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The Man of God and the Old Prophet - The Book of 1 Kings · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. He said unto him, I am a
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  Speaker 1: prophet also as thou art. And an angel spake unto
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  Speaker 1: me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him
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  Speaker 1: back with thee into thine house, that he may eat
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  Speaker 1: bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. 1
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  Speaker 1: Kings 13.18 Dear God, as the transformation and newness of
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  Speaker 1: my life continues to take place, I stand in a
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  Speaker 1: place of gratitude and thankfulness that Your Word continues to
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  Speaker 1: bring light and illumination to the different areas of my life. Today,
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  Speaker 1: through the reading of 1 Kings 13, 12-32, I realize
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  Speaker 1: the importance of direct and immediate obedience. And it is
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  Speaker 1: because of this that I ask that if there is
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  Speaker 1: anything in my life where I have not walked in obedience,
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  Speaker 1: that You redirect me and allow me to make it right.
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  Speaker 1: I will not allow the false prophets and deceitful people
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  Speaker 1: around me to derail me from living and executing my
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  Speaker 1: life with critical obedience. I confess that the desire of
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  Speaker 1: my heart is to live in direct harmony with your
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  Speaker 1: steps for me and everything I do. Lying lions will
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  Speaker 1: devour what you've placed in my life simply because of
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  Speaker 1: my disobedience. Holy Spirit, Strengthen my spiritual ears so that
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  Speaker 1: I will recognize and hear your voice when you speak.
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  Speaker 1: I'm listening and obeying, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you for praying with me today. Continue listening for an
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  Speaker 1: incredible Bible story brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: THE MAN OF GOD AND THE OLD PROPHET In our
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  Speaker 2: last story, we watched the fragile kingdom of Jeroboam descend
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  Speaker 2: into idolatry and pride. Jeroboam erected altars of golden calves
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  Speaker 2: and established pagan priests. The Lord sent a man from
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  Speaker 2: Judah to rebuke him, but his disobedience did not cease.
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  Speaker 2: Now we learn more about the man of God that
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  Speaker 2: was sent. On his way back from Bethel, he is
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  Speaker 2: greeted by an old prophet and deceived into disobeying God.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. In our prior episode, we
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  Speaker 3: learned how King Jeroboam was unfaithful to God. He built
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  Speaker 3: shrines to pagan gods and a temple where he called
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  Speaker 3: people to worship golden calves. History was tragically repeating itself
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  Speaker 3: with God's people being led astray and serving other gods.
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  Speaker 3: But God would not allow his king to lead the
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  Speaker 3: people into certain death and separation from him. So he
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  Speaker 3: sent a man to rebuke Jeroboam and gave him a
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  Speaker 3: sign of God's displeasure. This man did as God instructed,
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  Speaker 3: then departed from the king, not wanting to remain in
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  Speaker 3: a place of faithlessness and disobedience to God. But as
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  Speaker 3: we'll hear today, the man will meet an old prophet,
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  Speaker 3: who will lead him into sin and cause him to
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  Speaker 3: disobey God. So, let's listen to today's scripture.
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  Speaker 2: God had split the wicked altar of Jeroboam in half.
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  Speaker 2: Ash fell to the floor and floated up into the
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  Speaker 2: air like snowfall. The man of God stood over the
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  Speaker 2: pathetic king and warned him of his demise. The torchlight
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  Speaker 2: shifted and made shadows around the man as he looked
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  Speaker 2: down at Jeroboam. After warning him, he left. Jeroboam had
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  Speaker 2: offered to have him stay and eat, but the Lord
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  Speaker 2: had strictly told him not to partake in any food
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  Speaker 2: or water in the city. He departed from Bethel and
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  Speaker 2: left towards Judah. As he was journeying home, word had
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  Speaker 2: spread of what had happened at the altar. An old
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  Speaker 2: prophet living in Bethel heard of the man of God
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  Speaker 2: and saddled his donkey to go and meet him. The
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  Speaker 2: man had his sons help him up onto the donkey
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  Speaker 2: and and he ventured forth to speak with the man
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  Speaker 2: whom God had just spoken through. The man had walked
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  Speaker 2: all night and stopped in the morning to rest under
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  Speaker 2: a massive tree. The man breathed in the fresh air
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  Speaker 2: and rested his eyes. Since the man had been commanded
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  Speaker 2: to not eat any food while in the land, he
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  Speaker 2: was very hungry and very thirsty. Weakened by his lack
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  Speaker 2: of food, he rested for a long while. The old
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  Speaker 2: prophet had been riding for a few hours until he
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  Speaker 2: finally saw the man resting under the tree. Elated to
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  Speaker 2: see the man had not yet left, he rode fast
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  Speaker 2: to meet him. He waved and yelled to catch his attention.' Hello!
