THE DISOBEDIENCE OF A YOUNG PROPHET
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INTRODUCTION
Shortly after the death of Solomon the kingdom of Israel was divided
Shortly after the death of Solomon the kingdom of Israel was divided
Jeroboam … Israel
Rehoboam … Judah
Followed bad advice
Partly responsible for the division
Jeroboam institutes false worship
Jeroboam institutes false worship
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now will the kingdom return to the house of David:
27 if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.
28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
29 And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.
30 And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
31 And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, that were not of the sons of Levi.
He wanted to forget Jerusalem
He wanted to make things easy for them
Worship at the calf of your choice
Soon after this a young prophet from Judah was directed by God to deliver a prophecy against Jeroboam’s altar
Soon after this a young prophet from Judah was directed by God to deliver a prophecy against Jeroboam’s altar
1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of Jehovah unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.
2 And he cried against the altar by the word of Jehovah, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith Jehovah: Behold, a son shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall they burn upon thee.
3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which Jehovah hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
This was literally and precisely fulfilled 330 years later
The fulfillment is seen in…
15 Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he brake down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah.
16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount; and he sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of Jehovah which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.
17 Then he said, What monument is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el.
18 And he said, Let him be; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke Jehovah to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el.
20 And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there, upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them; and he returned to Jerusalem.
Jeroboam was upset that the young prophet was there to cause him trouble
Jeroboam was upset that the young prophet was there to cause him trouble
4 And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Beth-el, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him.
To get rid of him, Jeroboam tried force, but the Lord was with the young prophet
Jeroboam next offers him money
7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
But the young prophet understood the Lord’s command
But the young prophet understood the Lord’s command
8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thy house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place;
9 for so was it charged me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water, neither return by the way that thou camest.
10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el.
God said do not stay in Bethel - they had turned from God in that place
God wanted His faithful remain so - so He says have no fellowship with them
This is a New Testament principal…
11 but as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat.
The terrible seduction (1 Kgs. 13:11-19)
The terrible seduction (1 Kgs. 13:11-19)
The young prophet resisted the invitations of Jeroboam, and was on his way home by a different route
An old prophet had heard about the young prophet and went out to see him
15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
17 for it was said to me by the word of Jehovah, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
18 And he said unto him, I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
The old prophet lied
The Punishment announced
The Punishment announced
20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of Jehovah came unto the prophet that brought him back;
21 and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Forasmuch as thou hast been disobedient unto the mouth of Jehovah, and hast not kept the commandment which Jehovah thy God commanded thee,
22 but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy body shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
The old prophet at this time did speak for God
The old prophet prophesied that the young prophet would never make it home
The young prophet was killed by a lion (1 Kgs, 13:29-32)
Let us now consider some valuable lessons
Let us now consider some valuable lessons
DISCUSSION
The people of Israel first saw the sign of the prophet, then they saw the prophet as a sign
The people of Israel first saw the sign of the prophet, then they saw the prophet as a sign
2 And he cried against the altar by the word of Jehovah, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith Jehovah: Behold, a son shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall they burn upon thee.
3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which Jehovah hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
29 And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back; and he came to the city of the old prophet, to mourn, and to bury him.
Can you imagine the wonder that the people must have felt in seeing the prophet being led into the city - dead – on a donkey?
They needed to understand that this man, even though he was a man of God, had to pay the penalty for his disobedience
But did they learn the lesson?
But did they learn the lesson?
33 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places.
34 And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.
The wise man will learn from the mistakes of others – he will not feel he has to make all the mistakes himself
There is nothing wise in learning the hard way
If Satan can’t get you one way - he’ll try another
If Satan can’t get you one way - he’ll try another
4 And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Beth-el, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him.
7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
28 And he went and found his body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the body: the lion had not eaten the body, nor torn the ass.
Satan’s tactics with the young prophet:
Satan’s tactics with the young prophet:
He tried force
He tried friendliness and money
He used a prophet
Satan is versatile in his temptations:
Satan is versatile in his temptations:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
“wiles” (schemes – ESV) = deceit, trickery
11 that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
has evil purposes and desires
3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ.
cunningly tries to corrupt
9 even he, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
tries to impress us - lies
9 And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
he deceives
Just because someone says something doesn’t make it so
Just because someone says something doesn’t make it so
Many today claim to be speaking the word of God
Many today claim to be speaking the word of God
Are you listen to some, all, or none?
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light.
15 It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.
Today many are trying to make you think they are something which they are not
They lie!
The young prophet took the word of the old prophet without checking into it
“Trust not in lying words” (Jer. 7:4)
Will we be so gullible?
We must be careful to believe only the truth
We must be careful to believe only the truth
1 The. 5:21
21 prove all things; hold fast that which is good;
11 Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
6 I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel;
7 which is not another gospel: only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.
9 As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema.
10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men? if I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.
A man must remain faithful
A man must remain faithful
The young prophet started out great
The young prophet started out great
Resisted force
Resisted money
But he dropped his guard
But he dropped his guard
Remaining faithful is a constant battle
Remaining faithful is a constant battle
10 Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.
7 Ye were running well; who hindered you that ye should not obey the truth?
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
The old prophet was where God told the young prophet not to stay
The old prophet was where God told the young prophet not to stay
Have you ever wondered what possessed the old prophet to lie like he did?
Have you ever wondered what possessed the old prophet to lie like he did?
Could it be that where he lived had begun to wear off on him?
In some places and with some people is found great evil
To the Pergamos was said “I know where dwellest, even where Satan’s throne is” (Rev. 2:13)
Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom (Gen. 13:12-13)
33 Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals.
Be careful where you are and with whom you associate
Be careful where you are and with whom you associate
The deadliness of the tongue
The deadliness of the tongue
1. It was actually the tongue of the old prophet, not the lion, that killed the young prophet
2. The old prophet told a lie, he used his tongue for evil purposes
3. The Bible has much to say about the tongue, here is a sampling:
a. Open grave (Psa. 5:9)
b. Sharp razor (Psa. 52:2)
c. Sharp sword (Psa. 57:4)
d. Arrow (Psa. 64:3)
e. Burning fire (Pro. 16:27)
f. Bit in a horse’s mouth (Jam. 3:3)
g. Ship’s rudder (Jam. 3:4)
h. Untamable wild beast (Jam. 3:7-8)
i. Deadly poison (Jam. 3:8)
CONCLUSION
Will you learn the lessons of the young prophet?
