When On The Mission

1 Kings 13:8-19 (NLT):

⁸ But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of everything you own, I would not go with you. I would not eat or drink anything in this place. ⁹ For the Lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’” ¹⁰ So he left Bethel and went home another way.

¹¹ As it happened, there was an old prophet living in Bethel, and his sons^[a] came home and told him what the man of God had done in Bethel that day. They also told their father what the man had said to the king. ¹² The old prophet asked them, “Which way did he go?” So they showed their father^[b] which road the man of God had taken. ¹³ “Quick, saddle the donkey,” the old man said. So they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it.

¹⁴ Then he rode after the man of God and found him sitting under a great tree. The old prophet asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

“Yes, I am,” he replied.

¹⁵ Then he said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some food.”

¹⁶ “No, I cannot,” he replied. “I am not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place. ¹⁷ For the Lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’”

¹⁸ But the old prophet answered, “I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And an angel gave me this command from the Lord: ‘Bring him home with you so he can have something to eat and drink.’” But the old man was lying to him. ¹⁹ So they went back together, and the man of God ate and drank at the prophet’s home.

For the longest time I found this passage confusing while misunderstanding the significance and essence of this scripture. Finally when I was reading these few chapters today, the Holy Spirit showed me something clarifying.

In this chapter we see a man of God who arrived in Bethel from Judah right at the time when Jeroboam prepared to burn incense at the altar that he created for idol worshiping, so the sacrifice and the incense was not for the Lord, but for the idol-pagan god that he created as we read in 1 Kings 12:26-29 (NLT):

²⁶ Jeroboam thought to himself, “Unless I am careful, the kingdom will return to the dynasty of David. ²⁷ When these people go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple of the Lord, they will again give their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and make him their king instead.” ²⁸ So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to the people,^[d] “It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!” ²⁹ He placed these calf idols in Bethel and in Dan—at either end of his kingdom. ³⁰ But this became a great sin, for the people worshiped the idols, traveling as far north as Dan to worship the one there.

Jeroboam was placed in charge of the 10 tribes of Israel right after the death of Solomon for the kingdom was divided in two: one tribe was given to Solomon`s son Rehoboam, and the rest of the ten tribes were given to Jeroboam. This was done as a consequence for Solomon`s sin of idolatry that he committed towards the end of his life as he multiplied the amount of his wives and concubines from the foreign countries that God forbade to associate with for this same reason of the potential idolatry. This is exactly what happened to Solomon: his wives turned his heart away from the Lord and towards the idols they themselves worshiped in their home countries (1 Kings 11:4-13).

The interesting side note here is for those of us who are not good with math: we see an account of total 11 tribes instead of the 12 (12 sons of Jacob). One tribe of Judah was given to the Rehoboan, and the 10 tribes were given to the Jeroboam. The one missing tribe is the tribe of Benjamin, and the reason for that is they were destroyed for the hideous things they`ve done as we read it in the book of Judges19-21. The small remnant of the tribe of Benjamin is no longer referred to as a tribe going forward since the chapter 21 of the Book of Judges, but the amount of tribes total is referred to is only 11 instead of 12. I think it`s important to bring this out into the light because this is one of the facts that`s not well traversed and referred to by others.

So in this story here we see that the man of God who was on the mission from Judah to Bethel to tell Jeroboam of his consequences for the idolatry.

These are the important points for us to think about when preparing for the mission:

- A lot of times God would use unusual people and circumstances to state His word. I believe He does that on purpose in order to humble us and to test our obedience.

God sent a man from Judah, and Judah was the enemy`s camp since Judah was the only tribe that was left to Rehoboam, Solomon`s son. So a man from Judah came to Bethel (verse 1) to tell Jeroboam of the upcoming God`s judgment for the committed idolatry. Jeroboam had to humble himself before the man of God (camp of the enemy) if he would have heeded to the word of Lord and chose to obeyed it. God also tested the heart of the man from Judah whether he would obey God`s word and would go to the enemy`s territory (Jeroboam`s city of Bethel where the idol was installed as we read earlier). We see both of the sides here where God`s intention was to cut through the pride of the man on either side and to give a chance for repentance because as we saw consistently throughout the scriptures God is merciful and long patient with us waiting so we would repent.

-Another important fact is God doesn`t contradict His word ever.

