1 Kings: Walk Before Me FaithfullySample

There is no obvious hero in this chapter. Jeroboam is bad, as we already know, with his man-made, fake religion. The man of God ends up disobeying God’s word, and thus loses his life. The old prophet is deceptive, lying to the man of God. What is going on in this chapter? 

The prophecies to Jeroboam include a long-term and a short-term prophecy. The long-term prophecy names King Josiah (v. 2), almost three hundred years before his birth – a rare prediction of a person by name. This prophecy, which obviously cannot be tested for a long time, is validated by the shortterm prophecy of the altar being torn down (v. 3). That is fulfilled almost immediately (v. 5). Thus the reader becomes expectant for Josiah’s arrival and reform, though this doesn’t occur for about three centuries. 

The story takes a twist when the old prophet intercepts the man of God and deceives him into returning to eat (v. 18) – which the man of God had twice refused to do because of God’s word to him (vv. 8–10, 16–17). But then the deceiving old prophet prophesies correctly that the man of God will die because of his disobedience (vv. 21–22). The old prophet retrieves the body and buries it (vv. 29–30), thus fulfilling the prophecy that the man of God would not be buried in his ancestral tomb. The account ends with the old prophet affirming that the man of God’s words will still come to pass, but Jeroboam continues to refuse to turn from his evil ways. 

The ‘hero’ of this chapter is the word of God itself. Every word of God is, or will be, fulfilled, regardless of the speaker. No one – not even a king or prophet – can defy the word of God with impunity. So the main lesson is that we are to submit to the word of God in our lives and not think we can get away with disobedience. Jesus exemplified this by refusing Satan’s temptations in the wilderness by quoting and obeying God’s word. 

Many Christians fall for the danger of thinking that since a particular sin in their lives is not incurring God’s obvious judgement, they can continue disobeying God without any consequences. But we will all face Christ’s judgement one day and we disobey God at our peril.

Reflection

When are you tempted to ignore or defy the word of God?