Deceived, Disobedient, and Dead
Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 13
Without going into great detail about the details of what 1 Kings 13 tells us about the man of God who confronted Jeroboam and then was himself deceived into disobeying the clear instructions from the Lord and how that resulted in his death, I will make one important observation about what can learn from the account. I would encourage you to read the chapter so you can get the context of my commentary.
This prophet was told to not stop along his journey. He was not to eat or drink. He was to go and speak the word of the Lord to Jeroboam and return home by a different route. An old prophet heard about the young prophet and went out and met him and convinced him that the Lord had given him the okay to go to the old prophet’s home and share a meal. As a result, the young prophet came under the discipline of God. His disobedience cost him his life.
The Apostle Paul could have used this text as an illustration of what he wrote to the churches of Galatia: “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. As we said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”
The validity of a message is not based on the likability, reputation, titles, or any other human means of judgment. The way we measure truth is by Scripture alone. You may have heard the term “the canon of Scripture.” The word canon, in that usage, means a measuring rod. The Scripture is the measuring stick for everything.
The mistake of the young prophet was he knew what God said but allowed himself to be deceived into disobedience. He probably had an admirable, but mistaken respect for the older prophet because he was older and more experienced. He likely was hungry for some spiritual fellowship. He was also most likely tired, not only from the physical weariness that comes from the journey but also from the spiritual exhaustion he felt from engaging in the kind of spiritual battle he had just endured.
There were several reasonable and understandable excuses for what the young man did, but, in the end, he was guilty of blatant disobedience. He shouldn’t have expected God would punish Jeroboam for his sin and then let the young prophet off the hook because he had some good excuses.
