THE SEDUCTION OF THE MAN OF GOD
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come" (2 Timothy 3:1) "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,deceiving, and being deceived" (2 Timothy 3:13)
In the story of this text, God gives a prophet a warning that meant life or death. God's fore-knowledge was intended to preserve life. When God gives a word of knowledge concerning the death of a believer, or some other imminent death, it is because He has a plan in it. He wants the person to escape death, or to be prepared to face heaven. He desires that the church avail themselves of this persons giftings before they depart to be with the Lord. It may be that you've loved the ministry and intended to invite the individual as a special speaker, but have postponed your invitation.
It is a protection for us all as believers that the Lord God is omniscient, and that as we seek His face, at times he reveals those situations which would seek to endanger or shorten our life-span. Some churches have had murders and suicides occur on the grounds of the church, or on out-reaches. Though many churches today have chosen to disregard Pentecost as the model by which to plant their church, yet God in His mercy gives confirming signs through others. Couldn't a prophet or prophetess of God have given a word from the Lord which could have prevented action from being taken to found such a ministry? Or afterward have warned people from disregarding the New Testament scriptural directives concerning planting churches with a prophetic word? Of course! Don't quench prophecies.
Here's an example of a false shepherd and the tragic occurances at his church in New York many years ago. In this case, the police involvment in the case was certainly a warning to "the faithful," who attended church in that place. If your house of worship comes under police investigation, seek the Lord concerning it sooner rather than later. People frequently excuse away impressions which come to them in the spiritual realm, for a number of reasons. It can be intimidating if the pastor learns of your concern and warns people about you! It is difficult to leave a place where you've attended for years, and invested your tithe and offering dollar, and to find a new place of worship and new friends. Just tell yourelf that situations of this sort don't get easier, and can become more dangerous in time. By the time it gains the coverage of the news media, the die is usually cast. The New Testament warns that in the end times there will be those "sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you. " (2 Pet. 2:13)
This story which took place in New York, is similar to that of the Jim Jones cult. A woman whose sister became involved in the Jim Jones cult, was warned of God and she left prior to the holocaust which occurred there.
A New York native named LeGrand was arrested on charges of kidnapping , assault, and firearms possession in 1965. Three years later, police accused him of kidnapping and assault of a 23-year-old woman. Neither case was prosecuted, but in 1975, LeGrand was convicted of bribery and sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl.LeGrand had organized St. John's Pentecostal Church of Our Lord a decade earlier, putting down roots in the Crown Heights district of Brooklyn. Church members Gladys Stewart, 16, and her sister Yvonne, 18, testified for the prosecution of LeGrand, but were missing when the D.A. sought to use their testimony in the later case.
State police were confident that Devernon LeGrand had murdered a dozen or more victims, dumping some of them in Briscoe Lake. In May 1976, LeGrand was indicted on four counts of murder, including the Stewarts and two of his wives, slain in 1963 and 1970, respectively. The "reverend's" son, 26-year-old Steven LeGrand, was also charged with murdering the Stewart sisters, plus two men employed by his father as pimps. Father and son were convicted together in the Stewart case, on May 7, 1977, and both drew prison terms of 25 years to life. This is only one example of a serious situation that God could have sent prophets into to expose it, saying to the prophet "Prophesy against the false shepherd in this place, warn others to flee and don't stay for the potluck after the service." In this way, innocent people could have been spared or harm prevented from happening to believers.
The following story is an excellent example of how a prophetic word from the Lord can preserve or save ones life, when heeded or acted upon. Ignoring the voice of the Lord is a dangerous thing to do. But prophetic words of this sort make people "nervous!" Individuals come to the prophet with a certain "Tell me something good" attitude! Following a perplexing prophecy of this sort, you should be aware that demonic spirits will even use your best friends or close relatives to put thoughts in your mind, like: He's just trying to intimate you! You don't have to listen to that! The spirit of death was stalking the prophet of God whom the Lord used to prophesy at Bethel, in this story. The mission was a difficult one. But the Lord observed by his omniscience that the man was being set up in such and such a way to die in a certain way on a specific date. If the man obeyed the word of the Lord, he would be "another stronger than the strongman spirit," and would be able to take the keys of death and lock out the spirit of death which was on assignment to take him life away.
In this case, the recipient allowed himself to be dissuaded by another prophet, who enticed his to be disobedient to the word of the Lord. In doing this foolish act, he came into agreement with the spirit of death. Through his disobedience, he removed himself from the protective huppah of God's covering, and his life was taken. Some of you have lived God's abundant life, and prolonged your days, and the pleasure of the Lord has prospered, because you have not been disobedient, and have guarded the gates of life and death. Some of you need to learn how to do this, and God is going to prosper you with long life and show you His salvation, as you allow Him to be Lord of all!
