19 Micaiah said , "Therefore , hear 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 and on His left . 20 "The Lord said , 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead ?' And one said this while another said that. 21 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said , 'I will entice him.' 22 "The Lord said to him, 'How ?' And he said , 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets .' Then He said , 'You are to entice him and also prevail . Go and do so .' 23 "Now therefore, behold , the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets ; and the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 22:19-23
Commentary on 1 Kings 22:15-28
(Read 1 Kings 22:15-28)
The greatest kindness we can do to one that is going in a dangerous way, is, to tell him of his danger. To leave the hardened criminal without excuse, and to give a useful lesson to others, Micaiah related his vision. This matter is represented after the manner of men: we are not to imagine that God is ever put upon new counsels; or that he needs to consult with angels, or any creature, about the methods he should take; or that he is the author of sin, or the cause of any man's telling or believing a lie. Micaiah returned not the blow of Zedekiah, yet, since he boasted of the Spirit, as those commonly do that know least of the Holy Spirit's operations, the true prophet left him to be convinced of his error by the event. Those that will not have their mistakes set right in time, by the word of God, will be undeceived, when it is too late, by the judgments of God. We should be ashamed of what we call trials, were we to consider what the servants of God have endured. Yet it will be well, if freedom from trouble prove not more hurtful to us; we are more easily allured and bribed into unfaithfulness and conformity to the world, than driven to them.