Man of God was given specific instructions by the Lord, which he stated to Jeroboam himself, that he was not to eat or drink anything while he was in Bethel and to make sure he returned by a different way home; he had to take an alternative rout back to Judah. We see how this man was resting by the oak tree when he was tempted into staying with the local “prophet” who came to get the man of God. As we read in the verses 14-17, the prophet insisted on the customary at that time tradition to host the man of God in his house. The “prophet” contradicted what the Lord initially commanded to do to the man of God (verses 18-19):

¹⁸ But the old prophet answered, “I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And an angel gave me this command from the Lord: ‘Bring him home with you so he can have something to eat and drink.’” But the old man was lying to him. ¹⁹ So they went back together, and the man of God ate and drank at the prophet’s home.

I am really grateful to the Lord that He is faithful not to omit such important detail out of the scripture that the prophet was actually lying in his words. In other words, the Bible clearly tells us that the prophet, who claimed to speak the word from the Lord, he was actually speaking lies to the man of God. This tells us that God is faithful to preserve His word intact and to confirm to us that He never contradicts His word.

On the flip side, we may think maybe the man of God wasn`t sure if he was hearing the words from the Lord and he didn`t want to doubt the prophet`s words. I would be willing to give the benefit of the doubt to this man of God, but the scripture gives us this very important fact here in the verses 2-5 that dispels any idea or a notion of God making His word unclear to the man from Judah as we read:

² Then at the Lord’s command, he shouted, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you.” ³ That same day the man of God gave a sign to prove his message. He said, “The Lord has promised to give this sign: This altar will split apart, and its ashes will be poured out on the ground.” ⁴ When King Jeroboam heard the man of God speaking against the altar at Bethel, he pointed at him and shouted, “Seize that man!” But instantly the king’s hand became paralyzed in that position, and he couldn’t pull it back. ⁵ At the same time a wide crack appeared in the altar, and the ashes poured out, just as the man of God had predicted in his message from the Lord (1 Kings 13:2-5 NLT).

We see specific signs that followed the word from the Lord which confirmed that the words which a man of God spoke, they were truly the statements of the Lord:

1. We see that the arm of Jeroboam became paralyzed.

2. We see that the altar cracked and the ashes poured out on the ground

These facts, which Lord brought to pass, were the indicators to the man that he was truly following the word of the Lord and had to obey His mission trip to the end. There was no doubt in his mind as we read in these verses that the man of God wasn`t sure whether he was truly hearing these things from the Lord.

I think it`s important for us to note this because sometimes we say: “I`m not sure if I truly heard God speaking this to me or if this is something I made up based on what I want to come to pass”. As we see here, God always supports His word with validation factors: be that a confirmation through the alternative scripture or some person, but the message would be consistent with what the Lord commanded us to do.

If the man of God was given the command by the Lord Himself not to stop in the Bethel area then the man of God had to obey it no matter what other alternative version he might have heard (that was the enemy`s territory afteral, so the Lord knew the danger of the man staying in that area for any minute longer than what He pre-planned for him to be there).

It is also important to note that when God sends us on the mission, He guards our credibility to make His word authentic and valid.

Jeroboam had no business listening to such words from someone out of the enemy`s territory. This is not surprising that he dismissed the words of the man until his arm got paralyzed; this is when he panicked and asked for help. That is how God made sure that He supported His message with the necessary pinch of validation in order to make those surrounding the pagan worship place tremble before the Lord.

-Also, we should note that whenever we stop for “rest”, or slowdown in entrusted mission of the Lord, we are prone to falter spiritually and fail.

Where was the man of God when he failed in his mission? He was sitting under the great tree as we read in the verse 14. He stopped for the rest in the enemy`s camp instead of making sure he left that territory first regardless of how tired he may have been.

The place where we are under the most possible attack is our “enemy`s territory”. How does it translate into our lives as believers: when we walk into the bar, meet with our unsaved friends, or go into the tempting district, etc. that`s the place of the severe attack from Satan for us. This is where when we have the command from the Lord to complete His mission, we should complete it and leave immediately without slowing down or stopping altogether. When we hesitate and rest in the place where we are not supposed to be, we are doomed for the failure.

The man of God would not even have met this prophet if he chose not to slow down in his walking pace and sit by the tree. God would have sustained his strength and gave him the necessary stamina to make it out of the adversary`s territory if he only prayed for the help.

