1 Kings 13 -- By the word of the Lord

One of the saddest sections in the Bible is a section where we read about a prophet who didn't trust something God told him. Or rather, he trusted God's personal word to him...but then someone comes by with seemingly greater authority, some refreshment, a "word from God" (which contradicts the word that God had given to the prophet.)

Now it's hard enough to let God be true when the Word one is following is from Scripture, but when one hears a Word directly from God and no one else seems to have heard it (or the Word is contradicted by someone of importance)....well, it becomes very difficult indeed.

For instance, Paul said, "I heard this from the Word of the Lord, 'We who are alive and remain til the Lord's coming shall not prevent those who are asleep (dead.)"

Paul and the rest of the apostles were always saying something that God had told them in their Spirit. Through Christ, God has made us all prophets and has awakened our spirits to hearing God's voice. What if no one else has heard this same word? If one is convinced the word is from God, best not to disobey it.

One of my favorite verses is found in Romans 3:4 "Let God be true, but every man a liar." 

One must be conceited just enough to survive.

But this sad story in 1 Kings 13 is about a good man, a prophet, who didn't listen to what the Lord had told him in his spirit. The prophet listens to the lies of another prophet. Okay, it wasn't exactly a big lie but it was a subtle lie. The word "angel" can mean messenger. So the aged prophet is subtly lying when he said a messenger sent him. His sons were the "messenger."

Just because one is a prophet doesn't mean one cannot be a blatant or a subtle liar. Look at Baalam. And just because one is a teacher doesn't mean one cannot be a blatant or a subtle liar. The gifts of the holy spirit are gifts and just that. They aren't fruit, which is borne from our own spiritual growth. God is wonderfully giving. He even gave Timothy a gift and Timothy had to be reminded twice to use it. (Probably because Timothy was so shy.)

Anyway, here's the chapter.

And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. 3And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. 4And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. 5The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. 7And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. 8And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: 9For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.10So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

11Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. 12And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. 13And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, 14And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. 15Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 16And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: 17For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. 18He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. 19So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
20And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back: 21And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 22But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. 23And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass,to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. 25And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
26And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him. 27And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. 28And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass. 29And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him. 30And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! 31And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones: 32For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
33After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. 34And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.