The Man of God and the Old Prophet
Strong in the Face of Persecution
Just because someone says it is OK to do something, does not mean it is right. Even if they say it in such a way as to make it sound like the thing is not wrong to do, that does not mean it is right. A classic Bible example of this principle is found in I Kings chapter thirteen.
Verses one through ten tell us about the man of God coming to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense when the man of God came in and prophesied against the altar. He prophesied that one day the bones of the priests that had burned incense on that altar would one day be burnt upon it as well. As a sign that this man of God’s prophecy would come true, the altar would be rent and the ashes that were on the altar would be poured out. Indeed, as they stood there near the altar, it was rent and the ashes did pour out.
When Jeroboam heard the prophecy of the man of God, he became angry and commanded “Lay hold on him.” As he put forth his hand against the prophet, God caused his hand to wither up and he could not pull it to him again. When Jeroboam saw what happened, he begged the man of God to plead with God to heal his hand. The prophet did so and God restored the king’s hand.
As long as the man of God was obedient to God, God protected him. The prophet did not become upset and wish harm on his enemy in the face of persecution, and God turned this to his good and his help.
Strong in the Face of Enticement of Material Rewards
Now that his hand had been restored, Jeroboam changed his mind about persecuting the prophet. Instead, he now offered to take the prophet home and give him refreshment and a reward. However, the prophet would not go. Even if the king offered him half his house he would not go. God had commanded him not to eat bread or drink water in that place.
The prophet was not enticed by material rewards.
Swayed by Temptation from a False Prophet
As God had commanded him, the man of God turned to leave Bethel a different way than he had come.
In verses eleven through fourteen, there is a story of an old prophet who lived in Bethel. His sons also were there. They heard all that took place between that man of God and king Jeroboam and went and told all those things to their father. The old prophet had his sons saddle an ass for him, and he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak.
The man of God had not had food or water for a while, and perhaps he had stopped to rest. Perhaps the old prophet figured that he would not travel quickly since he had not had nourishment or refreshment.
The man of God had stood in the face of persecution. He had not given in to the pleasures and refreshments the world had to offer. But now he was about to be faced with a new temptation.
The old prophet tempted the man of God by offering food to him. (See verse 17). At first the man of God refused because he remembered the word of God. There were three instructions God had given him.
1. Do not eat bread in this place
2. Do not drink water in this place
3. Do not return again to go back the way you came
The old prophet, however, did not give up. He used different arguments to try to convince the man of God to come with him. “He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.” (See verse 18)
The man of God had stood in the face of persecution. He had not given in to the pleasures and refreshments offered to him by the world. What would he do with this temptation? Had God really spoken to the old prophet? Should he go? Verse nineteen provides the sad answer, “So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.”
In verse twenty, we see that the word of the Lord did come to the old prophet this time. The man of God had disobeyed and judgment was pronounced. “21And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 22But
camest back, and
hast eaten bread and
drunk water
in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.” (verses 21, 22)
We see that this word came to the old prophet “as they sat at the table.” Sadly, the man of God did not repent at this point, and verse twenty-three shows that he continued until he had finished eating and drinking.
The Judgment
The old prophet saddled the ass for the prophet he had brought back. After he left the old prophet’s house, the man was met by a lion. The lion slew him but did not eat him. The man’s carcass was cast by the way and both the lion and the ass stood by the carcass. People also came by and looked. Then they went into the city and told the old prophet, who said, “It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.” (verse 26b)
So the old prophet had his sons saddle an ass for him again. Then he went and found as it had been reported to him. The lion was still standing by the carcass and had not eaten the man nor torn the ass.
The prophet laid the body of the man of God on the ass and brought it back to the city, where they mourned for him, “Alas my brother!” Furthermore, the old prophet requested that, when he died, he should be buried in the same grave as the man of God because of the word which the man of God had cried by the word of the LORD against the altar.
The man of God did not resist the temptation set before him by the other who claimed to have heard from God but had not. The man of God did not give in to persecution or the temptations the world had to offer; but he did give in to the temptations from the false prophet.
Warning Signs Unheeded
There were warning signs given to the man of God, but he failed to recognize or heed them.
1. The old prophet lied to him (See verse 18). Now, we may argue that we have the advantage of knowing this while the man of God did not. However, there were indications of this deceit if the man of God had been on his guard. The old prophet’s words did not match God’s word. Also, did he not wonder why the old prophet went to the lengths of using an ass to come search for him to take him back? He was evidently far enough out of the city to make it hard for him to be overtaken by foot.
2. The old prophet’s word contradicted God’s word. The man of God was wary of this at first, and rightly so. (See Verses 16&17) He should have remained vigilant.
3. The old prophet claimed his false words had come from an angel and that the angel had spoken by the word of the Lord. While this sounds good, God will not send an angel to proclaim a message contrary to His word. If an angel does so, he is not God’s angel, but the devil’s angel, and is not sent from God.
