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Question from a friend of WordTruth Ministries:>>>
Did God command an angel/demon to lie - Lying spirit (1 Kings 22:22)? I
thought God would never command anyone to disobey Him?
>>>WordTruth.Com Response:
Of course, the Bible tells us clearly that "For God cannot be tempted by
evil, nor does he tempt anyone" (James 2:13, NIV). Chapter 22 of 1 Kings is
a controversial passage since it seemingly contradicts the nature of God.
For this reason, we need to be careful in handling this text because God's
word is perfect (Psalm 19:7), hangs together as one truth (James 2:10), and
is never in contradiction (John 10:35).
Let us work our way through the text of 1 Kings 22 where the King Ahab of
Israel (northern kingdom of Israel) is trying to convince King Jehoshaphat
of Judah (southern kingdom of Israel) to go to war with Aram (modern-day
Syria). Keep in mind that none of the kings of the northern kingdom of
Israel were godly men. They were all corrupt morally and spiritually.
So this was never a sincere request from someone seeking to know the LORD's
will.
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Scripture |
Comments |
1 For three years there was no war between Aram and
Israel. 2 But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down
to see the king of Israel. 3 The king of Israel had said to his
officials, "Don't you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet
we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?"
4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight against
Ramoth Gilead?" (1 Kings 22:1-4a, NIV) |
Note that King Ahab had already decided he wanted to go to war
with Aram. |
| Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I am as
you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." 5 But
Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "First seek the counsel
of the LORD." (1 Kings 22:4b-5, NIV) |
Jehoshaphat had a great idea - ask the LORD for His direction.
The southern kingdom of Israel had a mix of spiritual leaders - some
kings were great men of faith but many were just as corrupt as those
in the northern kingdom. |
6 So the king of Israel brought together the
prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, "Shall I go to war
against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?"
"Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the king's
hand."
7 But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the LORD here
whom we can inquire of?"
8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man
through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he
never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is
Micaiah son of Imlah."
"The king should not say that," Jehoshaphat replied.
9 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, "Bring
Micaiah son of Imlah at once." (1 Kings 22:6-9, NIV) |
Ahab hated God and, therefore, He hated Micaiah, a prophet of
God. So Ahab asked his own court of prophets (not prophets
of the LORD God but his own contingent) to give him direction.
They told King Ahab what he wanted to hear - that was their job.
Jehoshaphat was rightly concerned and insisted they inquire of
God's prophet. Note Ahab's disdain for Micaiah and all that he
says. But he finally relents and brings Micaiah into the
court. |
10 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel
and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the
threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the
prophets prophesying before them. 11 Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah
had made iron horns and he declared, "This is what the LORD says:
'With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.' "
12 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. "Attack
Ramoth Gilead and be victorious," they said, "for the LORD will give
it into the king's hand."
13Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying,
"Behold now, the words of the prophets are uniformly favorable to
the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and
speak favorably."
14But Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me,
that I shall speak." (1 Kings 22:10-14, NIV) |
The false prophets are uniform in their prediction - the king
should go to war and will prevail against Aram. Again, this is
exactly what Ahab wanted to hear because he had already decided that
is what he wanted to do. Micaiah, on the other hand, promises to
prophesy what the LORD God tells him to speak. |
15When he came to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah,
shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?" And he
answered him, "Go up and succeed, and the LORD will give it into the
hand of the king."
16Then the king said to him, "How many times must I adjure you to
speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?" (1 Kings
22:15-16, NIV) |
Micaiah promised to speak what the LORD told him to speak.
In this case, it was a sarcastic response to a king that did not
want to hear or obey what the LORD said anyway. The sarcasm of
Micaiah is not apparent in verse 15. It appears to be a direct
response to King Ahab's inquiry. Note two important points
here:
- Ahab did not ask Micaiah what was the LORD's will but what
Micaiah thought.
- Micaiah did not say which king would be successful.
In verse 16, the king obviously recognizes this as a sarcastic
response, not to be believed at all. Micaiah was mocking King
Ahab in his own court. This is not an isolated event for the
prophets. Elijah mocked the false prophets of Baal at Mt.
