2 Chronicles 18:6,7
‘But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no longer a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of him?” And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, but I hate him, for he never prophesies anything good regarding me, but always bad. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah.” But Jehoshaphat said, “May the king not say so.”’
The two kings Ahab and Jehoshaphat were allies. The latter went to visit Ahab. While there Ahab asks him to join him in battle. He agrees. Ahab inquires of his many prophets if they should go to battle. They say, “Yes. The Lord will give you victory.” Somehow Jehoshaphat saw that these are not priests of the Lord and asks if there are any. Ahab’s answer is in verse 8.
Timothy predicts this in his second epistle, “For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires”, (4:3). I know some who have changed churches for this reason.
Our culture has abandoned God’s Word for scientific and rational philosophies. They have removed God from the center and placed themselves there. Many were raised without God and no longer have the foundation of the bible.
I’m reminded from vacations seeing the large, beautiful churches. Unfortunately the attendance is small. Most don’t see the relevance of God in their lives.
Where it gets bad is with many of the old denominations. They take some of their values from God and others from culture. The bible is no longer foremost in its influence. But a mix of God and culture. Just as Ahab has drifted and has a form of religion, so have many and their churches.
It’s easy to get disillusioned. David almost did so in Psalm 73. Here are verses 1-6, “God certainly is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death, And their belly is fat. They are not in trouble like other people, Nor are they tormented together with the rest of mankind. Therefore arrogance is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them.” David uses the metaphor of stumbling. He got off track. When we get busy and limit our time with God, we are deceived. Yes, they may have easy lives, but that’s not a good thing. The devil leaves them alone just before their souls are stolen.
David then goes back to temple and sees things rightly. Verses 17-19 say, “Until I entered the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end. You indeed put them on slippery ground; You dropped them into ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment!” That’s reality. Charles Finney describes them as walking over slippery planks in darkness over hell. A rough, but real image.
Some of these wanderers are backslidden christians who will still go to heaven, but miss out on what God has for them in this life. Many aren’t believers, but are like Ahab and those Timothy described.
The way we remain close to God and His ways are to be in a bible believing church, associate with believers, stay in the bible, serve Him and share the gospel. All this clears away the fog of the world. Just as David said, “Until I entered the sanctuary of God, then I perceived their end”.
Lord, help us to stay close to You. Let Your ways and Your truth be clear to us.