God Tests The Resolve Of His Servants

[Mr. M]

In Acts 20, the apostle Paul gives this testimony to the Ephesian elders:

22 And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things

that will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city,

saying that chains and tribulations await me. 24 But none of these things move me;

nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy,

and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

In Acts 21, Paul is en route to Jerusalem when he stops over in Caesarea at the home of Philip

the evangelist, when the prophet Agabus arrives and makes this prophecy:

10 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said,

Thus says the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt,

and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

Since Paul has already made it clear that he is aware of what awaits him in Jerusalem,

what is the predictive value of the prophet’s words? They must be directed to the others present.

Going deeper into the narrative, we can ask, what is God’s purpose for sending the prophet

to speak these words? First, consider the reaction of those who heard.

12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded

with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

13 Then Paul answered, What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart?

For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

So now ask yourself, what if Paul had been moved by their entreaties and delayed going to Jerusalem.

God could very well send someone else, and Paul’s ministry could have ended in Caesarea.

Thankfully, the others recognized his resolve and accepted his words.

14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

So we can see that God used the word of the prophet to test the resolve of his servants.

This was presented previously in the OT in what I found to be a very sad narrative.

The Message of the Man of God 1 Kings 13

1 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam

stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord,

and said, O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the

house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you,

and men’s bones shall be burned on you. 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign

which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.

4 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against

the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, Arrest him! Then his hand,

which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. 5 The altar

also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of

God had given by the word of the Lord. 6 Then the king answered and said to the man of God, Please

entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. So the

man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before.

7 Then the king said to the man of God, Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward. 

8 But the man of God said to the king, If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you;

nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. 9 For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord,

saying, You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.  10 So he went another

way and did not return by  the way he came to Bethel. 11 Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel,

and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel;

they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. 12 And their father said to them,

which way did he go? For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah.

13 Then he said to his sons, Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it,

14 and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, Are you the man

of God who came from Judah? And he said, I am. 15 Then he said to him, Come home with me and eat bread. 

16 And he said, I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you

in this place. 17 For I have been told by the word of the Lord, You shall not eat bread nor drink water there,

nor return by going the way you came. 18 He said to him, I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke

to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and

drink water. He was lying to him. 19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

20 Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought

him back; 21 and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, Thus says the Lord: Because

you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God

commanded you, 22 but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you,

Eat no bread and drink no water, your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers. 23 So it was, after he

had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back.

24 When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road,

and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. 25 And there, men passed by and saw the corpse

thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse.

Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

One man of God lies to another to test his resolve and obedience.

This is why we must come to recognize and obey the Voice.