It is often asserted that the fact that God does not like lying necessarily implies that He could not use this evil for His own ends as a judgment. However, in the agonistic world of the Bible, lies could and did serve an honorable purpose. Even in modern contexts, such as deceiving hostile authorities to protect the innocent, lying is recognized as compatible with perfect goodness when it serves a moral good.

There is therefore no moral dilemma in God permitting a lying spirit to act as an instrument of judgment, even if He is indeed actually incapable of lying Himself. In terms of whether God is indeed incapable of lying, the verses appealed to in this regard (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18) carry the context of pledges made by oath and do not clearly state an all-around blanket declaration that God cannot deceive as an act of judgment. Numbers 23:19 is part of God's pledge as a suzerain (superior partner and patron in an Ancient Near Eastern covenant) to back up the nation of Israel as their military leader. It is appealing to His role as a suzerain as a basis. Similarly, Titus 1:2 contextualizes this pledge to a covenant that promises and provides eternal life, appealing to His role as a patron as a basis. God's level of honor makes it such that He would never put Himself in a position to have to lie Himself, but He can justly permit deception as a form of judgment against the wicked.

Problem: Ezekiel declares that God “induced” the false prophets to speak and then would “destroy” them for doing so. But this sounds deceptive.

Solution: God’s action was neither deceptive nor morally coercive. Giving false prophecies is exactly what false prophets like to do. So, there is no coercion by God in inducing them to ply their trade. The sovereign God so ordered the circumstances that these evil men would, by their own free will, utter false prophecies that would reveal their true character and lead to their eventual doom. It is because they did not love the truth that God gave them over to error and its eventual consequence, destruction (see2 Thes. 2:10–11).