Week 14 1 Kings
An unnamed man of God (MoG) prophesied to Jeroboam. Afterward Jeroboam invited him for a meal but the MoG refused – the Lord had told him not to eat or drink.
Heading home the MoG met an old prophet (OP). The OP invited him for a meal but the MoG refused – the Lord had told him not to eat or drink.
But the OP insisted – told him that an angel had said it was okay. The MoG must have figured the angel’s word carried weight. He ate with the OP.
Unfortunately a follow-up word from the Lord came saying that because the MoG disobeyed he would die on the trip home. And he was killed by a lion.
On the surface the MoG seems like a stand-up guy who’d been tricked by the deceptive OP – who seemed like a liar and a bad guy. But I really don’t think that’s the point. I think the point arrives when the OP tells the MoG: you have defied the Lord’s message and have disobeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. That was the key thing.
The MoG got specific directions. And when his obedience was tested – and it was a wily & devious test – he failed.
To begin with the MoG did what he was supposed to do. But in the end he didn’t do what he wasn’t supposed to.
Note: references from 1 Kings 13:9, 17. Quote from 13:26 (NLT)