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DOES GOD RUN STING OPERATIONS?

I think it’s one of the toughest things cubicle workers in an office have to deal with. You start on a project, holding in your hand a clear set of instructions from your supervisor. “Do it like so: Step A, then B, then C, then D.” You’re clicking along nicely, minding your own business, when all of a sudden, halfway through, he or she e-mails you or leaves a memo on top of the stack . . . and they’ve changed everything. Different reports stuck in, PowerPoint instead of flip charts, a whole new list of instructions about who should get copies.

Well, friend, I’m sure you’ve been through it — and I have to look in my own mirror to realize the times I’ve done that to people working under my umbrella. It’s the same in a high school algebra class where the teacher wants all the students to do problem #31. And just as you finish copying down this long, complicated problem — and maybe even done the first couple steps — she cries out: “Oops! Sorry! I meant FORTY-one.” And with a sigh, you get out your eraser and start over. By the way, it kind of makes you wonder about the teacher. Or the boss. Or – dare I say it – the God up in heaven who seems to be unable to make up His mind.

Now why’d I add that last little theological complaint? Our radio series title for the week is a very interesting one: IS THAT GOD’S VOICE I HEAR? Is this divine memo, which I hold in my hand, telling me to do such-and-such and obey some certain commandments and Sermons on the Mount . . . is this really from God? Because now I’ve got another memo, which looks like it contradicts the first one.

I’d like to take you today to one of the most troubling, weird stories you’ll ever find in the Bible. Starting next week, we’re going to be exploring I Kings chapter 17, the great saga of the Prophet Elijah. Now THAT story I can preach with confidence! THAT story I like! This one, coming just four chapters earlier, is strange indeed . . . but we’re going to look at it right now.

In I Kings 13, King Jeroboam has just been visited by what the Bible calls “a man of God.” In other words, a prophet. There’s a tense little confrontation between this prophet and the king, the king almost has him arrested, the king’s arm gets all shriveled up, he pleads with the prophet to intervene with God, the prophet intervenes with God, and the king’s arm returns to normal. Like I said, this is a strange story . . . and we’re still on page one. King Jeroboam, grateful to have his arm back, says to the prophet: “Thank you so much. Come on over to the palace with me, and I’ll buy you lunch.”

Quoting now from the Clear Word paraphrase, the man of God replies:

“Even if you were to give me half of your kingdom, I wouldn’t eat with you. I wouldn’t think of eating in this idol-infested place. Besides, the Lord told me” — now here’s the part about the memo from heaven — “the Lord told me not to eat or drink anything in this place, nor am I to go back home the way I came.”

So he leaves. He takes the long way home to Bethel, obeying the word of the Lord. Which is a good thing to do.

Now let’s go to part two.

“There was a certain old prophet living in Bethel,” we read in verse 11, “whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day.”

This prophet #2 hears the whole story about the withered arm, the miracle, the king’s offer of a free lunch, everything. And how the prophet turned Jeroboam down and was going home on the back country roads, not driving on the Interstate. Now this second prophet jumps onto his own donkey, rides out to Rural Route 2, and finds the original man of God resting under a tree. “Are you the prophet from Judah?” he asks.

“Yes, I am,” the first man replies.

“Great,” he says. “Nice to meet you. Why don’t you come home and have some lunch with me.”

And the prophet tells him the same thing. “I can’t. The Lord told me not to stop and eat with anyone or to go home the same way I came. I’ll have to take a rain check.”

Now get this. The second man tells him — and this is in verse 18:

“I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” And then these whispered six words: “But he was lying to him.”

Well, let’s cut to the chase, because this is really an unpleasant, confusing story. Bottom line: the good prophet believes the bad prophet. He goes home with him and has some food. Halfway through the meal, as the Bible puts it, the spirit of God actually does move upon the old man, the lying prophet, and he sternly informs the younger man of God that he has disobeyed the Lord. “You should NOT have come home with me for lunch,” he accuses. And he tells the prophet that, because of his mistake, he’s going to die that very day. A bit later, as the younger man resumes his journey, a lion comes by and kills him. Doesn’t eat him, just kills him. Right after that the old man comes along and sees the dead body of the man, with the lion standing there like a silent sentinel. He takes the younger man home, buries him, and mourns as though he’s lost a brother. True story, right there in the heart of I Kings.

At first glance, you would say in disgust: “This is nothing but an old-fashioned sting! This is Mayor Marion Barry, Part Two! You lure someone into sin, bug the motel room, videotape everything — the cocaine snorting, the suitcase of cash — and then indict them for doing the very thing you invited them to do.” And you know, you’re right. This is an unsavory story, with confusing moral overtones. What is God trying to tell us here?

Well, friend, I can’t sort out the entire mess, but I know there’s one lesson in this bad little story — and let me tell you, it’s certainly relevant to our topic for the week: IS THAT GOD’S VOICE I HEAR? Let’s go back to verse 18, and the King James Version, where the bad prophet says to the good one:

“I am a prophet also as thou art.”

You know, we found a great Bible commentary which summarizes, in just two sentences, our Wednesday lesson for the day. “I am a prophet also as thou art”?

“He was,” says the commentary, “but not GOD’S prophet.” Now mark down these crucial words: “The Lord never sends contradictory messages by His prophets.”

Friend, that’s so important, let’s say it again. “The Lord never sends contradictory messages by His prophets.” That corroborates the great line we borrowed from Dr. Jack Deere yesterday:

“God [can] speak apart from the Scriptures, though never in contradiction to the Scriptures.”

What that means is this. If you start on a journey under the Lord’s direction, you can know beyond all doubt, all questioning, that God’s not going to come along halfway through and change the instructions. Or alter the rules. Or change the game plan. You might get the most overpowering impulse in the world; an idea might seize your mind and hang on like it’s never going to let you go. And you say to your spouse: “This is unbelievable! I feel like the Lord is really trying to tell me something.” But friend, if that impulse, no matter how compelling, no matter how convincing, tries to lead you out of the instruction manual you’ve already received in the Bible, you can know that you’re hearing from the false prophet. And that a lion may be just around the corner.

That same Dr. Jack Deere raises the question of impressions and dreams.

“How do you even know,” he asks, “if the dream came from God? What if an upset stomach the night before was the source of the dream? . . . Even if you were fairly certain the dream was from God and that you knew what it meant, how do you know how much weight to give it? Would it have the same authority as the Bible, as a vision, an impression, an audible voice, and so on?”

Well, those are some good questions, and we really only have time in our remaining moments here to reiterate the main point. We can’t always tell if a dream comes from God, but we can always tell if it DIDN’T come from God . . . and that’s when the dream contradicts the Bible. Because God is never going to go back on His instructions to you and violate His own previously stated will.

It would be hard to say to a strong impression: “Stand aside. I want to check the original instructions.” Or to say to a close friend, even a pastor or counselor: “Stand aside. Let me see what the Bible says.” Or to say to an apparent angel: “Stand aside. Does the eternal Word of God say the same as what you’re saying?” That would be a huge challenge. But even that good prophet of God found out the hard way — there’s only one safe road to travel on.