This portion of Scripture speaks about a man of God (a prophet, with no name given) who correctly & faithfully declared the Words of God but was also led astray by others, being disobedient to God's clear Command.
This prophet approached King Jeroboam (King of Israel at that time) who was offering worship to an idol. And he proclaimed that the day would come when a king would come (Josiah of Judah) who would one day bring in all these wicked idol-worshipping priests & burn them on this altar. When Jeroboam heard this, he was furious as he was a 'bad' king given to idolatry & so instructed that this prophet be secured. By this wicked command, the king's hand withered by an Act of God. But the prophet sought healing from God for the king.
The king wanted to feed him & reward the prophet for doing this on his behalf, but as instructed by God, the prophet was to proceed with his travel & not turn back. But another (old) prophet heard of the work of this unnamed prophet & invited him to return back & dine with him & his sons. This sounded like a time of good fellowship as two prophets got together & could share their exploits & old stories. So he turned back - BUT that was in clear disobedience to the Lord's command not to do so. So the 'old' prophet received a Word from God that because of the other prophet's disobedience, that prophet would die an unnatural death as punishment. As it happened, on the way out, a lion met him & killed him.
That's the story in a nutshell but the message is clear: that when we wilfully disobey the Lord, we must expect discipline or suffering. Fortunately for the Christian, the Blood of Christ avails for us; we can ask God for forgiveness & He does forgive because we are His children & because of what Christ's death accomplished on our behalf. But we should always take care as sin (as that lion) lies at our door.
This prophet approached King Jeroboam (King of Israel at that time) who was offering worship to an idol. And he proclaimed that the day would come when a king would come (Josiah of Judah) who would one day bring in all these wicked idol-worshipping priests & burn them on this altar. When Jeroboam heard this, he was furious as he was a 'bad' king given to idolatry & so instructed that this prophet be secured. By this wicked command, the king's hand withered by an Act of God. But the prophet sought healing from God for the king.
The king wanted to feed him & reward the prophet for doing this on his behalf, but as instructed by God, the prophet was to proceed with his travel & not turn back. But another (old) prophet heard of the work of this unnamed prophet & invited him to return back & dine with him & his sons. This sounded like a time of good fellowship as two prophets got together & could share their exploits & old stories. So he turned back - BUT that was in clear disobedience to the Lord's command not to do so. So the 'old' prophet received a Word from God that because of the other prophet's disobedience, that prophet would die an unnatural death as punishment. As it happened, on the way out, a lion met him & killed him.
That's the story in a nutshell but the message is clear: that when we wilfully disobey the Lord, we must expect discipline or suffering. Fortunately for the Christian, the Blood of Christ avails for us; we can ask God for forgiveness & He does forgive because we are His children & because of what Christ's death accomplished on our behalf. But we should always take care as sin (as that lion) lies at our door.
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