The lying Prophet

[Amanah]

One of the saddest stories in the bible, is the story of Man of God who was deceived by a lying prophet (1 Kings 13)

David's son Solomon was led into idolatry because of his many wives and concubines, he worship Baal, and Moloch, and all the detestable gods of the heathen's that the Lord commanded should not be worshipped.

God told him that the Kingdom would be rent from his son and only Judah would remain because of the Lord's promise to David.

Jeroboam was given the Kingship over the 10 rent tribes in Samaria. Because of his lust for power he instituted idols and a false priesthood.

God sent a Man to prophesy against the false religion:

13 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel [a]by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 [B]Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’ ” 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.”
4 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. 5 The altar also was split apart, 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. 6 Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.”
So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before. 7 Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”
8 But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. 9 For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ” 10 So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.

The Man of God delivered the message and refused to eat with the King, but continued on his way home, so far so good.

But then the story takes another sad turn, when an Old Prophet lies to him and convinces his to disobey God:

11 Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his [c]sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. 12 And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons [d]had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. 13 Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, 14 and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
And he said, “I am.”
15 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
16 And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. 17 For [e]I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ”
18 He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.)
19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

This poor Man of God, could not be deceived by the world, that was too obvious, but he was deceived by a lying prophet to his destruction:

20 Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; 21 and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, 22 but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ”
23 So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. 25 And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

The most curious thing about this passage, is that the lying prophet knew he was lying, knew he was destroying the Man of God, but did it anyway, seems to be compelled to do it, and seemed to deeply regret it:

26 Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord. Therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” 27 And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it. 28 Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey. 29 And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him. 30 Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” 31 So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the [f]saying which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the [g]shrines on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass.”

[Amanah]

what are your thoughts on this passage?

My thoughts are that while we are too smart to be deceived by the King, we are in danger from false religion that tells us to come and eat at their table, they hear from God and worship God just like we do, right?

[UnTraditional]

I believe that the real prophet is the sad one for his lack of obedient to what God Himself had spoken to him. He chose to listen to the lie, instead of seeking God then and there. He had a word, direct from God Himself, and rejected God form someone who said they came in the name of God.

[Godsdrummer]

This reminds me of the discussion about standards. Where preacher know a certain subject that they might teach is not in the bible. But they teach it any way. Like beards or the color of clothes or what is men's clothing or women's clothing. The bible does not specify these things yet men have preached against things that are not in the bible.

We have the word of God, yet men think they have the voice of God speak to them something that is not in the written word. I don't think so.

[berkeley]

Good grief

[TakingDominion]

Originally Posted by Godsdrummer

This reminds me of the discussion about standards. Where preacher know a certain subject that they might teach is not in the bible. But they teach it any way. Like beards or the color of clothes or what is men's clothing or women's clothing. The bible does not specify these things yet men have preached against things that are not in the bible.

We have the word of God, yet men think they have the voice of God speak to them something that is not in the written word. I don't think so.

The bible DOES specify many dress related principles and guidelines.

[Amanah]

I started a standards thread, lol? awesome.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Amanah

I started a standards thread, lol? awesome.

What's funny is "conservatives" are accused of being focused on such things, but it seems like it's the "liberals" who always harp about it...

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by Godsdrummer

This reminds me of the discussion about standards. Where preacher know a certain subject that they might teach is not in the bible. But they teach it any way. Like beards or the color of clothes or what is men's clothing or women's clothing. The bible does not specify these things yet men have preached against things that are not in the bible.

We have the word of God, yet men think they have the voice of God speak to them something that is not in the written word. I don't think so.

Evil Superman has a BEARD

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by Amanah

I started a standards thread, lol? awesome.

The ex-anything group are always focused on what they left behind.
Therefore they punish those who they believe are still involved in those areas.
If they even think you are even alluding to standards, you start hearing this tune......