Ahab Reveals the Credibility Cue
11th February 2010
Here’s the scene.
Ahab, an evil King of the ancient Israelites, has sinned greatly and unforgivably against God. Through his carnal love for his disbelieving wife, Jezebel, Ahab has turned against God and begun to worship the false idols of his woman. Furthermore, Ahab’s sins have caused other Israelites to sin similarly against God. God decides to punish Ahab in a way that will also demonstrate to others that they should keep their faith and respect the covenant with God. God will cause Ahab to die in battle, but he wants Ahab to chose to fight and lead his sinning people into a disastrous war. God gathers His angels about Him and solicits their recommendations. At least two unnamed spirits speak and their ideas are not accepted. Then, one, most probably Satan, suggests a plan that he thinks will work. The evil angel will cause Ahab’s prophets to speak falsely to Ahab about the war and Ahab’s chances of success in it. Satan will become a “lying spirit” who will speak through the mouths of the prophets, thus deceiving Ahab and encouraging him to rash action that will cause his death and the death of many other sinners.
Here’s how the King James Bible describes this.
And the LORD said, `Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead?’ And one said in this manner, and another said in 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.
“I will be a lying spirit in the mouths of his prophets.” Satan has a lot of great lines, doesn’t he? (For a fabulous fictional representation of Satan, John Milton’s epic masterpiece, “Paradise Lost,” is unexcelled in showing his exuberance of evil.) Please note two important persuasion angles in this quotation.
First, observe that God does not persuade, but rather permits Satan to use persuasion on humans. Even if you are not a believer, it is interesting to imagine a god concept that is all knowing and eternal. How could something as uncertain, conditional, and incomplete as persuasion be of any use to anything that already knows everything? This suggests an important limitation to the concept of persuasion and to human nature. It is unworthy of God or god as a concept, but most useful to humans.
Second, note how Satan decides to use persuasion. He becomes a lying spirit that lies in the mouths of prophets who then tell the lies. Thus, Satan cloaks himself in the cloth of credibility, perhaps the oldest persuasion tactic in human history. Again, regardless of whether you are a believer, the concept of a “prophet” suggests an operatic scale of competence and character, the two prime elements of credibility. Whether the prophet is possessed of Satan or merely just a human prophet with human limitations and frailties, Satan certainly chooses well and human-wisely when he lies in the mouths of the most credible sources in the Old Testament.
How this story is presented speaks volumes to me about our current point of view on persuasion. Even in this ancient, verified, and historical text we learn almost everything we need to know about a definition of persuasion. It uses communication. It works best with credible sources. It can be used to deceive.
No wonder so many people feel so uncomfortable with persuasion.