Why Do People Reject Truth?
It is astounding to see people who rely on truth to advocate for social justice, human rights, reformations, and other areas reject truth when it confronts the motives of their own heart. Let me illustrate with a scene from the book of 2 Chronicles 18 (also found in 1 Kings 22).
The king of Israel, Ahab, has been at war with the king of Aram. Ahab was not the most holy or righteous king that has ever lived. He was consistently led away from the commands of the Lord, God of Israel, by his wife, Jezebel, who had him wrapped around her finger. In the story in 2 Chronicles 18, Ahab had invited Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to aid him in battle if he was to go to war with the king of Aram in Ramoth-Gilead. As was common practice for kings in the ancient world, Ahab wanted to consult the prophets (human speakers for God) before going to war. So he consulted 400 prophets asking, “Should I go up and wage war against Ramoth-Gilead?” All 400 prophets responded by saying, “Yes! God will give you victory!” However, Jehoshaphat was not convinced about this message from the prophets. He asks Ahab, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord we can ask?” To which Ahab responded, “Well, there is Micaiah, but I hate him. He never says anything good about me—only evil.”
Is this not interesting? Ahab had surrounded himself with 400 voices who would agree with any and every decision he made while the one person who sends a message of warning or evil to him, he silences. It is alluded that Micaiah had been locked away in prison per the king’s request when Jehoshaphat inquired about him. The one prophet of the Lord (because the 400 prophets who declared victory were prophets of other “gods”) who challenged the motives of Ahab’s heart was cast aside for speaking the truth.
As the story continues, Micaiah was brought to the king’s presence and sarcastically declares, “Surely, you will have victory!” and then precedes to declare judgment on Ahab by prophesying his death in the battle in which he was assured victory by the 400 other prophets. Naturally, Ahab was furious and had Micaiah thrown back in prison. He disregarded the warning and went out to battle against Ramoth-Gilead where he died later that evening.
If this story can show us anything, I believe that it shows us that truth will still be true regardless of what we think about it. Micaiah prophesied that Ahab was going to die in battle, and he died. In hindsight, he was speaking truth for the Lord and the 400 prophets were all liars. It did not matter that Ahab rejected Micaiah’s truth and accepted the 400 prophets’ “truth”; he still was subject to the truth. His feelings about the truth did not change the truth.
The word of the Lord was not welcomed even though Ahab seemingly want truth. He consulted the prophets—but only the ones who would confirm his feelings. Truth is usually wanted if it justifies the motives of the human heart. If truth contradicts the motives of the heart, people are generally dismissive and sometimes aggressively violent toward men and women who bring the truth. Truth does not respect people; it does not play favorites. Truth is not malleable; it cannot be formed into what each person wants it to be. Truth is objective, and we must live as subjects underneath its rule. Ahab did not want to live underneath the objective nature of truth—and he ended up dying. Just because he wanted to believe that the war would go well for him, and he would receive a great victory, did not mean he was absolved from the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord came to pass regardless of how Ahab felt about it.
Three practical takeaways from this story. First, do not ignore truth, doing so usually ends up destroying our lives. Ahab ignored the truth and suffered the consequences. Second, yield to truth. Although painful at first (because truth confronts the motives of our hearts), we must submit to the rule of truth if we want to live. Lastly, be careful of the voices you let into your life. Ahab only let people who agreed with him into his life, and he suffered greatly. Encouraging people are necessary to have, but you must be wary when those voices never challenge or convict you.
One more thing: truth is not an idea. It is a person, and His name is Jesus. He gently invites us to turn away from the wickedness that we walk in, submit to His authority by following Him, and receive the abundant and everlasting life that is full of love, joy, and peace through the indwelling of His Spirit.
