1 Kings 22:9-12. As Jehoshaphat and the king of Israel are trying to decide whether or not to make war on the Syrians, they call all the prophets of Israel to them. All of these prophets tell the kings what they want to hear - go to into battle, you will be successful, etc. Jehoshaphat (probably realizing that he is surrounded by yes men) asks if there is another prophet they can ask. The king of Israel says there is one other - Micaiah - but the king hates him because "he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil." Jehoshaphat says to send for Micaiah, all while the advice of the other prophets gets more ridiculous (e.g., Zedekiah makes horns of iron and says "Thus says the Lord, with these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed."

Here is another sign of a true prophet - he tells what he sees as the truth, even when it makes people not like him. A few days ago, I had a reading from Jeremiah in which he had been prohibited from speaking to the people, so he sent his secretary Baruch. I said this is one sign of a true prophet - he won't shut up even when people try to force him to. Another sign of a true prophet is one who tells you what he really thinks, not just what he thinks you want to hear.

If powerful people, like the king, hate a prophet because he never prophesies good about the king, that's a pretty good sign that the powerful people may need to wake up. The prophet has nothing to gain by getting on the king's bad side - so why does he always prophesy bad things about the king? Maybe the king is a bad guy, or doing bad things!

This is a question we can all ask ourselves as people in our nation and world are being ridiculed, hated, and silenced when trying to speak, most urgently, what they see as the truth.