Jeroboam and the two prophets

The bulk of today's reading dealt with the reigns of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. But the most compelling excerpt was the story of Jeroboam and the two prophets. Because Jeroboam was leading his entire nation into idolatry, the Lord sent a young prophet to deliver a prophecy regarding his eventual demise. After the Lord made it clear to Jeroboam that the prophet was legit (remember his hand was paralyzed in the pointing position as he signaled for his guards to kill the prophet), he invited him back to the palace for a meal. I suspect Jeroboam hoped to regain favor with the Lord through this prophet, but the prophet had been instructed not to eat or drink anything while in Bethel. He rightly declined the offer.

But then the story gets strange. An older prophet hears of the presence of the younger prophet and his message from the Lord. Though many true believers had relocated to Judah to escape the idolatry of the northern kingdom, this man had remained. He appears to have been a true follower of God because God does deliver messages through him, so we don't know why he was still living in Bethel. Maybe he liked his life there and was content to be a silent worshipper of God. Maybe he had attained a certain amount of status as a real prophet amongst so many pagan priests and was reluctant to move. Maybe seeing the young prophet in action stirred something in himself or perhaps he was envious that God was using someone else as a prophet in his territory. Who knows what motivated him, but he was certainly eager to intercept the young prophet. When he could not convince the prophet to come home with him, he told the man a lie. That lie was believed by the young prophet, resulting in his disobedience and eventual death. The manner in which he died was clearly supernatural, as the lion who killed him stood watch over his body, devouring neither the prophet nor his donkey, until the older prophet could retrieve him for proper burial.

This story is strange because the young prophet was trying to be obedient and the older prophet lied, and yet it was the former who was attacked by the lion. But I think we could drive ourselves crazy with all of the things that don't seem fair to us...things we experience as well as things recorded in Scripture. So we are better served to try and discern the reason for the story's inclusion in the Bible. What is the practical application? I read a great commentary that outlined take-away points from this story for the younger and more mature believer. For the mature believer, the lesson is to be careful not to misdirect a young believer and cause them to disobey what the Lord is leading them to do. Though usually well-meaning (this particular prophet notwithstanding), older believers can impose their own agendas or ideas onto younger believers in an effort to "guide" them, all the while leading them away from where God is leading. And for the younger believer, the lesson is to be wary of advice given by other Christians...particularly when told that the advice is from the Lord. It is wiser to pray for guidance directly from God, though He certainly can and does use His people to speak for Him at times. If the young prophet had stopped to consult the validity of the older prophet's message, he would not have inadvertently fallen into disobedience. But like him, w are usually rushing headlong into our own agendas, rarely slowing down to consider whether or not the course has been set by God. Fortunately for us, the consequences are not typically so dire as they were for the young prophet.

Tomorrow's reading: 1 Kings 15:16-24, 17:1-17; 2 Chron. 16:1-10, 17:1-19

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