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1 Kings 13 – Destroyed By Believing A Lie
Sincerity in religion masks what the self wants. Every one of us has believed a lie. Most often it is because the lie is what we want to believe. This is true religiously or personally. “Do these pants make my….” Well, you know the rest of that story.
Believing a lie can have disastrous results, especially in the realm of religion. Think about it. If we believe what is contrary to what God has said, are we not calling God a liar? That is Satan’s sneaky trick that started all the way back in the garden.
But what about sincerity in believing a lie? Doesn’t that excuse it? The story of the prophet who believes a lie, and consequently gets severely punished by God seems extreme to us. Maybe that says more about us than we would like to admit. Maybe the prophet’s story is also a living parable, which teaches a lesson the author intends his original audience to heed and learn. Definitely, the story teaches us lessons about believing religious lies.
The original story is found in 1 Kings 13. If you are not familiar with it, read it. If you are familiar with it, read it again and learn from it. Each biblical story presents three time periods. The first is when it happens, the second is when it is written, and the third is when it is read. Each carries its own lesson.
When It Happens
The original story presents a godly man commissioned by God to prophesy against and condemn “the sin of Jeroboam.” Bravely, he leaves Judah, enters into enemy territory, and confronts a man who could easily put him to death, which is possibly what Jeroboam has in mind when he point at him and says, “Arrest him” (13:4). God protects this young prophet by withering the outstretched hand of Jeroboam.
God, for whatever reason, also commands concerning his return trip, “you must not eat bread or drink water or go back the way you came” (13:9). It is not the prophet’s place to question why, but to obey. Therefore the prophet turns down the invitation to eat with the king (13:7-8). Fasting is nothing new to God’s prophets (i.e., Moses, Elijah, and Jesus).
Along comes a “certain old prophet” (13:11) who mixes a truth with a lie. He says to the young prophet, “I am also a prophet like you. An angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (13:18). This old prophet now claims a three fold-authority: He is a prophet, who heard from an angel, who speaks for God. The young prophet believes the lie and goes home with him and eats.
This false claim of speaking for God merges into the irony of actually speaking for God. I can only imagine the old prophet’s surprise and dismay, as he divinely pronounces through prophetic utterance the young prophet’s death sentence (13:21-22). The liar now speaks the truth.
1 Kings 13:21-22 (HCSB) 21) and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you rebelled against the command of the LORD and did not keep the command that the LORD your God commanded you — 22) but you went back and ate bread and drank water in the place that He said to you, “Do not eat bread and do not drink water” — your corpse will never reach the grave of your fathers.’ ”
1 Kings 13:24 (HCSB) 24) When he left, a lion attacked him along the way and killed him. His corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey was standing beside it; the lion was standing beside the corpse too.
Does the young prophet believe a lie? Yes. Does he have to? No. The lie is a direct contradiction of revealed truth. The lie even comes indirectly while the truth is revealed by God to the young prophet directly. How could the lie have been exposed? All the young prophet had to do is go to the source of his original revelation, God Himself.
When It Is Written
Why are we told this story? It does seem to “interrupt” the story of the kings, even the story of the Jeroboam. The rebel king’s story will continue on after this “interruption.” Asking why gets into the motive of the inspired writer, and therefore of God Himself. Such a harsh sentence God imposes upon His own sincere, young prophet. But as we learn from Jeremiah, Hosea, and Ezekiel, prophets parabolically represent by their lives and not just by their words. I believe the young and old prophets become a parable.
If I may wonder why, I see the young prophet representing the young, newly formed nation of the Northern Kingdom. They had the truth about worshipping God – in Jerusalem, Levitical priests, sans the idols. Along comes Jeroboam, the “old prophet” teaching something new, teaching a lie. This lie is one of comfort and convenience, with a hint of authenticity.
1 Kings 12:28 (HCSB) 28) So the king sought advice. Then he made two golden calves, and he said to the people, “Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here is your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”
The people believe the lie. Just like the young prophet, they believe what is convenient, pleasing, and easy to believe. Just like the young prophet, they too will receive from God a justifiably harsh sentence. The Assyrians will overtake Israel, sending them into captivity, into exile, sending them into a symbol of national death. One of the main symbols of Assyria is the lion. And of course, the young prophet is divinely executed by a lion.
What makes this interpretation more plausible, at least to me, is after this scene, the divinely inspired writer goes back to Jeroboam’s sin.
1 Kings 13:33-34 (HCSB) 33) After all this Jeroboam did not repent of his evil way but again set up priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained whoever so desired it, and they became priests of the high places. 34) This was the sin that caused the house of Jeroboam to be wiped out and annihilated from the face of the earth.
Israel, the Northern Kingdom, believes a lie. Israel, the Northern Kingdom, will die by a lion.
When It Is Read
What about us today? What lessons are we to learn as we read it today? The same as the original lessons – Satan lies, calls God a liar, and people believe the lies. Just as with the young prophet, today for us, God has revealed Himself about everything we need to be pleasing to Him.
2 Peter 1:3 (HCSB) 3) His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.
God’s revelation includes everything about what He expects and requires of His church and His people:
- How a church is to be organized – elders and deacons;
- How a church is to worship – singing, praying, weekly communion, purpose of the contribution;
- What the work of a church is – reaching up to God in worship, reaching out to build up one another, reaching down to help needy saints, reaching out to the lost;
- How to become a Christian – believing in Jesus which includes repenting of sins, confessing Him as Lord, and being baptized into His death to be resurrected by faith in God.
Why are so many churches believing something contrary to God’s original revelation? Why are so many Christians and unbelievers believing lies? Why does denominationalism exist? Why do churches of Christ become churches of self? For the same reason as the young prophet; to eat is more pleasant than to not eat. We believe lies because we want to.
Read and heed the warning of Paul,
Galatians 1:8 (HCSB) 8) But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, a curse be on him!
The young prophet believes a lie, falsely told to him in the name of God as if delivered by an angel. He is cursed. The final question is, what will God do to us for believing a lie?
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