I Hate Him

1 Kings 22:7-8, “And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the Lord : but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.”

In the passage, King Ahaziah of Israel is wanting to know how to handle an upcoming battle. He was inquiring with the false prophets when King Jehoshaphat approached him. King Jehoshaphat asked if there was a prophet of the Lord that he could seek counsel from. Ahaziah said that there was one, Micaiah, but that he hated him. Why did he hate him? He stated because he always prophesied evil against him.

Now then, was this Micaiah’s fault? Of course not as we see in 1 Kings 22:14, “And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak.” Micaiah would just tell him what God told him to say. Ahaziah is at fault here.

He reminds me of many people today. It seems many people disrespect and dislike men of God who only say what God would have them to say because of their message. However, that is not the issue. Ahaziah’s issue wasn’t really with Micaiah. His issue was that he wasn’t living right and wasn’t following the Lord. That’s the same with many others. Many do not want to live right, and they dislike those that will stand up and deliver a message from the Lord that points out the sin. If this is the case, their real issue is with God. If a man of God delivers a message from God, he is just a messenger. It all boils down to people not obeying and following the Lord.

How’s our outlook on men of God and his message? Are we right with the Lord and have no issues with them? Do we have issues with the man of God? Do we dread church because we know the preacher will say something about an area in our lives that’s not right? If so, let us examine where the real problem is. Most likely, it is a heart issue that needs to be resolved between us and God. Let us make this right and mend our relationship with the Lord. Ahaziah’s relationship with God and Micaiah was not right and things didn’t end well for him. Don’t end up like Ahaziah. Be sure your heart is right and enjoy the peace and blessings God can give.