by Michael G. Mickey

As seen in 1st Kings, chapter 13, an unknown prophet of God, having been sent to an altar in Bethel, appeared before the altar where the King of Israel, Jeroboam, was standing by to burn incense.

In the presence of the king, this unknown prophet, having been told by God to speak concerning a judgment against Israel as the result of King Jeroboam's creation of two golden idols in the likeness of calves, delivered his message.

King Jeroboam, upon hearing the message of judgment this prophet brought before the altar, threw out his hand, pointed at him, and commanded he be arrested. Upon doing so, Jeroboam's hand was withered to the point he couldn't draw it back to himself.

Stricken with fear, King Jeroboam withdrew his command and called out to the prophet, asking him to call upon his God that his hand might be restored to good health. The prophet obliged King Jeroboam and his hand was instantly restored.

King Jeroboam offered the prophet the opportunity to come to his home and refresh himself that he may provide him with a reward for what he'd done, but the prophet refused his invitation. He told King Jeroboam he wouldn't enter his home even if the king offered him half his house in return for doing so because the Lord had told him not to.

God had, as you are beginning to see, given the prophet precise directions as to what he was to do. He had been told to go to the altar in Bethel, announce the prophecy of judgment the Lord had given him, then leave in a direction other than the one he'd entered the city from without receiving any food or drink.

The commands of the Lord the unknown prophet had received had been obeyed perfectly, bringing him divine protection from the wrath of King Jeroboam, which is a good lesson for us all to learn.

When we obey the Word of God, we are blessed, loved, and protected by our Heavenly Father, but what happens when we disobey? Sadly, there is more to the story of this unknown prophet of God than I have told you to this point.

Upon his departure, an old prophet of Bethel heard of the unknown prophet's confrontation with King Jeroboam and sought to have an audience with him. He ordered his sons to prepare his donkey for riding and quickly rode off in pursuit of the unknown prophet.

He encountered him sitting beneath an oak tree outside Bethel and asked him."Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah?" The unknown prophet acknowledged himself as the man the old prophet was looking for, leading the old prophet to invite him to return to Bethel and dine with him.

The unknown prophet told the old prophet, "I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest."

At this point, the unknown prophet was still acting in obedience to God, refusing to disobey the instructions he'd been given, but there was someone invisible sneaking about in the shadows, listening in on their conversation, who was seeking to lead the unknown prophet astray. Who was this invisible lion seeking to devour the unknown prophet? Satan, of course.

The old prophet fell victim to Satanic suggestion and immediately lied to the unknown prophet, telling him he also was a prophet of God who'd been told by God to bring him back to Bethel and dine with him.

In spite of the fact the unknown prophet had been told by God Himself not to do so, he was led astray by the old prophet's lie and returned to Bethel where he ate and dined with him. He surely should have known better than to do so, but he didn't!

Was the old prophet in this story a false prophet? It's hard to tell, but the Scriptures indicate the Lord spoke to him as they dined together and gave him a message of judgment to give the unknown prophet for his disobedience. This indicates to me the old prophet was likely a man of God who had momentarily slipped into sin as we all sometimes do.

Suddenly, the unknown prophet, who only a short time earlier had gone to deliver a message of divine judgment concerning King Jeroboam's idolatry, was himself about to receive one, the result of his own disobedience to God! Amazing, huh?

The old prophet said to the unknown prophet, "Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers."

At the end of dinner, the unknown prophet rode out of town on his donkey where the Bible tells us a lion attacked him and killed him by the roadside, leaving his carcass intact and lying there for all to see.

The moral of the story

This story from the Bible is very illustrative of our daily Christian lives, isn't it? We know we are to obey what the Lord has told us to do, which is revealed to us through the Bible, but we often don't. Why? Because we fall victim to the invisible lion who is seeking to destroy us as well, Satan.

Who does Satan most often use to lead us away from the will of God? Other people, of course! Much like the unknown prophet fell victim to the old prophet's lie, we often value the wisdom of men above the wisdom of God. What a terrible mistake!

As we can see from this story, the lion who seeks to devour us, Satan, is always standing by awaiting his opportunity to destroy us and will do so if presented with the opportunity! He will often lead us away from the will of God himself by sending us evil thoughts, but he will also send others before us who will act as his agents seeking to lead us astray. As such, we have to constantly be on our toes, especially in these last days when there are many lions hiding in our lives.

The moral of this story is clear. We are to serve the Lord in obedience, fully realizing the devil is looking to destroy us at every turn. Whenever we're presented with the option of choosing the wisdom of God as revealed to us through the Bible or choosing the wisdom of man, we should opt for the truths presented in the Bible. To do anything other than that is to ride out to be eaten by the lion!

1st Peter 5:8: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Praise be to the Lord who teaches us all truth through His Holy Word. Amen!