Authority

Passage: 1 Kings 13

This is one of those passages that I’ve often scratched my head at. The narrative regarding Jeroboam’s idolatry and resulting showdown with the man of God makes relative sense. But then the story takes a very bizarre detour. The narrator traces the footsteps of the man of God as he leaves Bethel and makes his way back to Judah. On the way he is intercepted by a second prophet. The second prophet, for whatever reason, seems intent on leading the first astray. He succeeds, and the first prophet is condemned for failing to follow through on God’s command.

Although not immediately apparent, this passage has one consistent message or theme. Start to finish, 1 Kings 13 deals with competing authorities. In the first vignette, we see tension between the authority of the king and the authority of God. In the second, the tension is between God’s authority and the authority of God’s representative.

In the showdown between Jeroboam and the prophet, it’s obvious who has the upper hand. God’s authority prevails, and Jeroboam backs down.

Then the passage takes its unsettling twist. The “man of God from Judah” is unwavering in his obedience to God until he meets another prophet. We’re not told the other prophet’s motivation. We’re not told God’s motivation in sending the second prophet. But what happens is this: the second prophet intentionally deceives the first, causing him to diverge from the path God has mapped out for him. As a result, God kills the first prophet.

None of this seems fair to us. And the lesson of the passage is not immediately clear. But here’s the application. The imperative for God’s people is to respond directly to God’s authority. Whereas God gives his people human intermediaries (in the days of the kings of Israel, God’s kings and prophets were intermediaries; today clergy and fellow Christians fill that role), God demands that his people ultimately respond to God’s Word. In the case of the two prophets, the first prophet had gotten a direct command from God. God’s direct word was an imperative of primary authority. The only thing that could have over-ridden this imperative would have been another direct command from God. The first prophet went astray when he allowed the word of a secondary authority – a human intermediary – to take precedence over God’s direct word. This error cost him his life.

God’s people today run the same risk in allowing themselves to be informed by religious leaders, authorities, and even fellow believers whose teaching contradicts God’s written word – the Bible. Christians who rely exclusively on the teaching of other people – such as preachers and authors – without testing this teaching against Scripture itself run the risk of making the same deadly error as the first prophet in 1 Kings 13. The caution is not to disregard the teaching and wisdom of other believers; rather it is to be familiar enough with God’s Word to recognize when someone else’s teaching contradicts it. There are, for instance, prominent teachers and authors in the church who teach that you can be a Christian and not be committed and accountable to a larger group of believers; there are those who teach that there is no Hell and no ultimate accounting for sin; there are those who teach that God doesn’t care about one’s sexual or financial exploits; there are those who teach that Jesus Christ is only one of many ways to a saving relationship with God. We are attracted to those who teach a version of the faith that is softer and nicer than what we encounter in the Bible. We want someone to tell us that we can have God and all the other good stuff the world has to offer. We want God on our own terms. If someone is teaching you a message like this, don’t take their word for it. Look for God’s word on the subject.