In this enlightening episode of the Sound of Faith, Sharon Knotts delves into the intriguing biblical story of Ahab and Jehoshaphat, highlighting the deceit of seducing and lying spirits. Through the lens of 1 Kings 22, discover the dangerous dance between truth and deception, as prophet Micaiah stands firm against 400 false prophets, bringing a powerful message of discernment and faith. Join us as we navigate these biblical waters and learn the importance of upholding truth in the face of false doctrines.
Greetings friends and new listeners and welcome to the Sound of Faith. I’m Sharon Knotts thanking you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today’s message, Seducing, Imitating, and Lying Spirits, is the third in the five-part series, Spirits, Angels, and Demons. Apostle Paul warned us that in the last days there will be an increase in demonic activity including false doctrine, and some will depart from the faith, the New Testament teachings of the church, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. Jesus warned, beware of false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. These have come under the influence of and are working with seducing, imitating, and lying spirits. So we’ve covered seducing spirits. We’ve covered imitating spirits. Now, in the time left, we’re going to cover lying spirits. Turn with me to 1 Kings, the 22nd chapter. This is one of the most unusual, curious chapters in the Bible. You don’t hear it preached on a lot, but we’re going to look at it today. 1 Kings 22. We’ll read a few verses at a time. Verse 1, And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. And it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth and Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria? I will stop here for a moment. You all know that Israel got split up in the days of Solomon’s son. Ten tribes went one way and then to the other. The ten tribes were called Israel. The two tribes were called Judah because it was the tribe of Judah, and Benjamin because Benjamin was inside the geographical area of Judah. That was the tribes God said, because David is my servant, and I promised him there would never fail to be a king upon the throne, I’m going to keep his tribe, Judah and Benjamin, and so therefore there was a king of Judah and there was a king of Israel. Now, we understand they’re all Israelites. They’re all of the original Israel, but because of Solomon’s son’s sin, Rehoboam, God split up Israel. the kingdom. So when we see the king of Israel in this case, if we would have read earlier, it is Ahab. Somebody say Ahab. And how many know he was one of the worst, most wicked kings of all? He had that pagan, wicked woman Jezebel for a wife. So he’s the king of Israel. From now on, I am going to say Ahab whenever we see king of Israel, just for clarity’s sake. And of course, Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah. So he’s saying to him, Ahab says to Jehoshaphat, don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead is our land, but yet the Syrians still have it? We need to go and take it back. Verse 4 says, And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to Ahab, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses are thy horses. And Jehoshaphat said unto Ahab, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today. Then Ahab gathered the prophets together, about 400 men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear, or shall I not go? And they said, Go up, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. So Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, I want to go take back our land. Will you join me? Will you go with me? He said, of course I will. We’re all the same people. We’re all one. So you know what? My horses, which means my army, my men, they’re yours. But hey, how about if first we inquire of the Lord? See, Jehoshaphat was a godly king. Amen. And he says, I would feel better about it. In fact, I’m not going to do anything until we go to the Lord in prayer. And so Ahab says, fine, we can do that. I want you to bring in my prophets, 400. Now this is all the more remarkable when we consider the fact that this is right after the time when Elijah killed the 850 false prophets on Mount Carmel. And this fast they already got 400 more. I mean, that’s like the chapters right before. So he says to the prophets, they said, oh, absolutely go up because God is going to deliver it into your hand. Verse 7, and Jehoshaphat said, is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides that we might inquire of him? So we see here that Jehoshaphat didn’t swallow, even though it was 400 of them. He wasn’t none too sure about it. And Ahab said unto Jehoshaphat, Well, there is yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him. But I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. You know, I mean, do you want to fool yourself? I mean, how foolish can you be then to fool yourself? Yes, there is one prophet of the Lord, Micaiah. But I hate him because he never prophesied good of me, but only evil. And the reason is because Ahab was evil. And so was his wife. Amen? And so his solution to the problem was, don’t listen to his prophecies. Call your own prophets who will tell you what you want to hear. Let them prophesy. I’ve got 400 that will tell me we can go. But see, Jehoshaphat said, this does not bear witness with my spirit. I’m trying the spirits here. I don’t believe this. Amen. And so he said, yeah, but I hate him. But Jehoshaphat says, don’t say that. Don’t say that. Verse 10. And Ahab and Jehoshaphat. Okay, verse 9, I’m sorry. Then Ahab called an officer and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah. And the king of Israel, which was Ahab, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, sat each on his throne, having put on their robes in a void place, or means in an open place, in the entrance of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets prophesied before them. And Zedekiah the son of… well, whoever he