Kings of Israel #7
“The Man of God’s Disobedience”
Key Verses: 1Ki 13:11-34
Our obedient man of God, rightfully rebuffed Jeroboam’s invitations for reward and sharing food and drink and now moves on from Bethel in our study today. Like all Biblical events, this event occurred and is written down for the benefit of God’s Elect who only come into existence many years later beginning at Pentecost (1Pe 1:12, 1Co 10:11). It has happened so we can learn some new things or be reminded of others and apply them to our walk.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
There are spiritual lessons to apply from both prophet’s that are in this story. The dream is one, it is all happening in the kingdom of God within us (Luk 17:21). Here is the first part regarding the man of God’s disobedience.
1Ki 13:11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
1Ki 13:12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
1Ki 13:13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
1Ki 13:14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
1Ki 13:15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
1Ki 13:16 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:
1Ki 13:17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
1Ki 13:18 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. But he lied unto him.
1Ki 13:19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
1Ki 13:20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:
1Ki 13:21 And 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,
1Ki 13:22 But 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.
1Ki 13:23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
1Ki 13:24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
We need to always remind ourselves and our new readers in every study that the words of God are all Spirit (Joh 6:63) and are speaking of spiritual symbols. The Bible is not to be taken literally as indeed it means what it means and that meaning is only discovered comparing spiritual to spiritual (1Co 2:13, Hos 12:10). One must be given the keys to the kingdom which is “ears to hear” and “eyes to see” the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures; otherwise the entire book and these studies remain sealed to them.
Psa 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
The Lord has not changed, and His Truth demands that He will judge His people which is a wonderful thing once we truly grasp that this is the way salvation is found (Exo 6:6, Rev 1:3)
Rom 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
There are two prophets in this story and they both represent you and me as we grow in the chastening grace of the Lord. One is a true prophet, albeit immature and as a result disobedient when slack in his judgment. The older man from Bethel is a false prophet which should have been known even before we read that this prophet lied to the man of God. The man of God should have already been suspect about the old prophet who dwelt in Bethel knowing that Jeroboam had sent all the true priests away (2Ch 11:14) and installed the golden calves and the abominable altars (1Ki 12) that he was sent to bring a strong rebuke. Yet the lesson here is an extremely important one which is to try and prove all things.
1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Th 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
Judging in the flesh is judging by appearances and will lead us into sin where we reap the wages of death. The immature man of God found this out for our benefit (1Co 4:15) so we can learn from this mistake. The man of God judged way too quickly in determining the old prophet was the real deal. We all will make this mistake and anoint and lay hands on people, even break bread with them way too quickly before we suffer the recompense for our disobedience.
Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits …
Fleshly appearances are very deceiving as outward righteousness is vanity if not emanating from inward righteousness. The fact the old prophet rode an ass to meet the man of God further supports this focusing on appearances that false prophets do. Asses or donkeys are relatively meek and project the appearance of humility, albeit a false humility when we are still a beast seeking gain for our supposed godliness. If the people are God are not careful they can easily be seduced by these outward appearances and let our guard down. The man of God took the old prophet at his word despite hearing the opposite command directly from the Lord. The Lord tries our faith in many ways and will send to us false prophets and at other times the true sheep of the Lord that require us to try the spirits and know how to respond as Christ.
These experiences of dealing with deceivers and being deceived are all the Lord’s doing who is working all things for His will to be done in our lives.
Job 12:16 With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.
Sitting under an oak tree in the negative symbolizes is ceasing to work in the kingdom of God and letting our guard down. We are always to be spiritually working in the kingdom of God as Christ always worked (Joh 5:17, 1Jo 4:17) otherwise we cannot be able watchmen maintaining constant vigilance needed to guard our hearts and try the spirits. We learn vigilance by first not being vigilant and be consumed by our adversary as the man of God story reminds us.
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Mat 24:43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Entering into the home of a false prophet or inviting one into our home is not watching our house with vigilance and diligence. We must always be on guard the gates into our spiritual house.
2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
The wages of our sins is reaping spiritual death as we are overcome. As the house of GFod upon whom judgment is already fallen, our disobedience brings wrath and a shortening of that life of disobedience.
Pro 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
Eph 6:2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
Eph 6:3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
This man of God was not the first nor the last to be killed for disobedience. We have several examples throughout the Scriptures including King Saul (1Ch 10:14), Aaron’s sons who called down strange fire (Lev 10:2) and Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. To God’s Elect, these are spiritual lessons that we can learn from and rise above once we learn the lesson. Being duped by false prophets that seem right is all part of our experience of evil and learning righteousness.
Deu 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
Knowing who to spiritually fellowship with us includes those who come to us as well as those we as men of God are told to pursue. Our mission is the lost house of Israel and we need to be circumspect in discerning who is of God and who is not, respecting the Lord’s plan to blind the entire world in this age except for VERY FEW (Mat 22:14).
Rom 11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
Rom 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
In this story, the old prophet pursued the man of God. Those with whom we are to break bread and drink living waters are only those the Lord has prepared and put into our path.
Psa 10:17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
A respectful and flattering tongue is never to be our measure of who is truly a man of God.
Pro 29:5 A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.
Pro 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
We need to careful in laying hands (sharing truths and bringing into service) too suddenly (1Ti 5:22) on people and not taking time to try them to see if they are truly of the Lord. Asking questions and doing some inquiry is essential otherwise we are judging based on the outside of the cup.
1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
As the people of God (i.e. The Elect), we are learning through our errors to be circumspect and obedient to the many commands on whom we spiritually eat and drink.
Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Heb 13:10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
The man of God now follows his prior obedience in rejecting Jeroboam with disobedience in accepting the false prophet’s invitation to share spiritual food and drink.
1Ki 13:20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:
1Ki 13:21 And 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,
1Ki 13:22 But 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.
It seems unfair to the carnal mind to have the same false prophet that tricked us (deceived us) now be used to speak truth and expose our disobedience. But the Lord is no respecter of persons and He is not sweeping disobedience under the table using the false doctrine of substitutionary atonement. That is all based on the false grace doctrine of orthodox Christianity which is the whore harlot churches of men. The Lord waste nothing in His plan for our lives, even using the wicked within and without ourselves for our good.
Psa 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
The recompense spoken by the Lord through the mouth of the old prophet of Bethel was that the dead body (the carcase) of the man of God could not be buried in the tomb of his fathers. This the recompense of all sin. It keeps us from dying to ourselves and putting away the man of sin into a grave. This is how our immature witness for the Lord will end after we are overcome in sin (Rev 11:7) and the rebellious nations within us, that represent the world (Sodom and Egypt) refuse to put this death away.
Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
We learn how grace works as we are given to see the consequences of our disobedience. The man of God does not make it to the end and is slain by a roaring lion sent of the Lord.
1Ki 13:23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
1Ki 13:24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
1Ki 13:25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
1Ki 13:26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he 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.
The word of God when it is sent forth never fails to deliver and quickly fulfill itself.
Eze 12:25 For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD.
This story is here to teach us and instill the fear of the Lord into our every thought, word or deed. True priests in the making are being taught the fear of the Lord and learning obedience by the sufferings we have been appointed to bear in this life (Phi 1:29).
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man
It is the judgments of God that we are living out now as the Lord’s house that is causing us to obey the Lord more and more as we endure in the fire (Eze 36:27, Rom 5:20, Isa 33:14-15). The Lord sends a roaring spiritual lion He created to destroy our flesh which is necessary before we can return to the Lord in godly repentance.
Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
1Co 5:5 To deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
We are learning from our mistakes (Isa 26:9) which is why we are being caused to err from the Lord’s commandments (Isa 63:17). The false and disobedient prophet within us begins to be destroyed as we observe the wrath against all disobedience (Rom 1:18). The soul that sins shall die and is being cut off from God’s people so the new man can emerge and stand up in power. This is the lifelong process of being brought through the fire having two-thirds cutoff and the remainder again cycled thru the fire that is the word of God which judges us in our last days.
Zec 13:8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
Zec 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God
Here is the remainder of the story which has some interesting spiritual significance
1Ki 13:27 And he [the old prophet] spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.
1Ki 13:28 And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.
1Ki 13:29 And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.
1Ki 13:30 And he [the old prophet] laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!
1Ki 13:31 And it came to pass after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:
1Ki 13:32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
The details given of the dead body being not being devoured and the donkey not being killed is reminding us that the Lord is in charge and is directing every detail, even the acts of Satan (the roaring lion) to bring about his perfect will. Satan only does what the Lord has him do nothing more or nothing less (Lam 3:38). We see this readily in the story of Job (Job 1:12 and Job 2:6) which shows us that all the evil brought upon Job that was done by Satan was really done by the Lord for Job’s good. The end of the story cements that truth.
Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Job 42:11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him …..
As God’s two witnesses, we are both the false prophet and the man of God. When we see the wages of our sin, the death of the man of God within us, when our eyes are opened, our hearts our pricked and it begins to lead us to repentance. The old prophet is now believing in the words spoken by the man of God that the prophecy against Jeroboam and his altars will surely come to pass. This belief begins to bring alignment and turn our hearts back towards the Lord.
This story reminded me of the story of Joseph of Arimathea who took Christ’s dead body down from the cross and put it into his own tomb.
Luk 23:50 NLT Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council,
Luk 23:51 but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.
Luk 23:52 He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.
Luk 23:53 Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock.
We don’t know much about this Joseph except but it is implied that he was part of the Jewish high council being of the Sanhedrin. Like in our story from 1Kings 13, we have a fake worker (false prophet) that came to believe by observing the evil actions of those in their city to the man of God. It took faith for both the old prophet of Bethel and for Joseph of Arimathea to do what they did in identifying with Christ in spite of the mob mentality that hates Jesus Christ (Judah) in these two cities of Bethel and flesh Jerusalem.
As we saw last week, bones spiritually speaking are doctrines and what defines the shape and form of whatever body they exist within. Burying the man of God in our own grave and asking our sons (maturing mindsets) to ensure our bones are laid next to the man of God’s is spiritual speak for us identifying with Christ sharing in his death and resurrection.
Joh 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
The outward fulfillment of the man of God’s prophecy was when king Josiah came on the scene 300 years later. As was also reviewed in the last study, Josiah ascending to the throne was a shadow of the coming of Christ who will make major reforms in all of Israel. We learn in studying Josiah that they found the bones of the man of God and old prophet.
2Ki 23:17 Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
2Ki 23:18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
Leaving the bones of the man of God alone is leaving the doctrines of Christ alone whose Truth never changes and always accomplishes its sent purpose in the appointed times. We just need to learn patience and wait upon him who will make all men’s dry bones live.
The king of Israel Jeroboam saw all of this transpire in his kingdom, yet it did nothing to convert or change his heart whatsoever. The old man whom Jeroboam represents is not interested in submitting to Christ’s doctrines was made to be destroyed.
1Ki 13:33 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
1Ki 13:34 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.
We have one final incident to cover regarding king Jeroboam that is found in 1Kings 14.