Year 1, Week 50, Day 4 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 50, Day 4

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 2 Chronicles 18.

Today’s reading describes the alliance between Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, and Ahab, the King of Israel. The historical account provided in today’s reading parallels the account provided in the previous day’s reading of 1 Kings 22. Ahab solicits Jehoshaphat to join him in battle against Syria. It is during this battle that Ahab is killed. However, there are a few details that the writer of Kings does not include that the Chronicler does: “Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. After some years he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab killed an abundance of sheep and oxen for him and for the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead” (2 Chronicles 18:1-2). This matter of Jehoshaphat building an alliance with Ahab through marriage was not explicitly mentioned in 1 Kings, but the Chroniclers adds it here and even provides an assessment of it in the following chapter. Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram would marry Ahab’s daughter Athaliah (see 2 Chronicles 21:6), and the results would prove disastrous. Jehoshaphat was a good king overall, but his alliance with Ahab was foolish and would result in consequences for the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the details of the LORD’s intention behind Micaiah’s prophecy concerning Ahab. Micaiah spoke of Ahab’s demise. But as Ahab complained, Micaiah pulled back the curtains and unveiled further details pertaining to the prophecy against Ahab: “And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” (2 Chronicles 18:18-19). As Ahab complained that Micaiah never said anything positive about him, Micaiah disclosed how it was that so many other prophets spoke positive words to Ahab: “Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The LORD has declared disaster concerning you” (2 Chronicles 18:22). Micaiah went even further and explained how the LORD putting a lying spirit in the mouths of the prophets came about: “a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the LORD said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so” (2 Chronicles 18:20-21). The message of success, spoken by the prophets, originated by a lying spirit. The design behind this prophecy, which was false, was to entice Ahab.

God sending a “lying spirit” into the mouths of the prophets may be hard to grasp. It may seem odd for it appears to us to be inconsistent with the character of God. So, it may be helpful to explore what was occurring in the passage in order to see how God works to accomplish His purposes. The first thing we can say is that God does not lie: “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19). God speaks the truth for He is the truth; God is morally unable to speak a false hood. But while God cannot lie, He can involve others in His plans, who deceive. God’s plans are always good, true, and holy. As God accomplishes His plans, He can, and often does, use created beings who are inclined to use deception. In our reading today, it should be observed that God did not force someone to lie, but ask for volunteers: “And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” (2 Chronicles 18:19). A created being stepped forward and said, "I will entice him” (2 Chronicles 18:20b). When the LORD asked the created being as to how he would entice Ahab, the being replied: “I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets” (2 Chronicles 18:21a).

The LORD using a lying spirit to deceive does not make the LORD Himself a deceiver. But it does show that the LORD deploys all things to accomplish His purposes. In the case of Ahab, the purpose of the LORD was to bring about Ahab’s death on the battlefield. And the LORD used a created being, who willingly lied, to facilitate His plan. The irony as far as it concerns Ahab, is that Ahab did not like the truth of God, so his demise came about through falsehood. On the other hand, the fact that there are a host of created beings running around the universe need not mean that God’s people should live fear-filled, paralyzed lives for we never know when we may be duped by a world of liars. God superintends all things. In the case of the willingness of the created being to lie, the LORD still oversaw this operation: “And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so” (2 Chronicles 18:21b). Without the LORD’s permission, the created being would not have been allowed to deceive. Thus, while the created being was the proximate cause for the deceit, the LORD, as in the case of all things, was the ultimate cause: “behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets” (2 Chronicles 18:22a). God’s good, true, and holy plans calling for the death of Ahab were carried out.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe