How We Lose our Ideals

Read 1 Kings 13: 1- 33

There could be two reasons to decline an award of privilege from “very important people:" one, it will corrupt you, and two, you probably don’t need it. The man of God in 1 Kings 13 did not allow himself to be corrupted by the king’s favors (1 Kings 13:8), but did he need another Word from God so he could justify going back the way he went and eating with an old prophet?

That Old Prophet used to declare the Word of God. But now he has retired in Bethel, a high place Jeroboam has already desecrated by installing and sacrificing to false gods. His sons know that their Old Man, this Old Prophet, used to have the kind of Word Power the Young Prophet from Judah demonstrated at the altar at Bethel. They were more than curious. What happened in Bethel impressed them, made them return to their father in haste to give him the spectacular news. They understood that the judgment of God was powerful because they have had previous experience of their Father speaking similar Words of Truth in authority and power

Now, that power and authority have been diminished by time, the Old Prophet’s calling has become useless in his continuous silence about the abominations in Israel. He may have also taken part in the current new worship practices; his many compromises have already led to a loss of insight and direct hearing from God.

Thus, he misses his old prowess, not because he desires to become a prophet of God once more, but he misses it for its own sake – for its dramatic effect on people, for its hold on the King, for its sheer power. Why would he call the Young Prophet back? Why would he ignore God’s Word to the prophet? Why would he lie to him?

It could be plain envy, it could be that he simply wanted to share something of what he himself had done in his youth as a prophet, it could be that he was desperate for excitement – who knows about his motive for bringing back the man of God? His motive is not important now because the effect would be the same. His lie killed the genuine prophet.

As the people saw the Young Prophet’s body guarded on the road by a lion, the events of that day could have simply flashed back in their minds. This Man of God from Judah demonstrated something truly amazing, but now a lion has killed him. What could he have done to displease God? Had he remained alive, he would be a continual reminder of God’s wrath upon Jeroboam’s evil ways. Jeroboam turned away from the faith of his fathers, yet in his time of need, when his son was sick, he sought Abijah the true prophet of God who told him he would be King (1 Kings 14:1-2). The death of the Prophet from Judah could have had an effect toward his continued indifference and pride (1 Kings 13:33). It is now impossible to speculate how this Man of God could have served God’s purposes merely by being a “pain” in Jeroboam’s neck.

Meanwhile, the Old Prophet, though understandably depressed by the Young Prophet’s death probably had a hand in keeping the people more confused and ever wondering. God’s hand in miracles, signs and wonders does a lot in our hearts but people wouldn’t always turn away from their sins "even if the dead rise from the grave" (Luke 16:19-31). How much more if the messenger of judgment himself is dead?

The Old Prophet has been corrupted and his lie led to even more sadness and tragedy in Bethel. Nobody would know how he had a hand in shaming his land. Even his remorse was self-serving for he considered himself worthy of being buried where this Man of God will be buried, and was so conscience stricken that he called the Man of God “His Brother.”

All throughout the ages, the idealism of the Young is often thwarted by the intentions of the Old who refuse to pass on the baton. We have leaders who persist on their useless methods simply because they don’t want to stir up the status quo. The ways of the old are often wise and tested by experience, yet it would be naïve to suppose that their intentions are always toward the common good. Sometimes, they need to be in position of power simply because they wouldn’t be comfortable anywhere else or they will feel useless in other positions. Sometimes old age and routine play a part in their boredom and they play on the ideas of the young to rekindle in themselves the idealism of their youth. But having lived their lives to the hilt, and having been rendered immune by their compromises, they may not anymore believe in these ideals.

History has witnessed over and over again how pride, envy and self-actualization have caused distress and shame for every nation. For both the Young and the Old, only absolute ideals must be the main driving force of action.