Listening to God July 14, 2008
A few weeks ago I felt God speaking to me about doing less and listening more. I want to know God’s voice so I have been trying to develop my skills to hear the ‘still small voice’ of the Lord.
Today I felt that I should not go of CF (Christian forums) as I usually do routinely in the am. So I didn’t I got cereal my coffee a bible and set out on the deck to relax.
When I opened the Bible my eye fell immediately on 1 Kings 13 the title in my Bible was The Man of God from Judah.
BTW I don’t usually attack my Bible reading or study in this haphazard way very often.
Here is my synopsis of what I read:
This ‘no name’ man of God came from Judah the southern kingdom to Israel the northern kingdom to prophesy against Jeroboam the king. These are the first generation kingdoms after the United Kingdom under Solomon has been divided. Jeroboam is an apostate who has led his nation in the worship of false gods, built many idol worship areas and alters. No name prophesizes about Josiah who will rise up and cleanse the land of false prophets killing them and burning them on these very alters etc. Then to prove his word is really God’s word he says that the specific alter he is prophesying to will split in two. Jeroboam reaches out his hand to send his men to “seize him” maybe even from a distance while still on his throne as the man is prophesying initially to the alter and not the king. The hand is frozen and the alter splits as the word said it would.
The King now asks NN to pray for him, his hand is healed and he invites NN to the palace for food and a gift. Now this definitely sounds fishy to me and I would naturally suspect the king of false motives. Anyway nn says NO because the word of God to him was very specific, “you must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came”. So whether in real obedience to God’s word or because he was suspicious the man goes on his way. Good so far....
Now an old prophet hears about this and gets his sons to bring the donkey so he can go after him. When he finds him he asks the man to come home and eat with him. The man says no and tells again the word of God as before. However now the old prophet LIES to him and says “I am a prophet as you are and an angel said to me by the word of the Lord, ‘bring him back that he may eat bread and drink water’. So the man came and while at the table is rebuked by the old prophet. “This is what the Lord says, ‘You have defiled the Word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave YOU.’ You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where He told you not to eat and drink, therefore, your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.” I presume back home in Judah.
Now the old guy lets him finish his meal saddles his donkey and sets him once again on his way. However, he is later found dead on the road, guarded by a lion that has killed him but not eaten him or mauled the donkey. Now the old prophet takes his body buries it in his own tomb and requests that when he dies he be buried beside the man.
OK now L I have some questions.
I understand the need to be obedient to God’s voice and even Paul the apostle warned us against believing a “different gospel’ even from an angel.
[FONT="]Gal 1:6 [/FONT]
[FONT="]I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,[/FONT]
[FONT="]Gal 1:7 [/FONT]
[FONT="]which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Gal 1:8 [/FONT]
[FONT="]But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.[/FONT]
[FONT="]2Cr 11:3[/FONT][FONT="][/FONT]
[FONT="]But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.[/FONT]
The man maybe was trusting his own intellect or emotions to guide him so he got it right when confronted by a devious king but when something that seemed spiritual was thrown in the mix he got deceived. (THE ANGEL) That is pretty clear to me.
OK NOW BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OLD GUY???
HE LIED!!!!!!!
Was he directed to lie by God?
The commands of God are pretty specific about bearing false witness or lying.
Was he really a prophet of YWH? I really am not sure but I don’t think so.
BUT He seems to have got the judging word right about the man not following God’s message, and he then prophesizes the death of the man.
Or maybe, was he one of the apostate prophets prophesied against, more a witch than a true prophet of God sent to entrap the man. And why then buy him in his own tomb and direct his sons to bury him there too?
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
A few weeks ago I felt God speaking to me about doing less and listening more. I want to know God’s voice so I have been trying to develop my skills to hear the ‘still small voice’ of the Lord.
Today I felt that I should not go of CF (Christian forums) as I usually do routinely in the am. So I didn’t I got cereal my coffee a bible and set out on the deck to relax.
When I opened the Bible my eye fell immediately on 1 Kings 13 the title in my Bible was The Man of God from Judah.
BTW I don’t usually attack my Bible reading or study in this haphazard way very often.
Here is my synopsis of what I read:
This ‘no name’ man of God came from Judah the southern kingdom to Israel the northern kingdom to prophesy against Jeroboam the king. These are the first generation kingdoms after the United Kingdom under Solomon has been divided. Jeroboam is an apostate who has led his nation in the worship of false gods, built many idol worship areas and alters. No name prophesizes about Josiah who will rise up and cleanse the land of false prophets killing them and burning them on these very alters etc. Then to prove his word is really God’s word he says that the specific alter he is prophesying to will split in two. Jeroboam reaches out his hand to send his men to “seize him” maybe even from a distance while still on his throne as the man is prophesying initially to the alter and not the king. The hand is frozen and the alter splits as the word said it would.
The King now asks NN to pray for him, his hand is healed and he invites NN to the palace for food and a gift. Now this definitely sounds fishy to me and I would naturally suspect the king of false motives. Anyway nn says NO because the word of God to him was very specific, “you must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came”. So whether in real obedience to God’s word or because he was suspicious the man goes on his way. Good so far....
Now an old prophet hears about this and gets his sons to bring the donkey so he can go after him. When he finds him he asks the man to come home and eat with him. The man says no and tells again the word of God as before. However now the old prophet LIES to him and says “I am a prophet as you are and an angel said to me by the word of the Lord, ‘bring him back that he may eat bread and drink water’. So the man came and while at the table is rebuked by the old prophet. “This is what the Lord says, ‘You have defiled the Word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave YOU.’ You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where He told you not to eat and drink, therefore, your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.” I presume back home in Judah.
Now the old guy lets him finish his meal saddles his donkey and sets him once again on his way. However, he is later found dead on the road, guarded by a lion that has killed him but not eaten him or mauled the donkey. Now the old prophet takes his body buries it in his own tomb and requests that when he dies he be buried beside the man.
OK now L I have some questions.
I understand the need to be obedient to God’s voice and even Paul the apostle warned us against believing a “different gospel’ even from an angel.
[FONT="]Gal 1:6 [/FONT]
[FONT="]I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,[/FONT]
[FONT="]Gal 1:7 [/FONT]
[FONT="]which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Gal 1:8 [/FONT]
[FONT="]But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.[/FONT]
[FONT="]2Cr 11:3[/FONT][FONT="][/FONT]
[FONT="]But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.[/FONT]
The man maybe was trusting his own intellect or emotions to guide him so he got it right when confronted by a devious king but when something that seemed spiritual was thrown in the mix he got deceived. (THE ANGEL) That is pretty clear to me.
OK NOW BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OLD GUY???
HE LIED!!!!!!!
Was he directed to lie by God?
The commands of God are pretty specific about bearing false witness or lying.
Was he really a prophet of YWH? I really am not sure but I don’t think so.
BUT He seems to have got the judging word right about the man not following God’s message, and he then prophesizes the death of the man.
Or maybe, was he one of the apostate prophets prophesied against, more a witch than a true prophet of God sent to entrap the man. And why then buy him in his own tomb and direct his sons to bury him there too?
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
