Settled

 March 11, 2023

One of the more puzzling stories in the Old Testament is found in 1 Kings 13. The kingdom had split in two, with Jeroboam reigning over the northern kingdom of Israel, while Rehoboam ruled over Judah. Being the upstart, Jeroboam was worried that if his people traveled to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, their loyalty to him would weaken, so he built an altar in Bethel and offered sacrifices on it, both of which had been forbidden.

“A man of God” received a word from the LORD to go to Bethel and prophesy against the altar and what Jeroboam was doing. He obeyed, bravely standing up to the king who raised his arm, pointing at the man and commanding him to be seized. He had some sort of seizure in doing so, and couldn’t withdraw his hand. He begged the man of God to restore his hand, and the man prayed. Jeroboam’s hand was just as before, and he invited him to eat at his table, probably hoping to bribe him into becoming one of his lackey priests. The man refused, saying God had instructed him not to stay, not to eat, but to go straight home.

An old prophet heard about this incident, and rode out to find the man of God. Doing so, he invited him to come home for dinner, but the man of God refused until the old prophet told him that God had countermanded his original command. But he lied. To make a long story short, the man of God went home with him and ate at his table, at which time the old prophet told him he had disobeyed and would be judged. The man of God left, but was attacked and killed by a lion, after which the old prophet went, gathered his body and buried it, mourning for his brother prophet. 

It’s a strange story that bothers me. I’ve read commentaries that explain this as a lesson in obedience, but the deceitfulness of the prophet of the Lord still concerns me. I must confess I don’t know what to do with it, but God did speak to me from this story today, maybe just to prove we don’t need to understand everything in God’s Word to benefit from it. I’ve listened more than once to people who tell of the things in the Bible they don’t understand that bother them. Don’t you know there are plenty of things in the Bible I don’t understand, but it’s the things in the Bible I do understand that bother me. This morning was one of those times.

Yesterday I wrote of God telling me to let go of something I wanted to hang onto. I know people who would tell me there’s nothing wrong with having that particular item, and they would be correct except for one fact: God told me to let go. It wouldn’t matter if someone came to me tomorrow and told me God told them it was OK for me. Like that man of God in 1 Kings 13, I know what God said, and listening to God myself is better than a secondhand word any day. The old Bible Club motto still stands: “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”