The witnesses used to establish truth in any court must be credible and truthful. They must not be like backslidden Peter who denied Jesus when asked “You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” Peter, rather than boldly testifying of his identity with Jesus said, “I am not one of His disciples” (John 18:17).
A lying witness will jeopardize the cause of any case brought before the Court of Heaven. This is why, as intercessors, we must be harbingers of truth. The facts of the cases we present before God must not be manipulated or compromised because of tribal, racial or status affiliations. Men may tell lies and still win a case in the courts of men. Lawyers can couch witnesses to tell lies and escape an indictment. Even human judges can be deceived to believe a lie on the basis of the facts twisted by witnesses and their legal representatives. However, the Judge of all flesh cannot be deceived. All those who come before Him as plaintiffs and advocates must function by His standards of truth.
Jezebel may have succeeded in judicially hanging Naboth for the purpose of forcefully taking his vineyard. She ordered the men of his city, the elders and the nobles to indict Naboth for blaspheming God and the king. Jezebel declared a fast and got two men to testify against Naboth, whom they deceptively sat in “high honour among the people.”Her judicial fast was to spiritualize her wickedness and to give it a mark of authenticity. She seemed to have succeeded when Naboth was killed without being given a fair hearing. “And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth has blasphemed God and the king! Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead. And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead. So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite” (1 Kings 21:13-16).
The events that happened in the courts of men were not hidden in the eyes of the Lord. Although Naboth died and his vineyard was confiscated, the court in Heaven sat, the books were opened and judgment was given against those that judicially murdered Naboth. “Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the LORD: “Have you murdered and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the LORD: In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours…Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free… And concerning Jezebel the LORD also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field” (1 kings 21:17-19, 21, 23-24).
The witness of Naboth’s blood in the Court of Heaven provided the evidence with which the Judge of all flesh convicted and sentenced Ahab and his wife Jezebel. Human witnesses and counsels can be bribed but not the witnesses and advocates of Heaven. Consequently, as advocates in the Court of Heaven, intercessors must be as credible as the witnesses they bring before the court. Any trace of wickedness and falsehood will jeopardize the cases they bring before God. “But to the wicked God says: what right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you? When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have been a partaker with adulterers. You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes. Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God” (Psalm 50:16-25).
Intercessors must also be very certain of their role as advocates in the Court of Heaven. They must follow due process and fulfill the mandate stipulated in the law of the Lord.
