[299 words]
A wise king seeks advisors who will tell the truth. whereas a foolish ruler wants yes men who will tell him what he wants to hear. Entirely too often the fools carry the day, as exemplified by King Jehoram of Israel.
Because of Israel’s persistent idolatry under Jehoram and his predecessors, the Lord allowed the Syrian king Ben-Hadad to besiege Israel’s capital, Samaria. The resulting famine became so severe that a donkey’s head sold for 80 shekels of silver, and roughly a pint of dove droppings brought five shekels of silver. People were literally eating their own children! (See 2 Kings 6:26-29).
A wise and godly king would have been moved to repentance. But wicked Jehoram vowed to kill Elisha, God’s prophet who had rebuked the king’s sinfulness. Not that long ago Jehoram had witnessed God’s utter defeat of the Syrians when Elisha prayed (2 Kings 6:8-23). Now, however, all he wanted was the prophet’s blood. Yes, indeed, “Kill the messenger!”
Jehoram had learned well from his grandfather, Ahab, who persecuted Micaiah for foretelling his defeat in battle and ultimate demise. Many other reprobate rulers followed in their footsteps. Herod Antipas murdered John the Immerser for rebuking his adulterous marriage. The Sanhedrin murdered Jesus for exposing their hypocritical lawlessness. In all cases the evildoers thought killing the messenger would solve their problem; but it never did!
To my knowledge my life has never been seriously threatened for speaking the truth. More than one has been plenty angry with me, but not to the degree of trying to kill me! However, the concept of blaming the messenger is alive and well. Let’s remember that the message is God’s; the faithful messenger has no control over it, nor will being angry with the messenger cause the message to change.
Joe Slater