Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered so that he could not pull it back. And the altar was split apart, and the ashes poured out, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
1 Kings 13:4-5
Click >HERE< for an audio version of this blog post.
With rare exception, throughout the books of Kings and Chronicles the kings of Israel and Judah are summarized with statements like, "____________ (kings's name) did what was evil in the Lord's sight." God declared through Jacob that Messiah/Shiloh would come from the tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10). Furthermore, God declared one of King David's descendants would inherit an everlasting kingship and throne (2 Sam 7:12-13). As the biblical narrative unfolds, David the young shepherd from the tribe of Judah is anointed king. While not perfect, David is revealed as "a man after God's own heart," which is precisely what God desires. After David's death, Solomon, David's son, becomes king of Israel.
When people think of King Solomon, they typically think of passages like this from 1 Kings 4: "God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than all men..."
Other passages, ones that reveal a very different man, such as the following, are often overlooked: "King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women... These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, 'You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.' Yet Solomon clung to these women in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been." How could the wisest man to ever live be so foolish and disobedient after everything God had given him?
After Solomon died, the nation of Israel was bitterly divided. The ten tribes of the Northern kingdom under Jeroboam were known as Israel. The tiny Southern kingdom under Rehoboam was known as Judah. Both kings were despicable. King Rehoboam openly boasted of his cruelty and desire to oppress the people. Meanwhile, Jeroboam openly defied God by erecting golden calves (plural) and telling the people, "Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt." But that's not the crazy part of the story.
In 1 Kings 13, we find that "a man of God" went to rebuke King Jeroboam at Bethel. That's when Jeroboam stretched out his hand and said, "Arrest him!" The story notes that Jeroboam's hand withered and the altar was ripped apart, just as the man of God prophesied. Jeroboam pleaded with the man of God to restore his hand. After God restored Jeroboam's hand, the king asked the man of God, "Come home with me, refresh yourself, and I'll give you a reward." But the man of God replied, "If you were to give me half your house, I still wouldn't go with you... for I was commanded by the world of the Lord: 'You must not eat food or drink water or go back the way you came.'"
Here's where things start getting crazy. 1 Kings 13 tells of an old prophet who was living in Bethel at the time. His sons reported what the man of God said to King Jeroboam and what happened to the altar. The old prophet set out immediately to find the man of God from Judah and in finding him said, "Come home with me and eat some food."
The man of God then repeated what he said earlier to King Jeroboam: "I was commanded by the world of the Lord: 'You must not eat food or drink water or go back the way you came.'" The old prophet responded, "I am also a prophet like you. An angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord: 'Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat food and drink water.'" Therefore, the man of God conceded and went back with him, ate food in his house, and drank water.
Now here's where things go completely off the rails. While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back and the prophet cried out, "This is what the Lord says: 'Because you rebelled against the Lord's command that the Lord commanded you... your corpse will never reach the grave of your fathers.'" After the man of God left, a lion attacked him on the way and killed him. His corpse was thrown on the road. When the old prophet heard about it he had his sons go collect the man of God's body and told them, "When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones..."
The story of the man of God and the old prophet abruptly ends there. The deceiving old prophet lives on while the man of God is killed by a lion and left like a piece of garbage on the side of the road. It's interesting to note that the fiasco of Eden is repeated. There's a crafty deceiver who deliberately lures a gullible fool into sin by tempting them with something that God put off limits. "...but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die." Despite the theme and its consequences recurring throughout Scripture, tragically, many somehow believe it doesn't apply to them.
Then the whole chapter closes: "Even after this, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil way but again made priests for the high places from the ranks of the people. He ordained whoever desired it, and they became priests of the high places. This was the sin that caused the house of Jeroboam to be cut off and obliterated from the face of the earth."
Before King Solomon's death, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite revealed to Jeroboam (1 Ki 11:38-39) a promise from God, "If you obey all I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight in order to keep my statutes and my commands as my servant David did, I will be with you. I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David, and I will give you Israel."
