When God Does Not Speak
🕊️ When God Does Not Speak… Misreading Silence and the Wars We Shouldn’t Fight
A witty and insightful blog post that explores the dangers of interfering where we shouldn’t — using 2 Chronicles 35:20–25 and Zechariah 12:10–11 as the springboard
Subtitle: What Josiah and Necho Can Teach Us About Assumptions, Ambitions, and God’s Actual Voice
Let us reflect deeply and poignantly on the theme: “When God Does Not Speak: Josiah, Necho, and the Dangers of Divine Assumptions” — a reflective and critical look at ambition, misinterpretation, and silence.
We love clarity. Divine declarations. Heavenly spotlights and thunderous guidance.
But what happens when God is silent… or when His voice is misheard? Or worse… when we pretend His silence is permission?
Welcome to the cautionary tale of King Josiah and Pharaoh Necho II: two powerful men, one fatal misunderstanding, and a war no one should’ve fought.
🏛️ The Battle That Shouldn’t Have Happened
The year is roughly 609 BC. Assyria’s empire is collapsing, Babylon is rising, and Egypt is scrambling to protect its interests.
Enter Pharaoh Necho II, rolling through Judah en route to Carchemish to back his Assyrian allies. Josiah, the righteous reformer king of Judah, decides to intervene.
Necho sends a message:
“I am not coming against you… God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me.” (2 Chronicles 35:21)
Wait… Pharaoh Necho, a polytheistic king, says God is with him? The text even suggests this message was from the mouth of God.
Josiah… doesn’t listen.
He disguises himself and charges into a battle God never asked him to fight. He is mortally wounded at Megiddo and dies.
🤔 But Let’s Talk About Necho…
Pharaoh Necho claimed to have heard from God. But did he?
History shows he was moving to:
- Restore Egyptian dominance,
- Reclaim trade routes,
- Support a dying ally (Assyria), and
- Protect Egyptian economic interests.
It’s easy to slap God’s name on strategic ambition.
Maybe Necho believed his agenda had divine approval. Or maybe, like so many leaders before and after, he baptized his greed as guidance.
Whether Necho was deceived or just shrewdly manipulative, the result was the same: a good king died, and a holy nation suffered because someone misinterpreted God’s voice—or fabricated it altogether.
🙈 When God Doesn’t Speak
The Bible is filled with moments when God is silent—or when humans rush into divine silence with their own answers:
- Abraham & Hagar: Impatience in silence created generations of conflict.
- Saul & the Witch of Endor: Desperation in silence led to spiritual compromise.
- Josiah & Necho: Zeal met silence and ended in tragedy.
The problem isn’t silence. It’s what we do with it.
🔥 Warning Signs of Assumed Divine Endorsement
Here’s how to spot when we might be putting words in God’s mouth:
- We use God to validate ambition
(Ask: is this God’s kingdom or my kingdom?) - We dismiss dissent because “God told me”
(Ask: am I still listening, or just defending?) - We bypass wise counsel
(Ask: who have I allowed to challenge my interpretation?) - We move faster than we pray
(Ask: have I truly waited on the Lord?)
🛐 The Spirit of Discernment
Both Josiah and Necho failed—possibly for opposite reasons:
- Josiah, despite his righteousness, acted presumptuously in silence.
- Necho, despite being a pagan, claimed divine authority where there was none.
When God doesn’t speak clearly, the wise wait. The humble seek confirmation. The godly don’t rush the throne of heaven with their own agendas.
🎯 Conclusion: Better to Wait Than to War
We don’t know everything Necho heard. But we do know what happened when Josiah assumed.
The battlefield of Megiddo was soaked in the blood of a righteous man who got in the way of something God didn’t ask him to fix.
Let that sober us.
