1 & 2 Kings: The King of Redemption History
Pastor Jim Thomas
1 Kings 13
“The entire story remains bizarre to the end.”
Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary
Four questions we ask when studying any Bible passage:
- What does God reveal about Himself in this passage?
- What vulnerabilities and sinful tendencies of humanity are exposed?
- How is the Gospel reflected in this passage?
- What faith response does this passage call for?
“Why is it that when we talk to God we’re said to be praying, but when God talks to us we’re schizophrenic?”
Lily Tomlin
The man of God from Judah, King Jeroboam of Israel, and the old prophet from Bethel… each one of them:
- Heard the word of the LORD
- Failed to trust and obey the word of the LORD
- Illustrate our need for a radical transformation of the disposition of our hearts and minds towards the word of the LORD
- Remind us to turn from worshiping at the altar of autonomy, advantage and innovation, and return to seeking, trusting and obeying the word of the LORD.
The man of God from Judah obeyed at first, but then strayed from and disobeyed the word of the LORD
Old prophet from Bethel misrepresented the word of the Lord
Jeroboam rejected and ignored the word of the Lord
Jeroboam made 4 big mistakes:
- processed inwardly & outwardly but not upwardly
- preferred convenience to obedience re: worship
- indulged in idolatry and led others to do the same
- cheapened and weakened the infrastructure of ministry
How should we respond to the word of the LORD?
We believe in a God who speaks but we will not be able to discern the word of the LORD if we have already made up our minds about what we want him to say.
Discussion Questions
- Religion on our own terms… Has your religion become more about you than about the God of the Bible? What are some examples of “creating your own religion” in today’s world?
- Do you prioritize convenience or obedience? Why is obedience so important to God?
- One prophet of the Lord was led astray by another prophet of the Lord. How do we protect ourselves from those that would lead us astray, even misguided fellow believers?
- How are you still learning and growing in your allegiance to the word of the Lord? Would those who know you say that humility is a part of your Christian walk?
- “…we will not be able to discern the word of the Lord if we have already decided what we want Him to say.” Then how DO we discern the word of the Lord?
“My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand.”
Martin Luther
“If you would follow on to know the Lord, come at once to the open Bible expecting it to speak to you. Do not come with the notion that it is a thing which you may push around at your convenience. It is more than a thing; it is a voice, a word, the very Word of the living God.”
A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
“For at no time since the Reformation have Christians as a body been so unsure, tentative, and confused as to what they should believe and do. The outside observer sees us as staggering from gimmick to gimmick and stunt to stunt like a drunk in the fog. Preaching is hazy, heads are muddled, and hearts fret. Why is this? We blame the external pressures of our world, but this is like Eve blaming the serpent. The real trouble is that for two generations or more our churches have suffered from a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord.”
J. I. Packer
“The greatest single secret of spiritual development lies in personal, humble, believing, obedient response to the Word of God. It is as God speaks to us through his Word that his warnings can bring us to conviction of sin, his promises to assurance of forgiveness, and his commands to amendment of life. We live and grow by his Word.”
John Stott