13:18,19: "And he said to him, 'I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.' ' But he lied to him.
So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water."
This story always makes me sad...
The man of God bravely started out doing everything God told him to, even talking to the altar in King Jeroboam's hearing. “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD...” How silly he must have felt!
When the king rebelled and his hand dried up, the man of God restored it. Then refused to accept the king’s reward for the feat because he wanted to obey God’s orders: “Do not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.” Pretty clear.
But then who tripped him up? An old prophet! Someone you would least expect. We want to believe the elderly (and especially the seemingly godly elderly) are innocent of guile. But not in this case. The old prophet told the man of God that an angel from the LORD gave him a special message to disregard the previous orders. He lied. And the man of God fell for it. And fell in death to a lion later that day.
We can be too easily swayed.
Lord, give us discernment to know when to believe what others are telling us, and when to reject it. The more we know your Word, the less likely we’ll be deceived. Keep us grounded in believing your Word!
