God’s Righteous Judgment on the Unrepentant
The Bible can offer insights into how our spiritual lives work, giving us glimpses into the hidden world where God interacts with good and evil forces. However, due to the limitations of our senses, caution is essential in exploring this area. We can’t learn about the unseen realm without God’s revelation, even though we walk by faith, not sight (2 Corinthians 5.7).
Because of our limitations, we are grateful for Scripture’s fleeting insights. One intriguing view into the third heaven illustrates the principle of “judicial hardening.” Judicial hardening is God’s sovereign, holy decision to withdraw His restraining grace from persistently unrepentant sinners, allowing them to carry out their sin and unbelief through a spiritually hardened, truth-blind condition.
Generally, we think of the pharaoh of the Exodus as a prime example of judicial hardening. We aim to comprehend the events behind eternity’s veil, leading us to attribute the pharaoh’s judicial hardening solely to God’s actions. It’s similar to describing electricity using only a lit light bulb for illustration. In other words, the electricity is there, but what causes the bulb to light up when we flip the switch?
In 2 Thessalonians 2.11-12, Paul warns the first-century Christians about the man of lawlessness who comes after apostasy.
“For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness” (NASB95).
In contrast to the pharaoh, whose heart both God and pharaoh hardened, Paul specifies that God sends the “deluding influence” after the impending apostasy. This prospect would be highly unsettling were it not for the example of Ahab in 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18. Elijah previously prophesied that God would destroy Ahab and his household (cf. 1 Kings 21). Rather than repent and accept God’s mercy, Ahab persisted in sinfulness.
When the time came to engage in war with his Aramean neighbors, Ahab requested Judah’s king, Jehoshaphat, to join him in battle. The good king, Jehoshaphat, stated his willingness to do so as long as Ahab consulted God’s prophet. Ahab balked at the idea, given that the only true prophets of God in Israel would not prophesy favorably. We note that Ahab had already called for 400 false prophets to persuade Jehoshaphat.
Upon Jehoshapahat’s insistence, Ahab summoned Micaiah. Ahab told Jehoshaphat that he didn’t like Micaiah because he always prophesied against him. When the messenger summoned Micaiah, he told him to go along with the words of the other so-called prophets. Surprisingly, Micaiah did so. Ahab knew Micaiah was insincere and told him to speak God’s real message. Micaiah told Ahab and Jehoshaphat that their efforts against the Arameans would fail.
As Ahab reiterates to Jehoshaphat how Micaiah always prophecies against him, Micaiah continues, informing his sovereign audience of what events took place in heaven, leading to the moment they found themselves. Note 2 Chronicles 18.18–22.
Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right and on His left. The Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this while another said that. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and prevail also. Go and do so.’ Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of these your prophets, for the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.” (NASB95)
In other parts of the Old Testament, like in Job, the heavenly beings are depicted as gathered before God, including Satan among them. However, to implement His judgment upon Ahab, God wants to know who will use Ahab’s wicked nature to facilitate his downfall. Ahab desires to confront the Arameans, while God has foretold the destruction of Ahab and his household. So, God needed a volunteer to execute His judgment. A spirit volunteered, saying he would serve as the deceiving spirit in the mouth of Ahab’s prophets.
No, this does not make God a liar. God is truthful and does not deceive (Titus 1.2; Hebrews 6.18). And men sin when lust draws them away (James 1.13–16). In conclusion, it is essential to remember key aspects of this example of judicial hardening.
The “lying spirit” does not speak falsehoods but amplifies and vocalizes the lies or delusions held by unrepentant sinners because of their hardened hearts against the truth.
Secondly, God does not directly speak or endorse the lie; instead, He permits the unrepentant sinner to fall prey to the deceptions they have chosen through their persistent rejection of the truth.
Thirdly, this may be an anthropomorphic representation of how God employs secondary causes or agents to induce judicial hardening or blindness in those who deliberately reject Him rather than God directly originating the deception.
Lastly, “spirit” could denote an impersonal force or influence from God rather than specifically a personal angelic being conveying a direct falsehood.
The account of God permitting a “deceiving spirit” to influence Ahab’s prophets vividly demonstrates the concept of judicial hardening. God judges those who repeatedly reject the truth by allowing them to succumb entirely to their chosen lies. This truth does not imply that God is untruthful; instead, He withholds grace from the unrepentant, leading to the hardening and deception of their hearts. While our knowledge of the spiritual realm is limited, stories like this assist us in grasping how God interacts with intentional sinners. He demonstrates His justice by hardening the disobedient but also shows patience by repeatedly presenting the truth before judgment arrives. For us, the challenge is to accept God’s truth humbly and keep our hearts responsive to His grace.