2 Chronicles 18:9

2 Chronicles 18:9 says, And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.  Ahab and Jehoshaphat both sat on their thorns and the prophets prophesied in front of them.  These were not God's prophets, but prophets of Baal and other false gods.  Verse ten adds, And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the Lord, With these thou shalt push Syria until they be consumed.  Zedekiah one of the false prophets told the kings what Ahab wanted to hear, making horns of iron and telling them that God said with them they would push Syria.  As followers of Christ, we should never just tell people what they want to hear to keep us from getting in trouble but must always tell them the truth of God.  Verse eleven continues, And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.  All the other prophets told them to go to Ramoth-Gilead and prosper.  Once more, all these prophets were just telling Ahab what he wanted to hear, and Jehoshaphat was hearing the same thing because he had allied himself with Ahab.  As Christians, we must always stand apart with God and never listen to anyone else in deciding what to do in life.  Verse twelve states, And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent; let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of their's, and speak thou good.  The messenger that went to Micaiah told him that the words of the prophets were good and asked him to agree with them.  The words may have been good to gain Ahab's approval, but they were not good in God's sight.  We may be tempted to just go along with the crowd to make peace in the world, but we as Christians must always stand for what God's word says.  Verse thirteen adds, And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak.  Micaiah said as the Lord lived, he would speak the truth that G9d revealed to him.  That is what we must do today.  Verse fourteen continues, And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand.  Micaiah then told Ahab what he wanted to hear, though I am not sure if he said it in scorn or what.  We should never tell people just what they want to hear but must always tell them the truth of God.  Verse fifteen continues, And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord?  Evidently, however Micaiah said it, the king didn't believe that he was actually telling him what he believed to be God's word and told him to tell him the truth as he always asked him to.  This was in spite of the fact that he wouldn't act in accordance with what Micaiah said.  Just because people ask Christians to tell them the truth about God today doesn't mean that they are going to believe what they say. Verse sixteen says, Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace.  Then, Micaiah told Ahab what he really saw, which was the people of Israel scattered as sheep without a shepherd.  This is what we as followers of Christ will be like if we listen to the world's truth instead of God's truth, and we cannot afford to just go along to get along.  Verse seventeen adds, And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?  Ahab told Jehosaphat, who had asked if there were a prophet of God, that he knew that Micaiah was not going to prophesy anything good, which was whatever Ahab wanted to hear.  We may still be accused of not predicting anything good for those who do not follow God's will in their life, but it God's word still always be the truth.