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. 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.’” So he left Bethel and went home another way. [1 Kings 13.8-10]
It would be nice if the rest of the story begun above was as clear cut as this part. But it is not.
For whatever reason, an old prophet (after this conversation with Jeroboam) lied to the man of God and told him an angel from the LORD had told him to have the man come to his home in Bethel and eat.
As it turns out, the man of God who prophesied so accurately to Jeroboam died that day for his disobedience to what God had spoken to him.
A man's gotta eat though, right? Yeah, that's probably what the man of God thought too... And since he was undoubtedly hungry, he did not test the old man's words against what the LORD had originally told him. It cost him his life (not to mention his ministry).
Father, help me to be as sensitive to what You have directed me to do!
