Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / January 16 - 1 Kings 13

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January 16 - 1 Kings 13 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello, friends, it's Sean here. It's Thursday, it's the 16th of
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  January and it is great to have your company.
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  Thanks for tapping on play, inviting me into your day.
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  No matter where you are, no matter what's going on, it is so
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  good to share this time with you on this very strange day.
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  I'd never heard of this, but today is actually in America
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  National Nothing Day. That's right, it's National
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  Nothing Day. This day was created to honour
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  and observe nothing, but just to celebrate for the sake of
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  nothing. Which strikes me as very, very
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  strange. And in fact, that is probably
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  the perfect little microcosm that explains exactly what's
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  going on in our readings this week, isn't it?
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  Where instead of standing for something, instead of throwing
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  their heart and soul into the thing that they knew they stood
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  for, these kings ended up just following the whim that caught
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  them in that moment. And for Solomon, that involved
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  following the religious observances of his wives.
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  And for Jeroboam, that meant following that little bit of
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  fear that he had and changing everything about worship that
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  God had told him to be faithful to.
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  So on this National Nothing Day, well, it's not about you, but
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  I'm going to celebrate something.
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  I'm going to celebrate the fact that I have an identity rooted
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  in a very specific something. And that is the God of the
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  universe who says I am loved. And I'm going to stick my feet
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  down on that firm foundation and stand for that something.
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  And I'd invite you to join me in that.
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  And that, friends, is kind of what you're already doing,
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  because here you are taking a moment out of your day to hear
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  God's word. And we are going to hear God's
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  response through his prophet to what Jeroboam has done.
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  And then Jeroboam, of course, in the way of kings to come,
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  ploughs on head first in the wrong direction.
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  So let us read this together in First Kings chapter 13.
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  At the Lord's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel,
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  arriving there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to
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  burn incense. Then, at the Lord's command, he
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  shouted, Oh, altar, altar, this is what the Lord says.
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  A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David
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  on you. He will sacrifice the priests
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  from the Pagan shrines who come here to burn incense and human
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  bones will be burnt on you. That same day, the man of God
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  gave a sign to prove his message.
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  He said the Lord has promised to give this sign.
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  This altar will be split apart and it's ashes will be poured
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  out on the ground. When King Jeroboam heard the man
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  of God speaking against the altar at Bethel, he pointed at
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  him and shouted, Seize that man. But instantly the King's hand
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  became paralysed in that position and he couldn't pull it
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  back. At that same time, a wide crack
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  appeared in the altar and the ashes poured out.
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  Just as the man of God had predicted in his message from
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  the Lord, the king cried out to the man of God, Please ask the
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  Lord your God to restore my hand again.
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  So the man of God prayed to the Lord, and the King's hand was
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  restored, and he could move it again.
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  Then the king said to the man of God, Come to the palace with me
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  and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.
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  But the man of God said to the king, Even if you gave me half
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  of everything you own, I would not go with you.
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  I would not eat or drink anything in this place, for the
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  Lord gave me this command. You must not eat or drink
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  anything while you were there, and do not return to Judah by
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  the same way you came. So he left Bethel and went home
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  another way. As it happened, there was an old
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  prophet living in Bethel, and his sons came home and told him
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  what the man of God had done in Bethel that day.
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  They also told their father what the man had said to the king.
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  The old prophet asked them which way did he go?
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  So they showed their father which Rd the man of God had
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  taken quick saddle the donkey, the old man said.
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  So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it.
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  Then he rode after the man of God and found him sitting under
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  a great tree. The old prophet asked him, Are
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  you the man of God who came from Judah?
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  Yes, I am, he replied. Then he said to the man of God,
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  Come home with me and eat some food.
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  No, I cannot. He replied, I'm not allowed to
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  eat or drink anything here in this place, for the Lord gave me
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  this command. You must not eat or drink
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  anything while you were there, and do not return to Judah by
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  the same way you came. But the old prophet answered, I
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  am a prophet too, just as you are, and an Angel gave me this
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  command from the Lord. Bring him home with you so he
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  can have something to eat and drink.
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  But the old man was lying to him.
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  So they went back together, and the man of God ate and drank at
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  the prophet's home. Then while they were sitting at
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  the table, a command from the Lord came to the old prophet,
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  and he cried out to the man of God from Judah.
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  This is what the Lord says. You have defied the word of the
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  Lord and have disobeyed the command the Lord your God gave
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  you. You came back to this place and
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  ate and drank, where He told you not to eat or drink.
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  Because of this, your body will not be buried in the grave of
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  your ancestors. After the man of God had
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  finished eating and drinking, the old prophet saddled his own
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  donkey for him and the man of God started off again.
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  But as he was travelling along, a lion came out and killed him.
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  His body lay there on the road with the donkey and the lion
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  standing beside it. People who passed by saw the
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  body lying in the road and the lion standing beside it, and
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  they went and reported it to Bethel, where the old prophet
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  lived. When the prophet heard the
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  report, he said it is the man of God who disobeyed the Lord's
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  command. The Lord has fulfilled His word
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  by causing the lion to attack and kill him.
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  Then the prophet said to his sons, Saddle a donkey for me.
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  So they saddled a donkey, and he went out and found the body
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  lying in the road. The donkey and lion were still
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  standing there beside it, for the lion had not eaten the body
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  nor attacked the donkey. So the prophet laid the body of
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  the man of God on the donkey and took it back to town to mourn
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  over him and bury him. He laid the body in his own
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  grave, crying out in grief. Oh, my brother.
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  Afterward the prophet said to his sons, When I die, bury me in
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  the grave where the man of God is buried.
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  Lay my bones beside his bones. For the message the Lord told
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  him to proclaim against the altar in Bethel and against the
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  Pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria will certainly come
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  true. But even after this, Jeroboam
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  did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests
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  from the common people. He appointed anyone who wanted
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  to become a priest for the Pagan shrines.
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  This became a great sin and resulted in the utter
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  destruction of Jeroboam's dynasty from the face of the
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  earth. Our Lord, as we hear this story,
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  it's confusing to hear these different prophets doing
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  different things and disobeying Your word and thinking they're
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  doing the right thing. Oh Lord, it sounds a lot like
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  our lives where often we face a multitude of choices and it's
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  hard to know which way to go. Lord, give us the wisdom to stop
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  rather than rushing headlong into decisions in our lives to
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  stop and pause and seek your wisdom.
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  And Lord, I pray that Your Spirit would grow in US so that
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  your heart shapes our own and that our choices can reflect
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  your priorities for us and the ministry that you have planned
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  for our lives. Our Lord, again today, I
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  recommit myself and everyone praying together now we commit
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  ourselves to you and to your way and that each decision we make
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  that we would bring that to You so that we could truly live
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  lives of service. Not to our own goals, not to the
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  goals that the world tells us are important, but to the goals
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  of you and your Kingdom. And we pray this in the saving
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  name of truth, your Son Jesus, Amen.