Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, requested that Ahab, king of Israel, would inquire of the LORD before they united to go to war against Syria. Ahab gathered his 400 prophets and they all affirmed the Lord’s support. However, Jehoshaphat was a righteous king and he took note that the prophets were not worshipers of the LORD (In most English translations, all caps “LORD” is used to translate “Yahweh,” while “Lord” is used to translate “Adonai.”). He asked whether Ahab still had a “Yahweh” prophet. Ahab did, but he said that he hated him because the prophet never spoke good for him. Sure enough, when the Yahweh prophet was brought before the kings, he prophesied Ahab’s death, which in fact, came to pass.
The modern reader may consider Ahab foolish for preferring to surround himself with preachers that only encouraged him with lies, while rejecting the one who called him to repentance with the truth. Yet, Ahab’s generation is here today and Ahab’s prophets too. For as the apostle Paul warned, “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (1 Tim. 4:3-4).