was the son of, made him horns of iron, and he said, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians until thou have consumed them. And all the prophets prophesied, so saying, Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord shall deliver it into the king’s hand. So… He sends a messenger, go find that Micaiah. We’ll make Jehoshaphat happy. Go call for him. But in the meantime, while they’re waiting for him to come, here’s Ahab and Jehoshaphat. They got their royal robes on. They are in their most kingly attire with their crowns on their heads, each sitting on their thrones. At the big open entrance to the gates of Samaria. They’re sitting there. And the whole time they’re sitting on their thrones. The 400 prophets are continuing to prophesy. I don’t know if they took turns. I don’t know if they had them in sections. I don’t know how that worked. But they were all saying, go up, go up. The Lord is going to give it to you. And one got very angry. He got very creative. He got him some brass horns, you know, big brass horns, and he said, I’m going to give you an illustrative prophecy. With these, you’re going to push back the Syrians. So go up, for the Lord is with you. And some people will fall for that. Some people will fall for a show. Some people will fall for some illustrated thing or demonstrative thing. Amen? So this is what happens. And so they’re all doing this. And about that time, verse 13, And the messenger that was going to Micaiah spake unto him, saying, The messenger’s talking to the prophet Micaiah. Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth. They’re all in agreement. Let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good. And Micaiah said, As the Lord lives, what the Lord says unto me, that I will speak. So he came to the king, and the king said unto Micaiah, Shall we go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And this is interesting. And he answered, Go and prosper, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. Whoa. And the king, or Ahab, said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me something, nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord? So obviously, Micaiah said it very sarcastically. I’ve already been informed what I’m supposed to tell you. I’m supposed to agree with these guys. That’s what you want to hear, right? Okay then, just go on up and prosper and the Lord will be with you forever. But Ahab said, how many times have I told you, just tell me what God says. Tell me nothing but what he says. So this leads me to believe. I’m speculating here, but I have to think that this has occurred in the past. Because he said, how many times do I have to adjure you and tell you? So there have to have been times in the past when Micaiah came up and gave him the word of the Lord, which he didn’t want to hear because he didn’t want to do right. And after a while, Micaiah would say, okay. Do whatever you want to do, the Lord will bless you. But he said it sarcastically. Amen? And that’s how people get deceived. When God gives them a word and they don’t want to hear it. And they buck against it. And they try to turn it or twist it. Or they’ll go and find people to agree with their opinion. You’ll always find somebody to agree with you. You can always find people to see it your way. If you can talk them into it, you can talk people into it because you’re probably not telling them the whole story. You’re not giving them all the facts and information. Amen? And so then you can go away thinking, well, so-and-so agrees with me. Amen? So this is what’s happening here. So, you know, Ahab says, look, I’ve told you before, only tell me the truth when you speak in the name of the Lord. Verse 17, and Micaiah said, okay, you want the truth? I’m going to give it to you straight up. I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills as a sheep that have not a shepherd. And the Lord said, these have no master. Let them return every man to his house in peace. And Ahab said unto Jehoshaphat, did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me but evil? Didn’t I tell you that? So here, Micaiah says, I’m not only going to give you a prophecy, I had a vision. Before I came here, I had a vision. I’m going to tell you what I saw. I saw the Lord. Amen? But I saw Israel scattered upon the hills as a sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, they have no master. What does that tell you? It tells you that the shepherd’s going to be killed It tells you that the master is going to die and the people are not going to have a leader. They’re not going to have a king. He said, that’s the vision that I saw. And Ahab said, I told you. I told you he never prophesied anything good about me. And Micaiah went on and he said, hear thou therefore the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. I don’t know if you see here that there’s just a little bit of a dig right here. I don’t know if you’re seeing this. Amen? Because here’s the thing about it. He said, I’m seeing you two kings sitting here on your thrones and all your pomp and all your glory. And you’re sitting here with all everyone looking upon you and all your prophets exalting you and speaking to you. But I want to tell you that I have seen the Lord. I have seen the most high. I have seen the almighty God. I have seen El Yonah sitting on his throne. And I’ve seen all the hosts of heaven round about him. On his right hand and on his left hand. And these are metaphors. The right hand of God is always his hand of deliverance, his hand of power, his hand of mercy, his hand of salvation. Amen. But the left speaks of his hand of judgment. He said he’s got the host of heaven. They’re ready to go forth. If he turns to the right hand, it’ll be mercy. Amen. If he turns to those on the left, they will go forth to judge. Amen? And the Lord said, continuing what he saw, Who shall persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And he’s talking to the host now around him. That means the angels. And one said on this