A Lying Spirit

Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to join him in battle against the Syrians. Jehoshaphat said, “I’m with you, and my people are with you, but let’s find out what the Lord has to say about this battle.” Ahab responded, “No problem. I’ve got about 400 men who will tell me whatever I want to hear.” But Jehoshaphat wanted someone who would tell them the truth.

Reluctantly, Ahab called for the prophet Micaiah, who prophesied that Ahab would die in the battle. He added that Ahab’s false prophets were filled with “a lying spirit.”

Ahab went to battle anyway, but only after disguising himself and convincing Jehoshaphat to dress in his clothes. His plan was not as clever as he thought. During the battle, he was shot by an arrow. He died later that day. (See 1 Kings 22:1-40, 2 Chronicles 18:1-34; note Joseph Smith’s revision of 2 Chronicles 18:22.)

The prophet Alma likely knew this story. He was responsible for the brass plates, which included “a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah” (1 Nephi 5:12). (See Mosiah 28:20, Alma 37:1-5.) He knew that people can be motivated to be dishonest for personal gain. So when he saw Korihor proclaiming outrageous untruths, he echoed the words of Micaiah:

Believest thou that these things are true?

Behold, I know that thou believest, but thou art possessed with a lying spirit, and ye have put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God.

Alma 30:41-42, italics added

Alma had already cut short Korihor’s impassioned speech by fact-checking a preposterous claim. When Korihor accused church leaders of “glutting on the labors of the people,” Alma responded, “Thou knowest that we do not glut ourselves upon the labors of this people. … Notwithstanding the many labors which I have performed in the church, I have never received so much as even one senine for my labor” (Alma 30:31-33). Korihor’s accusation was demonstrably untrue, and he had no excuse for claiming to believe it.

He was not yet cured of his dishonesty. When Alma warned him that he would be struck dumb if he denied the existence of God one more time, Korihor responded with a denial, carefully crafted to sound like a non-denial: “I do not deny the existence of a God, but I do not believe that there is a God; and I say also, that ye do not know that there is a God” (Alma 30:48).

Korihor lost his power of speech, but he gained the ability to acknowledge the truth. “I know that I am dumb, for I cannot speak,” he wrote, “and I know that nothing save it were the power of God could bring this upon me; yea, and I always knew that there was a God” (Alma 30:52). These concessions might seem basic and obvious, but for Korihor, they were a step in the right direction. He was learning to speak the truth.

Today, I will listen to people who tell the truth. I will remember that like Ahab’s false prophets and like Korihor, many people are wiling to say whatever benefits them personally instead of being honest. When an accusation or an assertion doesn’t seem right, I will do my own independent research to determine whether the speaker is a reliable source of information.