"Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace."
--KJV
Sounds like someone has been smoking meth in this one.
This verse represents one of those times when I followed the instructions to the letter, but the wheels fell off anyway.
On first pass, I internalized the verse literally without any context. As an addict, fresh out of active using, I thought what was being said here was that I had given up my master (meth) and was being offered absolution. That was so easy, I thought.
Today I looked at the rest of the chapter. The king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, had all the goodies—wealth, honor, the works. But he couldn't just stay in his lane. He went down to cozy up to King Ahab of Israel, a complete wreck running his own chaotic show, yet commanding respect because of his kingdom. Old Jehoshaphat was acting like a proud, meddling fool. Sitting high on his hill, thinking, "Look at me. I'm so important." No one could tell him what to do; he thought he knew better than everyone. So he meddled where he didn't belong and defied God's wisdom by forming an alliance with a disaster.
What followed was a battle of egos. Ahab trotted out a slew of four hundred "prophets" to stroke their pride—pure yes-men. But when the one real prophet spoke up to deliver God's actual truth, he was scorned, punched in the face, and thrown in a cell.
That sounds like two meth heads battling it out for the attention of bag-chasers with nice bodies to me. When we find ourselves no longer worthy of the attention of good men, we surround ourselves with the company of bad men. And the bad men have our ear. Those who come with love and truth in their hearts are sent away. Scorned. Hated. They don't understand how much we suffer, we tell ourselves. If we find out an old friend is touching what we consider our "toys," we throw temper tantrums.
Everybody suffers. Everybody leaves. We have to st
art from scratch. Each cycle brings us closer to the gutter and the gutter rats—which, of course, feeds our insatiable need for sympathy. A bunch of grown children looking for Mom's attention by pulling our sister's hair.
I am sure I am oversimplifying here, but I am pretty sure that's what God wanted me to see. Because what I see is me.
Take Away
As addicts, we have to embrace the truth as it is. There is no romance in our rebellion. We aren't heroes in some righteous battle for personal freedom on top of our little mole-hills. We are wandering souls with no direction, no hope, and no purpose. That won't change until we face that which is tormenting us through a clear lens. The trouble is that there is truth in our claim that others who are unlike us do not understand us. That is a fair defense, but it won't get us anywhere meaningful. We need someone to talk to who listens without expression. I know of only one good option, and in my case, He is talking back, so I know He is listening.
Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab
2 Chronicles 18
18 Now Jehoshaphat had an abundance of riches and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage. 2 And some years later he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria, where Ahab sacrificed many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to march up to Ramothgilead. 3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat replied, “I am as you are, and my people are your people; we will join you in the war.” 4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.” 5 So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, four hundred men, and asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?” “Go up,” they replied, “and God will deliver it into the hand of the king.” 6 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here of whom we can inquire?” 448 | 2 Chronicles 17:1 7 The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied. 8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.” 9 Dressed in royal attire, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. 10 Now Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made for himself iron horns and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are finished off.’” 11 And all the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph, for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.” 12 Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah instructed him, “Behold, with one accord the words of the prophets are favorable to the king. So please let your words be like theirs, and speak favorably.” 13 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever my God tells me.” 14 When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?” “Go up and triumph,” Micaiah replied, “for they will be delivered into your hand.” 15 But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear not to tell me anything but the truth in the name of the LORD?” 16 So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’” 17 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he never prophesies good for me, but only bad?” 18 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right and on His left. 19 And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel to march up and fall at Ramothgilead?’ And one suggested this, and another that. 20 Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ asked the LORD. 21 And he replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ ‘You will surely entice him and prevail,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’ 22 So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours, and the LORD has pronounced disaster against you.” 23 Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went up, struck Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when He departed from me to speak with you?” 24 Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.” 25 And the king of Israel declared, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, 26 and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”