I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 13-14.

    In yesterday’s passage we were told that Jeroboam set up two golden calves with altars for the people of Israel to worship so that they would not go to Jerusalem to worship (and thus possibly get convinced to return the kingship to the line of David). In today’s passage a man of God prophesies against Jeroboam and his altars. Jeroboam’s initial reaction was to have the man imprisoned. However, God intervened to prevent that. At which point Jeroboam invited the man of God to the palace for a meal. The man of God declined because God had told him to eat and drink nothing while in the Northern Kingdom. Which brings us to the real point of this story.
    This man of God prophesied on God’s behalf, a prophecy which was fulfilled in every particular. Further, God demonstrated His power in protecting this man by paralyzing Jeroboam’s hand, and then healing it when the man of God prayed for that. However, this man of God allowed another man to convince him to violate the command he had received from God. We are told that an old prophet told the man of God that God had instructed him to feed the man of God. The man of God allowed another man, whom he perceived to also be a man of God, to convince him to violate the clear command of God. As a result, the man of God was attacked and killed by a lion. There is a clear lesson here. We must never allow others to convince us to do something contrary to the clear direction we have received by God, no matter how pious they may seem.