2 Chronicles 18:19

Who shall entice Ahab So 1 Kin. (R.V.). The same Heb. word is used in Jeremiah 20:7, "thou hast deceived (mg. -enticed") me," where Jeremiah complains that he has been called to the fruitless labour of a hated prophet. For the underlying thought that delusion is sometimes a preliminary part of Divine punishment cp. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 (cp. 2 Thessalonians 2:9). It should be noted however that the "lying spirit" in the month of the 400 prophets played only a subordinate part in Ahab's fall, and indeed could have played no part at all, but for the fact that the king was more than willing to be enticed. Ahab had already made up his mind; he consulted the 400 only as an afterthought to satisfy Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 18:4), he excluded the plain-speaking Micaiah until Jehoshaphat insisted on his presence (2 Chronicles 18:6-7), and he scorned the true prophet's warning of the falseness of the 400 (2 Chronicles 18:26). Delusion as a Divine punishment comes only upon the man who is willing to be deluded.