2026-08-23
Moulins au clair de lune, Schiedam by Johan Barthold Jongkind (Dutch, 1819-1891)
1 Kings 13:18 And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him.
I wonder why this Bible story isn’t so well known as one would expect any such bizarre and sad tale such as this to be. A young prophet is sent by God to rebuke Jeroboam for his evil deeds and idol worship, and to proclaim the coming of an upright and righteous king who will tear down all these high places of worship and burn the idol priests on their altars. Later in the narration, and after such strange incidents as Jeroboam’s finger freezing when he points it at the young prophet, we get to know that God had specifically instructed the young prophet: “You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.” After he’s accomplished his appointed task and is on his way home, the old prophet runs up to meet him, and lies to him.
It is unclear what motivations the old prophet had for deceiving the young prophet. Was he simply jealous of the young prophet’s ministry and had sought to undermine it by leading the young prophet to disobedience and therefore disfavour with God? And why might God have asked the young prophet not to eat nor drink in Israel, nor to return by the way that the young prophet had come? Surely he must have known that the journey was bound to be a long one, and that the prophet would get hungry and weary. If the reasons for these two things is so hazy as that, yet perhaps the most important lesson to be gotten from the passage is anything but unclear. It is so certain and unambiguous as this: when God says something, when He gives a command, or an instruction, then we must diligently and steadfastly and carefully guard against those who would counsel us otherwise.
When God visited Adam and Eve in Eden, and found that they were hiding for being naked and ashamed, he asked them, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” He immediately figured it out that Adam and Eve had conferred with someone else, and that they had been told something other than what He had said to them. And that was indeed the case. God had warned them not to eat of the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden, nor even to touch it, for if they did, they would surely die. The serpent came and said, “Well, you won’t really die. It’s only that God knows if you eat of that fruit you will become like him, and he doesn’t want that.”
The charge today is so simple as this: What did God say to you? What has God said to you? What has He said to us? What is He saying in His Word? And what is the world telling us to that effect? What are the self-styled prophets proclaiming? What counsel are our spouses, friends, and colleagues giving us? What sins and disobedience and compromise are they urging us towards? (for example, something like a puff or a sip won’t hurt) What lies are they telling us like the old prophet told the young prophet and the serpent Eve? And will we be so naive and foolish as to heed them? To believe them? It gets stranger when the Lord now does in fact speak to the old prophet while the young prophet is supping at his house. “And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you, but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’” (1 Kings 13:21-22)
King Jeroboam had urged the young prophet just the same. He had said to him, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” (1 Kings 13:7) The young prophet had directly and resolutely refused the offer then, but now he fell into the old prophets snare, perhaps because he thought the old prophet to be one just as himself and he trusted his good will and sincerity when the old prophet said that God had spoken to him so and so. Herein is a warning. We won’t always be tempted to sin and rebellion by a black fiend with a ram’s horns but often by the kindest and most dazzling of angels. We must remember that Satan too is able to disguise himself as an angel of light. It was one of Jesus closest and beloved disciples who challenged his death and who He had to fiercely rebuke as Satan: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
It is the most pious and principled brother who will deceive a sister in the church with such statements as that “God spoke to me that you should be my wife”, or “that you should sleep with me.” It is the prettiest and most pious lady who will seduce the man of God to bed with her. These two illustrations might come across as very extreme, but they are not at all that uncommon as we are likely to imagine. Brethren, beware the old prophet in whatever guise he comes. He will tell you God has said something He really hasn’t, he will contradict the command that God commanded you, and he will encourage and justify the sin and compromise you have been long entertaining. You have done so well and come so far, do not so soon forfeit the reward that the Lord promised you.
Prayer:
Omnipotent God and Merciful Father, we know that the whole world lies under the sway of the evil one, who prowls about like a roaring lion seeking one he might devour. Guard us from the enemy’s lies, urgings, and contradictions. By your Holy Spirit help us to steadfastly uphold the Word you have commanded us, never turning to the left or right. And I pray that the devil would not use us to tempt our fellow brethren, as the old prophet did the young prophet. In Jesus Name. Amen.