Bible Studies

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The Importance of Being Obedient (or The Prophets’ Parallelism)
by Monty Wheeler

Oft times, I struggle with knowing God’s will in my life, and the search for truth marches on. To stumble along in blind faith might seem dangerous but no less so than following what I know is NOT His will. More often than not, I know more of what His will is NOT than what His will is. To know the negative side has as much value in terms of obedience to God as knowing the positive side. The prophets’ two stories of obedience tell it all for me. To know and disobey? I’d dare not. . .

Two events in The Bible that run parallel for a time until the tracks switch to change direction are forever tied with the theme of obedience. To the believer, obedience or disobedience to God’s will means life or death, as takes place in the stories of four prophets. The stories pit loyalty and obedience to God against the word and will of man. One ends in tragedy, the other in blessing. As the man of God, the unnamed prophet, and the prophet Elisha choose to obey or disobey God’s lays their respective fates. The workings of obedience both rewards and kills.

The Bible states God’s will to the unnamed man of God in 1 Kings 13:8 when he responds to Jeroboam’s invitation with, “And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:” He repeats this same to the old prophet in 13:17. (Man shalt suffer at the hand of the well-intended man!) Not stated but implied, Elisha makes a commitment to both God and Elijah in 1 Kings 19:20 with “. . .and then I will follow thee. . .” He believes that God wills him to follow as much as the unnamed man of God knew he was to leave that place without drink or food.

After the choices and decisions the tracks switch and the parallels end. Yet the two events remain locked together in the central theme. The man of God disobeys God’s clear direction when the old prophet claims divine intervention and says, “. . .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. But he lied unto him.” (1 Kings 13:18.) How easily the man of God would be swayed from God’s commands. As the contrast plays out, Elijah tells his servant to stay behind two times, and twice, Elisha responds to his master’s demand with “. . .As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.” (2 Kings 2:2,4.) Elisha believes in, and holds to, his commitment to God’s will, not his earthly master’s.

The prophet known as the Man of God, with no mal intent, disobeys God and listens to a fellow prophet who would claim divine intervention; the price is death. Elisha, who commits to follow the prophet Elijah as his servant and refuses Elijah’s demand to leave him twice, keeps his commitment and vow to both earthly master and to his Heavenly Father; he is blessed, as “He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan.” (2 Kings 2:13.)

The reward for this and the price for dis. . . Elisha obeys his Lord, God, and receives a double blessing, as Elijah ascends to Heaven, and he dons the mantle of his teacher. What if Elisha had obeyed his teacher’s demand that he stay behind on the way to the Jordan River? Would he too have met some grizzly end? That question might be answered in the earlier fate of the prophet known as the man of God. He eats and drinks at the house of the deceiver; albeit, he learns he lies forever sans repose in a foreign land. The price of disobedience paints a grizzly end for the unnamed prophet as “. . .a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.” (1 Kings 13:24.)

Disobedience might be defined as “knowing better, yet going our own way.” God’s will shant always be so apparent,, and the advice of others is not always bad, but even those with no mal intent can steer one from God’s path. What might lie down that wrong path? In this world, a hungry lion takes many forms. As well, the rewards for obedience might not seem as dramatic or great as Elisha’s, but the small rewards along the course of the day give our walk with God a brand new sway. As Elisha obeys and prospers, I would do my best to obey or perish along the way.


Works Cited:

The Holy Bible, KJV, United States of America: Today, Inc. 1976

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