The Christian ministry, as well as all other human endeavor, has its Cushites and its Ahimaazes. The former go about their business from day to day, faithfully carrying out the commands of the Lord. The latter are forever preening themselves, proclaiming their own importance and seeking their own advantage—lying when it becomes necessary to further their ends.

We are not to judge. The Lord Jesus will bring everything to light at His coming.

It has become fashionable today to preach a "positive" message. A minister is considered to be a defeated prophet of gloom if he says anything negative to his listeners.

We asked the Lord about "positive preaching." The Lord responded, "Whoever preaches only the negative is emotionally ill. Whoever preaches only the positive is seeking his own glory. The Word of God is both positive and negative."

Then He took us back to the beginning where there was a tree one should eat and a tree one should not eat. Then to the mountain of blessing and the mountain of cursing. And so on through the Scriptures.

It must have been the Lord who answered us, for here we find Ahimaaz, who clearly was seeking his own glory, telling King David only the positive information, only what David desired to hear, refusing to give the whole message.

Ahimaaz accomplished nothing except the increasing of his own importance. It was the Cushite who performed the required task.

The Palace Prophets

The kings of Israel surrounded themselves with hundreds of prophets. Their task was to speak in the name of the Lord, advising the king of the Lord's will in important issues.

They prospered when they said what the king desired to hear.

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. (I Kings 22:6)

This was not true. In fact, God had determined that Ahab, the King of Israel, would fall at Ramoth Gilead. The palace prophets were not hearing from God.

That there were four hundred men employed as palace prophets who had not been sent by the Lord, who were not hearing from the Lord, gives rise to a question: Why were these four hundred men not employed in some useful occupation? They could have followed any number of occupations. Why did they choose to be a palace prophet? What was their motivation?

A false prophet is of no use to man, no use to God. Like Absalom, the false prophet is suspended between heaven and earth. His head is not in Heaven and his feet are not touching the earth.

To be continued.