Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
“Peer Pressure” is very powerful, at all ages in all societies around the world, do you agree? With the advance of social media technology, ‘peer pressure’ is no longer limited by time or geography or relationships or even truthfulness. Outright lies can be boldly told and photographs manipulated to display events which never happened!! Even voices can be artificially developed to impersonate a person so conversations can be fabricated and sent around the world for all to hear, and yet they never really happened!
“Peer Pressure” is today something none of us could have imagined when we were children! Yet ‘peer pressure’ is as old as humanity and once again we have lessons we can learn from the Biblical accounts as we continue walking through the events of the people living in ancient Jerusalem. Join me again, around 854bc with King Jehoshaphat and let’s see what he learned about ‘peer pressure’.
Yesterday I left you amazed at how God was both blessing and protecting Jerusalem and the southern kingdom of Judah because King Jehoshaphat “…did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father (Asa) and followed God’s commands rather than the practices of Israel… His heart was fully devoted to the ways of the LORD…” (2 Chron. 17:3,6) We also saw yesterday that Jerusalem was at peace with all the surrounding nations. It was a great time to be alive in Jerusalem! Not so across the border in the northern kingdom of Israel under the wicked leadership of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel who had led the people of Israel to reject God and embrace the false idols like Baal.
Sadly, in good times, even good leaders can make unwise choices. 2 Chronicles 18 & 1 Kings 22 give us a remarkable story of ‘peer pressure’. This statement sets the foundation for the problem: “Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage.” (2 Chron. 18:1) It seems to me wealth and honor, peace and prosperity clouded Jehoshaphat’s judgment. I presume his intentions were honorable in seeking an alliance with King Ahab and Israel through marriage. Perhaps Jehoshaphat, the great-great grandson of King Solomon, grieved that God’s people Israel were a people divided into two kingdoms, with two kings? Perhaps he envisioned a day when the nation could be reunited again and the blessings he and the people of Judah were experiencing might be shared throughout a united Israel once again? Perhaps he was under ‘peer pressure’ with many of his advisors and officials urging him forward in this political marriage?
But to marry a woman in the family of wicked King Ahab and Queen Jezebel was a travesty morally and spiritually for they had totally rejected the God of Israel and Jehoshaphat should have known of the disaster such marriages cause, as was experienced by his great great grandfather King Solomon! (1 Kings 11:1-9)
Marriage draws two families, no matter how different they are, closer together and we can presume Jehoshaphat likely took his wife ‘home’ to visit her family, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in Samaria, from time to time. Evidently during one of those visits King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat were discussing regional relationships with their surrounding nations.
Unlike Jehoshaphat, who was at peace with all surrounding nations, King Ahab was frequently embroiled in battles with those very same nations. So it’s only natural that Ahab would invite Jehoshaphat to join him in battle seeking to regain some territory for Israel, specifically the fortress city of Ramoth Gilead, which had been conquered from Israel by the Syrian king Ben-Hadad during the reign of Ahab’s father King Omri.
At face value this was a no-win proposal for King Jehoshaphat. Ramoth Gilead was almost 90 miles northeast from Jerusalem and at least 30 miles east of the Jordan river into the wilderness lands. There was no real territorial value to either the kingdom of Israel to the north or Judah to the south. In truth, it was a pride issue for King Ahab, wanting to build his legacy. There was no reason for the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, to even consider this request.
But ‘peer pressure’! So Jehoshaphat agreed to at least engage the discussion but requested that these two kings seek counsel from Ahab’s advisors. That’s a wise move, don’t you think? Whom do you seek counsel from when you have important decisions to make, especially decisions that will shape your future and affect your children and grandchildren?
2 Chronicles 18 and 1 Kings 22 give us the story of King Ahab calling his advisors, all of whom are prophets of false gods and of course they only tell the king what they think he wanted to hear. Do you know anyone like that? King Jehoshaphat however, is a leader who sought to always lead his people in following the God of Israel, and thus Jehoshaphat always sought wisdom from men of God like the prophets Elijah and later Elisha. Because he was a visitor in Ahab’s northern kingdom territory and knowing Ahab and Jezebel had no tolerance for men of God Jehoshaphat asked if there was any man of God still in Israel who could advise them with God’s wisdom? Ahab responded with a significant statement: “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the LORD the God of Israel, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me.” (2 Chronicles 18:7)
So what does that tell you about Ahab? Elijah was there and available but he overlooked him. Wisely, King Jehoshaphat insisted and they waited for a messenger to go find and bring the prophet Micaiah to meet with both kings. This is the only time in Scripture this prophet is mentioned as far as I can tell.
It should not be difficult for us to imagine the ‘peer pressure’ the messenger put on the prophet Micaiah to make sure his advice was in sync with that which Ahab’s advisors had already given. The record says: “But Micaiah replied, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell Ahab only what my God says.” (2 Chronicles 18:13) Now let’s pause right here as these two men walk toward the king’s palace and Micaiah prepares to meet face to face with a king he knows hates him. What do you think were the options Micaiah considered as they entered the palace grounds and Micaiah could see many false prophet advisors standing around. We can assume many followed Micaiah into the presence of both kings.
Ahab got right to the point: “Micaiah, shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I not?” (2 Chron. 18:14) Micaiah looked at King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat, both sitting on thrones in their royal robes. Surrounding them were perhaps dozens of advisors and officials, all staring at Micaiah. What should he say? What have you said in such situations when you felt the ‘peer pressure’ was almost unbearable?
Tomorrow we’ll rejoin this very tense situation, for history is about to be made here. Meantime, let’s you and I both give serious thought to how much we allow ‘peer pressure’ to influence our thinking, our choices, our words and actions. What solid foundation of truth do you anchor your life to when surrounded by ‘peer pressure’? Here’s a worship song to help us consider this:
Today’s Scripture: 2 Chronicles 18:1-14.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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