Yesterday we talked a little about listening to the right voice. Jesus said John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” That means there are other voices calling out, which is why we need to know God’s word. 1 John 4:6 “We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.” If you do not listen to God then you are listening to satan. When talking about God’s word, His word is not partially true, but completely true. Jesus said John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” God’s word can never be a mostly true with falseness sprinkled in, like cyanide to water. There are only two voices, God’s and satan’s. Those who speak God’s word truthfully and those who do not, by distorting and adding to and subtracting from. Malachi 2:5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin. 7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.” We also have those who Malachi 2:8 “have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty.” When you have a mix of the two, you end up with other gospels.
Proverbs talks about these two voices who are calling out. Proverbs 9:1 “Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars. 2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. 3 She has sent out her servants, and she calls from the highest point of the city, 4 “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says, 5 “Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. 6 Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight.” Then we have the other voice. 13 Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing. 14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, 15 calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way, 16 “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says, 17 “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” 18 But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.” In this passage and throughout Proverbs we see how to tell the difference between those who are calling out. Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11 For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.” Proverbs 2:12 “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, 13 who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. 16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, 17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. 18 Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.”
Today we will look at the accounts of two prophets who spoke the truth, in the midst of false prophets spewing untruths. Elijah was a powerful man of God but remember we are told, James 5:16 “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” That power Elijah had is still available to the church today. This account started with Elijah saying to Ahab, 1 Kings 17:1 “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” We are told the famine was severe and that Ahab hated Elijah and wanted to kill him. Read (1 Kings 18) we are also told that his wife Jezebel was killing God’s prophets, but God used Obadiah to save some of them even though Elijah thought he was the only one left. God told Elijah to return and speak to King Ahab. 1 Kings 18:1 “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” Before the rain came, Elijah put out a challenge and said, 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” 20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.” It is also important to understand that the spirit of Jezebel is deadly. Revelation 2:20 “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.” Elijah would end up running from her when she said to him after she found out about her prophets being killed, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” 1 Kings 21:25 “There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. 26 He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.” The spirit of Jezebel is still present today.
Now you have Elijah against over eight hundred false prophets. It really shows how far away from God Israel was when they could not answer if God was God or Baal. Elijah said 1 Kings 18:23 “Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” So the prophets began calling on their god. 26 “Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.” If you enjoy a touch of sarcasm, Elijah began to say, “Shout louder!” “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.” Can you imagine the church today standing up to the gods and religions of the world? It is important to note that Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord first. 30 “Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down.” He then told them to flood the altar with water. Then at the time of the sacrifice, Elijah stepped forward and simply called out to God and said, 36 “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” Then it rained. Malachi said, Malachi 4:5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” Jesus said Matthew 11:4 “And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Unfortunately the Jews did not listen and destruction came and now the Gentiles haven’t listen and the abomination that causes desolation has decimated the church. Once again the church has to decided if the Lord He is God!
Elijah was one man who stood against 850 false prophets, who were all saying and doing the same thing. Another prophet who did the same thing was Micaiah. This account also involves Ahab, king of Israel but also involves king Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. The two kings were about to go to war, but Jehoshaphat said 2 Chronicles 18:3 “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.” 4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.” Now this is the part you have to be very careful of when listening for the voice of God. Just because many are saying the same thing, doesn’t mean that it is truth. Many in the church talk about the rapture, cessationism, eternal security, homosexuality to name a few, but these are not truth as scripture clearly shows, even if there are many voices saying they are. There also doesn’t have to be a big show like the prophets did when they were calling on the gods. When God appeared to Elijah, it wasn’t the wind that shattered the rocks or the earthquake or the fire, God spoke in a gentle whisper / still small voice. King Ahab listened to Jehoshaphat 5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not? “Go,” they answered, “for God will give it into the king’s hand.” Noticed they all gave the same answer. We are called to be one, but not like that. Numbers 14:1 “That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt!” Instead, it should look like this. Nehemiah 8:1 “all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate.” And then the listened to the word of the Lord. Ephesians 4:4 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Romans 15:5 “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Micaiah gets there and says, 2 Chronicles 18:13 “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says.” He then throughs a curve ball and says, “Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for they will be given into your hand. 5 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” King Ahab was evil and really did not want to hear the word of the Lord, so Micaiah told him what he wanted to hear. There is another situation where this kind of thing happened. A prophet was sent by God to prophesy to king Jeroboam who had rebelled against God’s word, even though God had given him a huge promise. After he prophesied, the king said, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.” The prophet then answered, 1 Kings 13:8 “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. 9 For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” 10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.” Then an older prophet came up to the young prophet and said come home with me and eat to which the prophet said, I cannot. Then the older prophet said, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” He then said, okay, why not. But then at the table 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink.” God’s prophets must adhere to God’s word and not deviate from it. Ezekiel was told Ezekiel 2:7 “You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Paul said in Galatians 1:8 “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” That is one reason we need to test the spirits.
The second is the word given to Micaiah and what he saw. Micaiah then said, 2 Chronicles 18:18 “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left. 19 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that. 20 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “‘By what means?’ the Lord asked. 21 “‘I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’ 22 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.” This is happening in the church today because of rebellion. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” King Ahab was deceived into thinking all of these prophets were actually speaking truth. Then Micaiah declared, 27 “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!” Then even though King Ahab disguised himself, he was shot with an arrow and died.
Today the church is filled with false prophets, much like the 850 prophets of Baal and Jezebel and many are listening to them as if they were speaking truth, but in reality, just a few are speaking truth. God has promised there would be a remnant so there are still voices of truth out there. This is why it is so important to test the sprits and make sure you are listening to truth. 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” We were told Deuteronomy 18:18 “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” Jeremiah 23:28 “Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. 29 “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? 30 “Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me.” Jeremiah 5:14 “Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty says: “Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes.” 2 Peter 2:1 “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.”
God said to those who refused to listen to the word of the Lord and went to Egypt, even though Jeremiah said, Jeremiah 44:25 “Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows! 26 But hear the word of the Lord, all you Jews living in Egypt: ‘I swear by my great name,’ says the Lord, ‘that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, “As surely as the Sovereign Lord lives.” 27 For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. 28 Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few.” They decided Jeremiah wasn’t speaking for God, and even thought he was lying to them. Earlier Jeremiah had said, Jeremiah 26:15 “Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.” Then Jeremiah said these words to those who went to Egypt. Jeremiah 44:28 “Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs.”Who you listen to is crucial to where you will spend eternity. If you listen to the false prophets, your eternal destination will be with satan, so it is imperative that you find the voices that are speaking truth but even so, test the spirits and make sure. Just because someone says they are speaking truth or puts on a good show, doesn’t mean they are speaking the truth. If someone is speaking truth, the word of God will verify their words as Jeremiah said. Paul said Romans 10:15 “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” If you are not hearing the word of God, you will end up placing your faith in the wrong Jesus and following other gospels. Acts 20:29 “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.”
