1 Kings 13:11-24 - Spiritual deceivers

Scripture:

1 Kings 13:11-24
11 Now an old prophet was living in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the deeds which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they related to their father.
12 Their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" Now his sons had seen the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone.
13 Then he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it.

14 So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak; and 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 He said, "I cannot return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.
17 "For a command came to me by the word of the Lord, 'You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.'"

18 He said to him, "I also am a prophet like you, 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.'" But he lied to him.
19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

20 Now it came about, as they were sitting down at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back;
21 and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus says the Lord, 'Because you have disobeyed the command of the Lord, and have not observed the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you,
22 but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, "Eat no bread and drink no water"; your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers.'"
23 It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
24 Now when he had gone, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body.
NASU


Thoughts:

The "man of God" is a prophet from Judah who has come into Israel under the direction of God, to deliver a message to King Jeroboam.  The Lord gave him further instruction as to what he was to do, he was not to eat while there, or even return in the way he came (verse 17). 

But tragically, the man of God allows himself to fall under the persuasion of a liar (verses 18-19).  The "old prophet" deceives him into believing that God had rescinded His first set of commands:  now it was OK for the man of God to dine in Israel.  This foolish decision costs the man of God his life, as God brought judgment for his disobedience (verse 24).  Clearly God's hand is in this attack by the lion, how else can we explain a lion killing without eating and a donkey standing calmly next to a fierce predator!

This is such an ugly and angering story.  How could this happen?  Why would the old prophet knowingly deceive the man of God in this way?  The text doesn't provide any clear motive.  Perhaps he simply wanted to spend time with this prophet.

The point for us as Christians today, is to always be discerning.  The old prophet spoke the right kinds of words to convince the man of God that he had a message from God for him, but the old prophet was lying!  In the same way, people may come to us and say they have a word from God for us -- possibly even spiritual leaders who we respect -- but we must always test what we hear against God's word and against anything He has already spoken to us as guidance for our lives:

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22
19 Do not quench the Spirit; 20 do not despise prophetic utterances. 21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.
NASU

Prayer:

Lord, help me to be a discerning Christian.  No matter how well someone speaks or how well known they are to me, I should not treat whatever they say as though it were Your infallible truth.  Help me not to be lazy in this regard!  Even a person with right motives can have a wrong opinion.

Thank You for Your word that is unchanging by which I can discern truth from error.  And thank You for Your Holy Spirit You've given to all who believe in Christ, Who guides us and can keep us from error.

Amen

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.