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OBEYING GOD
Perhaps, this story in the Bible should be preached upon more often. In it is a powerful truth.
Let us begin at the beginning of this story.
1 Kings 13:1-22 NKJV
13 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’ ” 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.”
4 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. 5 The altar also was split apart, 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. 6 Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.”
So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before.
7 Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”
8 But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. 9 For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ” 10 So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.
The man of God relayed the words of the Lord about a child to come named Josiah. He would be king and would lead God’s people. A sign was given that the altar would split apart and the ashes poured out proving God’s words.
King Jeroboam, one of the most evil of all kings, heard what the man of God said and reached out to touch the altar.
His hand immediately withered. He then asks the man of God to ask God to restore his hand to him. The man of God does entreat the Lord and the king’s hand is retored as it was before.
The king no doubt is grateful and invites the man of God to come home with him to dine.
However, the man of God had been told by the Lord, NOT to eat or drink in the king’s house. He was also told to return home another way. This he does.
We look up this man of God, at this point, as a man who is seeking to obey and follow God in all things.
He delivers the message from God to the king about the future king Josiah to come. He tells what would happen to the altar as proof of the words being from God. Next, he entreats God for the healing of the withered hand that ensues. He then turns down the invitation from the king.
He is steadfast…or so we think.
We read on:
Death of the Man of God
11 Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel;
they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. 12 And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. 13 Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, 14 and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
And he said, “I am.”
15 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
16 And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place.
17 For I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ”
18 He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.)
19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.
A deceiving prophet follows the man of God. He tells him that an angel of God gave HIM NEWER instructions. He talks the man of God into disobeying and coming to his home for a meal. The words of this prophet were a lie. As soon as they sat at the table, the false prophet cries out the following:
20 Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; 21 and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, 22 but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ”
1 Kings 13: 24a NKJV 24 When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him.
How many times have we started out obeying God.
Faithfully, we spoke up and did all that we knew that God wanted us to do and not to do.
We were steadfast. We didn’t listen to the voices of those around us. The voice of God in our hearts was all to which we listened and obeyed.
One day, however, we heard a convincing argument and we doubted our word from God and ourselves. The meal sounded invitiing and the argument convincing. Before we knew it, we were sitting in wrongful company and commiting sin.
We were doing EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what God told US to do.
God wanted obedience more than anything else we could offer Him and yet, we do the opposite.
In the case of this man of God, a lion killed him in the way.
Perhaps, for us it will be the slaying of the sweet fellowship that we had previously enjoyed with God.
The man of God lost his earthly life.
Be careful! Don’t lose your eternal life, by turning away from the Lord, and embracing the sin of the world.
Walk with the Lord!