Is God Responsible for Ahab Doing Wrong?

by Tommy Peeler

Is God responsible for Ahab doing the wrong thing?

1. Ahab is ready to go to war without inquiring of God (I Kings 22:4-5).
2. 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).
3. Ahab does not want to inquire of Micaiah, but Jehoshaphat insists (I Kings 22:8-9).
4. As Micaiah comes before the king, he is encouraged to speak like the other prophets (I Kings 22:13).
5. 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).
6. 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).
7. 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).