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.

The story about the man of God who came from Judah and prophesied against the altar which Jeroboam had built has a feature which always puzzles me: why did the old prophet mislead him about God’s will to get him to eat before leaving the Northern Kingdom?  I don’t have an answer to that question.  However, the story has a lesson for us.  When Jeroboam offered the man of God food and drink, he refused it.  But when the old prophet claimed that an angel of God had told him to bring the man of God home and give him food and drink, the man of God never questioned what the prophet said.  If someone tells us that God told them to have us do something that goes against what we have heard God tell us, we should not just take them at their word.  First, if God told them to do as they are doing, He may have done so to test us.  Second, they may be making up the message from God which they are telling us.  We should always seek God’s guidance before accepting what someone else tells us is God’s will.  Or, to put that another way, when someone claims to speak on God’s behalf we should check what they say against what God had told us.