Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
The verse records the aged prophet at Bethel inviting the man of God from Judah to return to his house and eat. That invitation came after the man of God had firmly refused the king's invitation, because the Lord had forbidden him to eat or drink in Bethel. It was part of a repeated deception directly opposed to the word God had given, in which the old prophet falsely claimed that an angel had told him to bring the man back. He was lying, with a lie Satan had put in his mouth. The man who made this claim to speak for God was not the one God had chosen.
Although he at first refused, the man of God was tempted and overpersuaded by this false claim of a message from heaven to turn from the duty God had given him and go back. The disobedient meal proved costly, bringing a sentence of death upon him. He died on the way home. His fate confirmed the truth of the prophecy he had spoken and warned Jeroboam against persisting in wrongdoing.
The account teaches that a claimed prophetic message must never lead a person to disregard a direct command from God. To use this history of the disobedient prophet to charge God's messenger with being honest but deceived and disobedient is a misuse of the story.
The verse records the aged prophet at Bethel inviting the man of God from Judah to return to his house and eat. That invitation came after the man of God had firmly refused the king's invitation, because the Lord had forbidden him to eat or drink in Bethel. It was part of a repeated deception directly opposed to the word God had given, in which the old prophet falsely claimed that an angel had told him to bring the man back. He was lying, with a lie Satan had put in his mouth. The man who made this claim to speak for God was not the one God had chosen.
Although he at first refused, the man of God was tempted and overpersuaded by this false claim of a message from heaven to turn from the duty God had given him and go back. The disobedient meal proved costly, bringing a sentence of death upon him. He died on the way home. His fate confirmed the truth of the prophecy he had spoken and warned Jeroboam against persisting in wrongdoing.
The account teaches that a claimed prophetic message must never lead a person to disregard a direct command from God. To use this history of the disobedient prophet to charge God's messenger with being honest but deceived and disobedient is a misuse of the story.