Lying Spirit From God?

by Mike James

There is an interesting scripture in 1 Kings 22:19-23 that says the following: "And he said, Hear thou therefore 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 hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee."

Some have an issue with this because it seems like God is sending a lying spirit to influence certain prophets to lead King Ahab to his death in battle.

The question would be, could God allow an angel or spirit under His control to force prophets to lie to the king? This does not make sense because lying is a sin, and God cannot sin!

So what is going on here?

Well, first, let's remember the 400 prophets being influenced here are prophets in the northern kingdom of Israel. Remember when Israel broke away from Judah, they set up a system of false worship and changed when they celebrated the holy days. Ahab is also an evil king, and God is about to bring judgment against him.

The 400 prophets of Ahab (false prophets) are consulted, and they tell Ahab he will win the battle. But Ahab wants to get help from Judah, so the King of Judah suggests they find a true prophet of YHVH to consult also. So, Micaiah is consulted, and we read his words above pertaining to the lying spirit.

Now some will say this story sounds like the scene in the book of Job where Satan tells God to remove His hedge around Job to see how he will respond. Those who see things this way say God allowed Satan to cause hardships to befall Job, so maybe the lying spirit in 1 Kings 22 is a demon or a bad angel. This is possible but not most likely, in my opinion.

According to the Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, Volume 3, 2001, pp. 195-196: "The spirit which inspired these prophets as a lying spirit is neither Satan, nor any evil spirit whatever, but, as the definite article and the whole of the context show, the personified spirit of prophecy."

Let's think about this after reading all of 1 Kings 22 in context and prior information on Ahab. First, keep in mind Ahab is a wicked king who needs to be judged by God due to his behavior. Second, remember the 400 prophets he is consulting can be considered false prophets because they just tell the king what he wants to hear, unlike the prophet Micaiah who is a true prophet of God. Thirdly, look at what comes right before verse 19.

In 1 Kings 22:17 the true prophet sees a vision of all Israel scattered on the mountains. This pertains to what is about to happen to Ahab and Israel in battle, but it has not occurred yet; it is merely a vision. A vision is not reality, and it can be a sign or symbol of what is to come. God was allowing the prophet to see what was going to happen, much like the vision of Elijah and Moses in the Kingdom in Matthew 17. Think about John's visions in the book of Revelation too. In each of these cases a picture of the future is made available, but it is not the literal reality that will play out in the future. It's just a picture of what it may look like.

So, in reading 1 Kings 22:19-23, some commentators are connecting the picture (vision) of what the prophet is seeing in heaven with the previous vision of Israel being scattered. The vision of the lying spirit in heaven gives the prophet more detail on why Ahab is going to make the choice he makes. God is allowing Ahab to listen to the 400 lying prophets who don't speak for God. The lying spirit or influence of the 400 prophets is going to be followed. God being sovereign, will allow it. The definite article also supports this view.

Notice in Zechariah 13:2 we read about removing the prophets and the SPIRIT of uncleanness. Here we are not reading about a personal entity with the use of spirit. Zechariah personifies uncleanness as a spirit or influence. The word spirit in both the Old and New Testaments has various meanings.

We can also find an example like this in the New Testament in 1 John 4:6. Here, we read about the "spirit of truth" and the "spirit of error." These are not personal in the context of this scripture.

God could use evil spirits, and He does allow Satan and his demons to influence the world. But for the reasons stated above it just does not make sense that God, who stands for truth and is truth, would force a lie upon the false prophets and Ahab. These men were already living their lives in separation from God and His ways. God just left them to their own devices to believe what they wanted to believe.