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Episode 593: In this episode, we explore the biblical narrative found in 1 Kings 13. We read the story of a nameless man of God who delivers a prophetic message to King Jeroboam, only to be deceived by an old prophet who lies to him about receiving a command from God. This leads to the man of God's tragic demise at the hands of a lion, which serves as a powerful lesson about the importance of adhering strictly to God's commands.
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You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Bible Guys. Thanks for tuning in. Man, it's gonna be a good day, be a great day. Great. You are listening to this with anticipation, like man, Jeff and Chris are going to bring something great. Well, Chris, today is going to be a good day because we're bringing some of the finest news we can find on the internet. We scour the internet, yes, in fact, we're looking for the finest news. All morning. We spent looking at things. And so you know, sometimes we give we get news about family advice. Sometimes it's financial advice. Yes, this would be the fine on the financial side, just kind of acknowledging the economy right now, right, and so only the finest sources of information we bring to our people. The Babylon b Yes, which is our favorite satire site on the internet. Okay, here's the headline. Dad gently informs daughter he spent her college fund on a single little bacon cheeseburger at five guys, have you been a five guys lately? Yes? Oh my goodness, Oh no, no, not lately, but but yeah, it's pretty expensive. Omaha, Nebraska local father Nathan Michaels called a family meeting Friday afternoon to deform his daughter that she wouldn't be able to go to university because he spent her entire college fund on a single Little Bacon cheeseburger at five Guys. Though the family had set aside money for her to go to college when she grew up, Michael's had found himself hungry and in desperate need of a burger, leading him to make the difficult decision to stop at five Guys and wipe out her college fund. Money's tight, he gently explained to his daughter Joy, unsure how she would react to this blow to her future, but I went to five Guys and ordered a little Bacon cheeseburger in Well, I'm sorry, sweetheart, but your college fund is gone. There's still community college, maybe trade school. We'll figure something out. Five Guys Little Bacon Cheeseburger consists of a fresh, hand formed patty hot off the grill with American cheese and strips of crispy applewood smoked bacon on top. Customers can choose as many toppings or condiments. As they want. In the case of Michael's, he chose Lettuce, Mayo and Jalapanos. It currently sells for the low price of eighty four ninety nine dollars ninety nine cents according to sources. Joy Michaels sat silently upon hearing her future was wiped out with a single cheeseburger. When she came to herself, she only had one question, was it good? Her father did not mince words, it was okay, Oh my god. That publishing time, Nathan Michaels was in the process of taking out a second mortgage on the family's home so he could afford a full size bacon cheeseburger at his next trip to five guys. But okay, listen, do you realize that this article stabs at. Five guys in the worst ways? Not only are they making fun of their high prices, then it leads up to the question was it good? And then he says it was okay. By the way, that sounds like pretty brutal. Yeah for Babylon b they normally don't like, although they did do that Spirit Airlines. Yeah, yeah, they go it hilarious, they go pretty hard. Yeah, they don't pull any punch. Yeah, but but five guys is tremendous. Yeah, I think, oh, five guys is great, but you know when you have to literally so I took six people there a while back and walked out and I felt like we should have had steak, right right, right, So it's a good burger, it's not that good of a burger, right, But beyond that, I think that this is really highlighting just the state of the economy. The prices are so inflation right right, So it was already a premium burger. So just understand when you go to five guys, you're going for a gourmet burger experience. That's what you're going for. And I think they're amazing, but a premium burger pricing sometimes the costs to make what they're making is through the roof. And yeah, so that's the state of the economy. People. You have to take out a second mortgage to take your people out of the. Have you seen have you seen what's the Canadian Nate? How do you say his name? Nate Burgeskerghasy Burgatsy. Yeah, he's from He's not Canadian, He's from No, no, no, no. I was gonna refer media. One of his one of his bits. Yeah, one of his bits comedian. Have you seen his new one? Yes? Okay, did you see the part where you talked about community college, because this is talking about college. Yeah, he goes. When you go to community college, they just kind of figure you're going to be a person that stays. In the community. So when you get. There, they're like, we just figured we'd show you around, show you around town, show you the ropes. Community colleges are great. They're an opportunity to make something special of your life, right, to jump out and change change the direction of your life. But yeah, they do get a bum rap sometimes because it's so funny. They're not as elite, not a snobby right. Well, you know Rob Williams worked for community college and Goodwill hunting. Oh, that's true, and he was looked out upon. That's true, which is another movie. I had fancy friends. What remember I told you that? Oh, I know, I let zab down. I wish our listeners knew how often I hear you go when I say something, just sheer disappointment in me as a human being. Have you seen Wicked yet? The movie? Yeah? No, I've seen the play. I haven't been in a movie theater biddie and I were talking about this. My wife and I were talking about this just recently. I haven't been in a movie theater in ten months, maybe more. I don't know. I don't remember if I went to a movie in twenty twenty four. Well guess what you could now buy Wicked on your Yeah. I know she talked about that. Yeah, yeah, I don't know