1 Kings 13:26-32 – Taking God’s Word seriously

What is being described in 1 Kings 13:26-32 keeps us both curious and puzzled at the same time. Why did the prophet from Bethel deceive the one from Judah and then go about to retrieve his dead body and had him buried? The whole incident seems weird and unusual. Nobody knew the reason for the latter’s plight except the old prophet who had lied to him. In verse 26, the lying prophet then exclaimed, “It is the man of God, who disobeyed the command of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” Could he be leveraging on what happened to give the impression that he was more in touch with God than he really was? Or perhaps, he was unwittingly used by the Lord to make known that it is a grievous matter to disobey the Lord. 

Whatever the case, he had his sons saddle a donkey for him so that he could go and retrieve the body. He found the body not devoured by the lion but lying dead by the roadside with the donkey and the lion that mauled him to death standing over it. When he had found the body, he brought it back, mourned for him, and had him buried in his own grave. Then he left words for his sons to have his own body buried with the prophet when he dies. Then he went on to affirm the word of the dead prophet saying that whatever he had proclaimed concerning the altar at Bethel and the high places of Samaria would surely come to pass.

The action of the lying prophet was enigmatic at best. He was the one who had caused the death of the man of God yet ironically, he was also the one who gave him a proper burial. Furthermore, he desired his dead bones to be buried beside his when he dies. If this man was a friend to the prophet who was deceived, the latter certainly would not need an enemy. This incident tells us to be careful who we befriend. More importantly, it tells us not to take God’s personal word to us lightly. We need to have high regard for God’s personal word to us. Today God still speaks to us through the Bible, the Written Word. Hebrews 4:12 says that “the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” We cannot trifle with the Word of God and expect to get away when we disobey it. It behooves us to take God’s word to us seriously!