Messin' with Sasquatch (1 Kings 22)

There's a series of commercials that air usually during certain sporting events hawking a brand of beef jerky. They all revolve around the theme, "Messin' with Sasquatch." Each of the episodes revolve around usually male characters trying to trick or play a practical joke on the mythical man-beast character of Sasquatch. The ads generally portray the characters as smart and fun loving and the more powerful Sasquatch as lacking intelligence or simply naive. The end results are always the same, the much stronger Sasquatch kicking the butts of the practical jokers.

I'm not really sure of the implication of the commercial to the product, but it sure reminded of the way many arrogant leaders viewed and treated God in the Old Testament. Take King Ahab for instance. Instead of humbling himself before God and fearing Him, he treated God as almost bumbling idiot. Ahab seems to think of himself as superior in intellect and sophistication to God. Although he doesn't try to pull a chair out from under God in physical sense, as portrayed in one of the commercials, Ahab does try to pull throne out from under God.

In 1st Kings 22, King Ahab invites King Jehoshaphat to go to war with him against the Areameans. Jehoshaphat agrees on conditions that the prophets guarantee victory for them. All the prophets but one, Macaiah, tell Ahab that he will have victory. Macaiah tells Ahab that if goes to war against the Areameans that he will be killed. Ahab is so angry that he has Macaiah arrested and thrown into prison and put on bread and water and then Ahab heads off to war.

To hedge his bet, Ahab disguises himself as just regular soldier and has Jehoshaphat wear his royal robes. As the battle ensues, the enemy come after whom they believe to be King Ahab. When they discover that it wasn't Ahab, the battle is enjoined. During the fighting, an arrow from the bow of an enemy archer is randomly launched. It strikes Ahab between the joints of his army. Ahab dies later that day as a result of the wound and his army is routed. Random shot? Lucky Shot? Messin' with Sasquatch.

 

Many today have the same arrogance as Ahab. They think that they can ignore the teachings of God and avoid the consequences. They think God's commands are archaic, out dated, irrelevant in today's world or society. "We are much more sophisticated today and God's teachings are old fashion." They live the way they want to live, trivializing the truths of God. They view God as almost a benevolent benefactor who is out of touch with today's world. He maybe powerful, but He's a little naive. Messin' with Sasquatch.

 

I'm not saying that God is a mean, angry, powerful pontificate ready to squash anyone who crosses him. I am saying that there are consequences to not following God's truths.  God is interested in our well being, our relationships, our marriages. He wants the best for us, for us to experience a healthy life, an abundant life. To ignore his truths, his teachings is a detriment to us and the world we live in. God's truths are TRUE! When we choose not to follow them, we crash and burn.

God, forgive my arrogance. Forgive me when I ignore or trivialize or manipulate your teachings to accommodate me. In the words of the psalmist, I love your precepts. I want to hide your truths in my heart. They are a light, a guide to my path. I want to follow your ways. Guide me today, each day.

Daily Reflections on 1 Kings 22:1-28 (To Tell the Truth)

When I was a kid I can remember watching a TV game show called, "To Tell the Truth." The game consisted of four celebrity panelists who would try to determine which guest was telling the truth. Three guests would all pose as the same person, a doctor or nurse or scientist, etc. The panelists would ask each guest questions to determine who was the real doctor.

Each of the guests tried to answer all the questions as if they were that person they claimed to be. They would say things they thought that the panelists wanted to hear in an attempt to fool them. Some were very good at the game and often would fool the majority of the panelists. At the end of the game, the panelist would vote on who they thought was telling the truth. Then the host would ask the famous question, "Would the real Dr. Smith please stand up." After the guests would try to fake everyone out, the real Dr. Smith would reveal himself.

Many of us are very much like the guests on that show. We're good at telling people what we think they want to hear. We probably learned it as kids, but have developed the art of slight deception as we've grown to adulthood. We really don't look it at as lying. After all we're just trying to appease our questioner. And since we don't want to offend someone, especially if they are close to us, we shade the truth. We often times will tell someone what we think they want to hear simply so that we can remain in that person's good graces, even to the detriment of that person.

Macaiah was an Old Testament prophet that we hear about rarely. In fact, I've only heard one message in my lifetime that even referred to him. In short, King Ahab wanted to attack a town called, Ramoth Gilead, and recapture it from his enemy. But when went to inquire from the Lord, all of his prophets but one told him that God would give him the victory. All that is but Macaiah.

When Macaiah was summoned to the king, the messengers warned Macaiah to agree with all the other prophets. Initially he did. But when pressed by King Ahab to tell the truth, Macaiah told him the Lord told him it was trap and that if he went, he would be killed. Ahab was so angry that he put Macaiah in prison on bread and water until he returned. The problem was that Ahab never returned.

Macaiah told the truth and didn't relent even under pressure. He was trying to help the king, but the king didn't want to hear it. Nor did the other prophets who challenged him. Yet, Macaiah told the truth even though as far as we know he died in prison on bread and water.

Telling the truth isn't always the easiest or the most popular thing to do. Sometimes, we'll pay a penalty for telling the truth. Sometimes we'll be ostracized for telling the truth. Sometimes we may suffer for telling the truth or even lose a friend. But in the end, truth is truth. And if we learn to speak the truth in love as God commands us, we just may be celebrated in the end.

God, sometimes I find myself wanting to protect myself by not telling the whole truth. I realize I'm not trusting in you at that moment. Help learn to speak the truth in love and with wisdom. Help stand for your truth even though sometimes it's not popular.