YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT (1 KINGS 13)
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When Bill Gates' dad asked Warren Buffett and Gates what the most important factor for their success was, they both gave the same answer, “focus.” Bill Gates' focus was depicted in a book (The Innovators) and by Gates' fellow Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Allen had many ideas and passions, but Gates was a serial obsessor.
“Where I was curious to study everything in sight, Bill would focus on one task at a time with total discipline,” said Allen. “You could see it when he programmed. He would sit with a marker clenched in his mouth, tapping his feet and rocking; impervious to distraction.”
Steve Jobs was the same way; he was relentlessly focused on attacking problems searching for the best answer. Apple's founding marketing philosophy had three main tenets the second of which is focus: “In order to do a good job of those things we decide to do we must eliminate all of the unimportant opportunities,” Jobs said.
Focus was key for Buffett as well, Alice Schroeder writes: "He ruled out paying attention to almost anything but business—art, literature, science, travel, architecture—so that he could focus on his passion."
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/12/27/warren-buffett-steve-jobs-and-bill-gates-agree-thi.aspx
After King David’s death his kingdom broke into the southern kingdom ruled by his grandson Rehoboam and the northern kingdom ruled by the rival king Jeroboam. On the day that Jeroboam inaugurated a big feast to create a rival religious center that would turn the Israelites from God and Jerusalem forever (1 Kings 12:33), an audacious and anonymous man of God from faraway Judah (v 12) with a stern message of judgment and punishment from God traveled to the northern capital of Bethel to break up the party.
What makes one a faithful servant of God? How would you measure obedience? Why is it possible for a person to be disqualified from ministry?
Speak and Not Surrender the Truth
13 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. 2 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.’” 3 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.” 4 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. 5 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. 6 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.
Bishop Latimer once preached a sermon before King Henry VIII that greatly offended his royal auditor by its plainness. The King ordered him to preach again the next Sunday and to make public apology for his offense. The Bishop ascended the pulpit and read his text, and thus began his sermon: “Hugh Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou art this day to speak? To the high and mighty Monarch, the King’s most excellent Majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offendest. Therefore take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But then, consider well, Hugh! Dost thou not know from whom thou comest—upon whose message thou art sent? Even by the great and mighty God, who is all-present and beholdeth all thy ways, and who is able to cast thy soul into hell! Therefore take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully.”
And so beginning, the bishop preached over again, but with increased energy, the selfsame sermon he had preached the week before: the fear of God delivered him from the fear of man. (Illustrations of Bible Truths # 523)
I love the first verse’s “behold” (KJV), which is the only time it appears as the first word in any chapter in the historical books, but it is my type of context-less introduction. It perfectly captured the surprising, startling and shocking sight of the man of God’s daring and darting presence before the king just as Jeroboam was hell-bent “TO make an offering/TO burn incense” (infinitve) that day. The prophet’s action – “cried + out (v 2, called out)” is unique to him in the Bible. It did not make sense for the king to give the first imperative or order in the chapter – “seize” (v 4) – and tried to capture the prophet with his bare hands, but the prophet so infuriated the king that, despite the availability of guards, the king stretched out his hand against the prophet (v 4). Immediately his hand had lost its flexibility, function and feeling.
Not only did the king suffer but the altar was split open and the ashes poured out, just as the prophet had predicted (v 3). The king’s second command or Hebrew imperative – intercede (v 6) - is worth taking note. It is translated as sick (Gen 48:1), besought (Ex 32:11), laid (Deut 29:22), weak (Judg 16:7), make supplication (1 Sam 13:12), diseased (1 Kings 15:23), wounded (1 Kings 22:34), infirmity (Ps 77:10), grief (Isa 53:10), travail (Jer 4:31), pain (Jer 12:13) and beseech (Mal 1:9). because the verb “intercede” is to plead with pain, perseverance and passion.
The first “restored” in verse 6 is a jussive (indirect imperative in Hebrew for the third person) The prophet’s “intercede/besought” both times in verse 6 is an emphatic “piel” form. Readers might be surprised to know that the verb “pray” is only one of its few cases of Hebrew imperatives in the Bible (1 Sam 12:19, Jer 37:3, 42:20), all requests to prophets, and this is the only time the humbling “pray for me” is uttered in the Bible. So we see a brave and bizarre prophet who blindsided and bothered a king with his blatant and brazen act.
Shoulder and Not Squander the Task
7 The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.” 8 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. 9 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.’” 10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
A teenage boy told his parents he was going to run away from home. “Listen,” he said, “I’m leaving home. There is nothing you can do to stop me. I want excitement, adventure, beautiful women, money, and fun. I’ll never find it here, so I’m leaving. Just don’t try to stop me!”
As the teenager headed for the door, his father leaped up and ran toward him. “Dad,” the boy said firmly, “you heard what I said. Don’t try to stop me. I’m going!”
“Who’s trying to stop you?” answered the father, “I’m going with you!”
