Ahab, the king of Israel, had invited Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, to join him in an attack on Ramoth Gilead, an Israelite city that Aram, a kingdom to the north, had captured. Jehoshaphat agreed but wanted to find a prophet of the LORD to ask about it. God’s response through the prophet Micaiah provides an interesting view of what occurs in the spiritual realm–a peek into the heavenly war room.
Then Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and the whole heavenly army was standing at his right hand and at his left hand. And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice King Ahab of Israel to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? ’ So one was saying this and another was saying that.
2 Chronicles 18:18-21 CSB
“Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’
“The LORD asked him, ‘How? ’
“So he said, ‘I will go and become a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’
“Then he said, ‘You will entice him and also prevail. Go and do that.’
What is clear from Micaiah’s message is that God was going to put Ahab to death. He was going to use the Aramean army to accomplish that. And he would use Ahab’s false prophets to lure him to his death—prophets who were inspired by deceiving spirits.
What is less clear is how closely this image of the heavenly war room offering advice to God reflects reality. Prophetic utterances often used picturesque language to illustrate the message that was being delivered. This means that all the specific details we read here do not necessarily reflect the reality of the heavenly realm.
But it does seem to show that God involves the heavenly host in managing his creation. When we were created, we were responsible for ruling over the rest of the physical creation (Gen. 1:26). So, it should not be surprising to see that those in the spiritual realm might have a similar responsibility.
God does not need our help in managing his creation. But he has chosen to involve us in it. And it appears from this account that the same is true in the spiritual realm. The difference is that some of their management responsibilities are directed toward the physical creation.
