There is so much information in our world today. Some is true, some is false. But how do we know what to trust? We have independent fact-checkers that either suppress or elevate social media posts before us. There are friends and relatives that give us their opinion. Government leaders assert their authority to coerce us into their way of thinking. Even seemingly independent and autonomous agencies and groups always have an agenda, making their claims suspect. With all of the conflict of ideas in our world, it is hard to know who to believe.

This was the case in ancient Israel as well. The kingdom was divided between north and south with the wicked King Ahab ruling the northern portion of Israel. Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah in the south and was approached by Ahab to join forces against their mutual enemy of Syria. I can’t recount all the details here, but take a few moments to read the account in 1 Kings 22:1-40. As a wicked king, Ahab has marginalized or killed most of the prophets of God. His wife, Jezebel, was always scheming, planning, and controlling things from her position. There was a lot of treachery and deceit in the kingdom. So, before Jehoshaphat would agree to go with Ahab, he asked a simple favor of Ahab, “Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day” (v.5). Ahab’s response is one that we can relate to and offers several principles for us to evaluate our own hearts regarding finding and following the truth.

1. He was not OPEN – King Ahab had already made up his mind. He was committed to going against Syria. There was no thought of consulting the Lord or anyone else until Jehoshaphat brought it up. How many times are you not able to discern the truth because you have already made up your minds about what you will do? How often have you acknowledged that truth can only be found in consulting the Lord? In our day, we don’t need to find a prophet – we need to consult God’s Word and be open to what it tells us.


2. He was not SINCERE – To accommodate Jehoshaphat’s request, Ahab assembled a great multitude of respected prophets to give him advice. These were Ahab’s “yes” men. They were their to affirm and give validation to whatever Ahab suggested. He wasn’t sincere in seeking truth. He just wanted affirmation from others for the choice he had already made. So, “the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.” (v.6) Isn’t this just like us today? We are not sincere in looking for truth, so we assemble as many opinions and supporting people around us as possible to affirm what we have already decided.


3. He didn’t want CORRECTED – Ahab knew Micaiah was a prophet who would speak the truth from God, but he didn’t like him. In his own words, he said, “I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil” (v.8). Now here is a case where Ahab knew where to find truth, but avoided that source because he didn’t want to be confronted with it. He didn’t want someone to tell him that he was wrong. But that is what truth does. The Bible is full of God’s truth. It is designed to rebuke us, correct us, and confront us. That is how it transforms us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, how often do we avoid this source of truth because we just don’t want to be changed?

Yes, there will be a constant struggle for truth. Many in our culture today say that truth is no longer even knowable – that everything is relative – or that we each define truth for ourselves. But that was Ahab’s way of thinking and (as we find out at the end of the passage), it didn’t turn out so well for him. Let’s be open to God’s truth, be sincere in seeking it out and be prepared to be corrected by it. Only then will we be able to stand on a firm foundation amidst a sea of uncertain and changing ideas – and that’s something the fact-checkers won’t be able to deny!