THE PROPHETIC VOICE – PART FOURTEEN
A MAN OF GOD & AN OLD PROPHET
Sunday – September 22, 2019, Elul 22, 5779
Greetings my precious brothers and sisters in the Lord. Our God is so very good. Also, welcome back to this Sunday teaching series on Prophecy and Prophets. Next week will be the last in this series. I do not know as of yet what will follow but the Lord will give us something wonderful, of that we can be sure. If you are reading this on Facebook please take just a moment to hit the “love” and “share” buttons to encourage us and increase the spread of these teachings. Now, let’s turn our attention to todays teaching from 1 Kings 13.
The account I am taking from 1 Kings chapter thirteen is of a man of God and an old Prophet, both of whom are Prophets. There is much to be learned here both by Prophets and all others. As we start into this account let us take notice of the chapter number which is thirteen. Thirteen in the Bible represents depravity and rebellion, so guess what we are about to read?
1 Kings 13:1-5 (KJV)
1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
2 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.
3 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.
4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, 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.
5 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.
The King did not like what the man of God said and reached out to touch the Anointed of God and his hand dried up. In addition, what the man of God said would happen to the alter happened, it in effect blew up. Now the King wants to take the man of God serious and asks him to pray that his hand be restored. Of course, the man of God prays and the Kings hand is restored. Now the King wants to take him to lunch and give him gifts. That was no doubt very tempting but God had given the man of God very specific instructions to follow.
1 Kings 13:8-10 (KJV)
8 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:
9 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.
10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
Now, enters the old Prophet. The sons of the old Prophet report what has happened and he wants to see the man of God.
1 Kings 13:15-17 (KJV)
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 the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
We are not told the motivations of the old Prophet but he goes to outright lie to the man of God. This is the flesh of the old Prophet, this is depravity.
1 Kings 13:18-19 (KJV)
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.
19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
The man of God goes to eat with the old Prophet and is thus in disobedience to God, the Word of God. Now the Anointing comes upon the old Prophet and he prophecies the Truth. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance (Romans 11:29) so we can see this happen.
1 Kings 13:20-22 (KJV)
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:
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,
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.
The old Prophet tells the man of God that his disobedience is going to cost him his life and sure enough it does.
1 Kings 13:23-24 (KJV)
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.
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 see here clearly that it can be very dangerous to mess with the Prophet of God as the King found out. It is also extraordinarily dangerous to disobey God when His instructions (command) are clear as in this case. The man of God repeated the command of God many times, he was clear, yet he allowed the old Prophet to tempt him to disobedience. By way of a second example (there are many) of mocking a Prophet see this incident with Elisha.
2 Kings 2:23-24 (KJV)
23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
Let us determine in our hearts to honor God, the Word of God, and to honor His Prophets. And, if you are a Prophet determine that you will follow the Word of God to a T.
Until our next publication, as a Bible Teacher and Prophetic Voice I speak this blessing over each and every one of you, receive it by faith in Jesus name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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