What should the man of God have done? He should have sought God’s face and inquired of the Lord to see if God had really sent the old prophet and had actually spoken by him. Then he should have said "No" and obeyed the commandments of God.
4. The old prophet told the man of God to directly disobey God’s commandments.
“Bring him back,” when God had specifically commanded him not to go back.
Bring him into the house to eat bread, when God had specifically commanded him to “eat no bread.”
Bring him into the house to drink water, when God had specifically commanded him to “drink no water.”
Even though the old prophet had lied to him, the man of God was still judged by God for his disobedience. He had sinned against the Lord and received the wages of his sin – death. Also, he was not buried with his own family ancestors but in the old prophet’s grave. He was buried and mourned by a false prophet.
Signs that the Old Prophet was a False Prophet
1. He meddled in affairs that did not belong to him. (See verses 11-15) He kept his eye on things. His sons kept their eyes on things. They heard what had taken place near the altar when the man of God had spoken to king Jeroboam. They saw and heard all that the man of God did, and then they went and told their father. Upon hearing about it, the old prophet set out to find the man of God. He had no business interfering with the man of God.
2. He claimed to have a word from the Lord, when the Lord had not spoken to him. (See verse 18) An angel had not told him to bring the man back to his house to eat and drink with him. How did the old prophet know that the man of God was not supposed to turn back or to eat or drink in that place? Because the old prophet’s sons had watched the man of God and had eavesdropped on his conversation with the king and then went and told their father. He did not know it because an angel told him, but because his sons (and later he himself as well) meddled in affairs that did not belong to them.
3. He tried to persuade one of God’s servants to disobey God. The old prophet tried to get the man of God to directly disobey all three of the commandments God had given him. (See verse 18)
4. Although he tempted the man of God to sin, the old prophet was quick to pronounce judgment on the man of God. (See verses 21 & 22) True, God did speak to him at that time. He pronounced the judgment of which God had told him. However, he showed no sorrow or repentance for his own sin or fear that God might judge him as well.
5. He told others of judgment God was bringing on the man of God. (See verse 26) He had no trouble declaring to the people that the harm and destruction that had come to the man of God was a result of the man’s disobedience.
6. He was unwilling to own up to his own sin. (See verse 26) Although the old prophet did not mind telling others about the disobedience of the man of God, he made no mention of the temptation, lies, and enticement he had used to draw the man of God into sin.
7. He worked to bring a fellow laborer “back from the way.” (See verse 26) The old prophet knew the man of God was walking in the way of God; but he enticed him and “brought him back from the way,” convincing him to walk away from God and go the devil’s way, where he enjoyed the pleasures of sin for a season, a very short season.
8. He claimed to be a “brother” of the man of God. (See verse 30)
He buried the man of God in his own grave
He mourned the man of God
He said in his mourning, “Alas, my brother!”
Sadly, the “Alas!” should be for the old prophet because he was not the man of God’s “brother.” He had a different father and served a different master – Satan, rather than God.
9. He had no assurance when he considered his own death. (See verses 31 & 32) The old prophet knew that God would care for the man of God, even after death. He knew God would even care about the man of God’s bones. Therefore, the old prophet requested to be buried in the same grave as the man of God. Sadly, this would not help the old prophet. He did not take care of his soul in life. His bones might be taken care of one day, along with the man of God’s bones, but there would be no hope for his soul. His body would be in the same grave; but the soul of the man of God would rest in hope, while the soul of the old prophet would be in everlasting torment which has no end. There would be no rest for him.
Consequences of Listening to the False Prophet
1. The man of God doubted God’s word. (See verses 14-19)
2. The man of God disobeyed God’s word. (See verse 19)
He broke all three of the commandments God had given him.
3. Judgment was pronounced against the man of God for his disobedience. (See verses 20-22)
4. The man of God continued sinning in spite of receiving warning of coming judgment. (See verse 23)
5. He was judged and received due “reward” for his disobedience. (See verse 24)
6. His testimony was damaged and people knew that he had disobeyed God. (See verses 25 & 26)
7. Even in death he was associated with the false prophet whom he had obeyed instead of God. (See verses 29-31)
8. His disobedience and sin were known to all and the story is still being read or told thousands of years later. There was a blot on his testimony that was never wiped away.
God’s Mercy in Spite of Disobedience
1. Even though he disobeyed God’s word, God still called him “the man of God.”
2. The false prophet who had deceived and enticed him knew that he was a true prophet and acknowledged that he was “the man of God.” (See verses 31 & 32)
3. The false prophet knew that the words of the man of God were true and would come to pass. (See verses 31 & 32)
4. The words of the man of God did come to pass so that all knew, in spite of his disobedience to God, he was a true prophet. (See II Kings 23:16-19)
5. When the bones were burned upon the altar and polluted it many years after the death of the man of God, his bones and the bones of the old prophet were spared. God allowed no man to touch his bones. (See II Kings 23:16-19)
6. His story is recorded as a warning to others to beware of false prophets and to be careful not to disobey the word of God.