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Sunday, Nov 11, 2007
Training for the Lion (Lion
Training) - Part II
1 Kings 13:1-34
“And behold, a man of God went
from Judah to Bethel by the word
of the Lord. . .” In this
statement we see a man of God; a
man of God who has heard from
God and one who obeyed the Lord.
When we hear and receive the
word of the Lord, we must always
walk in it, not deviating from
it for any reason.
I always give this chapter to
those who desire to give
themselves to the ministry. The
man of God followed his
instructions by going to Bethel
and prophesying against Jeroboam
and the altar that he had
erected. (4) After the prophesy,
King Jeroboam said, “arrest
him!” “Then his hand, which he
stretched out toward him,
withered, so that he could not
pull it back to himself.” (5)
“The altar also was split apart
and the ashes poured out from
the altar, according to the sign
which the man of God had given
by the word of the Lord.” (6)
“Then the king answered and said
to the man of God, Please
entreat the favor of the Lord
your God and pray for me, that
my hand may be restored to me.
So the man of God entreated the
Lord, and the king’s hand was
restored to him, and became as
before.” (7) “Then the king
said to the man of God, come
home with me and refresh
yourself, and I will give you a
reward.” (8) “But the man of
God said to the king, if you
were to give me half your house,
I would not go in with you; nor
would I eat bread nor drink
water in this place.” (9) “For
so it was commanded me by the
word of the Lord, saying, You
shall not eat bread, nor drink
water, nor return by the same
way you came.”
(10) “So he went another way and
did not return by the way he
came to Bethel.”
We see in the above scriptures
that the man of God was obedient
to God in all of his dealings
with the worldly people in this
story. He prophesied just as
the Lord had instructed him and
even refused the king’s
hospitality just as the Lord had
told him. BUT! (11) “Now an old
prophet dwelt in Bethel. . .”
We must always beware of those
who counsel us contrary to the
word of the Lord. Regardless of
their titles or past
accomplishments, we must hear
and do the word of the Lord!
In our story,
the old prophet after
hearing of the deeds of the man
of God from Judah, “. . . Went
after the man of God, and found
him sitting under an oak. . . ,
then he said to him, come home
with me and eat bread. . . I
have been told by the word of
the Lord, you shall not eat
bread nor drink water there, nor
return by going the way you
came.” (18) “He
said, I too am a prophet as you
are, 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.” (He was lying to
him.)
(19) “So he
went back with him, and ate
bread in his house, and drank
water. . . When he (the man of
God from Judah) was gone, a lion
met him on the road and killed
him. . . The lion also stood by
the corpse.”
What does this say to us? When
the Lord speaks to us concerning
any matter, should He change
those instructions, He will tell
you.
We must all go through “lion
training”.
In Christ
Pastor Don |
