HOW LYING SPIRITS WORK

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Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, "Thus says the Lord, 'With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.'" And all the prophets prophesied so and said, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king." But Micaiah said, "As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak." And Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; and the Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, 'I will entice him.' And the Lord said to him, 'By what means?' And he said, 'I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.' Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has declared disaster for you."
1 Kings 22:10‭-‬12‭, ‬14‭, ‬19‭-‬23 ESV

¶It interesting to see how the office of prophet had declined under the kings of Israel and Judah. It seems like there was a regular coterie of prophets who were available, vying for attention, making a show for the kings, complete with props, of their prophetic calling, telling the king what he wanted to hear. The message? Victory! Prosperity! When we open the prophetic Word of God with a preconceived notion of what we will find there, we open ourselves to the same trap: lying spirits.

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