1 Kings 22:41-50; 2 Chronicles 17-20; 1 Kings 22:51-53; 2 Kings 1-3

Most would agree that unity is crucial to success. The need for unity in the religious realm is likewise understood to be a valuable asset. From the Tower of Babel until today, the unity of mankind is a powerful force. Although there was division of the kingdom under Rehoboam and Jeroboam, and decades of warfare between Judah and Israel, there was now peace between them. At this time, the wicked king of Israel asked the good king of Judah for unity against a common enemy.

It all sounds good. Brother together with brother again. Jehoshaphat’s words are poetic,

I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war.

2 Chronicles 18:3

Then, Jehoshaphat adds something worth considering. He asks Ahab to inquire of Yahweh. Hmmm. We are together working on a common goal. I wonder what God thinks. Ahab offers “some prophets”. Jehoshaphat refines his question and asks for a prophet of Yahweh, not just any prophet. Ahab doesn’t like the only prophet of Yahweh left in Israel because he does not tell him what he wants to hear. Even when he is summoned, others try to get Micaiah to “be encouraging”. What’s the use in “asking God” if you are going to manipulate the answer? The Word of God has never purported to tell us what we want to hear, only promising to tell us what we need to hear. Micaiah has different ideas, saying,

As the LORD lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak.

2 Chronicles 18:13

Therein lies the lesson for us all. Unity is truly quite valuable, but in the religious world the only unity is unity in Christ. Christendom is fractured precisely because folks want unity on their own terms, not God’s. In all matters religious, we must first ask, “What does God say?”

Further, we also see the tendency of people to gather around themselves people who agree with them. It has never been about people agreeing upon truth, because we are not the source of truth. God is. Paul foretold that people would gather teachers to tell them what them wanted to hear, saying,

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

2 Timothy 4:3-4

There is no legitimate Christian unity when we reason this way. Ahab was never interested in listening to God, so he surrounded himself with “prophets” who made him feel good and rejected the one who made him uncomfortable. Folks may be “united” by definition, but unless folks are united in Christ, it is not of God.

People today proclaim the virtues of “unity in diversity”. This is the same old approach to try to get God to agree with us. The Bible teaches diversity within unity. We can and will have our differences as people. But, if we inquire of the LORD and speak and act in the name of the Lord, we will enjoy our diversity within the blessed and precious unity accomplished by Christ. The real question then is do we want to be united with people, or do we wish to be united with God. Maybe we should ask God what HE thinks…

Consider His nature.  Consider His ways.  Strive to love Him more!