Sincerely Deceived
(1 Kings 13:1-34)
1 Kings 13 is one of the most stirring chapters in the entire Bible! It clearly shows:
(1) How dangerous and lethal deception is.
(2) How important it is to know Yehueh’s truth and not be moved from it.
This chapter focuses on an unnamed prophet of Yehueh who was mightily used by Yehueh in Bethel to denounce Jeroboam’s idolatry and the altar he erected promoting sin.
After a series of amazing events, including a couple of miracles, the sons of a different prophet went and reported to their father what happened and how King Jeroboam wanted the prophet to come home with him, eat and he would also give him a “gift.” The prophet refused all of that on the basis of what he was personally told before arriving:
But the man of Elohim 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. For I was commanded by the word of Yehueh: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel. (1 Ki 13:8-10)
So because he was commanded not to eat bread, drink water or return the way he came to Bethel, he refused to go with the king! What a “test” that was, but he passed with flying colors.
No doubt, the king could have given that prophet a great feast and an expensive gift, but this man of Elohim was not moved by that. He was set on keeping Yehueh’s commands and no amount of money would lead him astray. He was intent on remaining faithful to Yehueh. But the old prophet living in that area, who was informed by his sons, asked them about the road the prophet left on. He aggressively went after him and found him sitting under a tree.
That old prophet LIED to him about an angelic message, which contradicted the command he was given. In 1 Kings 13:18,19 the Bible says this:
The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Elohim: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.) So the man of Yehueh returned with him and ate and drank in his house.
That old prophet intentionally deceived the other minister, who came into his territory. The man who was deceived thought he was OBEYING ELOHIM, but wasn’t! Let me emphasize that again, the man who was deceived thought he was OBEYING YEHUEH, was actually being led into sin! He was completely SINCERE and wanted Yehueh’s will, but was misled by a false message supposedly from Elohim.
The alleged spiritual leader, who came as a faithful servant and friend, gave him dangerous spiritual poison. The MOST DANGEROUS ENEMY he faced was the man who appeared harmless, even more so than the powerful idolatrous king Jeroboam himself!
His greatest DANGER and “test” was now, would he believe or reject the conflicting message? Unfortunately, he believed that lie and went to an early grave because of it. In fact, his acceptance of that false message was actually defying the word of Yehu! He was sincere-but-deceived and that led to what is called defying the word of Yehu… Folks, sincerity is not good enough.
Another amazing thing to ponder is: WHY did the old prophet INTENTIONALLY LIE to the man of God? WHY did he want to ruin and destroy him? WHY did he want him to disobey his God? There is no indication that the two of them ever met before or that he ever did, in any way, anything to harm him. Though it is not crystal clear, it seems like it was over jealousy!
The man of Elohim was doing what the old prophet wanted for himself. After all, Bethel was his territory and he was a prophet too. For the man of Yehueh to come there, even though he was sent by Yehueh, would make that old prophet seem less important to the people living in Bethel.
Furthermore, jealousy and envy are capable of murder and either of them will cause a Christian to not inherit Elohim’s kingdom. The Bible says:
Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? (Prov 27:4)
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus (Yehshua) over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. (Mark 15:9-11)
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of Yehueh. (Gal 5:19-21)
So the wicked old liar actually brought down Yehueh’s prophet, because he wasn’t guarded as he vitally needed to be. Imagine that. That man of Yehueh had only ONE apparent flaw, that was, he somehow didn’t know a conflicting message to Yehueh’s word, cannot also be from Yehueh. That is very important to remember. Yehueh’s word is forever settled. It does not change.
In our day, if a message from a dream, vision, prophecy, experience, testimony, feeling, Koran, etc. contradicts or conflicts with the Bible, we must reject it. If you don’t, though you are Yehueh fearing and sincere, you will suffer spiritually because of it.
Some think in our day that doctrine is not important when the opposite is the truth. The man of Yehueh in 1 Kings 13 was very sincere, but made the mistake of believing the wrong message which he was told was from Yehueh. NOTE: he was told it was from Yehueh, but it wasn’t. Consequently, he died and he was labeled as one who “defied” the word of the Yehu!
We must be guarded and stick like glue to the message of the Bible. Don’t let anyone or anything draw you away, even someone you deeply love. If you do get drawn away, you will be deceived and deception can be deadly. You are battling for eternity. Be very guarded and test everything. As Jesus (Yehshua) said in
Rev. 3:11:
Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
In Deuteronomy 12:28-32, YEHUEH tells His people not to use the heathen/pagan practices of the nations in worship of Him, instead they are to do His commands and to guard them!
May Yehueh help us to examine every corner of our lives and traditions and make sure that they honor the ONE true Elohim, YEHUEH the Almighty. If our traditions originate in paganism, let us repent/turn from these practices, customs, traditions. They are in opposition to the Creator.
Did you know that Easter is never even mentioned in Scripture??? Look up the original language used and you will see that the one time that the King James says “Easter” , the original true writing says Pascha/Passover (Acts 12:4).
“Study to shew thyself approved unto Yehueh, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2Tim. 2:15)
It is not hard to research the origins of Easter, simply type in “origin of Easter/etc..” into a search engine, and you will find tons of information.
Yehueh’s Word tells us over and over again how He wants us to worship Him, we need not be deceived by false teachings!
As the above Bible story shows, it really does just come down to who we choose to believe, Yehueh and His direct commands or someone other than Yehueh.
Deut. 10:12 “And now, Israel, what is Yehueh your Elohim asking of you, but to fear Yehueh your Elohim, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve Yehueh your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being, to guard the commands of Yehueh and His laws which I command you today for your good.”
Much love to you all, and may we all “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling”, not holding fast to our traditions, but rather to the Word of Yehueh, that we might not be deceived.
~ E
some excerpts thoughts, from a very old friend and dear sister.. LM ♥
