Is God Responsible for Ahab Doing Wrong?
by Tommy Peeler
Is God responsible for Ahab doing the wrong thing?
- Ahab is ready to go to war without inquiring of God (I Kings 22:4-5).
- When 400 prophets tell him that he will take Ramoth-Gilead, Ahab is content, but Jehoshaphat wants to inquire of a prophet of the LORD (I Kings 22:6-7).
- Ahab does not want to inquire of Micaiah, but Jehoshaphat insists (I Kings 22:8-9).
- As Micaiah comes before the king, he is encouraged to speak like the other prophets (I Kings 22:13).
- When Micaiah tells Ahab that he will die in battle, Ahab gets angry, imprisons him, and gives him small rations of bread and water (I Kings 22:17-18, 27-28). He does not heed the warning. This is particularly interesting since Ahab questioned Micaiah’s sincerity when he told him the same thing the other prophets had said (I Kings 22:12, 15-16).
- The LORD cannot be blamed for deceiving Ahab when He reveals to Ahab that this was all a plan to deceive him and get him to die at Ramoth-Gilead (I Kings 22:19-23).
- Ahab is concerned enough that Micaiah spoke the truth that he disguises him, but he goes to battle anyway (I Kings 22:30).
Could Ahab have repented and listened to God? I Kings 21:17-29 clearly shows that he could have.
God is a God of truth who does not lie (Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2). But if there are any who are content to be deceived, He will let them be deceived (II Thessalonians 2:11-12).