1 Kings 13 - A Prophet Confronts Jeroboam | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church
The Bible by David Alley · David Alley
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (content.rss.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
In this video listen to 1 Kings Chapter 13, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.
In 1 Kings Chapter 13 an unnamed man of God confronts Jeroboam at Bethel. HIs name was Jadon according to Josephus. He rebukes Jeroboam for starting a new religion and predicts a coming King Josiah who will take action against the northern nation. Josiah wasn’t going to reign for almost three hundred years, so this is a true prophecy. The distance from Bethel to Jerusalem on Google maps is just 19.6 kilometres, so the man of God only had a short distance to travel.
The Lord told him to return home immediately, not to eat or drink, and to return a different way. Yet another “old prophet” says the Lord commanded him to stop for a meal. He assumes the other man has a true prophecy, stops for a meal and then is killed by a lion on the way home.
This must be one of the strangest stories in the Bible. A lion and the donkey are standing over the dead body of an unnamed prophet who said what God said to say, but didn’t do what God said to do. The lion is a symbol of God’s strength and the donkey a symbol of service and submission, plus peace. Is this an enacted prophecy? 1 Thess 5:20-21 it says to “test every prophecy”.
Once you know that you have a true word from God, you can cling to it. People are wrong sometimes, so testing is important, and not trusting any word that comes along, but waiting for it to be confirmed by Christ. In any case the word of God is trustworthy and not to be overruled by online words, facebook words, or other words.