I think so many times we fail in our everyday missions, simply because we choose not to “bother” God with small requests. This is so wrong, and this is something that I consciously choose not to do every day anymore. I`ve learned to come to the Lord and ask for help to give me strength when I feel like I`m about to blow up emotionally or am slowing down in my commitment to read the scriptures, or praying diligently and seeking His face. I ask for help because I know better than that that Satan is walking like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). We need to learn to rely on the Lord in everything even if this is something “small” in our eyes. Something as small as staying longer than necessary in the bar or some other place; whatever this may be for each one of us.

-The next factor to consider is God allows our hearts and the mission entrusted to us to be tested.

The Bible is very clear that each one of us get enticed by the lusts of one`s flesh, so it wasn`t the Lord who made sure that the man of God would fail in his mission, but it was the man of God himself who was hungry and thirsty and wanted rest. The man was enticed by his own desires of his flesh to rest, eat, and drink.

¹⁴ Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. ¹⁵ These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death (James 1:14-15 NLT).

This is no place to blame God for our failure because the scripture is very clear that we are all enticed by the desires of our hearts. It is not God who sets us up for a failure, but this is us. We have this control whether to give in to the temptation or whether to choose to obey the Lord and bring our flesh into obedience under God`s word. It`s a conscious choice.

The man of God had this choice whether to decline the offer to stay at the prophet`s house regardless of what word from the Lord he might have heard from him, or whether to follow the prophet and take him up on the hosting invitation. It`s a choice that he made.

-The fifth component here is Satan’s ability to know the word of the Lord and attempt to pervert it.

This is why it is crucial for us to know the scripture inside out to be able to resist Satan with the scriptures, which is the ultimate authority from the Lord.

Satan knows the scriptures really well. We can see it clearly when Jesus was taken into the 40 day fasting and testing period; He encountered Satan who tempted Jesus while quoting the word of God, and Jesus responded accordingly: form the scripture.

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, ⁶ and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’^[c]” ⁷ Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’^[d]” (Matthew 4:5-7 NLT)

We should not underestimate our enemy-Satan. Jesus knew the scriptures, and this is why He was able to confront Satan and complete His testing period successfully. The same applies to us—we must dwell in the scriptures every day to know it well enough, so when Satan comes with the perverted verses, we could rebuke him.

-The sixth important fact here is the worst attacks from Satan happens in the enemy`s territory: physical and spiritual.

We have to be cognizant of the potential threats we face when we are in the visiting area. This may well go for the missionaries who commit their hearts to carry the Gospel and His word to the countries who frequently resist it. It also brings persecution in some cases. This is why it`s important to be vigilant and alert to the word of the Lord to make sure we heed to what He commands us to do despite of what alternative revelations we may hear from other people.

There is a reason why the Lord was so specific and clear to relate to the man of God to use the alternative way home, not to stop anywhere to drink, eat or rest because God knew of this factor. He knew that the man would be under the most attack while dwelling in Bethel- the enemy`s territory.

Also, we should never stay in the adversary`s place any longer than we are appointed by the Lord. This could be applied in our daily walk with Jesus because we go places almost every day. There is a potential for us to cross into the enemy`s camp- spiritual warfare place. The good example for that would be mall. That place is filled with ungodly things, so to stay there any longer than necessary could potentially bring us to the spiritual downfall.

-Lastly, God allows us to be tested in order to show our inability to succeed without Him.

The man of God was tired and needed rest. He could seek the Lord and ask for help to renew his strength, and God would have been faithful to do just that.

²⁹ He gives power to the weak
    and strength to the powerless.
³⁰ Even youths will become weak and tired,
    and young men will fall in exhaustion.
³¹ But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:29-31 NLT).

Our God never faints or grows weary, so there is no reason as to why we would not come directly to Him and ask to renew our strength in the moment when we no longer capable to move on. His word doesn`t lie because God is not a liar to say and not do.

There are days when I cannot go anymore, and those are the days when I consciously choose to seek the Lord for help to direct me, so I wouldn`t fall. If He is faithful to sustain me, He will be faithful to sustain anyone who comes to Him diligently.

I am grateful to the Lord to open up this passage for me and clarify His word once again. This is a great blessing to see His word alive. We really should think of the way we treat His word and what we do with it in our daily lives.

What`s more, this is a good lesson for us to always check God`s word against the scripture regardless of what alternative words we may hear from others. God calls us to reason, and we have no business ignoring His word, so we could be fully equipped to complete what He entrusted us with.