manner and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord and said… And the Lord said unto him, that’s God, thou shalt persuade him and prevail also. Go forth and do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord, this is Micaiah speaking again, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee. How many think this is pretty unusual? It is very unusual. Well, let’s look at what is being said here in the few moments that we have left. He sees this vision and God says, who shall go and persuade Ahab to go up to Ramoth Gilead? Now, that means that God knows when he goes up to Ramoth Gilead, what’s going to happen to him. He’s going to die. He’s going to die in battle because he had dealt with Ahab. This is, I mean, Ahab has been a reign of pure wickedness and he’s dealt with him and dealt with him. And once before when God was going to cut him off and Ahab humbled himself and God said, okay, I’ll give you mercy. But he fell back into the same wickedness. Amen. So now God is ready to remove him off of the scene. And in removing him off of the scene, he will also remove his wicked wife Jezebel. She’s got a book of her own. That woman is something else. And it’s pretty amazing that in the seven letters to the church, Jesus brings her up, brings up the spirit of Jezebel. Amen? And so God knows it’s time for him to judge Ahab and remove him from his throne. So he says, who is going to persuade Ahab to go ahead and go up? Because God wanted him to go up because God wanted him to be killed by the Syrians. Amen? And so we don’t know what they said, but one person volunteered, well, I’ll go. And another one said, well, I’ll go. And another one said, I’ll do this. And another one said, I’ll do that. We don’t know. We are not giving all that information. Micaiah doesn’t give that. It’s not really that important. But he said, one spirit came before the Lord and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said, how? He said, I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And all of his prophets will tell him what to do. Go on up to Ramoth Gilead. Go on up. The Lord will give it into your hands. And the Lord said, go and do it. Now, what is the Lord doing here? Amen? Is God the author of lies? No, God is not the author of lies. Amen? He did not create lies or liars. Amen? He didn’t send the lying spirit, but the lying spirit volunteered and said, with your divine permission. And that’s what we’ve got to understand, the difference between God’s commission and God’s permission. Amen? With your permission, I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of his prophets. And they will persuade Ahab. So this tells us that these prophets were under an inspiration. They weren’t just thinking, we’re going to tell him what he wants to hear because if we don’t, he might cut our heads off. He might throw us in jail like he’s done other prophets. They were actually inspired. They were inspired. They believed it. They believed that Ahab would prosper and he would be able to defeat the Syrians. They believed it. So they were prophesying under an inspiration, under an anointing, if you will. And that’s why it was so persuasive. Amen? Ahab was willfully rejecting the truth. He rejected the truth as we saw many times over and over again. He only placated Jehoshaphat in calling for Micaiah. That’s all he did was just to placate him. He had no intention of obeying the word of the Lord if Micaiah did say don’t go. Amen? He had already made up in his mind he was going to go and he believed it. He believed that he would not be killed. Now, I don’t have time to finish this chapter. You can read it when you go home. He even devised a plan and got Jehoshaphat to go along with it, that when they would go to battle, a plan that he would disguise himself. He would not be going as the king, because usually the king led the charge. He would disguise himself so they would not know who he was. Therefore, they would not kill him. But he was killed by a random arrow. Amen. And so even though he tried to deceive, amen, he was deceived himself. And when people do not receive the truth, God will allow them to receive a lying spirit. Amen. And I can prove it in the New Testament. Turn to 2 Thessalonians. We’re almost done. Chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. You’ll probably recognize these verses. And verse 8. And then shall that wicked be revealed. You see wicked is capitalized in your Bible. It is in mine. It refers to the Antichrist. Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. God’s going to allow it. He’s going to allow the Antichrist to do this. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, deceive everybody that perishes are going to be deceived by him. Amen. Why? Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie and be damned. Amen. You may have been frustrated with people because they cannot see the obvious truth and the obvious lie. You don’t understand. They are deceived. Amen? These people, homosexuals, that say, God made me this way. He loves me this way. He created me this way. I can only be what he made me to be. They believe it. They believe it. And now they’re having people tell them it’s true. And now they’re having preachers saying it’s true. Amen? And now they’ve got so-called scientists saying it’s true. Amen? And so they are deceived. They believe it. And those who preach this and teach this and uphold it, they are deceived. There is no scriptural basis. There are so many scriptures screaming out against it. Amen? But they are deceived. And we know that Paul said in Romans, the first chapter, when they reach that point of deception, God gives them over to a reprobate mind. I’m not saying every person that’s a homosexual is a reprobate. There are many homosexuals that will come out of it if they receive the truth. Amen? And we need to pray for them. And we need to pray that God will send them the truth. But there are many… that are turned over to it. Amen? So God permits lying spirits to deceive those who