Executive Producer

This episode is brought to you in part by Executive Producer, John Anonymous.

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 10 NIRV, Ch. 11 NIV, Ch. 12-13 NLT

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Thoughts

In verses 11-32, we have a bit of a puzzling account of the man of God and the lying old prophet. What can we learn from this story?

First, remember that the man of God had been called by God to speak to Jeroboam just as he was about to burn incense. The man of God told the evil king of the judgement God was going to bring upon him.

Upon hearing the message, the king pointed at the man of God and cried, “Seize that man!” And his hand instantly became paralyzed, and he couldn’t pull it back. And at the same time, a wide crack appeared in the altar, and the ashes poured out, just as the man of God had predicted in his message from the Lord.

The king cried out to the man of God, asking him to ask the Lord to heal his hand. The man of God did so, and the hand was restored. The king then invited the man of God to the palace to have a meal, and receive a gift from him.

But the man of God refused, telling the king that God had told him not to eat or drink anything in that place, and that he should not return to Judah by the same way which he had come. And he left the king.

Now there in Bethel were two sons of an old prophet who saw what had happened. When they returned home, they told the old prophet what had happened. The old prophet asked which way the man of God had gone, and had his sons get a donkey for him to ride to see if he could find the man of God.

When the old prophet found the man of God, he asked him to come to his home for a meal. The man of God replied the same way he had when Jeroboam invited him.

And here’s where things go sideways. The old prophet lied to the man of God and told him, “I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And an angel gave me this command from the Lord: ‘Bring him home with you so he can have something to eat and drink.’”

We are not told why the old prophet lied, but we are told that the man of God accepted the invitation! Why did he do that?

The man of God had his guard up when he was speaking to Jeroboam, so it was easy to follow God’s command about not eating or drinking there.

Why did he accept the old prophet’s invitation?

Maybe it was because he was tired and thirsty from his journey, and he felt safe with a supposed prophet. He was probably younger than the old prophet, so he might have felt that he should defer to the more experienced man. Maybe the fact that the old prophet told him that an angel had spoken to him about the younger man convinced him. Or that the old man had said, “I am a prophet too.”

But listen, beloved. God does not contradict Himself. He does not give a command to one person and tell another person the exact opposite. There is never an excuse for disobeying God’s Word. And unfortunately, the man of God did disobey what God had expressly told him.

When he did that, God told the old prophet to say to the man of God, “This is what the Lord says: You have defied the word of the Lord and have disobeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. 22You came back to this place and ate and drank where he told you not to eat or drink. Because of this, your body will not be buried in the grave of your ancestors.”

After the man of God finished his meal, the old prophet gave him his donkey to return home, and on the way a lion killed him.

There is more to the story, but because of time, I’ll just leave you with this.

In chapter 13, both Jeroboam and the man of God were punished by God. Jeroboam for his idolatry, the man of God for his disobedience. There is never an excuse for disobeying God’s Word.

I am so thankful that we live in the age of grace. But we must not take God’s grace lightly. Jesus paid a heavy price so that we would not face judgement. To forget that is to court God’s discipline. Keep your account with God short. We must repent when we sin. Start each day with a clean slate, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to live in such a way that you remain sensitive to His leading.