1 Kings 13:20-22 Worse Judgment!

 “Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ”” I Kings‬ ‭13‬:‭20‬-‭22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. The word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back: This prophet from Bethel spoke a lie in the name of the LORD in 1 Kings 13:18. Now he received a true prophecy while the man of God from Judah ate at his table.

b. Because you have disobeyed the word of the LORD: God promised great judgment against the man of God from Judah for his disobedience. This was a hard test, but he failed it. He should have kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded, no matter how subtle and innocent the temptation was to disobey.

c. Your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers: God judged the man of God from Judah far more strictly than He judged Jeroboam or the prophet from Bethel. It would seem that they were guilty of worse sins (leading national idolatry and a deliberate lying prophecy), yet the man of God received worse judgment.

i. “For a body to lie unburied was a curse, hence the emphasis on detail of the place of burial. It was a disgrace to be buried away from the family among strangers.” (Wiseman)

ii. This is an example of an important principle of the way God works. We think that strict judgment should begin among the most ungodly, but often God begins strict judgment among His own people (1 Peter 4:17). Usually this is because God knows that the world will not be reached when His people live in compromise and disobedience.

iii. “By permitting himself to be seduced by the old prophet, when he should have acted only on the expressly declared counsel of God, he committed the sin unto death [1 John 5:16-17]; that is, such a sin as God will punish with the death of the body, while he extends mercy to his soul.” (Clarke)

(Guzik)

Worse Judgment!

There are several examples in the Bible like this one where we scratch our heads and wonder why the man of God received worse judgment that the prophet from Bethel that lied?

It’s simple, we aren’t God and we don’t sit on His throne! Christians aren’t immune either as pastors, elders and leaders that knowingly teach false doctrine instead of biblical truths can face a stricter judgement. If you question something that a pastor teaches, research it yourself in the Bible and if you find it to be false, find another church!

Do you attend a Bible teaching church?

Blessings 

https://www.gotquestions.org/teachers-judged-more-strictly.html