1 Kings 22:22
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. 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.
The verse shows a lying spirit at work in the mouths of Ahab's four hundred false prophets at Samaria who promised victory at Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat joined Ahab to retake Ramoth, an old city of refuge, after being entertained at Samaria and persuaded against his better judgment, being already bound by a rash promise and by an alliance with Ahab formed through the marriage of Jehoram to Athaliah. When Jehoshaphat asked to inquire at the word of the Lord, the four hundred said God would deliver the city into the king's hand, but Jehoshaphat was not satisfied and asked for a prophet of the Lord.
Micaiah the son of Imlah, whom Ahab hated because he foretold calamity rather than good, told only the truth that Israel would be scattered leaderless over the hills as sheep without a shepherd and each man would return home in peace, showing the enterprise was not favored by Heaven. Both kings refused the warning and went up to Ramoth-gilead, where Ahab was shot and died at evening and the army was ordered to disperse each man to his own city and country, fulfilling the true prophet's word. The verse depicts Satan claiming and working as a lying spirit through prophets to deceive, to stir criticism, condemnation and falsehood, and to promote false prophecy.
When a church entertains deceit and false witness, it rejects the message God has sent and accepts unreasonable claims, false theories and false claims instead. In its application to 1844, the lying spirit worked through deception that exploited the disappointment, shook believers' faith in Christ's coming, and blinded them to the sanctuary teaching. A right understanding of the sanctuary would have strengthened their faith in the prophecies, but unbelief left many abandoning the faith and others confused.