Scriptural Text: 1 Kings 13:11-34
THE PROPHECY AGAINST THE IDOLATROUS WORSHIP AT BETHEL
13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
God's timing is perfect. When the Lord instructs us to do a thing at a certain time, it matters a lot if you decide to take the initiative to postpone the directive. For here we discover, that on the very day that the altar at Bethel was dedicated, a prophet from Judah, the center of true worship, came forth and cried out a prophecy against the defiling of the worship of Yahweh, and the acts of Jereboam. (1 Kings 13:1-5) We are not told the identity of this courageous and anointed man of God. He had to travel a considerable distance to obey the word of the Lord, and to arrive at the precise moment that Jereboam stood at the altar to burn incense.
At this time as Jereboam stood at the incense altar, he'd made himself a high priest. How did he get to this place in the first place? Years prior to this, the Prophet Ahaijah had prophesied by the word of the Lord to Jereboam, that the 10 northern tribes would be given to him, but 2 would be reserved for Solomon's son. When Solomon learned of this, he'd tried to kill Jereboam, but Jereboam fled to Egypt. On Solomon's death Jereboam won the allegiance of the ten tribes promised him, and established the splintered off northern kingdom which took the name of Israel. Jereboam fortified Israel's borders.
According to Old Testament law, all Israelites were to travel to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. To prevent this, Jereboam established idolatrous alternative worship centers at Dan and Bethel. He supplied golden calves, altars for sacrifice, and a priesthood made up of the families of Aaron. He also established festivals which paralleled those prescribed in the Old Testament, but these were held on different dates. This counterfeit religious system was perpetuated by succeeding kings of Israel. Because of this, Jereboam is referred to in scripture as "The man who made Israel to sin."
In mid-december 2004, the Crystal Cathedral, which can seat nearly 2,900 in its sanctuary, experienced the tragic suicide of the churches worship leader. Police SWAT teams searched the catacomb of offices in the Crystal Cathedral complex, looking for the church employee hiding there, who earlier in the day fired shots in the Orange County facility founded by televangelist Dr. Robert Schuller. In the end, the man turned the gun on himself.
Could God have send a prophet there? Some prophets would say: I only prophesy at Pentecostal churches. The prophet who went to Bethel, went to an alternative worship center, much different than any that he was accustomed to, and one that he must have abhorred!
13:2 And he (the old Prophet) cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
The prophet of God denounces the idolatrous system, announcing the inevitable overthrow of the idolatrous center of defiled worship.
13:3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This [is] the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that [are] upon it shall be poured out.
He attested to his divine mission by signs upon the altar itself in sight of the eyes of the hardened King, and in giving a sign--a miracle to prove that the prophecy would be fulfilled in it's season. According to 2 Kings 23:15-20, this prophecy was literally fulfilled. Ashes shall be poured out, referred to the ashes from the far of the burned sacrificial animals.
13:4 When the king heard what the prophet cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam, standing at the altar, extended his hand and ordered, "Seize him!" The hand he had extended shriveled up and he could not pull it back.
The king, enraged at this pronouncement, stretched his hand toward the prophet, commanding that he be seized or apprehended. When he did so, God struck his hand with a paralysis, so that he could not bring it in again. The king sought the intercession of the prophet for the restoration of his hand, and this was granted, with his hand being healed so that he was again able to use it as before.
13:5 The altar split open and the ashes fell from the altar to the ground, in fulfillment of the sign the prophet had announced with the Lord�s authority.
The altar rent or clave in two, so that the ashes from the sacrifice were poured out, as a sign of God's abhorrance of the idolatry there.
13:6 The king pled with the prophet, "Seek the favor of the Lord your God and pray for me, so my hand may be restored." So the prophet sought the Lord�s favor and the king�s hand was restored to its former condition.
Both miracles were wrought to show that Yahweh is God and Jerusalem the center of true religion.
The face of God here, means to entreat God's divine favor. He says "Thy God," for Jereboam knew that this was not his God, because he has placed himself in the position of those who embrace polygamy.
13:7 The king then said to the prophet, "Come home with me and have something to eat. I�d like to give a present."
"Come and be one of my priest and I will give you a proper salary!"
13:8 But the prophet said to the king, "Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I could not go with you and eat and drink in this place.
13:9 For the Lord gave me strict orders, "Do not eat or drink there and do not go home the way you came."
To manifest His hatred of idolatry, and to show that the Bethelites were detestable to Him, the Lord forbid the prophet to even eat here in the region. "Have no fellowship with the unfruitfulworks of darkness, but rather reprove them." The Prophet was not to return the way that he came. This was also a protection for him. Although this mission was a very serious one, God was watching over eacch and every possible area of concern.
13:10 So he started back on another road; he did not travel back on the same road he had taken to Bethel.
God did not make it convenient for the old prophet, who was required to fast through the entire ordeal probably prior to the prophesy he gave at Bethel, but certainly afterward, and until he returned to his home country of Judah. The ministry was a difficult one. He was an old man. It was a considerable way from home, being in a separate nation, than his native Judah. He was not to return by the way he came, which would have been more familiar to him.