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  Speaker 2: Are you the man of God who came from Judah?'
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  Speaker 2: he shouted. The man opened his eyes and watched as
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  Speaker 2: the large old prophet rode closer to him. He sat
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  Speaker 2: up with his back against the tree.' Yes,' the man replied,
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  Speaker 2: wiping his eyes and stretching his arms before rising to
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  Speaker 2: his feet. The old prophet smiled and said,' Please, you
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  Speaker 2: must come and feast with me and my sons.' Sorry,
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  Speaker 2: but I cannot, the man replied. He strapped his pack
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  Speaker 2: around his shoulder and prepared to leave. I am not
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  Speaker 2: allowed to eat or drink anything here. God has commanded it.
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  Speaker 2: The old prophet did not want to miss on an
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  Speaker 2: opportunity to talk to a fellow man of God, for
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  Speaker 2: the land had become blighted with idle worship and wickedness.
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  Speaker 2: He decided to lie. Out of his lonely heart he
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  Speaker 2: weaved a fib that would prove to be detrimental. I
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  Speaker 2: am a prophet too, the man said. An angel of
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  Speaker 2: the Lord told me to bring you home and give
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  Speaker 2: you something to eat. The man of God was famished
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  Speaker 2: and weary from his travels. It did not take much
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  Speaker 2: convincing for him to buy into the lie. So he
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  Speaker 2: left with the old prophet back home. They sat at
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  Speaker 2: the table and ate together. The man of God was
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  Speaker 2: grateful to finally get food in his belly after a
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  Speaker 2: few days of travel. While the two were eating, the
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  Speaker 2: Lord spoke to the man, saying, You have defied my words.
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  Speaker 2: You have come back to this place and ate and drank.
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  Speaker 2: Because of this, your body will not be buried in
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  Speaker 2: the grave of your ancestors. The man of God leaped
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  Speaker 2: from his chair and pushed back his plate. Angered at
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  Speaker 2: the old prophet, he began to pack his bag again
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  Speaker 2: to take off. Feeling guilty, the old prophet saddled a
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  Speaker 2: donkey for him and sent him on his way. The
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  Speaker 2: man of God rode the donkey, sitting in his anger
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  Speaker 2: against the prophet for lying to him. He rode along
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  Speaker 2: the trail winding up a mountain from Bethel. The man
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  Speaker 2: sighed as he trotted along, not noticing something lurking in
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  Speaker 2: the bushes beside him. Like a flash of lightning, a
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  Speaker 2: lion came out from the bushes and tackled him off
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  Speaker 2: the donkey. The man and beast wrestled in the dirt.
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  Speaker 2: Screams of pain and fear echoed down the canyon below,
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  Speaker 2: but nobody was around to hear them. The lion latched
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  Speaker 2: on to the man's neck and swung its jaws. In
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  Speaker 2: that instant, the man was dead. His body lay on
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  Speaker 2: the road. Both the donkey and the lion stood beside it.
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  Speaker 2: It was an odd sight, for the lion sat beside
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  Speaker 2: the corpse with the donkey not moving next to it.
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  Speaker 2: People passing by the trail stopped in their tracks to
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  Speaker 2: see the lion and donkey standing over the dead body.
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  Speaker 2: Confused and afraid, people brought reports back to the city.
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  Speaker 2: The word came to the old prophet, and he saddled
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  Speaker 2: his donkey immediately to go and see for himself. There
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  Speaker 2: he saw the man of God laying underneath the paw
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  Speaker 2: of a lion, and there, next to him, his old
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  Speaker 2: donkey stood. The man shed a few tears, for he
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  Speaker 2: knew that it was his fault that the man was dead.
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  Speaker 2: He shouted and the lion disappeared back into the bushes.
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  Speaker 2: Then he lifted the man's body onto his donkey and
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  Speaker 2: walked him back to Bethel. Oh, my poor brother, the
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  Speaker 2: prophet cried. He buried the man on his property and
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  Speaker 2: asked that his sons bury him as well when he passed.
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  Speaker 2: Bury me next to this man when I die, he said,
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  Speaker 2: for he was brave in standing up against the altar
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  Speaker 2: in Bethel and against the people with shrines in the city.
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  Speaker 3: As we begin today's passage, the man of God who
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  Speaker 3: had gone to deliver a message and assign to King
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  Speaker 3: Jeroboam is returning from Bethel to Judah. He had left
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  Speaker 3: the king refusing to eat or drink with him. obeying
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  Speaker 3: God's orders to not partake of anything while in this
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  Speaker 3: sinful land. But his journey home is long, and he
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  Speaker 3: grows weary and in need of rest. There was in
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  Speaker 3: Bethel an old prophet whose sons told him that this
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  Speaker 3: man of God had come to give King Jeroboam a word.
