vocal about how much they hate your message does not mean that you are making progress. This is not to tell people to escape from non-believers but to understand that at the end of the day, there is no fellowship whatsoever between a believer and a non-believer. They could claim to be open to everything for the rest of their lives but be convinced today believer, there are lines drawn. There is animosity and if you are faithful to God’s word, you will see it. Let me say another important thing. The Christian worldview is not interested in a middle ground because there is none. As we research apologetics and maybe even tempted to hear the atheistic worldview to be equipped, do not for a second believe the notion that you are capable of fully agreeing. We must be careful about approaching for there is no true marketplace of free thought.
I may have to convince you further on this and I will. Let’s have a look at the attitude of the prophets in the story.
Dancing to the Piper’s Tune
And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the LORD.” Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the LORD of whom we may inquire?” And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.”
1 Kings 22:5-9
If there was a great example of how a false union sounds like, it would be the prophets of Ahab. They were the ideal example of both what the Tower of Babel hoped to achieve and what a lot of our fellow believers currently hope to achieve; to have one voice of unity. When called by the king, they said proudly that the king will succeed and that God has given them victory already. In fact, one of them, Zedekiah, approaches the king with the horns of victory. This is the official stance of those who hope to offend nobody in preaching the gospel. As long as someone states that they are uncomfortable with how the truth is offered, they offer to compromise the healing medicine in hopes that it’s not too bitter to be taken this time around. Unfortunately, Jehosophat is convinced they need a second opinion and the response of Ahab is precisely what any non-believer would say at the thought of listening to yet another round of the Gospel. The king hates Micaiah for providing him with the truth for Ahab always interprets the prophecies as ‘always against him.’ You will never get away with sounding reasonable when you talk about sin in a world that does not want to hear not your message. And do we not live in such a world? We have people claiming there is no objective truth. We have people claiming that you can be anything you want to be unless it’s something we don’t want you to be. We even have people who classify being Christian as outright oppressive even if you live on lower rationings than they ever will. If it has to be a unifying voice, it has to be one that hurts nobody or it shall not be spoken. In fact, someone actually tells Micaiah of this very thing.
And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” But Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak.”
1 Kings 22:13-14
The voice of love and caution is told to the king and it sounds absolutely contrary to both the king and the prophets. In a world of cults that pretend to be Christian and postmodernism and identity politics, the Church faces opposition from outside and within. Some who claim to speak the same message are only interested in how the message feels to those who are undecided and try to cheat them essentially into Christ as though the Gospel has no power to save. What worth is there in preaching a God who is mighty if we send a message of a weak-willed Christ so that people can find him more palatable? Micaiah essentially, against all odds, defies his circumstances to speak against false unity and he pays for it immediately. He is sent back to detainment where he was to suffer little rationing until Ahab returns and even then Micaiah, still in brevity, states…
And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you peoples!”
1 Kings 22:28
Love is not witnessed in attempting to change the message that the unbeliever may be okay. It is seen when you are capable, with God’s strength, against your desire to be silent to sin and benefit from the rewards of looking like a nice person, speak out that for a brief moment, maybe today they will listen and turn back from sin. Nobody will like your message and even those inside the circle will be resentful because they think they will bring one to Christ by acceptance and unquestionable allegiance with sin. To the brothers and sisters struggling with this, allow me to point one thing out.
Epilogue: Walking on A Tightrope
Jehosophat meant well when he chose to align himself with Ahab as you do well in attempting to be empathetic with Ahab and as Lot is living in Sodom. You may think that by remaining in the camp, you are loving but I can promise you that the God you serve loves these people more than you ever could. Like Jehosophat and Lot, every moment you spend in the camp will be dangerous. I know because I have personal experience. You’re not being asked to let them go but to understand that you are essentially walking on a tightrope and for every moment we are not active in preaching for truth, we get closer to watching them get to an evil that God will not spare. The reason the prophets all agreed in deceit was because God allowed it to happen that sin may be purged. And on that day, it will go one of two ways for you, you might either like Jehosophat be caught in a position where you will have no choice but to flee from danger, or like Lot’s wife, you might be too deceived by sin to be obedient to God. Preach the gospel, for your sakes and theirs that God may save them for sin is deceitful and one day it may destroy your friends. I speak this to you and to me. Shalom.
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