Jeroboam's response to The Almighty's ridiculously generous offer was to openly reject God by commanding Israel to worship golden calves, erecting high places, establishing priests who were not Levites, offering sacrifices to the calves he made, establishing sacred days of his own choosing, and pleading for restoration without repentance. What's even more terrifying than God's judgment upon Jeroboam and his household is the fate of the man of God who was deceived by the old prophet: killed by a lion and left on the side of the road. Now consider that Jesus, The Lamb of God in the Book of Revelation, is referred to as "the Lion from the tribe of Judah."
I can't begin to count the times I've heard Christian pastors, preachers, family, and friends who, like the old prophet in 1 Kings 13, assume the role of the Holy Spirit by boldly proclaiming to others what God or an angel supposedly spoke to them about what someone else needs to do. The children of God have Christ Jesus as our High Priest and mediator (see Hebrews chapters 5-10).
Therefore, we should be exceedingly suspicious of anyone claiming to have a "new revelation" from God—especially one that contradicts Scripture or previous instructions the Lord has given us. It's frightening how flippantly so many Christians casually toss about the phrase, "God told me..." which is a clear violation of the 3rd Commandment, "Thou shalt not use the Name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that bears His Name in emptiness."
Our fear factor should be compounded exponentially by the recognition that God holds us, like Adam, Eve, and the man of God, responsible for our ignorance in allowing ourselves to be lured into temptation, deception, and sin... which can lead to the immediate termination of our ministry and usefulness to God.
Even King Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." The sad truth is that many assume God is either invented, incompetent, or incapable since we rarely experience the immediate consequences of our rebellion. What's actually happening is revealed in Romans 2:5, "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed."
For those in ministry, the story of the man of God is a sobering reminder that it's not about how we start but how we finish. There are many who, like the seed planted in rocky soil, shoot up quickly only to fade into the obscurity of oblivion due to compromised integrity.
The tragedy of so many Christians in ministry today is they want the benefits of Jesus rather than Jesus. They want the treasures of God and the treasures of the world. They've forgotten we cannot serve two masters (Matt 6:24). They continually strive for fame, popularity, acceptance, and notoriety to make much of their own name and legacy rather than the Name that is above all names and His fame. They expose themselves as charlatans hocking the Word of God for their own profit rather than the glory of God. They prove they've either abandoned their first love, Christ, or they never had it to begin with.
We're either Davids, with undivided hearts for the Lord, or we're Jeroboams. They both committed egregious sins against God. One was immediately convicted, crushed, and repentant. The other merely wanted guilt-free restoration. We can either hold fast to the message of grace that God gave us at the start and stay on the narrow path by the light of the Word -or- we can give in to the lies of false prophets and deceiving spirits. Grace is always available for our needs; it's never available for our abuse.
Are you desperately seeking the benefits God offers or God? Is your deepest desire truly that "He must increase; I must diminish" (John 3:30)? King Jesus says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent. See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to Him and eat with him, and he with Me. To the one who conquers I will give the right ot sit with Me on My throne, just as I also conquered and sat down with My Father on His throne."
If we listen only for what we want to hear rather than for His voice and correction, we expose that we're not of His flock and will end up like that man of God, slain by the Lion of Judah, useful for nothing other than our death serving as a warning to others along the road. In John 10 King Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me... My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them everlasting life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand."
Are you actively listening for The Good Shepherd's voice revealed NOT through others, but through your study of and surrender to The Word? Do you cry out to Him, like Jeroboam, only for deliverance from the immediate consequences of sin -or- like David, crying out in humble desperation for His forgiveness, truth, wisdom, and correction? Do you treasure those gifts when they come? Right now is your opportunity to plead with King Jesus to come quickly and graciously forgive, redeem, and sanctify. That's His specialty. The Cross is our proof there's no limit to His unstoppable love. Crazy, but true.
Blessings and love,
Kevin M. Kelley
Comments