Does God ever deceive us?

What follows next in Ahab’s story with Micaiah’s appearance raises questions about the character of God. The confusing part comes in the prophet’s vision where God ostensibly puts a deceiving spirit into the mouth of the prophets who in turn entice Ahab because the Lord has proclaimed disaster against the king (1 Kings 22:19-23). This reads like God is deceitful and entraps Ahab with lies so that he would fall in battle and be judged. Along with Pharaoh’s hardening and similar tricky passages, we may feel that we are left with a troubling image of God. Is God deceitful? Does He tempt people into sin only to judge them for it? How can He hold them responsible if He acts in a sovereign manner and overrides their will?

Preliminary points

When we deal with passages that are obscure and difficult, it is important to remember the larger testimony of Scripture as our framework, which will give us some guidance on how best to read these texts. Three points are relevant here, which will constrain and channel our interpretation. First, the Lord shows Himself throughout Scripture as the God who takes no pleasure in the death of sinners but wants them to be saved (Ezek 18:23, 32). Second, God does not tempt to sin (James 1:13-15), neither does He lie (Num 23:19). Third, prophecy is not primarily a vehicle to explain what will happen in the future but its aim is to admonish, convict and bring about repentance or to encourage and strengthen. The future comes into such communication as the consequences of certain actions (if you do this, that will happen). Although these judgment speeches are phrased as final, it is implicit in the nature of prophecy that they are not. Thus, a change of heart in the hearer may lead to change in the pronounced judgment. Jonah’s preaching and Nineveh’s repentance is the most obvious example (Jon 3:10), but there are others. Repentance can lead to God deferring punishment (as in Ahab’s case earlier; 1 Kings 21:29), lightening its severity (Jer 38:17-23),[1] or taking away judgment altogether (Jer 26:18-19).[2] Thus, prophecies of judgment are a warning of what will happen if a person continues in sin and their best outcome is if the hearer(s) repent and the judgment need not happen. 

God’s Word for change

When Micaiah is summoned, there is still the possibility that the king will see reason in the light of the disaster that might ensue if the campaign goes ahead. Thus, the prophet insists that despite the pressures put on him, he will only speak what God tells him (1 Kings 22:13-14). If God had already decided to send the king to his doom, it would not matter a jot whether Micaiah told the truth or not. God is not interested in imparting idle information so that He can say at the end, ‘I told you so!’. Rather, how Micaiah handles the situation matters because when the Lord gives a word, He sends it for a purpose to bring about transformation (Isa 55:10-11). In other words, it matters because the Lord cares and wants to save. At the same time, the king has already demonstrated that he only wants affirmation of his own desires and is not interested in the truth. How can the prophet get through to him? Telling it to him straight when he already expects a negative speech (1 Kings 22:8) may not get results, so the prophet takes a different tack.

An unusual attempt to get through to the king

Micaiah surprises the king by repeating what the other prophets have said (1 Kings 22:15). It may be that Ahab knows the prophet enough to realise that this does not ring true from his mouth, or perhaps Micaiah delivers the words in a sarcastic tone, but the king immediately gets the point that this is not a true message. In a masterful stroke, the prophet has reversed their roles, so that in a comic turn of events, the king is now lecturing Micaiah to speak the truth and nothing but the truth (1 Kings 22:16)! Ironically, Ahab’s attitude reveals that he knows deep down the message of success to be simply what he wants to hear rather than the truth. Will he now listen to Micaiah? At least, there is a possibility of openness to hear.

Micaiah’s prophecy: Israel as sheep without a shepherd

Micaiah’s message is about defeat and disaster: Israel will be scattered like sheep without a shepherd (1 Kings 22:17). Shepherd is a metaphor for a king in the ancient Near East (including Israel), so the vision alludes to Ahab’s death. However, there is a subtle shift in perspective because the focus is not on Ahab’s fate as such but on how his demise will affect Israel. In other words, the prophet is attempting to awaken the king’s conscience to realise that his decision will impact the people he was called to serve and care for as shepherd. Sadly, Ahab in his self-absorption only notices what concerns him, as is evident from his wry remark that Micaiah never prophesies anything good about him (1 Kings 22:18). His comment indicates that he is resisting the message.

What next?

What can Micaiah do? At this point, most commentators assume that the king has had his chance and his rejection ushers in the message of judgment determined against him. However, what the prophet describes is referring to what has already happened (the deception of the other prophets). If this has all been determined in advance, then Ahab never had a chance in the first place! Even before he responded to Micaiah, his fate had been decided by God in the heavenly court. However, this would make a mockery of prophecy as a vehicle to warn and save, to bring about change in the light of what is to come. Further, if God wanted to deceive Ahab, why tell him the truth now about that deception? Finally, the idea that God would deceive people contradicts everything we know about His character from Scripture.

God’s sovereignty and human responsibility – the background

Given these queries, it is best to step back and re-consider what is going on. The tension we feel here has to do with God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. There is an earlier example of this in the story of Rehoboam whose unwise decision to promise an even harsher rule than Solomon’s (1 Kings 12:14) leads to the divided kingdom. Yet we are told that on another level, this was from God to fulfil the prophecy given to Jeroboam who will rule over the ten tribes (1 Kings 12:15). Both aspects are affirmed. Rehoboam is responsible for his foolish decision but God is mysteriously working through the circumstances so His will is done. Another example of this may be found in Isaiah’s prophecy where God sends Assyria to punish His disobedient people (Isa 10:5-6). Sending Assyria, a godless nation who were feared widely in the ancient Near East for their extreme cruelty sounds like God embroils Himself in morally objectionable actions. However, this prophecy gives us a clear distinction between human agency and God’s will because Assyria is explicitly described as having its own purpose to destroy (Isa 10:7). They are not acting under duress but do precisely what they want and will be held accountable for their arrogance and evil (Isa 10:12). Nevertheless, the emphasis on ‘sending’ establishes God’s sovereignty that His purposes are achieved.