that I want to buy a Wicked. Well you can, or you can pretty soon. It'll be free. No, I don't think it'll be free. Yeah, it'll be rent, it'll be on, it'll be on. One of the things you think, Yeah, wow, there's too much money to be made, somebody paying gazillions of dollars for it, Right, it's too md that's probably true. Yep. Okay, well here we are talking about paying kajillions of dollars for something I have nothing. I was gonna say, Jared Baum's going to pay the price. I was going to. Say, reading that five guys article, you may have a tendency or you know, a reaction to denounce. To denounce five guys. Oh, just like a prophet. Just like a. Prophet who gets denounced named Jerobon No, No, just like a prophet denounces Jerobo. Didn't that what I said? You said, just like a prophet. Denounces Jerobo. No, no, no, you said something else. A prophet named a prophet named Jerobo. Oh I see, I see ye? My bad? Yeah yeah, okay. Anyways, here we go, first Kings, chapter thirteen. Those first six and a half minutes, we're riveting. We know people, but we're going to get into it right here. First Kings, chapter thirteen, verse one, and we're going to read all the way to verse thirty four. It says, at the Lord's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, arriving there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to burn incense. Then, at the lord's command he shouted, alter, Alter, this. He says, 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. 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 we poured out on the ground. When King Jerobom 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. 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. The king cried out to the Man of God, please ask the Lord your God to restore my hand again. So the Man of God prayed to the Lord, and the king's hand was restored and he could move it again. Then the king said to the Man of God, come to the palace with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift. But the Man of God said to the King, even if you give me half of everything you own, I would not go with you. I will not eat or drink anything in this place, for the Lord gave me this command. He must not eat or drink anything while you were there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came. So he left Bethel and went home another way. As it happened there was an old prophet living in Bethel, and his sons came home and told him what the Man of God had done in Bethel that day, and they also told their father what the man had said to the king. The old prophet asked them which way did he go? So they showed their father which road the Man of God had taken, quick saddled the donkey. The old man said, so, they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it. 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. Then he said to the Man of God, come home with me and eat some food. No I cannot, he replied, I'm not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place, for the Lord gave me this command. He must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came. But the old prophet answered, I'm 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. So they went back to and the Man of God ate and drank at the prophet's home. Then, while they were sitting at the table, a command from the Lord came to the old prophet. He cried out to the man of God from Judah, this is what the Lord says. You have defied the word of the Lord and have disobeyed the command the Lord, your God gave you. You came back to this place and ate and drank where he told you not to eat or drink. Because of this, your body will not be buried in the grave of your ancestors. After the Man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old Prophet saddled his own donkey for him, and the Man of God started off again. But as he was traveling along, a lion came out and killed him. His body lay there on the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. People who passed by saw the body lying in the road and the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported it in Bethel, where the old prophet lived. When the prophet heard the report, he said, it's a man of God who disobeyed the Lord's commands. The Lord has fulfilled his word by causing the lion to attack and kill him. Then the prophet said to his son, saddle a donkey for me. So they saddled the donkey, and he went out and found the body lying in the road, and the donkey and the lion were still there, standing there beside it, for the lion had not eaten the body nor attack the donkey. Sohet laid the body of the Man of God on the donkey and took it back to the town to mourn over him and bury him. He laid the body in his own grave, crying out in grief, Oh, my brother. Afterward, the prophet 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. For the message the Lord told him to proclaim against the altar in Bethlon, against the pagan shrines in the towns of Samario will certainly come true. But even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests from the common people. He appointed everyone who wanted to become a priest for the pagan shrines. This became a great sin and resulted in the utter destruction of Jereboam's dynasty from the face of the earth. Wooh yeah wow. Huh. So the old Man lied to the Man of God. And by the way, the Man of God was never given a name, right, No, So we have the Man of God and then we have the Old Prophet. Okay, I just think it's crazy. It would have been so much, so much of an easier story to follow her. They just given like Fred and Joe, right. Yeah, Bob Bob and Bill. Bob and Bill whatever man. But instead it's the Old Prophet and then the Man of God. And sometimes my brain confused the two as you were reading it. Honestly, the Old Man and the Man of God. Yes, right, right, So the old Man lied to the prophet and said, no, no, God told me to tell you to. Eat and drink, right, But he didn't. Why would he do that? Because he had Because because the old Man had true remorse for a man of God who died. So why would he lie to him? Because I think I think he wanted access maybe a memory of the glory days. I don't know, yeah, but he clearly wanted access to this