God commands the deceiving spirit to go to the prophets.
the spirit and God converse, implying to me intelligence on the part of the spirit.
so, for me, not like the Christmas spirit.
Micaiah says God put the spirit there. to me, that's action on God's part.
You could be right, just remember the old Hebrew language consists of roughly 9100 words, while our language consists of more then a million. Of course I'm relying on other's works for these numbers but the point remains that translating can be tricky . In 1 kings 22 the spirit offered to go and tell the lie, all God did was approve of it, it wasn't God's idea (it seems). We don't know much about who this spirit was or is, or who it pledged it's allegiance too. It could have been an evil spirit willing to deceive, since that's what they love to do and God allowed it just as God allows people to sin (and God often uses sin to bring about a particular outcome -repentance or judgment). We know from Revelations that God uses Satan and demons to bring judgment on Jerusalem.
I'm not the only one with possibility or theory on this;
John Wesley, "He said - I will inspire a lie into the minds and mouths of his prophets. Thou shalt - I will give them up into thy hands, and leave them to their own ignorance and wickedness. Go - This is not a command, but only a permission."
John Gill, "and he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets; put them on encouraging Ahab to go up, and promising him success, as he had in former battles with the king of Syria, and which might both encourage them to give forth such a prediction, and him to believe it to be true; this proposal was quite agreeable to the character of the devil, as the father of lies:"
Poor man's commentary (Robert Hawker), "That Micaiah had been favoured with a divine vision, upon this occasion, is evident: for his prediction, and the event so exactly corresponding, plainly proved it. With respect to the lying spirit here spoken of, as influencing the prophets, to the destruction of Ahab: as this is an interesting part, and perhaps is not so generally understood; the pious Reader will not be displeased if I detain him with a few observations upon that subject.
That there is at the
head of our
spirital eneumies, a
leader,
called Satan, who had a principal hand in the ruin of our nature at the fall; and who from that time, hath ruled, more or less, in the minds of the children of disobedience, is a doctrine, I take for granted, no wise person will venture to question, or deny. That the Son of God came to destroy his kingdom, is also an undoubted, and thoroughly allowed truth. That therefore, in this instance he had permission, by the mouths of the false prophets, to deceive Ahab; and that in numberless other instances, his power hath been, and still is, exerted (only limited as the wisdom of Jesus for blessed purposes allows) to influence the corrupt passions of men: scripture so decidedly shows, that it must argue great folly, as well as great wickedness, to dispute it. That the prophet Micaiah, therefore, should be taught this by the ministry of a vision, seems agreeable to the whole analogy of the divine word. And with respect both to the permission and success of his deception, when we consider what Job saith, and Paul confirms, the whole is most fully and satisfactorily explained. The former tells us, from inspired authority, that both the deceiver and deceived are his. And the latter, that in those that perish with the deceivableness of unrighteousness in the working of Satan, it is for this cause, God hath sent them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. See Job_12:16; 2Th_2:9-11. If the Reader would see more on this subject, I refer him to Job_2:1. Of Satan’s power in putting into the heart, as in the case of Judas; Joh_13:2: Of filling the heart, as in Ananias; Act_5:3: Of making the whole man full of subtilty, as in Elymas; Act_13:9-10: And of reigning and ruling in the children of disobedience at his will; see Eph_2:2; 2Ti_1:18.