Stay the Course
Always act on what you know God’s Word says, and you’ll not go wrong.
That’s the lesson from the horrible mistake made by one of the Lord’s prophets, as recorded in 1 Kings 13.
Here was a man who had an intimate relationship with the Lord; he was close enough that the Lord entrusted him to carry a message to Israel’s king, Jeroboam.
The details of the message were very clear.
The unnamed prophet was to deliver a message against Jeroboam’s altar erected in the town of Bethel; then he was to give a sign that what he said was true: the altar would be torn and its ashes spilled. After that, the prophet was to leave Bethel by another route without eating or drinking anything in that town.
Simple enough directions to follow—which he did…for a while.
After the prophet delivered his message to Jeroboam, who just so happened to be offering incense on the offending altar, the king attempted to have the prophet arrested. The Lord intervened, causing Jeroboam’s arm to wither and the altar to split.
Needless to say, the king promptly changed his mind about the arrest, instead asking the prophet to pray for his poor, withered arm!
After he graciously did so and the arm was healed, the prophet prepared to leave; Jeroboam, however, insisted he stay so they could enjoy a meal together. The prophet was equally insistent that he not do so, citing the Lord's clear instructions to leave Bethel without eating or drinking anything there…and off he went.
So far, so good.
Enter on the Bethel scene an old prophet who heard about the unnamed prophet’s encounter with Jeroboam. Eager to meet the younger man, he set out to fetch him home for dinner. The young man refused to return to Bethel, again citing the Lord’s clear instructions.
Again, so far, so good.
But now comes the bait that hooks him: “Well, I, too am a prophet of God’s, and He told me you are to come home with me,”—frankly, a bald-faced lie! At that, the younger man made the terribly fatal decision to go along. You can read the rest of the story, and it’s not so good.
Where did he go wrong?
He erred in allowing the possibility that God changes His Word—and He doesn’t. God gave clear, explicit instructions, and the young prophet chose to ignore those instructions based on what another man told him the Lord said.
Not a good idea—for him or for us!
Without a doubt, there are different ways of interpreting some things in Scripture, and as preachers make a case for their interpretation, it often doesn’t matter much which you choose to accept—so long as the interpretation doesn’t violate any clearly understood passage!
The problem comes when someone pipes up and says, “The Lord told me you need to ______,” and there is either no clear biblical mandate for the directive, or the directive itself contradicts something that is clear.
You are perfectly free to ignore that person, and probably should.
Learn from one who should’ve known better.
That’s the lesson from the horrible mistake made by one of the Lord’s prophets, as recorded in 1 Kings 13.
Here was a man who had an intimate relationship with the Lord; he was close enough that the Lord entrusted him to carry a message to Israel’s king, Jeroboam.
The details of the message were very clear.
The unnamed prophet was to deliver a message against Jeroboam’s altar erected in the town of Bethel; then he was to give a sign that what he said was true: the altar would be torn and its ashes spilled. After that, the prophet was to leave Bethel by another route without eating or drinking anything in that town.
Simple enough directions to follow—which he did…for a while.
After the prophet delivered his message to Jeroboam, who just so happened to be offering incense on the offending altar, the king attempted to have the prophet arrested. The Lord intervened, causing Jeroboam’s arm to wither and the altar to split.
Needless to say, the king promptly changed his mind about the arrest, instead asking the prophet to pray for his poor, withered arm!
After he graciously did so and the arm was healed, the prophet prepared to leave; Jeroboam, however, insisted he stay so they could enjoy a meal together. The prophet was equally insistent that he not do so, citing the Lord's clear instructions to leave Bethel without eating or drinking anything there…and off he went.
So far, so good.
Enter on the Bethel scene an old prophet who heard about the unnamed prophet’s encounter with Jeroboam. Eager to meet the younger man, he set out to fetch him home for dinner. The young man refused to return to Bethel, again citing the Lord’s clear instructions.
Again, so far, so good.
But now comes the bait that hooks him: “Well, I, too am a prophet of God’s, and He told me you are to come home with me,”—frankly, a bald-faced lie! At that, the younger man made the terribly fatal decision to go along. You can read the rest of the story, and it’s not so good.
Where did he go wrong?
He erred in allowing the possibility that God changes His Word—and He doesn’t. God gave clear, explicit instructions, and the young prophet chose to ignore those instructions based on what another man told him the Lord said.
Not a good idea—for him or for us!
Without a doubt, there are different ways of interpreting some things in Scripture, and as preachers make a case for their interpretation, it often doesn’t matter much which you choose to accept—so long as the interpretation doesn’t violate any clearly understood passage!
The problem comes when someone pipes up and says, “The Lord told me you need to ______,” and there is either no clear biblical mandate for the directive, or the directive itself contradicts something that is clear.
You are perfectly free to ignore that person, and probably should.
Learn from one who should’ve known better.
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