guy. He wanted to become to his home. Well, there is no clear motivation given as to why he lied to him. He wanted to come and eat, he wouldn't come in. It was purely access. It was come to my house. I can't come to your house. We'll come to my house and eat. There was prestige in that right. There was prestige in the Middle Eastern culture. One. It demonstrates that you are a super generous person when you feed somebody and they come and sit, and then there's a family feel to a meal. In the Middle East, it's a big deal to be a part of to go to somebody's home and eat dinner with them. My wife and I were traveling from Casablanca to a marri Cash in Morocco in North Africa, and in our we were traveling in first class on the train, and there were two college girls and they were really loud. And then my wife and I and some guy sitting next to me. All I had noticed he was wearing a Rolex watch, but I didn't, you know, he never said any spoken English. Then finally the steward came by and they were selling some food. And we've been going for quite a while and selling some food and the girls kind of started getting sassy with us, but in Arabic, and then he spoke up in both Arabic and English, and then all of a sudden started being friendly, and he invited us to his home. He's a wealthy man, he owns thousands of acres, huge farmer, all this stuff. And so that rolex I had seen. I'd noticed fake rolexes go click click click click click. You know, you watch the secondhand and it moves, but a steady rolex, it never stops. It just goes in a perfect circle all the time, right, And so I could tell it was a real one. And he invited us to his home, and I said, if there was any way I could do it, I would be happy to it. He said, let me give you my phone, and then next time you come to Morocco, call me and you can come to my home anytime. Wow. Right, And and he said it's a great honor to be invited to somebody's home. Right. And so he was letting me know, you're kind of messing up. But we were heading the wrong direction already, so it was difficult for me. I couldn't and I only had just a few days. But this idea of honor. They considered a great honor to be invited to somebody's house and then to have somebody accept that. So I think that because it doesn't give any other motivation. I think this guy just wanted the honor of demonstrating that he was generous, and the honor of having this very prestigious guy who just confronted the king to come. And his job is a prophet would have been to confront kings in the old days. But he's not anymore. Because he wasn't lying. He said, I'm a prophet too, just as you are. Yeah, right, yeah, But then he said, an angel gave me. This command from the Lord bring him back. Oh my goodness. Yeah, And so he lies to try to get Maybe that's why God didn't use that prophet anymore, because he's a lie. Well, because he's kind of shooting to move, he's shooting around the edges. Maybe he's somebody who at one time was used by God in a great way, but perhaps maybe has forgotten the importance of the exactness of God's commands. Right, so he's kind of sniffing around what he used to be right, right, and how good it used to be to be that guy that God used that was walking with God on stuff. But he decided to the lie. It's not that big of ideat it's coming to have dinner with me. Hey, so I'm gonna bring up I'm going to bring up something. I wasn't going to do it, but now I'm going to. Uh. It seems a little harsh to me that. The intent of the Man of God, because he doesn't have a name, okay, the man of God. The intent of the Man of God was to always listen to what God said. So God said, do not eat or drink, and. So so the Man of God's like, I will not. And so he's like, even if you give me half of everything you own, King, I won't do it. And then and then then he's under the tree. The prophet comes in. Prophet says, come heavy, you know, come eat and drink, and the prophets and the Man of God says, there's no way I'm going to do it. And he says, oh, but God told me there's a commandment from God. Well, it's very apparent that the only reason why the Man of God said yes is because he thought this command came from God as well. And so It's like, so, isn't there something to be. Said at least I'm playing Devil's advocate here, But isn't there something to be said for the for the for the the fact that you know, obviously God knows the man of God's heart. The man of God's heart was deceived, he was lied to. He thought this is what God said, so his heart was in the right place, right, and then he disobeyed and uh yeah, yeah, so I just I. Think we can have compassion for him. I feel bad for him, but he made a devastating mistake. Yeah, yeah, I just I just feel I feel sometimes I sometimes I am not comfortable with Like, that's a pretty harsh punishment. Right, So the guy dies immediately. Now, granted he probably went straight to eternity right with God. So maybe his life got a whole lot better in a second, right. Yeah, I think so. One, our faith cannot be based on somebody else's faith. Sure you hearing from God. So there's a note here for life application study Bible and says he died because he listened to a man who claimed to have a message from God. This prophet should have followed God's word instead of hearsay, right, trust what God's word says rather than what someone claims is true, and disregard what others claim our messages from God if their words contradict God's worth. So there's the sermon for that is the sermon. And by the way, I think that that's why it's not unreasonable. Right, My morality is not superior to God's morality. So my sense of what's right and wrong is not superior to what God views is right or wrong. And so I this is why we're constantly making a big deal about no God's words. Otherwise you're relying on people like Chris and Jeff, I mean, people who read from Babylon Bee on their Bible. Guys show right right to give you wisdom and a service. You need to know God's word right right, not just hearsay on God's word. And I think that that's the lesson being taught. So, yes, you're right that guy immediately went into eternity. Everything's fine for him. Trust me, if three seconds after God