June 14, 2014 - Saturday

Start Time: 6:01 A.M.

End Time: 6:32 A.M.

Title: The Man of God from Judah

Scripture: 1 Kings 13:1 – 33

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’” That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”  When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back.  Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord.  Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.  The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.”  But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel

NOTES:

Ø God will split whatever altar we have that does not belong to Him!  This altar symbolizes other things that we priorities in life aside from God.  This could be our money, our work, our relationships, our dreams, etc.  There are laws God instructed to the Israelites to do with specific instructions but because of fear Jeroboam, put up an altar near their place so people can offer their sacrifices there instead of going to Jerusalem where God instructed them to offer their sacrifices to God.  This diverts the people’s attention and worship to our Lord.  The worst part is, Jeroboam, built not only an altar but idols to whom the people can offer their worship or their offerings, which is a crucial sin to God.  So God divides and split these altars.  It’s symbolic as well, showing God will break whatever idol we serve into two…

Ø God protects the man who carries His message to the people!  When Jeroboam heard the message of the Man of God, he wants him seized yet God intervened and caused his hand to shrivel up that instead of his focus was to capture the man of God, he instead talked to the man of God and requested for an intercession for his arm.  The man did so and his arm came back and Jeroboam became good to the man and offering him a meal, which the man of God refused as God instructed.

Ø No matter how good or tempting the offer is, always stick to God’s instructions!  The man of God was offered a meal and a gift by the King of the 10 tribes, Jeroboam, yet he stood still on the word of God to Him, which is to never eat or drink or return by the way he came from.  Complete obedience is the key even to the little details that God personally said so.

   

→  Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king.  Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” “I am,” he replied.  So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”  The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. I have been told by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”  The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.) So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.  While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’” When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.

NOTES:

Ø Be careful to fulfill God’s instructions and not to be swayed by words of people pretending to be of God’s.  During our obedience to God, the enemy will find a way to deceive us and tempt us to do what the Lord said NOT to do so.  The enemy will pretend and try to convince you to do the exact opposite of what God has said You should do.  It is important to always test the spirit and make sure to consult and find guidance from God at all times.

Ø Disobedience has its consequence.  When God has instructed us to do something, it is a must to obey it to its very little detail.  Make sure not to be deceived and not allow the enemy to have a chance to pitch in his offer.  And if the enemy did give his pitch, make sure to test the spirit and ask God’s counsel for the devil is a liar and a deceiver.

→ When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who defied the word of the Lord. The Lord has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the Lord had warned him.” The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so.  Then he went out and found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey.  So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, “Alas, my brother!”  After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the message he declared by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”  Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places.  This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.

NOTES:

Ø God warns us of the danger we get ourselves into but in the end it is our own decisions if we want to listen or not.  God sent the man of God from Judah as a warning to Jeroboam, but still he did not change his ways and continued to do din before the Lord.  He appointed priests for the altars he built and this sin was the downfall of his house.  Many times it is our stubbornness and unwillingness to listen to God that cause our downfall in life.  So make sure to have open ears for the Lord’s message.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, great and mighty God.  Thank You because You always warn us when things aren’t going right and we are falling apart.  You give us signs and send us messages to ensure that we are aware that we are leading into our destruction.  Lord, help me to have open ears to Your message.  Let me have an open heart to accept Your words even if my humanly heart does not want to.  Do not allow me Lord to pursue my own desire but align my heart’s desires to Yours.  You know my present situation and I may have a current conflicting issue with my heart and Your word, Lord remove this desire if it’s not according to Your will.  Let my desires be aligned to Your plans.  For I would rather have Your plan in my life than my own because I know Your love is better than life.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!