1 Kings 13:23-34 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Kings 13:23-34. As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first. See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Kings 13:23-32 (NIV)
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 thrown down on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
25 Some people who passed by saw the body thrown down 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 thrown down 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, “Oh, 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.”
On verses 23-32: Earlier in verses 21 and 22, the older prophet gives the younger prophet a word from God that the younger prophet has defied God’s command by eating and drinking when God specifically told him not to eat and drink during his trip (v21-22). Notice the younger prophet’s response in verse 23: there is no indication that the younger prophet repented or felt remorse for what he did. It seems like he just got on his donkey and proceeded to go home as if everything was normal. Notice what happens next to the younger prophet: “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.” (v24)
Upon hearing the news of the younger prophet’s death, the older prophet finds his body, buries him in his own tomb and tells his sons to bury him beside the younger prophet. This was the older prophet’s way of identifying with and supporting the prophecy that the younger prophet had spoken earlier (v32). The older prophet might also have done this because he felt partially responsible for the younger prophet’s death.
What can we learn from this? All of us will make mistakes from time to time, but it’s how we respond to those mistakes that is the most important. When we, like the younger prophet, do not repent of our sin and just saddle up and go on our merry way, we give the devil — who is described elsewhere in Scripture as a lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8) — room to attack us and do great damage. So when you sin, be quick to repent. Don’t let unconfessed sin open the door to Satan’s attacks and even greater problems. Protect yourself from the lion’s attacks by repenting quickly of sin and looking to Jesus for forgiveness and protection.
1 Kings 13:33-34 (NIV)
33 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.
34 This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.
On verses 33-34: Highlight those words “Even after this”. Even after God had spoken to Jeroboam and moved powerfully in Jeroboam’s life with signs and wonders (v1-6), Jeroboam “did not change his evil ways” (v33). He continued to appoint anyone and everyone to be priests in the new idolatrous religion he had created. Verse 34 confirms that this failure to change his ways is what led to the downfall and destruction of Jeroboam’s entire house.
What can we learn from this? To a greater extent than the younger prophet who was earlier killed by the lion, Jeroboam’s hardheartedness toward God eventually led not only to his own destruction but also the destruction of Jeroboam’s family. When we persist in sin and refuse to turn to God even after all the mercy and grace God has shown us, we are signing our own death warrant as well as setting up our future generations for much trouble.
If there is unconfessed sin in your life, I encourage you to repent of that sin today. Confess it specifically to God, knowing that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Pray also for God’s protection for yourself and your family in Jesus’ name, knowing that greater is He who is in us (Jesus by His Holy Spirit) than he who is in the world (Satan).
Lord Jesus, thank You that by Your shed blood on the cross I have total forgiveness for every sin. Thank You for Your mercy over my life. Today in Jesus’ name I cut off Satan from harming me in any way. Help me, Lord, to walk in Your ways and obey Your commands, which You give for my protection and my good. Be glorified in me and let Your hedge of protection be built around my life and family. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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