OT Sermon 69 The Lying Spirit
King Ahab was a wicked King yet he expected to be told pleasing things all the time and have things
go his way. He didn’t like the Prophet Micaiah because he told him the truth and usually it was
something bad, but true. The fact was that there was a lying spirit in the false prophets who told
Ahab what he wanted to hear. That lying spirit was sent to deceive Ahab into taking action which
would lead to his death. We need to beware of the lying spirit. It is especially important when
engaging in spiritual warfare or deliverance. However, on a personal level the lying spirit could be
used to hold someone in deception to stop them from walking in freedom that God has for them.
Jehoshaphat was a good King of Judah. He approaches Ahab about some land which belongs to the
Israelites and he and Ahab decide to go to war to get it. However, Jehoshaphat being a good king
decides that they should enquire of the Lord:
1 Kings 22:5 (GW)
5
Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “But first, find out what the word of the Lord is
{in this matter}.”
This is the mindset of someone who wants to please God and not themselves. It is responsible
leadership which says “I won’t just go to war for what I can get but I will find out what God wants
first”. Ahab by contrast was ready to go whether God wanted him to go or not.
Ahab enquires of prophets. Not Prophets of the Lord but prophets.
1 Kings 22:6 (GW)
6
So the king of Israel called 400 prophets together. He asked them, “Should I go to war
against Ramoth in Gilead or not?” “Go,” they said. “The Lord will hand over Ramoth to
you.”
These were likely to be false god worshippers. When he asked these kind of prophets he got what
he wanted to hear. However, Judah’s King, being a worshipper wanted to know what the Prophet of
the Lord would say. We have to beware of asking people for advice or what we would call counsel
when we think that they are going to tell us what we want to hear. However painful the truth is we
need to humble ourselves and admit that it would be better to hear what we don’t want to hear and
know it’s the truth and make a decision based on the truth rather than make a decision based on a
lie.
1 Kings 22:7-8 (GW)
7
But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn't there a prophet of the Lord whom we could ask?”
8
The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “We can ask the Lord through Micaiah, son of Imlah,
but I hate him. He doesn't prophesy anything good about me, only evil.” Jehoshaphat
answered, “The king must not say that.”
Ahab is very clear about what he thinks of Micaiah. He hates him. It is quite ironic that Jehoshaphat
was an evil king but he got upset when a true Prophet of God prophesied evil in advance, so that he
could avoid evil. Ahab had his own agenda and wanted to do what suited him. He wanted to
present a plan and then get it rubber stamped. Again we need to ask ourselves when we want to do
something, have we made up our minds already before we ask God? The more open we are to God
the better. It is better to ask God “What do you think of this?” than to say to Him “Will you help me
with such and such?” If something is not got God’s perfect will why would you want His help with
it? Wouldn’t it just be better to know it’s not God’s perfect will and not do it. Be careful that you
don’t try to push God into a corner and then suffer the consequences.
1 Kings 22:13-15 (GW)
13
The messenger who went to call Micaiah told him, “The prophets have all told the king the
same good message. Make your message agree with their message. Say something good.”
14
Micaiah answered, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives, I will tell him whatever the Lord
tells me.”
15
When he came to the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against
Ramoth in Gilead or not?” Micaiah said to him, “Attack and you will win. The Lord will
hand it over to you.”
This shows that God can just agree with the devil and say everything’s fine if that’s what you really
want to do. Is Micaiah being sarcastic? Is God being sarcastic? Maybe God is just dealing with Ahab
the way Ahab wants to be dealt with. He wants to be able to do what he wants so maybe God is
saying “You are King Ahab you can do what you want”. After a while of ignoring God it will seem
that God just leaves you to do what you want. Ahab, however, knows that it is unlikely that Micaiah
is telling the truth.
1 Kings 22:16-18(GW)
16
The king asked him, “How many times must I make you take an oath in the Lord's name to
tell me nothing but the truth?”
17
So Micaiah said, “I saw Israel's troops scattered in the hills like sheep without a shepherd.
The Lord said, ‘These {sheep} have no master. Let each one go home in peace.'”
18
The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn't I tell you he wouldn't prophesy anything
good about me, only evil?”
Micaiah has a vision which he shares with Ahab and it clearly shows that there will be defeat
for Israel. Micaiah goes on to reveal why the other prophets that Ahab enquired of first of all
were able to tell him to go out to war when the Lord knew it would be no good for him or
Israel.
1 Kings 22:19-23 (AMP)
19
And Micaiah said, 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 hand and on His left.
20
And the Lord said, Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? One said this
way, another said that way.
21
Then there came forth a spirit [of whom I am about to tell] and stood before the Lord and
said, I will entice him.
22
The Lord said to him, By what means? And he said, I will go forth and be a lying spirit in
the mouths of all his prophets. [The Lord] said, You shall entice him and succeed also. Go
forth and do it.
23
So the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets; and the Lord has
spoken evil concerning you.
God wanted to get rid of Ahab and he knew that the devil would fall for it and help him do it.
The Lord asks who will deceive Ahab so that he will be killed. A spirit steps forward and
says it will entice Ahab. How? By being a lying spirit in the mouths of his prophets. By this
means he will get Ahab to go to war. God sees that this will work and commands the spirit to
go. Verse 23 shows us that the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of the prophets. This
is similar to when an evil spirit from the LORD troubled Saul. We think evil spirit from the
Lord is a contradiction but all it’s showing is that the spirits are subject to God. They are
used to do evil and if God wants to deal with someone or something he can make sure an evil
spirit or a lying spirit is summoned to accomplish his will for a judgment or a punishment.
Micaiah ends up in prison because obviously he’s told the truth which prophesies the death of
Ahab during this war. Ahab was blessed to be around Micaiah he could have said I won’t go
to war and I will not be subject to this lying spirit. But he walked straight into it even when
he had been told that it was a set up. This shows how much he had been deceived. The spirit
was very influential to be able to affect 400 prophets at one time. Bottom line was Ahab
wanted to go to war and get that land.
Incidentally, Jehoshaphat was the one who came back alive. God gives us discernment.
When Micaiah delivers that false word that they would have victory, Ahab knows in his spirit
that it’s wrong. In his spirit it doesn’t quite fit. He doesn’t truly believe that they will have
the victory-this is before what he feels is confirmed and the explanation is given about the
lying spirit.
We need to beware of occasions on which others give us words but in our spirit the Spirit of
God doesn’t really bear witness. Trying to get enough people to agree with us until we feel
better is of no use. If one spirit could deceive 400 prophets then it is easy for others to be
deceived if they do not want to honour God.
The good news is that you can bind the lying spirit and curtail it’s activities. You can also
bind the spirit of deception. However, you must then listen to God and act on what God says
even if it’s not what you want to here.