“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 and on His left. The Lord said, “Who will entice Ahab king of Israel to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” And one said this while another said that. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, “I will entice him.” And the Lord said to him, “How?” He said, “I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” Then He said, “You are to entice him and prevail also. Go and do so.” Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of these your prophets, for the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.’”
This is reminiscent of a “sting operation.” The purpose of a police “sting operation” is not necessarily to add more evil to the world but to curtail it by bringing an end to criminals and their criminal behavior.
Similarly, 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 states: “For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.” Those who are dedicated to rejecting the truth will be given lies to believe, and it’s in that context that Ahab was deceived, though even with that, God still would have gladly welcomed his repentance, as God had done before. 1 Kings 21:29 states: “‘Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s days.’”
King Ahab heard more than just a lie. He was also told the truth. After the prophet’s initial sarcastic response, Ahab demanded: “How many times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?” (2nd Chronicles 18:15) Once King Ahab recognized that Micaiah was now telling the truth, he exclaimed to King Jehoshaphat: “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” King Ahab foolishly chose to act on the lie and was killed in battle. However, if God had wanted to make certain that Ahab would fail, why would He allow Micaiah to reveal the whole story behind the scenes? Obviously, God didn’t want for him to fail, which is also indicative of Ezekiel 33:11: “‘Say to them, “As I live!” declares the Lord God, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?”’”
What do Calvinists believe?
While God does not sin, He decrees, ordains and commands sin. In this passage, God decreed the sin of false prophecy, and used a lying spirit to deceive Ahab. So, how is that morally superior to what is deemed objectionable in Calvinism? In other words, if you can accept this verse, then why can’t you accept the fact that God ordains sin?
Our reply:
The passage makes no mention of any decree, and God did not force anyone to participate. It was completely voluntary: “Who will entice Ahab king of Israel….” That’s hardly a command. God was asking for a volunteer who will entice Ahab into battle. So, a spirit volunteered by explaining that they will be a “deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” God told the volunteer to go and do so.
Calvinists believe in a type of “sovereignty” which manifests itself in the form of exhaustive determinism. The problem is that the world includes sin, and so for Calvinists to maintain exhaustive determinism, they need to explain it in relation to the world’s sin. So, Calvinists heavily nuance the meaning of what God “decrees,” which just ends up being little more than double-talk.
Why do Calvinists scour the Scriptures in search of a text that can be used to prove that God does immoral things like lying and deceiving? The answer is because the primary objection against Calvinism’s doctrine of exhaustive determinism is that God would never commit moral evil, such as ordaining sin as the author of sin, and so for Calvinists to prevent exhaustive determinism from being automatically disqualified, they seek to find things in the Bible that shows God doing immoral things. Non-Calvinists would, of course, then be obliged to defend God’s holiness from Calvinism’s proof-texts.
The fact of the matter is that God didn’t make anyone do anything in this passage. Hence, God’s holiness is preserved. It was completely voluntary, and moreover, Ahab was also given the truth, in terms of everything that was going on behind the scenes in Heaven, which was more than even righteous Job was given. God was testing Ahab. The difference between testing and temptation is that God tests people, desiring that they pass (1st Kings 21:29), while the devil tempts people, trying to get them to fail (Luke 22:31). God is good. Calvinists agree, but also insist that God ordains wickedness. Non-Calvinists insist that both cannot be true.
[This post has been excerpted with permission from Richard Coords, Calvinism Answered Verse by Verse and Subject by Subject, © 2024.]