THE SEDUCTION OF THE PROPHET OF GOD
13:11 Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel. When his sons came home, they told their father everything the prophet had done in Bethel that day and all the words he had spoken to the king.
An old prophet...Possibly one who had been a true prophet at one time, but now obviously has fallen from his own stedfastness. His sons knew of the actions of the Prophet who prophesied against the altar in Bethel, and they related the entire story to him. He commanded his sons to saddle a donkey for him that he might go after the Prophet of Judah. When he found him, he asked his identity, saying "Are you the man of God that came from Judah?" He said: "I AM." Then he said to him: Come home with me and eat bread!"
God had commanded the Prophet of Judah "not to eat nor drink in this place." The Prophet of God, having resisted the invitations of Jereboam, God's prophet now set out on a different road to return to Judah. He had good intentions. But temptation meets him here on the road.
13:12 Their father asked them, "Which road did he take?" His sons showed him the road the prophet from Judah had taken.
13:13 He then told his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." When they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it and 14) took off after the prophet, whom he found sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, "Are you the prophet from Judah?� He answered, "Yes, I am."
13:15 He then said to him, "Come home with me and eat something." But he replied, "I can�t go back with you or eat and drink with you in this place. For the Lord gave me strict orders, "Do not eat or drink there; do not go back the way you came." The old prophet then said, "I too am a prophet like you. An angel told me with the Lord�s authority, "Bring him back with you to your house so he can eat and drink." But he was lying to him. So the prophet went back with him and ate and drank in his house.
He permitted himself to be imposed upon, rather than completing the fulfillment of God's intended purpose that he pronounce the prophecy and leave this sinful and idolatrous place and return to Judah.
13:20 While they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke through the old prophet 21) and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, �This is what the Lord says, "You have rebelled against the Lord and have not obeyed the command which the Lord your God gave you."
13:22 You went back and ate and drank in this place, even though he said to you, "Do not eat or drink there." Therefore your corpse will not be buried in your ancestral tomb."
The word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back! It's an unusual case, that God would give a true word to a man who was a deceiver of this sort. How often those of ones own family and friends will arise and bring back a word of exortation which an individual has themselve previously spoken.
13:23 When the prophet from Judah finished his meal, the old prophet saddled his visitor�s donkey for him.
13:24 As the prophet from Judah was traveling, a lion attacked him on the road and killed him. His corpse was lying on the road, and the donkey and the lion just stood there beside it.
By permitting himself to be seduced by the smoothe words of the prophet, the old prophet was destroyed. This very individual whom God entrusted with a prophetic word for Bethel, and confirmed with so many miracles, sadly lacked the spiritual discernment to stay on task or on course. Judgment begins at the house of God.
13:25 Some men came by and saw the corpse lying in the road with the lion standing beside it. They went and reported what they had seen in the city where the old prophet lived.
13:26 When the old prophet who had invited him to his house heard the news, he said, "It is the prophet who rebelled against the Lord. The Lord delivered him over to the lion and it ripped him up and killed him, just as the Lord warned him."
13:27 He told his sons, "Saddle my donkey," and they did so.
13:28 He went and found the corpse lying in the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside it; the lion had neither eaten the corpse nor attacked the donkey.
Miraculously the lion had not devoured his prey nor attacked the donkey. Both lion and donkey stand as guardians of the fallen prophet. This attested to the fact that this was not some natural misfortune, but was in actuality a judgment of God.
13:29 The old prophet picked up the corpse of the prophet, put it on the donkey, and brought it back. The old prophet then entered the city to mourn him and to bury him.
13:30 He put the corpse into his own tomb, and they mourned over him, saying, �Ah, my brother!�
13:31 After he buried him, he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the tomb where the prophet is buried; put my bones right beside his bones, 32) for the prophecy he announced with the Lord�s authority against the altar in Bethel and against all the temples on the high places in the cities of the north will certainly be fulfilled."
The man who was responsible for leading him astray, recognized publically that the old prophet was disobedient to God, and for this reason he had died. He went out to pick up the old prophet's body, and brought him back to mourn and bury him. The lamentation was as they say: Short and sweet!" They mourned, calling him "My brother!" There are all kinds of people in the body of Mashiach/Christ, including those who will steer you wrong. This is why you need to know the Lord personally for yourself and your own life. It's not enough to sit under the ministry of another, to listen to him pray, preach, and to "hear from God for you! The living prophet asked to be buried in the old man's sepulchre, when he died.
All of this did not serve to lead Jereboam to conversion from his counterfeit and idolatrous worship to the true and living God. He did not turn from his evil way, but continued to make high priests which attended the counterfeit at Dan and Bethel, from the people of Israel.
Tom Campbell is director of Breakthrough Intl. in Washington state. He is married to Alana Campbell and they are the parents of six sons and daughter.