The Man of God didn’t check with God!

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

In 1 Kings 13, a ‘Man of God’ is sent to rebuke King Jeroboam but later falls prey to an old prophet’s deception, leading to his demise. The narrative emphasizes the importance of discernment for believers, urging them to verify teachings against scripture, as false prophets can mislead even the faithful.

In 1 Kings 13:1 there is a story of an unnamed ‘Man of God’ in Judah who was told by God to rebuke King Jeroboam. Jeroboam was the first king of the Israel after the split of the united kingdom, when Judah sectioned off. The Man of God did so, coming up from Judah to deliver a rebuking message. It wasn’t good news. In fact, King Jeroboam stretched out his hand and told the guards, “Seize him!” but God turned Jeroboam’s hand into a shriveled lump. After the King pleaded with the Man of God to heal his hand, which God did, that’s when the King invited the Man of God to eat with him and also offered him a gift. But the Man declined.

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 way that you came.'” (1 Kings 13:9)

The Man of God left King Jeroboam. Now, there was an old Prophet. (neither are named in this recounting). By now, the Old Prophet had heard the news of the king’s rebuke and the shriveled hand issue. The Old Prophet saddled his donkey and went in search of the Man of God. He introduced himself as a fellow Prophet. He invited the Man of God to eat with him. When the Man of God repeated the command from God he had received, the Old Prophet lied, saying he had received instructions from an angel from God about this and it was OK for the Man of God to sup with him.

But he lied to him. (1 Kings 13:18b).

When the Man of God went on his way, God sent a lion to kill him for disobedience.

There is so much to unpack here.

–We do not know the Old Prophet’s motivation for seeking out the Man of God,
–We do not know the Old Prophet’s agenda for lying to the Man of God,
— We do not know why the Man of God was punished for being disobedient but not the Old Prophet.

Here is what we DO know. The Man of God scrupulously adhered to God’s commands. He left Judah, traveled on foot or by donkey an approximate 56 miles to Shechem where the capitol of Israel was at the time. He refused the King’s invitation to eat with him. He declined the offered gift. He scrupulously returned by a different way. So far so good.

But why then did he too-trustingly listen to a random person claiming to be a prophet (even though the Old Prophet really was)? Why, and most important of all, did the Man of God not pray to God to check this revised command?!

The Man of God should have checked with God when the Old Prophet told him to have bread, revising the directions he was given.

Lessons for us are several. Believers living in New Testament times are also too trusting. We must lovingly receive words with discernment alleging to be from God via sermons or from other people. Do we compare what we have heard with what God’s word actually says? Paul was famous too. Everyone had heard of his deeds, his preaching, his conversion, but the Bereans were not fazed by Paul’s fame and kept the main thing the main thing. They compared what Paul said to the word. They were called noble for it.

Now these people were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. (Acts 17:11).

Paul loved the saints at Thessalonika. He had spent several weeks there. They had received the word eagerly (good) but these Bereans were MORE noble because they received the word eagerly AND checked to see if it was true. The Man of God simply received the Old Prophet’s words eagerly but did not check.

Matthew Henry has a good comment on this situation-

The old prophet’s conduct proves that he was not really a godly man. … Believers are most in danger of being drawn from their duty by plausible pretences of holiness.

Not everyone who says they are a preacher or evangelist or even just a believer have pure motivations. Barnes’ Notes on the Bible,

It is always to be remembered that the prophetic gift might co-exist with various degrees of moral imperfection in the person possessing it. Note especially the case of Balaam.

Note how the OId Prophet couched his words, “an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD”… He didn’t say “Thus saith the LORD”. He put the angel in there as a buffer. Was he thinking, perhaps, that this equivocation would release him from condemnation for daring to lie in God’s name?

It reminded me of Jesus’ warning in Matthew 5:34-35, where he says let your yes be yes and no be no, rather than swearing by heaven (God’s abode instead of by God) or by the earth (a created thing) or by Jerusalem (holy city instead of Holy God). As John MacArthur said in his sermon on Matthew 5:34, “It’s a misplaced emphasis.”

Was the Old Prophet worldly and profane? Jealous? Genuinely curious? We don’t know. We rarely know the motivation of a liar at the time, though it may come out later. But the Man of God was duped. Just as many of us today are easily duped by a seemingly sincere fellow believer, preacher, evangelist, missionary, or anyone else who claims to speak in God’s name. As Matthew Henry said, “for false prophets have ever been the worst enemies to the true prophets“

The Man of God withstood the enticement of a gift from the King, but

could not resist the insinuations of one that pretended to be a prophet. God’s people are more in danger of being drawn from their duty by the plausible pretences of divinity and sanctity than by external inducements; we have therefore need to beware of false prophets, and not believe every spirit. (Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible).

Be duped or be noble. There are many examples of both in scripture. By the way, the best way not to be duped, is to be in the Bible. Adopt scripture as your armor, “with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.” (Ephesians 6:14).