1 Kings
22:17–23 contains the most fascinating prophetic
exposé. Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of
Judah, want to recapture Ramoth-gilead from the Syrians. Ahab thinks it is a good idea to enquire of
the Lord whether they should or not. The net result of asking 400 prophets was
that they should go for it. But the
kings also ask a true prophet: Micaiah for his opinion. Here’s what he reported:
17 Then Micaiah
answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a
shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home
in peace.’ ” 18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t
I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?” 19
Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting
on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his
right and on his left. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab
into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested
this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood
before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 “ ‘By what
means?’ the Lord asked. “ ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the
mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “ ‘You will succeed in enticing
him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’ 23 “So now the Lord has put a
deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has
decreed disaster for you.”
Not unlike Job 1-2 (e.g. “One day the angels came to present themselves
before the Lord, and Satan also
came with them.” (Job
1:6, NIV)), the Sovereign Lord is hosting a heavenly court, where even
rebellious Satanic spirits are present in servantly obedience to the King of kings. In this case they are to decide how to carry
out God’s sovereign decree of death for King Ahaz (1Kings 22:21-22). Here we see the reality that God uses wicked
agents to accomplish His purpose. The interesting
implication is that God does so without the slightest slur on His holiness.
“The sum of
the whole is this,—since the will of God is said to be the cause of all things,
all the counsels and actions of men must be held to be governed by his
providence; so that he not only exerts his power in the elect, who are guided
by the Holy Spirit, but also forces the reprobate to do him service.”[1]
[1]
Calvin, J., & Beveridge, H. (1845). Institutes
of the Christian religion (Vol. 1, p. 272). Edinburgh: The Calvin
Translation Society.
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