Day 100 – A Year in the Bible – 1 Kings 13-15
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1 KINGS 13 – A CHILD (JOSIAH) SHALL BE BORN UNTO THE HOUSE OF DAVID
This is the Sign Which the LORD Hath Spoken
And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he 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 pull it in again to him. The altar also was rent, 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. And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: for so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el. – 1 Kings 13:1-10
Two Prophets, One Word, One Lie, and a Lesson
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. 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. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, 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.
Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
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: 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.
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.
So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
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: 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, 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.
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. 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. – 1 Kings 13:11-24
God was not pleased that king Jeroboam led Israel into idolatry. He sent a prophet to curse the altar Jeroboam built. The king heard the curse, pointed at the prophet, and demanded that he be seized. The king’s hand froze, and the altar split. The king had the prophet pray, and God restored the king’s hand. The king then invited the prophet to dine at the palace, promising a reward.
But the prophet refused and said, “Even If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: for so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way thou camest.”
Another prophet heard of this and set out to find this prophet who cursed the altar. When the old prophet located him, he invited this traveling prophet to come back, rest, and eat at his home. The traveling prophet said he couldn’t and told him what the Lord had instructed.
The old prophet replied, “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.”
Then that Bible verse (1 Kings 13:18) ends with these words – But he lied unto him.
The traveling prophet fell for it and went back, ate, and drank. He disobeyed three direct instructions given to him by the Lord. That decision cost him his life as a lion killed him once he left the old prophet’s home.
There is a valuable lesson in this passage.
The traveling prophet had almost completed the assignment given to him by the Lord. He had obeyed precisely what he heard from God. Then an old prophet came along, claiming God-given instructions that contradicted what God had said directly to him. Those instructions were a lie, and he ended up disobeying God by heeding them. Had the traveling prophet obeyed what God had told him and not what someone else claimed God had said, the story would have ended differently.
The same is true for our own lives. Counsel and community are essential, and they can offer direction, clarity, and confirmation. But the words and thoughts of others cannot replace intimacy with and direct instruction from God. When we have heard from God, we are to take those words and obey them. If someone contradicts His instructions by saying, “God told me to tell you . . . ” even if it seems well-meaning, we still must abide by God’s original Word to us. Otherwise, we may find ourselves face-to-face with a lion, as this prophet did.
While God does use people to speak into our lives, God wants you to know His will for you more than He wants others to know it. He wants a personal and intimate relationship with you, with you abiding in Him. And He wants you to have confidence in that relationship, so you have confidence in His Word. He wants YOU to have confidence in HIM!!!
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1 KINGS 14 – THE KINGS AND THEIR SONS
The Kings Slept with Their Fathers and Their Sons Reigned in Their Stead
And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead. – 1 Kings 14:20
And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead. – 1 Kings 14:31
And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. – 1 Kings 15:8
And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead. – 1 Kings 15:24
The kings lived, reigned, and the kings died, as did their fathers. And just as the kings reigned after their fathers, so their sons reigned in their place. We all have an appointed time to live, a set time to reign, and an appointed time to die. What we do with our “time to reign” is written down in the books of heaven. Did we obey and serve the Lord and lead others to Jesus, or did we spend our “time to reign” seeking after other gods and using our time leading others into idolatry?
Reign – to possess or exercise power and/or authority.
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1 KINGS 15 – KING ASA
King Asa Did that Which was Right in the Eyes of the LORD
And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah. And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron. But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days. And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver, and gold, and vessels. – 1 Kings 15:9-15
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