The Firsthand Message
In 1 Kings 13 there is a record of a prophet whom God sent to declare a judgement against the alter Jeroboam. He had put up this alter up in Bethel for the worship of a golden calf he had put up for Israel to worship instead of worshiping God in Jerusalem.
And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, 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.’” And 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.’”
1 Kings 13:2-3
Not only will the priestly system built around this altar be stopped by the execution of the priests, but the burning of human bones on an altar would have desecrated it so that it could no longer be seen as useful for sacrifice at all anymore. This upsets Jeroboam, because it would put an end to his solution for keeping Israel from returning to Judah through the worship of God.
And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, 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.
1 Kings 13:4
Confirming that God had, in fact, sent this prophet, a judgement is placed on the king for stretching out his hand against him. This is what leads us to discover another part of the message this prophet had recieved.
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. And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” And the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place, for so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came.’” So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.
1 Kings 13:6-10
He had been given not only a message for the king, but also a command on how he ought to conduct himself. He knew this message was from God and would not even accept half of a king’s household to violate it.
Then Comes A New Message
However, a man from Bethel (who was known to be a prophet) hears of all that happened and wants to honor the prophet for having delivered this message.
And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it. And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” And he said, “I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, for 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.’”
1 Kings 13:13-17
The man rejects this as surely as he did the king, because he knows what God has said. However, the old man is not to be deterred.
And he said to him, “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.
1 Kings 13:18-19
This turn of events is what I think it is important for us to focus on today. God had explicitly told him to get out of Bethel and by a different way than how he’d come. He knew this was God’s command. However, he is now confronted with a contradictory message, which someone is claiming is also from God.
Inside Baseball
In the case of this story, we have the advantage of being told immediately that this was a lie. If we didn’t, would we have been able to stick to our guns in the situation this prophet found himself in? Sure, he knew what God said, but now someone is standing in front of him claiming to have a new message also from God that contradicts it. It has clear parallels with the serpent in the garden coming with a message contrary to God’s command and making Eve question what she had known.
Perhaps, if we’re honest, we will admit it would have been far more confusing than it should be. We’d be asking ourselves if maybe God decided this would be better. Maybe, for some, such a consideration is already calling to mind other verses like:
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Numbers 23:19
Even knowing this, we could be justifying how we may not be remembering the words God had spoken exactly correctly. After all, if God is now telling you (through a known prophet) that he wants you to do this, maybe you misunderstood!
God, however, makes it clear that there is no justification for him disregarding his command.
And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back. And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “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.’” And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body.
1 Kings 13:20-24
Stand Firm
One of the main virtues for God’s people, as can be found through all of scripture, is perseverance. While we should absolutely question our understanding of scripture with more scripture, how often have we been convinced to compromise by our contemporaries who seem to come with a new message?
An example that quickly comes to mind is the false prophets of our day. People who make bold declarations of new revelations from God, but which contradict messages we know have come from God because they have been recorded for us in the Bible. The church has been commanded to reject anyone (even the apostles themselves) if they come bearing a message that contradicts the message we’ve already received.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
Galatians 1:8
Still, many have been conned to believe that God is issuing new commands to live in a way wildly different from how the church has been called to live throughout all the rest of her history. We should be on the lookout for such messengers, but there is an even more common and insidious “prophet” in our time.
The new messages of our time that seem to carry away the most from the church are those which come from those who may or may not claim to be Christian, but speak with the authority of worldly wisdom. We are told that we could better fulfill the commandment to love our neighbor by showing partiality toward the poor or disadvantaged, but this goes against God’s command to treat our brothers as equals and how judgement in favor of the poor is just as perverse as mob justice or favoring the wealthy.
You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.
Exodus 23:2-3
We are told it would be a charity to provide for people who refuse to work, when God has said it is actually harmful.
For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
2 Thessalonians 3:10
A worker’s appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on.
Proverbs 16:26
When we give people things rather than opportunity to work, we rob them of the dignity of providing for their own household.
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 Timothy 5:8
The Biblical view of charity (primarily focused on aiding the recovery of those unable to work because of disability or acute emergencies) is much different than this new message, but how many have been lead into the mouth of the lion by it?! The devil is prowling around like a lion and those who are not sober minded will fall prey to him just as surely as this prophet fell to this lion for not rejecting the “new messages” (1 Peter 5:8).
