A Man Of God - Article By Pator Ituah Ighodalo

The Bible tells us in the above text that a prophet of God came out of the presence of God, had the word of God in his mouth, and was led by the word of God and unto the city of God. By this time, Bethel the city of God had become a city of idol worshippers because of Jeroboam. Israel had been divided into 2 parts, Judah and Israel.

Jeroboam took over Israel while Rehoboam, the son of Solomon took over Judah and the tribe of Benjamin where he came from. Jeroboam had put up two golden calves at Bethel and Dan to prevent the people of God from going to Jerusalem to worship because Jerusalem was in Judah.

Jeroboam had stood by the altar of God to burn incense and this man of God whose name was not mentioned cried against that alter according to the word of the Lord.

As soon as this prophet gave God’s word against the alter at Bethel, Jeroboam wanted to get hold of him but as soon as he stretched out his hand against this man of God, his hands dried up and withered. Jeroboam then asked this man of God to pray for him that his hand may be restored and as soon as the man of God prayed for Jeroboam, his hand was restored.

Jeroboam was a great sinner and had committed great atrocities against God and wanted to destroy this man of God that God had sent to prophesy against him. But it was this same man of God that prayed for the restoration of his hand. A man of God prayed for a great sinner and God answered that prayer. Yet Jeroboam the king remained in his sins.

Jeroboam then asked this man of God to come home with him that he might reward him for his prayer which the man of God declined saying even if Jeroboam offered him half of his kingdom he would not go home with him. This tells us that as men of God, we preach the word of God not for gain or reward but the calling of God.

God had charged this man of God not to eat or drink or turn into any place except to return from where he was coming from. So this man of God retuned by a different way from the one which he came from. Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel whose sons went to tell him all that had happened between the man of God and the king. This old prophet then went after this man of God and found him sitting under an oak.

There are many times when men of God are sitting when they should be walking, sitting when they should be running, sitting when they should be flying. So this old prophet entreated this man of God to come home with him which the man of God again refused saying that God had told him not to do so.

The old prophet then lied to him saying an angel of God had told him to go and bring this man of God into his house. This tells us immediately that some prophets of God are liars. They tell lies for their own advantages and benefits and usually to the destruction of the people of God. Don’t be intimidated by any man of God. Try to hear from God yourself. God will talk to you yourself. Be careful under whose anointing you are.  

So this man of God went back with this old prophet and ate and drank in his house. As they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet that brought him back. Our God is very interesting. The word of the Lord still came back to a liar. We cannot fully understand or comprehend God.

The easiest thing is for you to be in association with God yourself. So this old prophet gave the word which God had spoken to him to the man of God saying because he had disobeyed the word of the Lord which God had commanded him not to eat, drink or stay in any place, his body shall not be buried in the tombs of his fathers.

When this man of God left the old prophet to resume his journey, he was attacked by a lion that killed him. His body was thrown by the roadside. The donkey which he rode on stood by his carcass and the lion which had slain him also stood by the carcass and the donkey.

This man of God became a terrible loss. Note that this man of God did not steal, did not tell a lie, did not kill, did not bear false witness, was not bitter or angry and did not commit adultery or fornication. He was a gentle man of God obeying God, serving God, doing his best for God and minding his own business.

Serving God is the riskiest business in the world. This man of God suffered an avoidable loss. There are lots of losses in our lives that are avoidable if only we can do the right thing at the right time. There are some things that we do in our lives that have serious

consequences that may never be reversed. One small sin may lead to a cancer. One small sex can lead to AIDS; there is even a direct correlation there. One abortion can lead to so many problems. This man of God did many great things, he made one small mistake and God killed him.

Jeroboam who was the father of sins and sinned from morning till night was alive, his sickness was even restored and we have this man of God who still had many years to serve God dying. We serve a dangerous God. The Bible says that He is quick to mercy and slow to anger. There are many little things that we do that we think that He has forgotten. Because nothing happens immediately, we think that God has forgotten.

There is nothing that we do that God does not see. Your pastor may not see but it is between you and God and you think that you have gotten away with it. The way God deals with Mr. A is not the same way God deals with Mrs. B. You cannot use Mr. X as your yardstick and say because God dealt with him in a certain way therefore God will deal with you in the same way. God deals with each person according to that person.

Note that God did not forget Jeroboam’s sins but dealt with him in His own time. All that this man of God did was a little disobedience based on a small persuasion from a respected old prophet. We need to fear God. We need to ask God’s forgiveness. The Bible says that let him that thinks that he stands take heed less he falls. Let us ask for God’s mercy forgiveness.

One of the problems of the man of God was that after the old prophet gave God’s word against him, he did not ask for forgiveness and mercy. When David sinned against God, he at least asked God for forgiveness and God forgave him partially even though he had set off a chain of curses against his house and country. So ask God for forgiveness for your sins and secondly ask God to forgive the sins of your ancestors. God gave David mercy but his children suffered.

Pray that your children will not suffer because of your sins and you will not suffer because of your father or fore-fathers sins. Ask God for total restoration and a new beginning. God will answer.