He said to him, “I also am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him.
— 1 Kings 13:18
Here we find a devastating story about a man of God — a prophet who came from the land of Judah to deliver a word to King Jeroboam following the king’s disobedience to God.
The explicit instruction from God was straightforward: after delivering the message, the prophet was to return directly to Judah without stopping anywhere to eat or drink with anyone.
And this is where the story takes a tragic turn. A false prophet appeared and lied to the man of God, claiming that he too was a prophet and that an angel had spoken to him from God — instructing him to bring the man of God back to dine with him. This directly contradicted what the prophet had already heard from God. Yet the text tells us that the man of God fell into the trap and was deceived.
What followed was devastating. After the prophet dined with the lying prophet, God sent word to him that he had disobeyed. Then a lion attacked and killed him on the road. What remained was a striking and ironic scene — the lion standing beside the donkey the prophet had ridden, both animals alive and still, while the prophet lay dead. This spectacle remained visible to all who passed by.
The Danger of a Contradicting Voice
What this short but sobering story teaches us is a matter of discernment. God had spoken explicitly and clearly to this prophet. For the most part, the prophet had been faithful and diligent in carrying out what he was told. But then a contradicting voice arose, claiming also to speak from God — and that is where discernment was required.
The prophet should have known that God does not contradict Himself. He does not change His mind. In Malachi we read that God is not a man that He should lie. In Numbers we read the same — that God is not a man that He should repent; what He has spoken He will accomplish; what He has said He will fulfil.
The author of Hebrews tells us that in the past God spoke in many portions and in many ways through the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us through His Son. In these last days, God has spoken definitively and finally through Jesus Christ and through the apostles to whom He gave authority. That word has been fully and faithfully transmitted to us through the inspired Scriptures. Paul writes to Timothy:
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
— 2 Timothy 3:16-17
As believers, we must come to a place of full confidence in the sufficiency and authority of Scripture.
The Same Danger Today
The very same danger that faced this man of God from Judah is a danger we face today. People will rise up on every side claiming to speak for God — and all the while contradicting the very Scripture that God Himself inspired. The authority they carry, the confidence with which they speak, and even the sincerity they project cannot be the measure by which we test what they say. The Word of God is the measure.
To this end, the apostle John gives us a clear and necessary command in his first epistle:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
— 1 John 4:1
Resting on the Sufficiency of Scripture
May we be a people discerning enough to know that God will never contradict Himself. What He has spoken in His Word stands firm — regardless of the authority anyone else claims to carry or the contradicting words they bring.
Let us learn to rest fully upon the sufficiency of Scripture.
Amen.
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