The weight of prophetic accountability

One of the most strange (with regards to its flow of events and imperative lesson) occurrences in the Old Testament is found in I Kings chapter 13. Set right after the division of the Kingdom of Israel, in the context of rampant immorality  (I Kings 12-28-33 and I Kings 14-22-24), we find lodged in the pages of historical scripture the weight of God's expectation from His prophets.

The story is told of the nameless prophet of God who comes from Judah to the northern kingdom of Israel to prophecy of the coming king who would bring reform to Israel. Once he intercedes and prays for the restoration of Jeroboam's withered, proud hand the story takes, what at first appears to be a distracting, detour. Instead of focusing on the reign of Jeroboam and Rehoboam and the ruin they bring on chosen Israel, biblical narrative follows the journey of the nameless prophet from Judah and his disastrous  trip back home.

We are told in his encounter with Jeroboam that the man of God had a clear directive from God regarding his travel back home. He believes it strongly enough to decline a royal invite to dine and receive reward. (I Kings 13:8). On his journey back home he is intercepted by an older prophet (I Kings 11-14) who lives in Bethel. At this point, we are left to the mercy of conjecture to understand why God did not chose this local, older prophet in the first place to speak to Jeroboam. As we understand his ways in this passage, its possible he was rejected because of his sly speech and twisted pragmatism. It is also possible that his age might have caused him to limit his prophetic endeavors- although evidently not his efforts in hospitality. He deceives the younger prophet by claiming an overriding, personal revelation from God and the prophet from Judah ignores the contradiction, submits to unverified claims and obliges. What follows is essentially quick, grave judgement on the younger prophet for disobeying the Word of God and trusting in lies.

Its possible to read the narrative and come away with questions such as:

- Why does the conviction of the man of God from Judah dwindle under the words of the older prophet?

- Why does the older prophet vigorously pursue hospitality through lies and deception?

But, the one thing that is clear in the Biblical passage is God's strong commitment to His word and

His expectation from His prophets. The prophet of God meets a gruesome death in the face of a lion. 

What, presumably, might add insult to injury is God choses to let him know of his judgment through the voice of the deceiver (I Kings 13:20-21). 

God exalts His word (Psalm 138:2), He views it as being unbreakable (John 10:35) and He pronounces judgment on people who break, mend, add or remove from His word (Revelation 22:19).  There is a weight associated with God's expectation of prophets handling His Word. And this passage, perhaps more graphically than any other, illustrates this reality. It should be a cold, sustained, grave reminder that those who proclaim the Word of the living God stand under the terrifying weight of prophetic accountability.