Carmel with the king and his court present (1 Kings 18:27).
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17So he said,
"I saw all Israel
Scattered on the mountains,
Like sheep which have no shepherd.
And the LORD said, 'These have no master.
Let each of them return to his house in peace.'"
18Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you
that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?" (1 Kings
22:17-18, NIV) |
This time, Micaiah speaks truthfully about the people of Israel
(northern kingdom) that have no spiritual leader (shepherd).
Ahab is furious because, as usual, what God has to say does not
flatter him at all. |
19Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the word of the
LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of
heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.
20"The LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at
Ramoth-gilead?' And one said this while another said that.
21"Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I
will entice him.'
22"The LORD said to him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and be a
deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said,
'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.'
23"Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the
mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed
disaster against you." (1 Kings 22:19-23, NIV) |
Responding to Ahab's anger upon hearing God's truth, Micaiah
again replies with sarcasm. This time it is supposedly a
vision from the LORD. As we will see in verse 24, the whole
vision was a sarcastic way of letting the two kings and the whole
court know that King Ahab's prophets were lying. Verse 22 is the
critical verse that stirs such controversy. If
the vision really was a true word from the LORD, then this verse
indicates that God commands the spirit to lie. The fact that
this spirit is most likely a reference to a demon is irrelevant.
"God is not a man, that he should lie" (Numbers 23:19, NIV).
The commandment not to bear false witness is one of ten commandments
given to Israel (Exodus 20:16). It just is not God's nature to
lie (Deut. 32:4; Psalm 31:5). God's people, therefore, are
commanded to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
So the conflict is this: if Micaiah was speaking a true
vision from the LORD, then Scripture is broken. God's nature
is in conflict. And the perfect word of God is fallible.
However, we know that God's word is perfect and infallible. So
the vision cannot be a true vision from the LORD. The
confirmation of this is found in the next verse. |
| 24Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and
struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "How did the Spirit of the
LORD pass from me to speak to you?" (1 Kings 22:24, NIV) |
Micaiah's vision clearly indicated the prophets of Ahab were
lying. Zedekiah's response clearly shows that Micaiah was
being sarcastic. "How did the Spirit of the LORD [the lying
spirit] pass from me [the false prophet] to speak to you
[Micaiah]?" (1 Kings 22:24, NIV with annotations by Randy).
Zedekiah called out Micaiah's vision as an obvious lie.
It was sarcasm at its best - a pretend vision from the LORD.
Nevertheless, the vision did accurately portray the prophets of Ahab
as liars. But if the lies of the prophets were not because God
sent lying spirits to deceive them, then where did their lies
originate? It was their own sinful desire to please the king
rather than seek the LORD's truth:
13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For
God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but
each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is
dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has
conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is
full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15, NIV)
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25Micaiah said, "Behold, you shall see on that day
when you enter an inner room to hide yourself."
26Then the king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and return him to Amon
the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son;
27and say, 'Thus says the king, "Put this man in prison and feed him
sparingly with bread and water until I return safely."'"
28Micaiah said, "If you indeed return safely the LORD has not spoken
by me " And he said, "Listen, all you people." (1 Kings 22:25-28,
NIV) |
So King Ahab has Micaiah hauled away to jail. Micaiah
closes with one last word from the LORD. If Ahab returns alive
from the battle, then Micaiah was not speaking as a prophet of the
one true God. Ahab was killed in the battle (1 Kings
22:34-35), thus vindicating Micaiah. |
As we can see, the LORD did speak through the prophet Micaiah.
Sometimes God directed Micaiah to speak with sarcasm to an ungodly man who
refused to listen to God's truth, much less obey it. But sometimes He
directed Micaiah to speak plainly. Either way, Micaiah kept his
promise - he spoke what the LORD told him to speak. What a lesson for
us today - are you willing to listen to what God has to say and obey it,
even if it completely contradicts your own desire?
May God bless you with His wisdom and the courage to follow
Jesus!
Rev. Randy Lariscy :-)
Director - WordTruth Ministries
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