Listen To God's Instructions 1 Kings 13
Whenever I come across this chapter in the Old Testament, it bothers me. Perhaps God was testing the man of God, or perhaps the old prophet just wanted to spend time with him as a fellow prophet and to show him hospitality.
What bothers me most is that this old prophet lied, and God did not appear to reprimand him in any way. So I can only conclude that God was testing the man of God to ensure that he did exactly what God had commanded.
This story begins with a man of God who was instructed by God to go to Bethel and speak to the altar that was made there by Jeroboam, king of Israel.
Thus he spoke to the altar, saying:, "thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’”
Then Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up so that he could not draw it back to himself. The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it was before.
The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” But the man of God had been commanded not to eat bread or drink water in this place nor return by the way that he came.
An old prophet who lived in Bethel along with his sons heard what the man of God had done and what he had spoken to the king and went after him. After finding him sitting under an oak tree, the old prophet entreated the man of God to come and eat with him but the man of God said: "It was said to me by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.’”
The old prophet replied, saying: “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him.
So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water. Then the word of the lord came to the old prophet, saying: “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”
As the man of God went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him. When the old prophet heard it, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word that the Lord spoke to him.
The rest of the chapter talks about how the old prophet brought back the man of God's body, laid him in his own grave, and instructed his sons about his own burial alongside the man of God.
Here is wisdom; Do exactly what God has instructed you to do and not what others say. God's instructions were clear in this story. From the beginning to the end. Why would God change his mind after this man had fulfilled most of his mission and he is on his way home? And would he not have spoken to him directly rather than through someone who had nothing to do with his mission?
They were both prophets, yet one had lied which caused the other to die because of his disobedience toward what God had commanded him. Food for thought!
Angelina 15/07/2024