Human selfishness

I suggest that this is the best parallel to our incident. It is clear from the dynamics in the first part of the story that Ahab is ripe to accept deception because he is already determined to go against Ramoth-gilead. His ear is attuned to what he wants to hear. Likewise, the prophets know which side their bread is buttered on and will not go against the royal will. Whether they convince themselves that God is on their side or merely pretend is unclear, but given the human propensity for self-deception, it is quite possible that they suppress the truth and, on one level, believe their own message. It is then the selfishness of the king and his prophets that leads to the state of affairs described so that they are responsible, just as Assyria and Rehoboam were in my earlier examples.

Vision of the heavenly court

Thus, what Micaiah describes in the heavenly court is not the prior event that explains what will happen in the earthly court, as if God had a discussion first, determined how best to deceive Ahab and then took over the will and mind of the king and his prophets and made them His puppets. No, the vision gives the spiritual angle to the earthly events. The human agents act out of their own volition, but God uses the situation at the same time for His purposes. Despite God’s question of ‘who will deceive Ahab’ (1 Kings 22:20), the discussion is focused not so much on the ‘who’, but on the ‘how’. Thus, various proposals are made (v.20) but are not convincing until a spirit suggests being a ruaḥ sheqer (NASB ‘a deceiving spirit’, 1 Kings 22:22) in the mouth of the prophets. The nuance of sheqer is that it is a self-serving lie. God confirms that this will indeed be effective (the Hebrew reads ‘you shall deceive him and prevail’) and commands the spirit to go and do it (v.22).[3]

Why the lie is effective

God ‘sends’ the deceiving spirit as He ‘sends’ Assyria in my earlier example. He sovereignly uses the self-serving deception of the prophets leading to the deception of the self-serving king. The deception is only effective, however, because the king wants to hear sheqer, a self-serving lie. Note how Jehoshaphat is unconvinced and asks for another opinion (1 Kings 22:7). He is not taken in because he has no self-interest in the matter. Is God then responsible for the lying, self-serving spirit of the prophets and the king? No, the king and the prophets want to be deceived, want to believe a lie and suppress the truth. God is not overriding their will: they are tempted by their own desires while at the same time want affirmation that they are doing the right thing. Thus, they deceive themselves.

The aim of telling the vision

What does the prophet want to communicate to Ahab with this vision then? To put it in direct speech, Micaiah’s subtext is something like this. ‘King Ahab, listen to me. God is sovereign, He knows exactly that the prophets lie and deceive; it is not out of His control. Such lies are effective because they appeal to and affirm your selfishness. In fact, God uses your prophets’ deception to reveal your self-serving attitude. You are thoroughly duped because you are selfish, and God knows it. God has spoken disaster against you because such self-deception will lead to actions that will eventually destroy you.’ Implied in the nature of prophecy is the plea, ‘Don’t let it happen to you! Repent, turn to God, don’t go all the way along the path that will only lead to destruction!’

When the truth is recognised

There is one additional thought highlighted in the last incident between Zedekiah, the false prophet, and Micaiah. The question of how the Spirit passed from Zedekiah to Micaiah (1 Kings 22:24) can be a ploy to undermine the latter’s authority and distract the king from listening to him. Nevertheless, it may be that Zedekiah is not just cynically giving the king what he wants to hear but genuinely believes his own rhetoric. Micaiah’s answer highlights what will reveal to Zedekiah that he has been deceived. Namely, when the false prophet will cower and hide from the enemy in a safe place (the inner room, 1 Kings 22:25), that is when he will see the emptiness of his claims and know it for the deception it is. In other words, the truth will dawn on him in his need, when his prophecies do not come true. The final plea to all standing around (‘Listen, all you people’, 1 Kings 22:28) is also an appeal for readers and hearers to take heed. God’s people in fact believed the lies that no harm could come to them because God was on their side. It was only when the exile happened that they could awaken to reality. May we not wait until disaster strikes to believe God’s truth. [4]

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[1] The conversation in Jeremiah 38:17-23 takes place between Judah’s last king, Zedekiah, and the prophet. Jerusalem is under siege by the Babylonians, so the exile can no longer be averted, but Jeremiah tells the king that if he submits to God’s will (of the exile) and surrenders to Babylon, he can at least save the city and his family.

[2] What Jeremiah 26:18-19 refers to is Micah’s prophecy that Jerusalem will be raised to the ground (Mic 3:12). The words sound final without ifs or buts. Nevertheless, Hezekiah repents, and God miraculously saves Jerusalem from the Assyrian attack (2 Kings 18-19).

[3] The Hebrew imperfect, which is usually translated as a future tense can also be used instead of the imperative as a command (e.g. ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart…’ in Deuteronomy 6:5 means ‘Love the LORD, etc.’). However, it may also mean in 1 Kings 22:22 that God agrees that such an approach will be successful and then uses the imperative ‘go and do [it]’.  

[4] My reading of this passage was inspired by the analysis of the incident in R.W.L. Moberly, Prophecy and Discernment (Cambridge: CUP, 2006), 100-129. Although he does not engage with the question of God being deceptive here, I take two key thoughts from his interpretation. First, I agree with his basic point that the aim of prophecy is transformation. Thus, Micaiah is genuinely trying to get through to the king, that the latter might repent, and judgment need not happen to him. Second, Moberly’s central thesis in the book is that discernment between false and true prophecy is essentially an issue of integrity. We believe falsehood and lies because we want to believe them, because they confirm our selfish desires. Thus, Moberly’s interpretation focuses on how Micaiah probes the king’s motives to highlight his self-serving attitude and to bring him to his senses.