Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)
Ms 153, 1906
Diary/Thoughts on 1 Kings 13
NP
Circa 1906
Previously unpublished.
The Lord sent His messenger, His prophet, to Jeroboam. He was to bear a message to the king, but this prophet saw the king stand by the altar to burn incense. The prophet, beholding his sacrifice, cried out, against the altar, “O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born into the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.” [1 Kings 13:2, 3.] Read the whole including verse 10. The heart is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. God delights not in the death of sinners. He bears long with them rather than destroy them in their sinful, idolatrous course of action. He will seek to arouse them. It was a very bold message that was given the king by this stranger messenger, but the Spirit of the Lord was moving the messenger to interrupt the profane solemnity of the offering upon the altar. In the place of the king being at all humbled by the interruption of his purpose of sacrificing to his god, “he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.” [Verse 4.] 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 1
“And the king said unto the man, Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.” [Verse 6.] 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 2
[Read] verses 7-17. 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 3
“He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art: and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. ... And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord” [Verses 18, 20-26] for he had given the reason to the old prophet why he could not do the thing he asked him to do. [Verses 16, 17.] 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 4
The man had his directions from the Lord, and he repeated his authority: “I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.” [Verses 16, 17.] Thus far he was correct, but the [old] prophet said unto him, “I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.” [Verse 18.] So he went back, believing the word of the one who claimed to be a prophet, for he was a false prophet on this occasion certainly, as he had his word from the Lord positively, and disobeyed the word of the Lord, for Satan had put that lie into the prophet's mouth. “So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.” [Verses 19-22.] 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 5
The man of God had honestly and bravely refused the king's invitation, though he promised him a reward; yet, [he was] over-persuaded by the framing of a lie. The scheming method of Satan is after this character—to claim to speak the words he did as a prophet of the Lord to come back with him and dine with him in Bethel contrary to the commandment given him of the Lord. He found that to be to him an expensive dinner. He was a false prophet, and the act cost him his life. 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 6
It may seem strange that such a supposed good man should make such a deliberate lie. When God gave His orders to not tarry in that place He meant it, but corrupt trust in falsehood cost the one to whom God had given a message of very decided character. The action of bearing the words to the altar was to make an impression on hearts that they should turn to the Lord. The impression of the most sacred character was to create awe and bring the people to repentance. It was something that was permitted of God to [show] God's displeasure against idolatrous sacrifices. How could any gift be acceptable when the whole process was an abomination to the Lord? 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 7
The religious sacrifices were an abomination to God, a reproach to the people. The altar was rent under the pronunciation, and the act would cause much notoriety. That hand that was stretched out to the seizing of the man of God was in vain. He could not fulfil his [purpose]. He insulted the man of God whose hand was sacred, but the cry to the altar had a most decided rebuke. The wrath of man was restrained and judgment [came] upon the man who should attempt to seize the man of God. His arm and hand were helpless. But at his earnest request to pray for him, the hand was healed [even] in his abominations. This was a reproach to all Israel and their hearts were hardened as the stones which composed the altar. Thus was Jeroboam so filled with defiance against God that he assaulted the man who brought him the message. 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 8
What kind of a lesson is this to all those who shall live under such misconceived opinions? This was a parable of what should be done to their supposed most sacred altars which were a reproach to all the people. This parable was to have a strong influence in correcting [existing evils.] 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 9
“After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests for the high places: whosoever would he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of earth.” [Verses 33, 34.] 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 10
The prophet's message against the altar, the refusing of gifts and repeating the words of the Lord, and then human influences—a man pronouncing the lie that God had given him another message directly opposed to the messages God had given—is a parable to us as a people in this our day, for we are witnessing this parable acted in our very midst. We shall see the hardness of hearts that turn away directly from the messages God gives and act decidedly contrary to the words God has spoken in forbiddings that will bring results that men who have worked against God will not covet. 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 11
Had this prophet been in consecrated order, God would not have passed him by and chosen a prophet from another section to bear a testimony as witness against idolatry exhibited for a place of worship. I am instructed to say, we are [to] lean not on human voice or human claims of influence, but listen to the word of warning God has given. When men reject a plain “Thus saith the Lord,” let men [who are] shepherds of the flock beware, for Satan is ready to fill the earth with his counterfeits in every place possible. He is doing this now. 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 12
This false prophet gave charge to his sons to bury his body in the same grave with the man who was a true prophet of God, to let his bones and ashes commingle with the bones and ashes of the prophet, as though there would be any virtue to him to lessen the offense of his lie. 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 13
The Lord has directed me to write these things, for men who have been reproved for their wrongs have come in and taken the man that has been reproved for his course of action and sustained him. The Lord gave me a special message for one he has greatly favored, but he walked and worked directly contrary from the Word of God. He has chosen his own course to glorify himself and has tried by misstatements to undermine confidence in the work of the Testimonies God has given. But when the time of the Lord comes after long forbearance, there will be false prophets who lead astray from God's directions, after sufficient evidence that they will choose the falsehoods and not the truth. The Lord will not spare those who have deliberately worked against a “Thus saith the Lord” and they will be left in their choice to follow their own devising under condemnation and the rebuke of God, as agencies of Satan to carry out his devisings. In no case is my message to contradict the Word of the Lord, but the Lord will continue to give the straight, close-cutting messages that are yet to come. And no power can hinder the work God will do to rescue His people from their deception. The falsehood of the one who claimed to be a prophet was directly opposite to the Word of the Lord, a framed lie. If this prophet was one God had accepted, he could have received the word given to one the Lord did choose, but the Lord passed him by and took a stranger from another place. 21LtMs, Ms 153, 1906, par. 14