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Beware Of Those Who Contradict God’s Commands, June 3

Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.... The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. 1 Kings 13:1-5.

When Jeroboam [king of ten tribes of Israel after Solomon] saw the altar rent and the ashes from it poured out on the ground, he cried out in wrath, “Lay hold on him.”“And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.” In alarm he said to the prophet, “Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king’s hand ... became as it was before.”

“And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee ... for so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.”

The prophet refused to receive anything from Jeroboam, but he fell under the temptation of an aged prophet living at Bethel.... To him he said, “Come home with me, and eat bread.” But the man of God answered him as he had answered Jeroboam.... The old prophet then lied to him, saying, “I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.” He declared that the Lord had spoken through him, when He had not....

The man of God had been fearless in delivering his message of rebuke. He had not hesitated to denounce the king’s false system of worship. And he had refused Jeroboam’s invitation, even though promised a reward. But he allowed himself to be overpersuaded by the one who claimed to have a message from heaven.

When the Lord gives a person a command such as He gave this messenger, He Himself must countermand the order. Upon those who turn from the voice of God to listen to counterorders, the threatened evil will come. Because this messenger obeyed false orders, God permitted him to be destroyed....

The rent altar, the palsied arm, the fearful result of the prophet’s disobedience—these were evidences that should have led the king to turn from his evil ways and serve the Lord. But we read, “After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way.”—Manuscript 1, 1912. [162]

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