I
don’t know quite what to make of the exchange in the chapter from First Kings
for today. The kings of Israel and Judah are trying to decide if they should
attack neighboring Aram. They consult four hundred prophets, all of whom
promise success in the name of Yahweh. That seems like enough! But Jehoshaphat,
the king of Judah wants a little more confirmation, so he asks if Ahab, the
king of Israel, knows any more prophets. . . .
Ahab
does know another prophet, but complains that Micaiah always prophesies bad
news. They consult Micaiah anyway. Surprisingly, he too promises success. But
Ahab pushes him, so he changes tune and predicts a devastating defeat. Ahab is
furious.
It
is odd to me that Jehoshaphat needs a 401st prophet. It is odd to me
that Ahab pushes Micaiah to predict failure. And it is odd to me that Ahab then
arrests Micaiah for doing exactly what he asks!
It
seems like both kings know in their hearts that the news should be bad. They
cannot quite trust all those positive prophets or even Micaiah when he is
positive. They are looking for bad news, even if they are angry when it comes
and do not act on it.
The
commentary notes how hard it can be to distinguish the true will of God from
various counterfeits. That seems right. But I would add that in this story the
kings seem to have a gut feeling as to what the word of God really is. It is
the challenging word, the word that tells them what they do not want to hear.
Then, having heard the word, and even kind of recognizing it, they ignore it. I
suspect that we often do the same.
Fr.
Harvey 
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