Is there not a prophet of the LORD here?

The account of the kings of Judah and Israel - Jehoshaphat and Ahab - in 2 Chronicles 18 inspired this post. Ahab needed to go to war in Ramoth-gilead and wanted an ally in Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was willing to form an alliance, but asked that they consult and get directions from God before embarking on the war. 

Ahab gathers 400 prophets and they say the exact same thing: Go to war: God will give you victory over your enemies. But Jehoshaphat says “Isn’t there a prophet of the LORD around here?”

This is intriguing and instructive. How many of us would hear 400 different people saying the exact same “Thus saith the LORD” and still have the spiritual discernment to say no, this is NOT yet the voice of the LORD? 

We live in a “vox populi, vox Dei” world. Folks actually believe the voice of the masses (people) is the voice of God. Opinions or narrative with 20,000 likes are considered more credible or reliable than those with 20 likes. But this biblical account in 2 Chronicles 18 reminds us that God is not always in the multitude. In fact, Jehoshaphat turned out right: a prophet of the LORD is summoned and predicted Ahab would not survive the war and that was exactly what happened. 

The lesson for us is thus: what are we doing as individuals to improve our level of spiritual discernment? How are we making sure we are not getting carried away by voices - even spiritual-sounding voices - but actually understanding the will of God for our lives? May God help us better discern Him, and walk accordingly. Amen.