“People who passed by saw the body lying in the road and the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported it in Bethel, where the old prophet lived. When the prophet heard the report, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the Lord’s command. The Lord has fulfilled his word by causing the lion to attack and kill him.” Then the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey, and he went out and found the body lying in the road. The donkey and lion were still standing there beside it, for the lion had not eaten the body nor attacked the donkey. So the prophet laid the body of the man of God on the donkey and took it back to the town to mourn over him and bury him. He laid the body in his own grave, crying out in grief, “Oh, my brother!” Afterward the prophet said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones. For the message the Lord told him to proclaim against the altar in Bethel and against the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.” But even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests from the common people. He appointed anyone who wanted to become a priest for the pagan shrines. This became a great sin and resulted in the utter destruction of Jeroboam’s dynasty from the face of the earth.”
1 Kings 13:25-34 NLT
In the previous passage about Jeroboam, we see him believing himself to be special in a way that supersedes the word of God. Here we see how rampant that corruption was. Not only had the politicians become corrupt in using the name of God, but so had the religious leaders. At first it seems that the old prophet is simply excited about how God is moving against Jeroboam and his idolatry. But then he chooses to lie to the Man of God. It is clear that he did this without malice as he seeks to bury him with respect and is sad at losing a spiritual brother. Yet the fact remains that he willfully deceived him. The old prophet wanted so badly to be a part of God’s plan that he became u witting foil to it. This is not surprising considering that he did so at a time when the kingdom needed his prophecy and yet he didn’t seem to be giving it. More than likely, he only wanted the power of the Man of God to be associated with him. No one was following God’s commands. The Man of God didn’t adhere to what truth he had been given by God. This placed him in line for immediate judgement next to Jeroboam. Let it be a lesson for us. We must be careful to always hold God’s word holy. When we forget to do this. Even if deceived, this always ends in tragedy.
JOSH McGARY. COM 