took him into eternity, he wouldn't have chosen to come back right right right. So for sure, when you've been on that side versus on this side, you don't want to come back. So it seems harsh to us. To God, it's not. To that man on the other side, it's not. But it is a great lesson to us. Hearsay about God's word never is superior to actually what God has to say. Yeah, and you know what, and playing angels advocate. It is also possible that maybe the entire time that the Man of God was, you know, taking the journey to this prophet's house, maybe the entire time he actually thought to himself, this is probably wrong, but but maybe God will let me slide because you. Know, this may have been maybe he justified it. Maybe he thought, I wonder if this is true, I probably shouldn't do this. You know, there could have been a justification thing happening where he wasn't completely like a blind child. Right. Well, maybe the whole purpose of his life is to send a message to Jereboeam in the Northern Kingdom. That may have been it. So he stretched out his hand and his hand froze that you know, the king did to try to get him seized. He said, hey, listen, the altar is going to crack and ashes are going to fall out, meaning your worship system is going to fall apart. God's going to destroy everything about you. God has control over the king all these kinds of things. And then this could have been that messa because this guy's famous. You know, he's famous, and he only became more famous he died, and the donkey and the lion are standing over his body for a day until somebody comes. It makes him super famous, right, right, And this could have been the message God was sending to the Northern Kingdom is listen, you only do what my words say, not what somebody says about my words. Do my words period, right, And so it may have been his purpose. Yeah, So in that way he definitely fulfilled. He really accomplished. It's a very strong visual, ye, a lion and the donkey standing over a dead body in the middle of the road. Who Otherwise, this guy's a pretty good guy. His intent was good, yeah, and I think you know this is where we were talking, was it yesterday? Jeroboeham? His intent was I don't want my people to leave me, so I'm going to create a new worship system, right right. So sometimes you can justify your decisions and then you go, my intent is good, right, and God's going I don't care about your intent, do what I say. There you go. That's a good application to that. Right. So God's saying I'm telling you do what I say. And so so many people we've talked about it on the show before. Who you know, young people who move in together. Well, it's a financial decision. I'm struggling right now. Do the right thing. God promises he will bless you even while you struggle, you will be blessed. But there's consequences for going against God's words. We just have to understand the pain in our life. Most of the pain in our life is the result of the fact that we've gone against God's word, and then we're frustrated way and then we look at it and go, that's not fair because like, just do what I told you to do, and so you've said it before. His commands were for his glory, his glory and our benefit. We have to be one hundred percent convinced to that. It's not just a nice idea. It really is for his glory and our benefit all the time. But this guy fulfilled his purpose and sending I think sending that message God use him. And there's things far worse than death. Right, So, where Paul says you know, I think Paul has the best view. I was telling you a story right before we came on air about a friend of mine who's just about to go to heaven, probably today today, he is going to go to heaven. And we were sitting in by the Sea of Galilee in Tiberius, and he knew he was bad, sick, and so we talked a lot about death, and he asked me, what is it like when people die? And I was telling him, you know, there's a tremendous grace God gives for the good and the bad. The huge majority of people, there's a struggle for a while, and then all of a sudden their body calms down and for that last day a lot of times or days, there's a lot of rest and peace and their body just kind of runs out of gas, and usually they're not super conscious there in that last little while. It's kind of like passing out right. It really is how it is, And there's a grace in that, even though it's part of the curse, there's a grace in our death. So we talked about that for a while. We talked about some other things, but then he said, you know, my great goal would be that everybody around me that I care about now would know Jesus and would head into eternity just deciding to follow his ways. He said, because I spent chunks in my life, he said, I feel like I've been a good guy, but not honoring the Lord. And he said, so a lot of my family looks at me, saying, hey, he was such a good guy. And he said, what I really want is for them to say nothing is more important than following God. And that's what I learned from my uncle, or that's what I learned from my dad, that's what I learned from my brother. And so as he was facing this thing, and he said, you know, there's worse things than death. That's what he said, the same thing, And he quoted Paul where Paul said for me to live is Christ and to die is Gain. And he said that Versus the most important verse in my life right now. So that's been two years now since that day, and he said, my last few years, I want them to see while I'm living, it's all about Jesus, and then when I die, it's Gain. So for this this prophet, to you and me, death is the worst thing we can think of because the devil's convinced as of how bad death is, Paul said, death, where's your sting, where's your victory? Once you get past the idea that death is the worst thing that can happen to you, then just understand this prophet got promoted instantly, he's instantly in heaven, and the whole kingdom learns a lesson. Hey, probably I'll obey what God says to a t. Well, that's right, that's great, that's great thoughts, great thoughts. All right, Well, hey, that is definitely our time. So hopefully we enjoyed that, and you'll tune back in. Tomorrow and join us for the Bible. Guys,