The Lord has been showing me the 1 Kings 22 over the last couple of weeks. It is a powerful narrative that shows the desperate need for the true word of the Lord regardless of consequences. Today Australia needs the prophetic voice more than ever!
King Jehoshaphat (יְהוֹשָׁפָט meaning ‘Jehovah has judged’; son of king Asa and himself king of Judah for 25 years; one of the best, most pious, and prosperous kings of Judah) visits the King of Israel (Ahab אַחְאָב a wicked king) and although we know the King of Israel had 400 ‘prophets’ (1 Kings 22:6) Jehoshaphat asks is there a prophet of the Lord! In other words the 400 prophets that the King of Israel had gathered were useless as they were simply a bunch of ‘yes men’.
Jehoshaphat wanted a true man of God to speak!
1 Kings 22:7 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of Him?”
The King of Israel says there is one man of God, but he does not like what he says. The King of Israel wanted his ears tickled, but did not want to face up to the consequences his own sin and the sins of his people. He was offended by the word of the Lord because it found him wanting.
1 Kings 22:8 So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”
Micaiah (מִיכָֽיְהוּ meaning ‘who is like God’; a prophet of Samaria who predicted the defeat and death of king Ahab of Israel) was a true prophet, not afraid to speak the true word of the Lord regardless of what others thought or the consequences. The King of Israel hated Micaiah because Micaiah spoke the true word of the Lord. If the King of Israel had repented and turned to the Lord all could have been made right.
We are facing a plethora of critical issues in Australia (SSM, gay agenda, ‘safe schools’, euthanasia, abortion, prostitution, people trafficking, etc. ) and it is time we the Church need to be the word of the Lord to a nation desperately in need of salvation.
This is the word I felt for Australia, especially the Church, at this time. I asked the Lord the same question that Jehoshaphat asked: ‘Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of Him?’.
I felt the Lord say that there will not be a single person to speak, but He wanted His Holy, Apostolic, Prophetic, Bride – His Church – to speak as one.
I then saw a vision of leaders in every pulpit in the nation speaking the word of the Lord with power and truth. Every congregation were on there knees crying out for His righteousness and truth.
The word being preached was without compromise, it was offensive to sinners and some saints alike, the word of the Lord was also life and salvation through repentance and belief.
As the clear word of the Lord was declared in unity across the nation many were convicted and fell to their knees crying out to the Lord for help and salvation.
Now is the time for all of us to be the prophet that Jehoshaphat had asked for, we all need to declare the truth of the word. We the Church are called to manifest the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We will not win any popularity contests, but we will be His voice in a dry and thirsty land.
His Church is awesome and powerful, it is truly apostolic and prophetic. The Lord is calling all of us to rise up and be His voice of truth in a land that has hundreds of false prophets who speak vanities.
Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.