DO NOT BELIEVE A LIE

Idolaters live in deception — believing a lie to be the truth!

“For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the Lord will answer him by myself” (Ezekiel 14:7).

This passage of Scripture means, “Because you are hardened in your sin, with no desire to turn and repent, every word you hear from now on will confirm you in your iniquity and deception.”

We see a picture of this with King Ahab, who was probably the most idolatrous king in the history of Israel. At this time, he had aligned himself with King Jehoshaphat to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead.

^“And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? 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, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so” (1 Kings 22:20-22).

Consequently four hundred prophets stood before Ahab, encouraging him to move forward with the attack. Can you imagine the scene? There stood a horde of flattering men, all mouthing words that fed Ahab’s idolatry. They were all lying to him, confirming his sin.

What a horrible tragedy. Ahab could not hear God’s voice because of the idols rooted in his heart. So God sent him a strong delusion — one that would destroy him. 

“They received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this [reason] God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11).