The king stopped at nothing to pacify and placate the man of God. Jeroboam’s next two imperatives were pleasant and persuasive. The NIV unfortunately missed the second imperative “refresh yourself” (KJV), also translated as comfort (Gen 18:5), hold up (Ps 18:35), strengthen (Ps 20:2) and establish (Isa 9:7). The prophet had expanded a lot of energy knocking some sense into the king. It was a big day and a bustling event with a bemusing outcome. Many priests of the high places were there (1 Kings 12:33).
The verb “give” is a forceful cohortative “let me give” and the suspicious “reward” occurs first time in the Bible, as it is more than a gift meant to whitewash his idolatrous sin, weaken the prophet’s resolve and win over the prophet. to make nice and to win over with the prophet, not to mention gratitude for healing him.
The prophet did not blink in the enemy’s camp. He refused to be a royal companion, counsel or cleric. Why? Because the Lord gave him three imperatives, forbidding him to do three things, according to the man of God: eat, drink or return (v 9). Furthermore, the prophet had been merciful, magnanimous and moral to heal the king, who had shown no sign of remorse, repentance or reassurance to the prophet.
The verb “return” (v 9) occurs an astonishing record-breaking and jaw-dropping 15 times in the chapter, also translated as pull it in again (v 4), restored (v 6), turn again (v 9), returned (v 10), bring back (v 18) went back (v 18), come back (v 19) and again (v 33).The point is to not to relax, regret or reframe the task, but to follow the Lord thoroughly.
Sit and Not Sabotage the Test
11 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. 12 Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13 So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 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. 15 So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.” 16 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. 17 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.’”
18 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.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house. 20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 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. 22 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.’”
23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24 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. 25 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.
26 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.” 27 The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so. 28 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. 29 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. 30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, “Alas, my brother!” 31 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. 32 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.”
Here some quotes on “truth” and “lies”:
“If you tell the truth it becomes a part of your past. If you lie, it becomes a part of your future.”
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” (Mark Twain)
“Lying is a disease and truth is a cure.”
“Lies will always be bitter in the end, no matter how sweet you make it at the beginning.”
“Lies are a temporary solution to a permanent problem.”
“It is easy to get away with lying, but the hard part is to live with those lies.” (Mitt Ray)
“Speak the truth, even if you voice shakes.”
“Honesty is more important than hardworking.” (Victor Yap)
“Don’t lie to people who trust you, and don’t trust people who lie to you.”
“Hurt me with the truth, but never comfort me with a lie.”
The verb “told” (v 11) is also translated as number (Gen 15:5), scribe (2 Sam 8:17), count (1 Kings 3:8), declare (Job 15:17), show forth (Ps 9:1) and wondrous (Ps 75:1), so we can imagine the sons of the old prophet counted and recounted the man of God’s admirable, amazing and aggressive “works“(plural – missing in NIV) and words to their father. The mad, meddlesome and mysterious old prophet next commanded (v 11) his sons and rode off without his sons’ company, counsel and coordination, because he was about to do something secretive, sneaky, senseless, selfish and even sinister.
Upon meeting the man of God, the old prophet promptly used his second and third imperative: “come” and “eat” (v 15). Lying (v 16) was preferred to “false statement” because technically and legally comes with intention.. The old prophet set the up the man of God expertly, eloquently and earnestly by claiming he’s a prophet and that an angel spoke to him, plus his speech had an imperative (bring back) and two jussives (indirect imperative): “eat!” and “drink!”
In the end the roles are reversed, with the old prophet doing the crying, as the man of God had cried (compare vv 2, 21). The accusation “defy/rebel” (v 21) occurs 45 times in the Bible, but this is he only time that it is stated “the man of God” and “defy” are placed side by side -“It is the man of God who defied the word of the Lord.” (v 26) In Hebrew it is the “mouth of the Lord,” making it more direct, demanding and disgusting. The three verbs reappear – return, eat and drunk (v 22) – to seal the prophet’s disobedience, distraction and disloyalty. Shaken, sobered and sickened, the man of God saddled up the ass that the old man brought, but he would die far from home. The man of God’s sins “surely found” him out, just as the prophet found him (v 14), a lion “met/found” (v 24) him and last, “found” his carcass (v 28).
The verb “left lying/cast” (vv 24, 25, 28) perfectly illustrates how the Lord had rejected him. It was an extraordinary scene because the lion killed the man but not the donkey and the lion killed for the sake of killing and not eating. The lion and the donkey seemed to be loyal friends to each other and they did not abandon the deceased man of God. Ironically, the old prophet finished the unfinished job by revealing the problem of the man of God (v 26), risking his life to pick up the man of God (v 29) and reiterating the doom of Samaria (v 31).
Conclusion: “Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own.” (Harold Coffin) Sometimes not only does our enemy (the devil tempt us, our friends and family do a good job as well! We need to test the spirits, whether they are of God (1 John 4:1)., because in the latter times some believers shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils (1 Tim 4:1). Do you follow God’s word, follow Christ’s example and follow after righteousness?
