Click to read 1 Kings 13
Synopsis
God ordered a man from Judah to warn Jeroboam against his setting up of shrines and appointing of priests which was not according to His law. The man of God had a prophecy for Jeroboam which eventually came to pass 300 years later. But what is important in this account is how God passed divine judgment on the "man of God" and the reason behind that judgment. Some may ponder hard if the judgment was too harsh as after all, the man was "tricked" by another prophet to disobey God. Let's study this together.
Major Verses
V4-6 -Jeroboam was not remorseful even after the man of God gave a clear warning. Instead, he sought to seize the messenger. God immediately expressed His judgment by clear physical manifestations on Jeroboam's hand and splitting the altar as declared earlier. Despite His judgment, God still mercifully restored Jeroboam's hand when he called upon Him.
What I learn
When God mercifully warns us against sins, it is foolish not to take heed and repent. While God is full of grace and mercy, He is also holy and righteous and therefore must be revered and respected as such. Let's take heed of His merciful warning when it comes.
V7-10 - The man of God had been specifically instructed not to eat or drink anything while on his mission. So he did right by refusing the king's invitation to dine with him.
What I learn
When God gives us instructions and directions, He expects us to follow them diligently and respectfully. As demonstrated by the man of God, he refused the king's invitation even though he could incur his wrath, because he knew he had to satisfy a higher authority. For us, when we have to decide between adhering to God's instruction or to follow any other earthly authority's orders, we must choose to follow God's. Though the circumstances may point to dire consequences for disobeying the earthly authority, we must still choose to obey and honor God, and He will similarly honor us and protect us from harm.
V18-22 - It is unclear why the old prophet would cook up a lie to trap the man of God. It could a test of the man of God's obedience or as a lesson for us. Whatever that may be, this record gives us a clear understanding of the importance of listening God and not to man. He was punished because he traded God's direct instruction to him with "hearsay" from a human being.
What I learn
When we hear from God, we must not be distracted by voices from men. We must seek Him constantly to hear Him clearly.
V33-34 - Jeroboam continued to disobey God despite the warning from the man of God. He continued to appoint priests and set up shrines which were clearly against God's law. God had decreed that only the tribe of Levite could be appointed as priests for good reasons - that they would concentrate of serving Him and His people without having to worry about their livelihood. They were the only tribe without land allocated to them and thus lived on the tithes and offerings given by the people. By freely appointing others to be priests, Jeroboam not only destroyed this divine appointment and caused the Levite to be uncared for, he also a created situation for bribery and corruption as many wanted to become priests so that they can live off the offerings of the people. Jeroboam's sin eventually drove the nation into chaos and destruction.
What I learn
We must be careful not to disobey God's instructions. Though we may not always understand the reason for some of His directions, we must fully trust that He has good reasons for doing so. It does not pay to go against His plan. Ask the Holy Spirit to help us to know and fully trust Him when He instructs us.
Summary
This chapter recorded the disobedience of both Jeroboam and the man of God. Both paid dearly for their disobedience. It serves to warn us not to take God's instruction lightly.
Encourage me and others....
Have your say by penning your learning and thoughts through the "Comments" link below. Let's encourage each other.
Up next...
The saga continues with the appointment of other kings .. coming up on 21st Jan...
Hi Steven,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your sharing on 1 King 13, Judgment on a man of God.
Could be a dilemma for the man of God.
On V 18-22, I do not disagree that we must not distracted by voices from men and we must seek Him constantly.
My thought is let's think it the other way, what if that old prophet is really true in what he says was from God?
Firstly he said he too am a prophet and next he claimed that an angle spoken to him. The situation will instantly at that moment causes anyone to not hesitate but quick to listen to what God's direction is for the man of God thru another messenger. A situation in which a difficult choice has to be made sometimes.
God Bless
Choong
Hunger and thirst got the better of the man of God. He had reiterated what God's instruction was but chose to be dissuaded by the old prophet's word without considering the dire consequence of disobedience. Be forewarned not all who claim to be prophets are true prophets!
ReplyDeleteDear Choong
ReplyDeleteAs Simon has pointed out, be forewarned that not all who call themselves a prophet is a true prophet.
In this record, it is not known why the old prophet would cook up a lie to trap the man of God. However, the lesson for us is really that between hearing directly from God and from men, we must trust what God had said to us.
Interesting to note that for the man of God who had heard directly from God in the first place, that he should believe a message that contradicts what God had said to him from a man. This perhaps is the lesson for us - do not trade what we hear from God with what others will tell us. This brings me back to the importance of reading the word of God constantly to know Him better.
Thank you for your comments.
God bless.
Steven
Its been a long time since you posted this but I've just read it and...
ReplyDeleteAllow me to share a way God used this for me...
This scripture shows that God uses people to distract us on purpose. An elder told me "God will anoint someone to specifically try to pull you away." No one is exempt from the pull so we must be firm, no matter how obedient we have been in the past. Just because the "temptation" came from an unexpected (friendly) source his guard was down and he was caught.
God wants us to make sure that we are always prepared no matter how the situation looks. the old prophet was simply fulfilling his job.