Good morning,
What’s unsafe about “group think”?
The Bible does a wonderful job of helping us understand what God is up to when something doesn’t seem to make sense. In 2 Chronicles 18 the Lord allowed a faithful prophet to see a decision making meeting in heaven about how to get rid of a very bad king. Two kings, one good and one bad, were meeting together as leaders of neighboring countries. The bad king, King Ahab, was trying to get his good neighbor to join him in a military battle against one of his enemies. The good king wisely suggested that they ask the Lord if this was a good idea or not. King Ahab call for 400 of his own prophets to tell them what God wanted them to do. The whole bunch of them all agreed that going to war was exactly what God wanted them to do. The good king, feeling uneasy, asked if there was a prophet of the Lord who could also be called. King Ahab said there was one of that kind, but he really hated him. It seemed that this prophet told him what he didn’t want to hear. The king sent a messenger to get the prophet, and when he found him he was told to agree with all the others when he showed up. The prophet, Micaiah, wisely said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I will say only what my God says."
When Micaiah came before the kings, he told them that the Lord had given him a vision that King Ahab would be killed. When the king questioned what he said, Micaiah told him more of what he saw. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the armies of heaven around him, on his right and on his left. And the LORD said, 'Who can entice King Ahab of Israel to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so he can be killed?’(vs 18,19) After some discussion amongst the spirits, one obviously from the left, said he could do it. "'How will you do this?' the LORD asked. "And the spirit replied, 'I will go out and inspire all of Ahab's prophets to speak lies.'
"'You will succeed,' said the LORD. 'Go ahead and do it.’(vs20,21) We all know that the Lord doesn’t lie, but we also know that the Lord does allow Satan and his evil angels the power to convince people that their lies are the truth. Micaiah finished his story by saying, "So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of your prophets. For the LORD has pronounced your doom.”(v21) We see this same principal involved in the book of Job in chapters 1 and 2. God allowed Satan to test Job in very difficult ways in order for God’s plan for Job’s life to be accomplished. Just because people are religious and claim to speak for God doesn’t mean that they are telling us the truth. Groups of people, including religious people, can make claims for right and goodness that aren’t a part of God’s righteous direction. Dear God, please give us hearts like that of Micaiah to hear and speak your truth courageously.
2 Chronicles 18:13 But Micaiah replied, "As surely as the LORD lives, I will say only what my God says."
Roy Wisner
