Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 14:9

"And if the prophet be deceived and speak a word, I, Jehovah, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel." — Ezekiel 14:9 (ASV)

I the Lord have deceived that prophet - A deep truth lies beneath these words, namely, that evil as well as good is under God’s direction. He turns it as He will, employing it to test the sincerity of men, and thus making it ultimately contribute to the purification of His people, to the confirmation of the righteous, and to the increase of their glory and felicity.

The case of the false prophets who deceived Ahab (1 Kings 22:0) is a striking representation of this principle. The Lord sends forth an evil spirit to persuade Ahab to his ruin. Toward the close of the kingdom of Judah, false prophets were especially rife. The thoughts of men’s hearts were revealed, the good separated from the bad, and the remnant of the people purged from the sins by which in recent years the whole nation had been defiled.