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.'”
But the old prophet answered, “I am 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 together, and the man of God ate and drank at the prophet’s home.
1 Kings 13:17-19 NLT
This story seems very hard because the prophet from Judah seems to have been innocent, having been duped, but he dies for his disobedience anyway. Why is Yahweh so harsh in this situation? I suggest that it was because this was such a critical moment in the history of the northern kingdom. If this example of the results of disobedience could have gotten through to Jeroboam, as it certainly should have, it could have changed the whole future trajectory of that kingdom.
So why did it happen? Here is a third example of a failure to consult Yahweh. Couldn’t Yahweh have changed his mind and allowed the prophet to go and have lunch with the old prophet? Of course he could. But had he? There is the question. And the prophet from Judah did not ask. Why not?
I suggest it was because of “the flesh.” The Apostle Paul most often uses this term to talk about the sinful will that wants all its desires satisfied, but on the lowest level the term simply refers to the desires. The man was tired, and hungry, and thirsty. More than that, almost certainly, he was at a low ebb. He had performed a challenging and dangerous act. He had experienced a great adrenaline rush. Now the rush was gone, leaving him depleted. It was in this dangerous moment that the lying prophet arrived. Why didn’t the man of God from Judah ask Yahweh whether he had changed his mind? Because he was afraid he hadn’t! He wanted to have his desires for food and drink and congratulations to be satisfied now, not when he got home.
Why do we not consult Yahweh? Because the door is open; because of self-confidence; because we want to have our desires satisfied. Whatever the reason, it is a prescription for tragedy.
Called To Be Transformed 