July 24, 1913

Defying God

(Concluded.)

EGW

Well would it have been for the prophet had he adhered to his purpose to return to Judah without delay. While traveling homeward by another route, he was overtaken by an aged man who claimed to be a prophet, and who made false representations to the man of God, declaring, “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.” Again and again the lie was repeated, and the invitation urged, until the man of God allowed himself to be persuaded to return.RH July 24, 1913, par. 1

Because the prophet allowed himself to take a course contrary to the path of duty, God permitted him to be destroyed. While he and the one who had invited him to return to Bethel were sitting together at the table, the inspiration of the Almighty came upon the false prophet, “and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, ... thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers.”RH July 24, 1913, par. 2

This terrible sentence was swiftly followed by its execution. “It came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass.... And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass. And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass cast in the way, ... and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. And ... he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord.”RH July 24, 1913, par. 3

The penalty that overtook the messenger of God was a still further evidence of the truth of the prophecy uttered over the altar. If, after disobeying the word of the Lord, the prophet had gone on in safety, the king would have used this fact to vindicate his own disobedience. In the rent altar, in his palsied arm, and in the terrible fate of the prophet, Jeroboam should have discerned the swift displeasure of an offended God, and should have taken warning not to persist in wrong-doing.RH July 24, 1913, par. 4

But none of these judgments brought him to repentance. “Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.” Thus he not only sinned greatly himself, but he “made Israel to sin.” “This thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.”RH July 24, 1913, par. 5

Toward the close of a troubled reign of twenty-two years, Jeroboam met with a disastrous defeat in a war with Abijah, the successor of Rehoboam. “Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the Lord struck him, and he died.”RH July 24, 1913, par. 6

The apostasy that became so prevalent in Israel during Jeroboam's reign, resulted finally in the utter ruin of the kingdom. Before the death of Jeroboam, the result of this apostasy was foretold by Ahijah, the aged prophet at Shiloh, who many years before had predicted the elevation of Jeroboam to the throne. The prophet now declared: “The Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger. And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.”RH July 24, 1913, par. 7

Yet the Lord did not give Israel up without first doing everything that could possibly be done to lead them back to their allegiance to him. Lovingly, patiently, through long, dark years when ruler after ruler stood up in bold defiance of Heaven and led Israel deeper and still deeper into idolatry, God sent message after message to his backslidden people. Through his prophets he gave them every opportunity to stay the tide of apostasy, and to return to him. It was during these years that Elijah and Elisha lived and labored, and that the tender appeals of Hosea and Amos and Obadiah were made. Even in the darkest hours, there were some who remained true to the God of heaven, and in the midst of idolatry lived blameless lives.RH July 24, 1913, par. 8

Thus it has been in every age and in every land. The world has never been left without witnesses to the mighty power of God to save from sin. And in the closing scenes of this earth's history, when iniquity will have reached a height never before attained, it will still be possible to say of the remnant people who have remained true to God, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”RH July 24, 1913, par. 9