THE MAN OF GOD: OBEDIENCE IS NOT OPTIONAL

Lesson 10 for the 4th of

December, 2010

“Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the supporting terraces and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labour force of the house of Joseph.About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give you ten tribes. But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe"…Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon's death”

1 Kings, 11: 27-32, 40J E R O B O A M

Was he obedient or did he yield

to temptation?

GOD’S ORDER• “If you do whatever I command

you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes, by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you” (1 Kings, 11: 38)

TEMPTATION• “And Jeroboam said in his heart,

"Now the kingdom may return to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, the then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah” (1 Kings, 12: 26-27)

J E R O B O A M

“In arranging this transfer, Jeroboam thought to appeal to the imagination of the Israelites by setting before them some visible representation to symbolize the presence of the invisible God. Accordingly he caused to be made two calves of gold, and these were placed within shrines at the appointed centers of worship. In this effort to represent the Deity, Jeroboam violated the plain command of Jehovah: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.”” (Exodus 20: 4, 5)”

E.G.W. (Prophets and Kings, cp. 7, page 100)

JEROBOAM’S DISOBEDIENCE

Are innovations in worship good? How could some

innovations turn us from clear divine orders?

THE MAN OF GOD, A FAITHFUL MESSENGERGod sent a prophet to the tribe of Judah with this prophecy to condemn Jeroboam’s idolatry:

“"O 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 now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.'" And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the LORD has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out."” (1 Kings, 13: 2-3)

The altar broke to prove the fulfilment of the prophecy. Three centuries later Josiah desecrated the temple by burning human bones on it.

The man of God confirmed his prophecy by asking God to heal the king’s withered hand as a sign.

THE MAN OF GOD, A FAITHFUL MESSENGER

Was he obedient or did he yield

to temptation?

GOD’S ORDER• “For so it was

commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying: `You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.'” (1 Kings, 13: 9)

TEMPTATION• “Then the king said to

the man of God: "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward."” (1 Kings, 13: 7)

THE MAN OF GOD, A FAITHFUL MESSENGER

THE OBEDIENCE OF THE MAN OF GOD“But the man of God said to the king: "If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place."” (1 Kings, 13: 8)

“King’s offer wasn’t an act of gratitude, but it was premeditated. If the prophet had accepted the king’s gift and hospitality, the people would have understood that he was diminishing the king’s behaviour. That would have destroyed the solemn impression that the prophet had left. That would also have left an unfavourable impression of his character and mission.

The clear refusal to receive the king’s gift gave the prophet and advantage and deeply impressed the king and the people” (SDA Bible Commentary, on 1 Kings, 13: 8)

Our obedience must not be conditional on any offered gift.

We must do right because our duty is to obey God without expecting anything in return.

Was he obedient or did he yield

to temptation?

GOD’S ORDER• “For I have been told by

the word of the Lord: `You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.'”(1 Kings, 13: 17)

TEMPTATION• “The old prophet

answered: "I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'”(1 Kings, 13: 18)

THE MAN OF GOD, AN UNFAITHFUL MESSENGER

“So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water” (1 Kings, 13: 19)

This man stood firm before temptation when he was in problems with the king Jeroboam.

Now that he is relaxed (and resting before his mission is over) he yields to temptation.

The more comfortable and calm we are, the subtler the temptations and the easier to yield to them.

The way temptations are introduced to us change more than the temptations themselves.

THE DISOBEDIENCE OF THE MAN OF GOD

THE DISOBEDIENCE OF THE MAN OF GOD

Our disobedience may not always imply an immediate condemnation by God, but in this case the man of God suffered the consequences of his disobedience immediately.

We can understand that the man of God’s death was a divine order because the lion only attacked him, without killing the donkey and staying next to his body without eating it.

LIVING BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

The old lying prophet wanted to live between two worlds: the present one and the coming one.

On the one hand, he wanted to do his will and it didn’t matter if he had to transgress God’s commandments if it was necessary. He could then get the best things in this world.

On the other hand, he wanted to be blessed by God and guarantee a place in the coming world. A clear proof of that is that he asked to be buried with the man of God, so his bones would not be touched when Josiah would destroy the altar (2 Kings, 23: 15-18). He was declaring that he believed the fulfilment of the prophet’s words by saying that.

LIVING BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

People who have a divided heart are stumbling stone in Church because they look like really religious people, but they turn believers from true obedience.

Let’s study the Bible and have a personal communion with God so we can stay firm when those false teachers present their untrue teachings.

“Our first work is with our own hearts. The true principles of reform should be practiced. The heart must be converted and sanctified else we have no connection with Christ. While our hearts are divided, we shall never, never be fitted for usefulness in this life or for the future life. As intelligent beings, we need to sit down and think whether we are really seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. The very best thing we can do is to think soberly and candidly whether we desire to put forth the effort necessary to obtain the Christian hope and secure the Christian’s heaven. If through the grace of Christ we decide that we do, the next question is: What is there that I must cut away from my life in order that I shall not stumble?”

E.G.W. (This day with God, February 9)