Have you ever been fooled?

Have you ever been fooled? Perhaps you fell for a practical joke, a prank, or an April Fool’s Joke. How did you feel when you realized that you had been duped? Probably not too bad I would imagine. To be fooled in trivial matters can result in a much-needed laugh, but a treacherous lie can have eternal significance. 

1 Kings 13:1-7 informs us of a time after the division of the Northern and Southern kingdoms. King Jeroboam of the north had erected an idolatrous altar and high places in the land, so Jehovah sent a prophet from Judah to cry out against the idolatry of this apostate kingdom, which he did. Jeroboam did not like this message one bit and attempted to seize the man of God, only to receive a withered hand, and a destroyed altar by the hand of Jehovah.  Jeroboam requested the prophet to pray for him that his hand might be restored, which God allowed. Then as a token of gratitude to the prophet, Jeroboam invited him to come to his home and be rewarded. Pay attention to the resolve of this prophet, 

And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thy 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 Jehovah, saying, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water, neither return by the way that thou camest.

(1 Kings 13:8-9)

We have to admire the courage of this prophet to go into a land that was not his own. He went into that place and cried out against the religious practices of the land and the king himself. When we consider Jeroboam’s initial intentions of arresting this man, we can only assume that his intentions were not good for the prophet. The prophet stuck by the approved message when it would have been enticing and easier to enter the house of Jeroboam and receive a reward. The prophet left out of there and went another way than which he had come. 

An old prophet in Bethel had heard of the events and went after the man of God who came from Judah. This old prophet, like Jeroboam, requested the man of God to come with him to eat at his house. The man of God replied again with the Word of God. It looked as though this would have been another triumph of faith similar to the accounts we are reminded of in Hebrews 11. This occasion was different because the old prophet of Bethel used wicked means to persuade the prophet of God to compromise. 

And he said unto him, I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Bring him back with thee into thy 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 Jehovah came unto the prophet that brought him back; and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Forasmuch as thou hast been disobedient unto the mouth of Jehovah, and hast not kept the commandment which Jehovah thy God commanded thee,  but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy body 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 body was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it; the lion also stood by the body. 

(2 Kings 13:18-24)

The old prophet of Bethel saw that the Judean prophet was committed and the only way to persuade him to change was to change his mind. The old prophet lied to him. Jehovah had not gone back on his word and permitted this prophet of Bethel to give another message. What was the cost? The man of God was slain by a lion along the way. What a tragic ending for a man who was sent to cry out against the idolatrous sin of the northern kingdom, and had done a good work in that aspect. However, he stopped keeping what the Lord had commanded. 

I am afraid that this has been the case in our brotherhood in recent years. We have had many good sound brethren who have cried out against the idolatrous practices of sectarianism for years. They have refused to engage in compromise in years past and that is good, but somewhere along the way that changed. Did God change? No, He did not. 

If you do not preach and teach against sectarianism you cannot preach the whole counsel of God. This is what God has commanded for millennia. The northern kingdom was in sin. The idols, the altar, and the high places were detestable to Jehovah. He took this very seriously. Is the God of Heaven less serious today when it comes to the idolatrous practices of the religions of man? Has God given a command concerning how we are to deal with these practices? Yes, it is the same as the prophet of Judah who was sent to cry against the altar at Bethel.

“and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them; for the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of. But all things when they are reproved are made manifest by the light: for everything that is made manifest is light.” 

(Eph 5:11-13)

We are charged by the Holy Spirit to reprove the unfruitful works of darkness, not to fellowship them. Lest we will be devoured alongside them. Brethren, stick to God's message and reject false prophets' lies. 

Grace and Peace, 

R.D. Beavers