THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET.
By J. Lamont
The story of the disobedient prophet, related in 1 Kings 13, must lead every one who reads it to the conclusion that the Lord requires obedience to his word. A man of God was sent to Bethel to denounce the idolatrous practices of the people under King Jeroboam. He was to do his errand, and return immediately to his home in Judah. The king invited him to stay and dine with him; but he utterly refused, saying, “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 the Lord.” But while he sat resting himself under a tree, an old prophet who dwelt at Bethel came to him with a pressing invitation to dine with him. But he could not; the word of the Lord forbade it. Although this gray-haired seer had never lifted his voice against the unholy worship instituted and carried on before his eyes (perhaps he had assisted in it), he was ready to invite and urge disobedience to God when he had to tell an outright falsehood to accomplish his purpose. “I am,” said he, “a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.” The man of God, deceived by his fair speeches, went back with him; and ate bread in his house and drank water. And for his presumptuous disobedience he was slain by a lion. Of what avail was it to him that his deceiver confessed when it was too late? Knowing the word of the Lord in the case, he should promptly have obeyed and thus kept in the path of safety. As it was, he lost his life by believing a man who directly contradicted the word of God. How strange that he should have hearkened to him! But said the old seer of Bethel, “I am a prophet also.” Here is reputation offered as character. It is a counterfeit. Reputation, the esteem in which men are held by their fellow-men, and character, what God knows them to be, are in many cases very different matters. “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” The application of this principle would have saved the life of the prophet of Judah. It will be found equally effective now. “If sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” Should they plead their Christian (?) experience against the word of the Lord, “let God be true, but every man a liar.”