June 2

2 Chronicles 18:18-22 gives us a glimpse into heaven...and what we find there is terribly unsettling, but should it be?

We find an account where Ahab, the king of Israel has come to the end of the reservoir of grace that God has established for him and judgment draweth nigh! The text tells of a vision by the prophet Micaiah where God asks how might Ahab be influenced to go into battle to meet his demise. A "spirit" approached the Lord upon His throne and volunteered. We do not know if this was a heavenly being or possibly something evil (which is possible based on Job 1:6-12). And God ordained that a lying spirit be allowed to influence Ahab's pagan prophets to lead Ahab to his judgment, a plan that we see from the narrative was successful, once again seeing that providence is inescapable.

So, should this be troubling to us? Not if we have resolved in our hearts to, as Earl Palmer says, put the full weight of our lives on Him. Do we fully trust? We need not fear ever the acts of a our Sovereign God! If we are Jehoshaphat and find ourselves unintentionally caught up with an evil person, God rescues us! If we are Ahab, then whatever judgment that befalls us is due to us. God's will reigns supreme.

This account does not give us permission to engage in deceptive practices to manipulate others in our earthly schemes. We do not possess the wisdom necessary to execute such strategies. We know that lying for mankind is only and always evil from Proverbs 6:16-19. God is the only entity in existence who is accountable only to Himself to which we say as Jesus taught us, hallowed be His name, He is perfect in all His ways, even the ways that are forbidden to us.

Rather than being unsettled by this account, our faith in God should be buoyed! There is nothing that He cannot accomplish, there is no escape from His hand, may we all put the full weight of our lives in Him!

Pastor Fred