I Kings 13: Don't Let Anyone Talk You Out Of Doing What You Know Is Right

I Kings 13 presents a troubling story: a man of God is deceived and dissuaded from his call by a false prophet, and, as a result, he is killed.

The chapter begins with a declaration of judgment upon Jeroboam by a man of God appointed to this task.  The prophet approaches the king of Israel at the altar of the golden calf at Bethel.  The man of God prophesies that the idol's altar will one day be desecrated with the human sacrifice of the idolatrous priests and torn down by a faithful descendant of David named Josiah.  Enraged at this news, Jeroboam reaches out against the man, but his hand withers.  Begging for a healing, Jeroboam prevails upon the prophet to restore his hand, which he does.

So far, so good.  But here the tale takes a disturbing turn.  The prophet had also been commanded by God to go home by a different way and to neither eat nor drink anything during his mission.  He starts to faithfully follow the command of the Lord, but another Israelite, hearing what the prophet had done at Bethel, intervenes and persuades the prophet to return with him to his house for food and drink instead.  Even though the man of God initially protests, explaining his instructions about abstaining from God, the liar successfully persuades him that he has received an updated message from the Lord that supersedes his previous orders.  In the end, he prevails upon the prophet to disobey God.

As a punishment, the prophet is warned by his host that, because of his disobedience, he will be struck down on his way home, and he will not be buried in his ancestral tomb.  All this comes to pass as the prophet is set upon and killed by a lion.  The false prophet then comes and claims the body and buries him in his own grave.

We may wonder why the prophet was held responsible for breaking the Lord's word when he was lied to by another.  But the lesson of this story is that we owe our first allegiance to the Lord, and we must always follow the guidance that He has given our hearts.  Even if someone we trust comes along and tells us to do something we know is wrong, we must follow God's instructions.  It is as Paul wrote in Galatians 1:8: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!"  In other words, don't let anyone talk you out of doing what you know is right.

In a day and age when there are many competing voices seeking to turn Christians aside from following the Bible, let this story remind us that our first obligation is to adhere to the revealed Word of God!