reject the truth. Here’s a very interesting scripture, Job 12, 16. The deceived and the deceiver are his. And God said in the last days, it says in 2 Timothy 3, 13, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and… being deceived. Folks, the devil is deceived. You’ve got to understand that. The devil is deceived. Lucifer is deceived. The first week I preached on hindering spirits, I took the time to show you how that Lucifer really believed that he could throw God off his throne. He believed it. He would not have attempted to to do such a thing if he didn’t think he could succeed. And somehow he was able to convince one-third of the angels that he could do it. And they went along with him. They would not have risked everything to go along with him if they didn’t think he could succeed. The devil is deceived. Amen? His angels are deceived. And because he’s deceived, he still believes at the end of time, somehow he’s going to destroy Israel. He believes he’s going to do it. He believes that his man, the Antichrist, is going to become the ruler of the world. Amen? And he thinks that he’s going to get away with it. Amen? And we are living in that age and that time when people don’t want to know the truth. They don’t want to know the truth. They don’t want you to sit down with the scriptures and show them the error of their way. Amen? And when they are like that, God gives them over. I’m going to close with this. You know this is one of my favorite verses. This is in 2 Timothy, the fourth chapter, the first few verses. And he said, he told Timothy, I’m charging you before God and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am charging you, preach the word. Preachers, number one. Number one on your outline, preach the word. You’ve got a story to tell. You’ve got an anecdotal thing to support it. Fine. Preach the word. I don’t want you to give me 90% stories and only 10% word. Preach the word. In the pulpit and out of the pulpit. In season and out of the season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort, imbalance with all long-suffering and doctrine. Because the time will come when men will not endure sound doctrine, will not put up with it, won’t have it, but after their own lusts heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they will turn their ears away from the truth. and they shall be turned unto fables. They shall be turned unto lies. Amen? What does that mean? Because they wouldn’t receive the truth, they made a conscious decision of their own volition. To turn away from the truth. That is the active voice in Greek grammar. Same thing in English grammar for that matter. That means the subject is performing the action. They willingly turn away from the truth. But being turned to the lies is not in the active voice. It’s a passive voice. Which means the action is now being done to them. Something or someone else is turning them to the lie. And what this means is when you turn away from the truth, there is no neutral ground. God is going to allow a lying spirit to turn you unto the lie. Amen. And this is what we are seeing in the days that we live in right now. That’s why we see so much apostasy. That’s why we see so many false doctrines that are proliferating. That 20 years ago nobody would have even given the time of day. Because there’s lying spirits that have been unleashed. Amen. And you’ve got to know the truth. He said beware. and this is what you’ve got to know you’ve got to know the scriptures because if you know the scriptures and you have the spirit of God the Holy Spirit of God as soon as a lie comes you’re confronted with it all the spirit of God inside of you will just bring the verse right to your mind it’ll just come right up out of your spirit and you’ll be and yeah and this too oh yeah and what about that verse and what about that scripture for you know you can write a message Because you know the Bible. You know the word. And the Holy Spirit can bring it to your remembrance. Because he is the spirit of truth. I don’t know about you, but I want to know the truth. I want to know it when it makes me squirm, when it steps on my toes. Lord, give me a heart to know the truth. If you want it, stand on your feet. Amen. What a demon chasing teaching, seducing, imitating and lying spirits. The Bible amply warns of the increase of this demonic activity in the last days. And not only have we seen the demise of Christian values and biblical teachings in America’s political landscape, such as the ruling on same sex marriage, but in the church. homosexuality is openly celebrated and same-sex marriage sanctioned adultery and divorce are lightly reproved if at all false doctrine perverts righteousness and promotes sin with its selective seduction of grace false teachers and prophets are able to seduce people because they are appealing to the flesh and they seem authentic But we are to test the spirits to see if they are of God because there is a spirit of truth and there is a spirit of error at work. And if Satan is transformed into an angel of light, it is no great thing that his ministers are also transformed into ministers of righteousness. They imitate the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and they seduce and deceive by lying spirits. This message, seducing, imitating, and lying spirits, is the third in my five-part series, Spirits, Angels, and Demons, which includes hindering spirits versus ministering spirits, familiar spirits. and Bail Busters and Troublemakers. This album can be ordered for a love gift of $25. Request SK-185. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203, or go online to soundoffaith.org, where you may also order on MP3s. I strongly urge you to get this powerful series the Holy Spirit has given me. It is thorough but simple and scripturally sound. You will learn much. So order today. Send $25 or more to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Request SK185 for spirits, angels, and demons. Until next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
