And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil? Since Ahab was disposed to trace this unwelcome truth to personal enmity, Micaiah proceeded, fearlessly, to tell the incensed monarch, in full detail, what had been revealed to him. The Hebrew prophets, borrowing their symbolic pictures from earthly scenes, described God in heaven as a king in his kingdom. And as earthly princes do nothing of importance without asking the advice of their counselors, Cod is represented as consulting about the fate of Ahab. This prophetic language must not be interpreted literally, and the command must be viewed as only a permission to the lying spirit (Romans 11:34). With regard to the idea of Satan, the tempter or lying spirit, conveyed by this passage, there is an advancement from the age of Job, who is assumed to have lived in patriarchal times. In the book of Job, he exerts his influence no further than the external relations of the patriarch (Job 2:1-13); and even in Numbers 22:22, he makes only a physical resistance to the journey of Balaam. [In the time of the Psalmist the angels were considered partly protecting (Psalms 91:11-12) and partly deceiving or baneful spirits (Psalms 35:5-6).] While here he extends his power to the mind and character. A spirit comes forward in order to mislead Ahab into a course of action contrary to the declared will of God. Indeed, the sentiments current among the Jews on this subject during the whole period from the earliest date of their history down to the Babylonian captivity were uncertain and fluctuating; and it was not until the time of Zechariah (Zechariah 3:1-2) that there was a decided opposition recognized as established between the good and the bad spirits or angels, (see an excellent article, 'Biblical Review,' 2:)