1 Kings 13:7-34; Acts 10:1-8; Psalms 132:13-18; Proverbs 28:15-16
OT: “Then the king declared to the man of God, “Come home with me, refresh yourself, and I’ll give you a reward.” But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your house, I still wouldn’t go with you, and I wouldn’t eat food or drink water in this place, for this is what I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat food or drink water or go back the way you came.’” So he went another way; he did not go back by the way he had come to Bethel. Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel. His son came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. His sons also told their father the words that he had spoken to the king… He followed the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” “I am,” he said. Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat some food.” But he answered, “I cannot go back with you or accompany you; I will not eat food or drink water with you in this place. For a message came to me by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat food or drink water there or go back by the way you came.’” He said to him, “I am also a prophet like you. An angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat food and drink water.’” The old prophet deceived him, and the man of God went back with him, ate food in his house, and drank water… So after he had eaten food and after he had drunk, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet he had brought back. When he left, a lion attacked him along the way and killed him. His corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey was standing beside it; the lion was standing beside the corpse too.” (1 Kings 13:7-11, 14-19, 23-24 CSB)
After the man of God delivered his charge and warning to Jeroboam, Jeroboam sought to dilute and delegitimize the word of the Lord by inviting the man of God to his home for dinner. Wisely, the man of God refused, stating that God had told him not to stop for food or drink in Israel – but to go quickly back to Judah. That is often the case with us. If the enemy of our soul can’t defeat the word of God in us, then he will try to tempt us to compromise our witness and make the word of God ineffective in our lives and the lives of those we minister to. That is why it is so important to remain precisely obedient to what the Lord tells us… not doing less, and not doing more. Unfortunately, the man of God did stop for a rest before crossing the border into Judah. Had the man of God not stopped, he would have made it back to Judah without incident. Because he stopped before fully completing the task at hand, he made himself vulnerable to suggestion. The old prophet lied and gave the man of God a word of false prophecy. The man of God’s mistake was that he trusted the “word from an angel” spoken to the prophet over the direct word of God that he had heard. Had God changed His mind, He would have spoken to the man of God directly, and the word from the prophet would have confirmed it. We must not rely solely on other people to give us words from the Lord, especially if we do not know the people and trust their ability to hear and discern accurately. We are to seek wise and trusted counsel to help us clarify and confirm what God has already spoken to us. Those who do not seek the Lord themselves, but rely on “prophetic voices” to give them direction are headed for a trap. If we ask the Lord for wisdom and are humbly submitted to His will, He will speak to us and lead us… and then He will send trusted people to confirm and/or clarify what He said… not contradict what He said or has said in His word.
Jamie Hicks 