In the physical, false prophets will always outnumber true men of God. In the spiritual, however, the hosts of heaven will always outnumber the minions of darkness. It is one of those realities that both gives us hope and reminds us to be weary and cautious of those who come in God’s name but do not belong to Him.
Biblical precedent tells us that false prophets outnumber
true ones by a magnitude of hundreds. Things haven’t gotten better with time;
the numbers haven’t come closer together, but I would wager they've gotten
worse given what we’re seeing in the modern-day church.
Just because there is consensus on something by a handful of
individuals concerning some matter or another, it does not make it true or
factual. Even though nine out of ten doctors recommend a particular brand of toothpaste,
the possibility remains that the one doctor who did not recommend it was in the
right, and the other nine were fools who gave their stamp of approval in
exchange for a vacation, or a lifetime’s worth of free toothpaste.
If consensus or a majority opinion is your metric as to
whether you should accept something as truth, you have failed to consider that
the world lies under the sway of the evil one, and as such, you will always be
in the minority if your desire is to follow faithfully after Christ. Blindly
following the majority can lead us astray, so we must be cautious and
discerning in our faith.
Going the way of the crowds doesn’t make you right. It just
makes you part of the majority, and although there is an implied safety there,
wherein no one will single you out as the odd duck, it’s never been about being
safe, liked, or in the majority that can, and often does rule by the strength of
its numbers.
It’s not about how many people insist that God has changed
His ways and has become more permissive about some sin or another; it’s about
whether God said He has become more permissive. His word is a constant, an
anchor in a world of shifting sands. He has declared that He changes not, from
generation to generation, so if men insist that He has, even if it’s the
majority of men, to the last, they are proven liars with no truth to be found
in them.
Sometimes, it’s easy to gloss over the courage and bravery some
of those who came before us exhibited. We read of individuals who stood
resolute against kings and kingdoms, who did not have an army behind them or
the safety net of a majority to embolden them, and we shrug our shoulders and
move on to the next story without registering the faithfulness and determination
they exhibited. Although it is an oft impossible task, we would do well to try
and put ourselves in their situation and walk a mile in their shoes because by
doing so, it reveals the level of commitment such men had to the truth and the
level of obedience they walked in.
Ahab, the king of Israel, was itching for a fight. Using a
visit by the king of Judah as a pretense for an alliance and an ultimate war,
Ahab confided in Jehoshaphat that Ramoth in Gilead was ripe for the taking. To
hear him tell the tale, it was as good as theirs, all buttoned up and ready to
be delivered.
Although the prospect of annexing more territory was
attractive to Jehoshaphat, he still had the presence of mind to inquire for the
word of the Lord and see what He would say concerning the matter.
Four hundred prophets were gathered, and one question was
asked: Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?
They all agreed. There was not one voice of dissent, and there
were no holdouts. Four hundred prophets said in unison that he should go up,
for the Lord would deliver the land into the hand of the king.
Even though they were all in one accord, insisting that victory
was assured, Jehoshaphat still wasn’t convinced. Never ignore that still small
voice because it’s speaking for a reason. On its face, the consenting voices of
four hundred prophets should have sealed the deal, yet something felt off to
Jehoshaphat.
Looking back in hindsight, we’ve all had situations in which
we would have saved ourselves from heartache and disappointment had we listened
to the alarm bells going off in the back of our minds. Maybe it’s just me, but
I know I’d have a few hundred dollars more in my pocket had I listened when
supposed friends asked for loans they never intended to repay. It’s not like I
mortgaged my house or anything, but a hundred bucks here and fifty bucks there
adds up over time.
As a way to pacify that voice in the back of his mind, Jehoshaphat
asked the king if there was any other prophet that could be summoned so that
they, too, could inquire of the Lord. Jehoshaphat had no way of knowing there
was another prophet, nor did he have a reason to suspect it, yet he asked the question
anyway because oftentimes, it’s the way God works in order to fulfill His
purpose.
There is a difference between armchair quarterbacking and
pondering how a situation came about with the gift of hindsight. What seemed
irrelevant or tertiary in the moment, ends up being the linchpin and turning point
of an entire life. It’s the small things that turn out to be the big things in
life that reveal the intricacy of the tapestry of one’s existence and how
detailed God is in guiding our steps.
I’ve been married for a quarter of a century and have a
brilliant, beautiful wife and two wonderful daughters, all because I spotted a
girl sitting on a park bench as I was driving by on a random Wednesday in
Botosani, Romania. Ten minutes later, or ten minutes earlier, I might have
missed her. Had my head been turned the other way, I might have missed her, but
that seemingly little thing, innocuous and inconsequential at the time, changed
the course of my life.
How many times has it happened wherein you are delayed in
leaving for work or dropping the kids off at school for a few minutes, only to
drive by an accident that just occurred that you would have likely been a part
of had you held to your schedule? I’ve often repented of being frustrated at
not keeping to a schedule I’d determined in my mind when such occurrences take
place because I see the hand of God and his protection after the fact.
Posted on 8 September 2024 | 11:17 am
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