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  Speaker 3: So the prophet went out to meet the man. When
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  Speaker 3: he found him road-weary and very hungry, the old prophet
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  Speaker 3: told him to come with him to his home where
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  Speaker 3: he would feed him and give him water. The man
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  Speaker 3: of God, still wanting to obey the Lord, refused his offer,
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  Speaker 3: saying that God had given him clear instructions to not
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  Speaker 3: eat or drink anything there. It required great trust in
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  Speaker 3: the Lord's provision to turn down such an offer, but
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  Speaker 3: he understood that God's commands are not to be taken lightly,
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  Speaker 3: so he obeyed. But then the old man said something
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  Speaker 3: that changed things. He told the man that he also
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  Speaker 3: was a prophet and that an angel of the Lord
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  Speaker 3: had spoken to him to say that the man could
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  Speaker 3: in fact go home with him to eat and drink. Now,
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  Speaker 3: this man was indeed a prophet, but as the man
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  Speaker 3: will soon learn, not all prophets are truly trusting God
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  Speaker 3: or speaking the truth. This man told him a half-truth,
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  Speaker 3: which is really a whole lie in disguise. He was
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  Speaker 3: a prophet, but there was no message from God to
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  Speaker 3: overrule the command to not eat or drink in the land.
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  Speaker 3: But with this new information, the man accepted the offer
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  Speaker 3: and returned to the old man's home where he ate
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  Speaker 3: and drank. Whether it was because he was tired, or
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  Speaker 3: because he was hungry, or simply because he wanted to
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  Speaker 3: hear something different than what he knew to be true,
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  Speaker 3: the man believed the lie that he had heard. It
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  Speaker 3: was a costly error. God spoke this time through the
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  Speaker 3: old prophet, delivering a message that was as true as
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  Speaker 3: it was tragic for the man of God. In 1
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  Speaker 3: Kings 13, 21 and 22, we read, Thus says the Lord,
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  Speaker 3: Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and
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  Speaker 3: have not kept the command that the Lord your God
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  Speaker 3: commanded you, but have come back and have eaten bread
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  Speaker 3: and drunk water in the place of which he said
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  Speaker 3: to you, Eat no bread or drink no water, your
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  Speaker 3: body shall shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.
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  Speaker 3: The man of God left angry at the old man
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  Speaker 3: for lying to him. You have to believe that he
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  Speaker 3: was also angry at himself for falling for such a lie.
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  Speaker 3: He of all people should have known that God isn't
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  Speaker 3: to be tested, but rather is to be trusted. As
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  Speaker 3: this man traveled along the road, the tragedy indeed happened.
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  Speaker 3: He was killed by a lion. The old prophet was
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  Speaker 3: told of this man's fate and went to find his body.
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  Speaker 3: He brought it back to his home and laid it
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  Speaker 3: in a grave on his own property. He was deeply
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  Speaker 3: grieved at the judgment that fell upon this man and
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  Speaker 3: his part played in it, and he asked his sons
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  Speaker 3: to bury him beside the man of God when he died.
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  Speaker 3: Today's passage reminds us that we must always seek what
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  Speaker 3: is truly from God and what is not. There are
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  Speaker 3: false prophets in the world. There is truth and there
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  Speaker 3: is error. And many preach lies and live lies rather
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  Speaker 3: than preach and live the truth. We must always beware
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  Speaker 3: of those who deny the word of God and turn
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  Speaker 3: from God's truth. In a generation which many fall to
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  Speaker 3: the lies of the culture and society and that of
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  Speaker 3: Satan himself, we must always be ready to stand with
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  Speaker 3: the truth. Dear God, thank you for today's lessons and
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  Speaker 3: what it means to know and to do your will
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  Speaker 3: and always to obey your truth. Help us to seek
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  Speaker 3: you above all things and not other things, to rely
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  Speaker 3: upon you and rest in you. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Pastor Jack Graham of Dallas, Texas. I would encourage
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  Speaker 3: you to download the Pray.com app and certainly to make
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  Speaker 3: Bible study and prayer a priority in your life. I
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  Speaker 3: would encourage you to go to church and be a
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  Speaker 3: part of a Bible-believing, Christ-exalting church. If you enjoyed this podcast,
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  Speaker 3: tell a friend, let someone else know because the Word
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  Speaker 3: of God changes lives. And if you want more resources
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  Speaker 3: as to how you can know and love God and
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  Speaker 3: follow Him all the days of your life, be sure
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  Speaker 3: to visit jackgram.org as we have many resources available to
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  Speaker 3: you as you journey with the Lord. God bless you.