Check Your Sources
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I’ve described before how I try to live my life as a Berean.
Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
Going back to Scripture to see if what you have heard is true is not only a very good strategy, I have found it both useful and settling. However, as I’ve read Scripture more and more, I found a couple of other interesting scenarios where checking your sources may not only be helpful, but life saving.
The Man of God
The Man of God
And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’ ” And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.”
We start with a man of God delivering a message from God.
Not a pleasant message, but it seems simple enough.
Jeroboam had built this alter in Bethel when Israel and Judah split after the death of Solomon.
The man of God even identified a sign to prove that his message was from God,
The altar would split and spill the ashes.
Speaking of the message being unpleasant, King Jeroboam wasn’t too please with it.
So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
The king calls for the man of God to be arrested,
Only for his hand to wither right in front of his eyes.
Not the sign the man of God had given, but a pretty potent sign none the less.
At the same time, the sign from the man of God happens,
The altar splits and the ashes spill.
How does the king react to this?
Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before.
I always like to look at how people in the Bible refer to God.
For example, king Jeroboam asks the man of God to seek favor from “the Lord your God”.
Not my God or our God, but your God.
Just something to think about.
Regardless, the king’s hand is restored.
Quite a relief for the king.
And as you can imagine, he was quite grateful.
Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place.
At first the reaction of the man of God may seem rude.
After all, the king wants to give him some refreshments and a reward for curing his hand.
But the man of God refuses.
Why?
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 same way you came.’ ” So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.
Oh, God said don’t eat or drink while on this mission.
And he’s supposed to return by a different route.
So far, so good. But the Man of God’s devotion to his orders is about to be challenged.
Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
Now this old prophet in Bethel learns about the man of God and goes to find him.
And the old prophet invites the man of God over to “break a biscuit”.
Who knows, if this prophet had been a Baptist, maybe he’d have offered the man of God a casserole.
How does the man of God respond?
And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. For I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ”
Just as he told the king, he cannot eat or drink or return home the same way.
But this is where the story of the man of God starts to go awry.
He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.)
This is where checking your sources becomes VERY important.
Because no one has ever lied to the children of Israel, right?
Joshua and the Gibeonites ring any bells?
When Joshua made peace with the Gibeonites without asking God first, it caused quite a bit of trouble for Israel.
Well, the same thing is about to happen to this man of God.
So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ”
As the story goes on, the man of God saddles his donkey to go home, meets a lion, and is killed.
All because he believed the old prophet who was directly contradicting what he had been told by God.
And the man of God didn’t check his sources.
He simply trusted what someone said.
And it cost him his life.
Seeking Signs
Seeking Signs
You may be saying to yourself, I’d never do anything like that.
If God told me something, well I’d just do what he said.
But how do you know it was God who told you something?
Maybe you’d ask for a sign, just to prove it was God.
You know, like Gideon.
So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”
We all know the story.
The next morning the ground was dry and the fleece was full of water.
Then Gideon asked God for one more test,
This time that the fleece be dry and the ground wet.
And it was.
Imagine going through life always looking for a sign from God.
Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.”
We keep looking for signs, but the signs never seem to be enough.
Lets face it, if I were in Jesus’ place,
(And you should thank God that I’m not!)
I would be pointing around...
Healed him, drove a demon out of her, got that guy to walk...
Like that story of the Rabbi in a flood...
Checking Your Sources
Checking Your Sources
But God has given us the two greatest sources that we could possibly check.
He gave us His Word.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
If you want to know if what you’ve heard is true, start by checking Scripture.
It is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.
So if what you’ve been told contradicts Scripture, walk away.
He also gave us the Holy Spirit:
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
When you learn from Scripture and keep Jesus’ commandments, He will have the Father send you the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of truth.
The one who reminds you of all that Jesus said.
When those two sources agree, then you know what you know is true.
And you will avoid the lions.
Not just the one that killed the man of God,
But a much more dangerous lion.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
If you do not want to meet this lion on the road, I suggest you check your sources.