DISOBEDIENCE to God brings DEATH!
April 11 Bible
Reading: 1 Kings Chapters 13-15
DISOBEDIENCE to God brings DEATH
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. 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.'“ So he went another way and did not
return by the way he came to Bethel. (1 Kings 13:8-10)
In 1 Kings
13, we read the story of an unnamed ‘man of God’ who travelled from Judah to
Bethel to pronounce a prophecy to the ungodly King Jeroboam. We cannot get more
specific details about this prophet except that He came by divine authority as
he accurately predicted an event that took place three hundred sixty years
later. His boldness and fortitude to stand and pronounce judgment before the
king of Israel was remarkable. The two incidents that happened rapidly in close
succession – the withering of King Jeroboam’s hand (v. 4) and the altar
splitting apart with the ashes pouring out (v. 5) - were truly dramatic. When
King Jeroboam requested this ‘man of God’ to pray for healing and restoration,
he did that and the king’s hand was restored immediately (v. 6). By all
accounts, this young prophet was in the will of God, and he was clearly told
what he should not do after completing his ministry – he was not to eat
bread or drink water in Bethel, and he was not to return back to Judah
using the route that he had travelled.
This young
prophet obeyed God by refusing the reward that King Jeroboam offered as a bribe
(v. 7-9), and also took a different way to return to his home town. However, we see some definite steps that
led this fiery young prophet to an early death through disobedience:
- DELAY: This young prophet delayed in his
return journey, and we read that the old deceitful prophet found him sitting
under an oak (v. 14). This act of delay allowed for the encounter with the old
prophet. Our act of obedience to God should have no delays or looking back.
Let’s remember Lot’s wife (Gen 19:26).
- DECEPTION: When the young prophet delayed in
his obedience, he allowed himself to be deceived by the old prophet who was
actually lying (v. 18).
- DISOBEDIENCE: Instead of recalling the specific
command of God and following it completely, the young prophet disobeyed God’s
word and went back with the old prophet to eat bread and drink water in his
house (v. 19)
- DAMNATION: The old prophet showed his true
color and intention only after the disobedience was complete. He cried out with
passion (as a result of his own guilt and due to the young prophet's
approaching misery) and pronounced the ultimate death sentence as damnation.
- DEATH: Just as the old prophet had cursed,
the young prophet was killed by a lion on his return journey (v. 24), and was
buried in the old prophet’s tomb instead of his fathers’ (v. 22b, 30).
This incident teaches us an important
lesson that disobedience to God’s word will result ultimately in death. Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s word
(Gen 2:16-17) through Satan’s deception (Gen 3:3), which resulted in their
eternal death (separation from God’s fellowship). "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to
obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death,
or of obedience leading to righteousness?" (Romans 6:16) "For the wages of sin is death, but the
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23).
Let us decide to obey God’s word completely and without any delay – no matter what happens in our lives or who tells us otherwise…!!!
