During his reign Jehoshaphat was not satisfied with only verbal appeals to believe the Word of God and His prophets. He rather endeavored to make more diligent and practical efforts on behalf of the people of Judah. “In the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to Ben-hail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests. And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people” (verses 7–9).

On one occasion Jehoshaphat visited Ahab, the king of Israel in Samaria, who had developed some type of affinity with him due to the marriage of his son with Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter. “And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war. And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today. Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king’s hand” (2 Chronicles 18:3–5).

These 400 prophets who unanimously declared that God would deliver Ramoth-gilead into Ahab’s hand were the prophets of Baal that Elijah killed on Mount Carmel for driving Israel into the most degrading idolatry. After listening to their testimony and not being satisfied with their prophecy, the Jewish King endeavored to inquire at the source of all knowledge: “Jehoshaphat said, is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides that we might enquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so” (verses 6, 7).

The servant commissioned to bring the Lord’s prophet to the king, and with the best of the intentions he tried to persuade him to do like the other 400 and to speak smooth, pleasing things to Ahab. But “Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak” (verse 13). Here we find the difference between the true and the false prophets.

The false prophets are always ready to say what is pleasing to the ears. The true prophets are compelled to present the straight truth, just exactly as the Lord reveals it. This is precisely one of the great crises affecting the so-called Christian world today; people want to hear what is pleasing to their ears, not necessarily the truth. Even among those who preach the Word of God in the pulpits there is a desire to interpret the Bible in a way that will be comfortable to the majority. And sad to say, in most cases the great majority of churchgoers are not willing to reform their life.

The popular preachers misuse the Word of God just as Satan used it against Christ in the wilderness of temptation. It is rare to hear the straight truth that will compel the people to fall upon the Rock and to be broken. What is hard for the people of this generation is not to accept the theory of the message of salvation, but rather to practice the true principles of Christianity. Those who, like Micaiah, are commissioned to present the final warning found in the book of Revelation will be hated and put into prison just as God’s prophet was jailed by the wicked Ahab.

Through Micaiah the Lord revealed the warning of the consequences of going into battle against the Syrians, which, had it been heeded could have saved the king from death. Micaiah declared, “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. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil? (verses 16, 17). The result was exactly the same as it was revealed through the faithful prophet. The people of Israel returned safe from the battle except the master or the shepherd—which was King Ahab. “And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the evening: and about the time of the sun going down he died” (verse 34).

Belief in the Lord God and His prophets is the secret for the safety of any enterprise or for any individual. Here our eternal destiny is decided. But to believe is not an emotional sentiment or a mere theoretical knowledge. To believe is to act based on the Word of the Lord and to practice its principles without adding or taking anything away. As faith without works is dead, belief without reformation in the life is a dangerous deception. The Christian life is not a modification of the old but a transformation of the entire being. There is in humanity a tendency to modify, twist, exaggerate, or take away from the truth.

There is in these last days an increasing tendency to adapt the Word of God to our own sinful, unconverted nature. The apostle Paul in his last letter written before his execution in Rome said: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:2–4). “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (1 Corinthians 14:8).

Some preachers have come to the conclusion that a portion of the Bible is done away and does not apply to us because we live in a different generation. But the wise man says: “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:5, 6). Among the great principles of the reformation taught by Christ, and one that should be seen in the life of His messengers, is the principle of true communication. Christ said: “Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” (Matthew 5:37). “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:19). Those who have been ordained as teachers of the Word of God must be faithful to their sacred trust; they must be careful how they teach, for any deviation or unfaithfulness in this respect can bring terrible consequences.

Christ also declared: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” (Matthew 7:15, 16). The key to identify the false teachers is by their fruits. Many make great pretentions, and just as Christ said, they come to you in sheep’s clothing; and unless we exercise spiritual discernment it is impossible to know them. But Christ assures us that we can know them by their fruits, and the Word of Christ never fails. What type of fruit are we to look for in order to identify the false prophets of this evil generation? The same Christ that many years before had inspired Jeremiah the prophet to say: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord” (23:16).

According to Jeremiah 23:16 just quoted above, among the fruits that we are to watch out to identify true versus false people are those prophets that “make you vain.” They preach exciting messages that lead to false expectations and do not move the people to confession and deep repentance. Very few parishioners are encouraged to feel sorrow for their sins and to turn away from them. This is the sad reality of today. But “we are near the end of time, and the message is, Clear the King’s highway; gather out the stones; raise up a standard for the people. The people must be awakened. It is no time now to cry peace and safety. We are exhorted to ‘cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins’ (Isaiah 58:1).”1

Because knowledge is increased, false teachers are also multiplied, and unless we study the Word of God by ourselves and seek to apply the true principles of Christianity in our daily life, we will be deceived. The warning against this danger comes from the apostle Paul when he said: “There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification” (1 Corinthians 14:10). If the reason to believe the teaching of a preacher is only because he is eloquent or because his teachings makes sense, we are in great danger.

Human beings have always found it so hard to understand their own nature. Many make great efforts to justify the cold, world-loving attitude of the great majority of professed Christians. In the last book of the New Testament, the Faithful and True Witness declares that these conditions lead only to eternal destruction. For those who are carnally secure in this last generation, the warning is: “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (Revelation 3:14–18).

The servant of the Lord was given a vision of the separation that took place among the believers in Adventism when the message to Laodicea was declared to be applicable for them. She wrote: “I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God’s people.”2

Are we going to develop the same hatred against the Lord’s servant as Ahab did against Micaiah because the truth revealed to us is against our own unsanctified will? Or are we willing to listen and obey the straight testimony just as it has been received from the Lord?

God’s servant writes: “I saw that the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance; all who truly receive it will obey it and be purified.”3

I hope that, instead of rising up against the straight testimony of the True Witness and rejecting the final warning, we may be moved to deep repentance and to a thorough reformation.