Here read I Kings 22: 1-38 II Chronicles 18:1-34
Another good example of how this rule applies in God's Word(KJV) occurs in the story of the alliance of Jehoshaphat and Ahab. Jehoshaphat was a godly king of Judah, but he was unbelievably naive and idealistic. Ahab was the wicked king of Israel. Apparently, Jehoshaphat believed that because the people of Israel and the people of Judah shared the same lineage and language, that he could make an alliance with the king of Israel and both countries could be friends. Jehoshaphat was such a simple person that he did not realize that whenever goodness tries to ally with evil, the evil will always attempt to use the good for its own selfish purposes.
Ahab quickly found a way to use his new-found friend when he persuaded Jehoshaphat to join his army to Ahab's army in a fight with Syria. The hapless Jehoshaphat eagerly complied, but being a godly man he wanted Ahab to ask a prophet of the Lord about the wisdom of this venture.
Instead, Ahab gathered four hundred false prophets who would be sure to tell him that which he wanted to hear. He also thought that this false display would deceive Jehoshaphat into doing that which Ahab wanted. However, Jehoshaphat's loyalty to God overcame his naivete, and he insisted that Ahab call a prophet of the Lord to enquire of him. Ahab answered that there was one such prophet, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but tried to dissuade Jehoshaphat from calling him on the grounds that Micaiah was prejudiced against Ahab, always giving him an evil report. Jehoshaphat, knowing that a true prophet of God always gives a true report, simply told Ahab that he should not say such a thing.
Ahab, seeing that he could not get around Jehoshaphat's insistence, had an officer call Micaiah to prophesy. Secretly, Ahab told the officer to try to subvert Micaiah to agree with the false reports of the false prophets who were putting on a show for Ahab to convince Jehoshaphat that Ahab's campaign against the Syrians would be successful.
True to his status as a genuine prophet of God, Micaiah told the officer that he would report only that which the Lord told him to say. Micaiah was very courageous to take this stance because he knew that Ahab had the power to cast him into prison. As it turned out, Ahab did exactly that.
When Ahab asked Micaiah about his prophecy as to whether or not Israel and Judah should go to war, Micaiah answered that the king should go to war and prosper. Apparently though, Micaiah had said this in such a sarcastic voice, that Ahab immediately demanded that Micaiah report the truth of God's word. Ahab was smart enough to know that he could not accept this answer because he knew that everyone, especially king Jehoshaphat, had heard the unmistakable sarcasm in Micaiah's voice and that his answer would create doubt in Jehoshaphat's mind. In order to overcome this doubt, Ahab had no choice but to demand that Micaiah provide a true answer. Micaiah promptly complied, telling Ahab that Israel would lose the battle and his army would be scattered over the hills.
Ahab then immediately fell back to his old tactic of complaining that Micaiah simply held prejudices against him. This quick switch had its desired effect. Jehoshaphat's putative doubt about Ahab quickly changed to his having a doubt about Micaiah. Thus Ahab's clever trickery persuaded the gullible Jehoshaphat to ally with him despite Micaiah's following explanation of the vision that God had given him.
Micaiah then related his vision about how God had employed a "lying spirit" to deceive Ahab into going into a battle that would destroy him. However, Micaiah's message was meant for Jehoshaphat, not Ahab. Despite all of Ahab's show and machinations, God was trying to get the message to Jehoshaphat that Ahab was not his friend, and that he should not go to war with him. God knew that the naive Jehoshaphat needed special protection. Indeed, through his whole life Jehoshaphat received God's special protection.
For a human to lie to another person in order to cause his destruction constitutes a definite sin. Yet, God not only allowed, but commanded the "lying spirit" to deceive Ahab. This fact makes God directly responsible for the lie. God lied to Ahab. Did God sin? Absolutely, He did not. Because of His love and mercy toward Jehoshaphat, God desired to destroy the evil Ahab in order to protect Jehoshaphat. At the same time, God tried to get a message to Jehoshaphat that he should separate himself from Ahab.
Jehoshaphat knew that the false prophets were not of God. He had heard the sarcasm in Micaiah's voice. He also had heard Micaiah's true account of the vision that God had given him. Incidentally, Micaiah had not lied about relating only that which God had told him when he gave his sarcastic answer. He merely repeated that which the "lying spirit" had told Ahab.
God did everything He could to alert the simple Jehoshaphat to Ahab's evil intentions. Yet, despite all of God's efforts on his behalf, the addle-brained Jehoshaphat went to war with Ahab anyway.
When they went to the battle, Ahab told Jehoshaphat to keep his royal robes on, while Ahab disguised himself as an ordinary soldier. Ahab's wicked intent should have been apparent to Jehoshaphat. Ahab knew that the Syrians would go all out to kill him, so he tricked Jehoshaphat into wearing his royal robes so that the Syrians would mistake Jehoshaphat for him. This is exactly what happened, but God's special protection for Jehoshaphat prevailed and spared him from harm. However, Ahab was killed by a stray arrow shot in the general direction of the Israeli army. Thus, God's justice prevailed in the end.
This story constitutes one of the best examples in scripture of how any action perfectly motivated by love and mercy trumps the law and cannot, in itself, be sinful. During WWII, America and its allies used many lies and deceptions against the evil Nazis and Fascists in order to save lives and shorten the war. These actions were not sinful. In fact, they were noble and good because they were completely motivated by a desire to save the freedom-loving people of the world.
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