1 Kings 13:1-34

God is just, not fair.  We often want God to fulfill what we consider to be fair but our sense of fairness does not always line up with God’s holy justice.  This chapter is a perfect illustration of this principle.  In our sense of fairness we think that the old prophet who deceived the man of God should have been killed instead or at least as well.  However, God was perfectly just in taking the life of the man of God because he had disobeyed what he clearly knew to be true from God.  We must remain very alert to the fact that there are people who will try to deceive us and that Satan wants to destroy us through his deceptions.  We must be constantly committed to what we know to be true from the Word of God and not allow deception to distract or destroy us.

THE MAN OF GOD WAS COURAGEOUS THEN REBELLIOUS: The man of God was sent to Israel for a very dangerous mission but he was very courageous in the fulfilling of that mission.  He stood before a very powerful king and confronted him with the truth of his sin and told him that his idolatry would be judged by God.  Jeroboam would have had him killed on the spot had God not made his hand have leprosy when he reached out to condemn the man of God.  This was not an easy mission but he performed it beautifully and told the king in no uncertain terms that he would accept no reward and not eat or drink in this place just as the Lord had told him.  However, after he leaves is on a different path but he seems to be tired and stops under an oak tree which was his first mistake.  Then he listened to the old prophet and was rebellious against God when he followed a message that was in direct contradiction to what God had told him to do.  It seems like the time that we are the most vulnerable to failure is right after a success.  Whether it is fatigue or pride; it is wise for us to be extra alert towards temptation when we have just experienced some sort of victory or success and we must always obey the clear command of God over any nebulous message that contradicts God’s Word.

THE OLD PROPHET WAS DISINGENUOUS THEN GRACIOUS: When the old prophet heard what had happened he was curious about who this man was and wanted to host him in his house.  Perhaps he thought that he could “get in” on the blessing of this man be being hospitable.  When the man of God refused to come based on the message of God the old prophet was disingenuous and simply made up a lie in the name of God.  Then when he truly received a message from God condemning the man of God he became very gracious in giving the man his donkey and then caring for his body after he had been killed by the lion.  As nice as all of that was; it sure would have been fair had he been killed by the lion too.  Obviously God holds His servants to a high standard and requires much of those to whom He gives much.

JEROBOAM WAS FURIOUS THEN IDOLATROUS: Jeroboam became furious at the man of God when he had the courage to prophesy against him and his altar.  He cooled his jets when God struck him with leprosy.  However, the whole experience really did no good for Jeroboam for he continued in his idolatrous ways.  To our eyes it does not seem fair that Jeroboam is allowed to live while the man of God dies.  We must remember that God’s ways and His timing is not always in accordance what we consider to be fair.  God is always just and when we reach eternity we will be able to clearly see this justice being carried out.  Until then we must simply trust that God’s ways are higher and better than ours and wait patiently for that day when all will be revealed and we will see that God truly is and always was both fair and just.