Observation: While Ahab is intent on going to battle at Ramoth-gilead, Jehoshaphat wants to hear from a prophet about if they should. Ahab calls ... 400 prophets who all say the battle will succeed, even invoking the name of the Lord in doing so. However, Jehoshaphat knows these prophets are false and are not prophets of Yahweh, and asks for another one to be brought.
Most people would be convinced of something any time 400 advisors came together and unanimously agreed on a plan of action, yet how did Jehoshaphat know the falseness of 400 prophets in unanimous agreement? There may be a few basic indicators. First, when Ahab first calls the prophets, they are not defined as being from the Lord. And second ... there are SO many of them! The Lord has never needed large numbers to proclaim his truth, but rather he almost always uses one voice, filled with his spirit, to pronounce the truth.
Final confirmation likely occurs through the actions of Zedekiah. This one prophet is called out by name twice. In verse 11, he crafts a prop in order to play-act the message he is delivering. While this isn't unique - true prophets also take actual action as metaphorical representations of events to come, including Ezekiel and Hosea - this example feels like it is bordering on attention-seeking entertainment. Then in verse 24, Zedekiah physically assaults Micaiah for his contrary prophesy.
There is not any example of a true prophet, when declaring the truth as spoken through them by the Holy Spirit, taking violent action against someone who contradicts that truth. In fact, the case may always be the opposite ... when a person speaks the truth of the Lord, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the evil side of the world is left without the ability to refute that truth and will lash out with physical aggression. As a very basic overview, this is evident in the circumstances of ... Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, and in the New Testament Paul, Peter, and of course Jesus himself.
Application: There is so much violence and aggression in the world today, and while it may be right to say that violence is evil, it is wrong to simply declare that all violence is an act of evil opposing God. However, when calm truth is declared in the name of the Lord, we can expect the response to be aggressive because that is the tool evil always responds with. That aggression can take many forms, but it seems that at its most fundamental it can be described as ... the attempt to harm the wellbeing of an individual.
Truth is not found in numbers; as I have heard said, the truth is never decided by a majority vote. Truth is found in the Lord alone, expressed by the Holy Spirit, even if the 'vote' is 400-1 against. And when those 400 respond to the 1 with aggression ... well, that would seem to reenforce the truth. Again, not all aggression is evil attacking truth, but I do hope all believers, including myself, will have the discernment of Jehoshaphat, and understand the signs when it comes to hearing God's truth.
Prayer: Lord, this is my prayer, for the discernment of your people. May your truth be known, and may your Spirit be clear with within us and around us. And may we withstand the aggression that will be the response toward your truth. Amen.