GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 18:18-21
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18 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with the entire army of heaven standing on his right and on his left. 19 The LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into rising up and falling at Ramoth Gilead?’ One suggested this, and another that. 20 Then a certain spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ said the LORD. 21 ‘I will go,’ said the spirit, ‘and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do that.’”
Let us examine Micaiah’s words and their importance. First, he calls everything he is about to say, “The Word of the LORD.” This is a message from God himself, not something made up on the spot. It is entirely worthy of our study and attention as a direct message for King Ahab and also incidentally the others who heard it, which in this case included the messenger, those other prophets of the four hundred who were still in earshot, whatever courtiers and attendants may have been there, King Jehoshaphat who was seated next to Ahab, and all of us who read this part of Scripture.
The LORD was seated on his throne. This is God’s usual posture in judgment and in proclaiming his message from heaven. We see this in Isaiah 6:1, and several times in Revelation where there are many visions of Christ at the Father’s right hand (Revelation 4:2-10; 5:1-7, etc.). Sinners become terrified of his wrath when they see him there (Revelation 6:16). In this case, he is surrounded by the angels. They are “the entire army of heaven.” Some translations call them a “host,” but in modern English this doesn’t convey the idea of the word tsaba, which is an army prepared for war (Numbers 1:3; Exodus 12:41). There is no reason for us to assume something sinister about some of the angels being on God’s left; this is not judgment day, and in the assembly of his army of angels, they cannot always all be standing to his right. Instead, we see these spiritual warriors gathered together rank upon rank to receive their orders. For the angels ascend and descend from heaven at the orders of the Son of Man (John 1:51).
The Lord invites them to participate in his plan with their own ideas. Since we know he will adopt one of these, we know that he must do this at other times, too. The angels are consulted and offer their ideas to his holy plan. It pleases him to do this. He does not simply direct everything as if none of his creatures matters to him; as if their holy liberty in paradise is meaningless. They are not mere plants or ornaments or bugs, they are intelligent and powerful beings.
His request is for a way to “entice” King Ahab. The plain or simple form of this verb (patah) is for a person to “be naïve” or “be foolish,” as in “envy slays the simple” (Job 5:2), or “be deceived” as in Deuteronomy 11:16. Here, the intensive piel stem changes the meaning into a causative force: “Who will cause him, entice him, to be fooled?”
The Lord’s request is not nearly as specific as many translations have it. He asks, “Who will entice Ahab to rise up and to fall down?” We understand “rise up” as attack, but threaten would also have suited the plans of the Lord. “Fall” is surely “die,” but an outcome in which he was incapacitated but remained alive would not have violated the question the Lord put forward. The various angels standing there before the Lord offered different suggestions. These are not recorded for us, and Micaiah may not have been privy to them all. Oh, but one…. But one.
A spirit came forward. In Hebrew, the word for spirit (ruah) is written here with the definite article. In this case, since we have not heard from this spirit before in the account, the article is used the way we would say, “one spirit,” or as I have said here, “a certain spirit.”
Most readers will want to know: Was this certain spirit a good angel, or an evil angel, or Satan (as in Job 1:6-9), or the Holy Spirit? The great prophet Samuel said, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind” (1 Samuel 15:29). Therefore it is not possible that it was the Holy Spirit. Could a good angel be willing to “be a lying spirit” in the mouths of the prophets? If the Lord would use such a thing, then it would be in accord with Moses’ warning: “The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow” (Deuteronomy 13:3-4). Since we know that Satan and the evil angels must submit to God, and we have the example of the first chapters of Job as well as the conversation with the serpent in the Garden (Genesis 3:14-15), we must say that this could either have been a good angel willing to do whatever the Lord required, or it could have been Satan or one of his demons. But I tend to think it was one of the latter, and that in his vision Micaiah saw something very similar to what we read about in Job 1 and again in Job 2:1-7.
God, of course, is omniscient, which includes his foresight of all things. Knowing that this certain spirit would succeed, he dispatched it to go and carry out its task. This is why we must always consider, especially in spiritual matters, is what I am reading or what I am being told something that lines up with the word of God? When will my wanderings away from the true church, away from the right preaching of the gospel and the use of the sacraments, lead God to be so angry with me that he might send a lying spirit into my life to proclaim nothing but fine-sounding lies to me so that my heart becomes hardened to the truth, and suddenly I think that some heterodox church is correct? Can I possibly have been misled to think that women pastors, the celebration of the gay lifestyle, and the abandonment of all preaching about sin and grace, are the marks of the church? Will I ever be frightened about my sins ever again? Will I receive a godly absolution and forgiveness ever again in my life?
Compare what you are being taught with what the Scriptures actually say. If you need help because this seems like an overwhelming task, go and find your Lutheran Catechism, or buy a used one online, and read it. Notice that all of the doctrinal points have proof passages from the Bible. Read them in their context. Do a little reading at a time, and let the truth of God’s word flush out the filth you have heard or the cobwebs and dust bunnies that have gathered. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. God will not abandon you. Praise him for his love, his grace, and the blood of the Son who died to wash away all of your sins. All of them. And he will help you and be with you today, and tomorrow, and always.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 18:18-21 A lying spirit