But He Lied to Him

In 1 Kings 13, God was displeased with King Jeroboam’s changes to the people's religious practices. God sent one of His prophets, simply called “the man of God,” to condemn Jeroboam for his unauthorized activities. After delivering God’s message, the man of God departed without eating or drinking, and began his trip home by a different route than he came. This also was God’s command to him (1 Kings 13:9-10). He would have returned home safely and continued serving the Lord had it not been for an old prophet who decided to lie to him.

The old prophet caught up to the man of God and invited him to his house for dinner. Initially, the man of God obediently refused. But then, the old prophet said, “I also am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” 1 Kings 13:18 then clarifies, “But he lied to him.” Convinced by the lie, the man of God disobeyed the word God had given him, and because of his disobedience, he died on the way back home thereafter (1 Kings 13:20-24).

God expected His man to obey His word no matter what else he might hear along the way. Some today claim to have divine messages that contradict what is written in the Scriptures. God warns us through the apostle Paul in Galatians 1:8, saying, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” God is not delivering other messages, and He does not contradict Himself from one day to the next. Remember the God you serve, do not listen to lies, and remain obedient that you may live to God forever.