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The punishment for disobeying God was swift and decisive, despite his being enticed by the crafty, older prophet. The "senior prophet" should have known much better than to ever challenge God this way and place the life of his younger friend in mortal danger: it seems he was both a liar and a fool.

Nonetheless, this prophet should have known that if God had somehow "changed His mind," He would definitely have conveyed that to the unnamed prophet just as He did with his initial charge - and, much later with the underhanded older man.

The warning we must heed, as Christians today, is the certainty that many pretentious "prophets," those that range from professional religionists to the friendly, neighborhood minister, may suggest every manner of false teaching. *Indeed, they are often entirely unaware of the fact themselves! These are the ones described by Christ in Matthew's Gospel:

Matthew 7:21: "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

Just who are these "ravening wolves" if not those who appear so benign and trustworthy? Does it matter whether they seem sincere with their false doctrine, as was the lying older prophet in 1 Kings 13?

The punishment for disobeying God was swift and decisive, despite his being enticed by the crafty, older prophet. The "senior prophet" should have known much better than to ever challenge God this way and place the life of his younger friend in mortal danger: it seems he was both a scheming liar and a fool.

Nonetheless, this prophet should have known that if God had somehow "changed His mind," He would definitely have conveyed that to the unnamed prophet just as He did with his initial charge - and later with the older man.

The warning we must heed, as Christians today, is the certainty that many pretentious "prophets," those that range from professional religionists to the friendly, neighborhood minister, may suggest every manner of false teaching. Indeed, they are often entirely unaware of the fact themselves! These are the ones described by Christ in Matthew's Gospel:

Matthew 7:15: "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

Just who are these "ravening wolves" if not those who appear so benign and trustworthy? Does it matter whether they seem sincere with their false doctrine, as was perhaps the older prophet in 1 Kings 13?

In David's household, "the sword would never depart" (2 Sam. 12:10) as he lost (at least) three sons (1 child, 2 older), and nearly had his kingdom taken away. Even his daughter was raped by one of the brothers. You'll remember that Samson's eyes were gouged out (Jdgs. 16:21), and others paid a very high price for their behavior as well.

The unnamed prophet who was instructed to "eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which [he] came" was indeed led astray by the older prophet, but he paid the ultimate price with his life. It does not appear at all that this was symbolic of "not [going] back to their personal sinful past that they [either did, or did not] indulge in their early lives."

The punishment for disobeying God was swift and decisive, despite his being enticed by the crafty, older prophet. The "senior prophet" man should have known much better than to ever challenge God this way, and place the life of his younger friend in mortal danger: it seems he was both a liar and a fool.

It may be significant that the unnamed prophet was found resting idly under an oak tree instead of returning with haste back to Judah, given the gravity of fully completing his mission. This might speak to the integrity of younger man - even though he did state his mission correctly twice.

Nonetheless, this prophet should have known that if God had somehow "changed His mind," God would definitely have conveyed that to the unnamed prophet just as He did with the initial charge - and later with the underhanded older man.

The warning we must heed, as Christians today, is the certainty that many pretentious "prophets," those that range from professional religionists to the friendly, neighborhood minister, may suggest every manner of false teaching: often entirely unaware of the fact themselves. These are the ones described by Christ in Matthew's Gospel:

Just who are these 'ravening wolves" if not those who appear so benign and trustworthy? Does it matter whether they are sincere and friendly with their false doctrine, as was the lying older prophet in 1 Kings 13?

In David's household, "the sword would never depart" (2 Sam. 12:10) as he lost (at least) three sons (1 child, 2 older), and nearly had his kingdom taken away. Even his daughter was raped by one of the brothers. You'll remember that Samson's eyes were gouged out (Jdgs. 16:21), while others paid a very high price for their transgressions as well.

The unnamed prophet who was instructed to "eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which [he] came" was indeed led astray by the older prophet, but he paid the ultimate price with his life. It does not appear at all that this was symbolic of "not [going] back to [his] personal sinful past that [he either did, or did not] indulge in [his earlier life]."

The punishment for disobeying God was swift and decisive, despite his being enticed by the crafty, older prophet. The "senior prophet" should have known much better than to ever challenge God this way and place the life of his younger friend in mortal danger: it seems he was both a liar and a fool.

It may be significant that the unnamed prophet was found resting idly under an oak tree instead of returning with haste to Judah, given the gravity of fully completing his mission. This might speak a bit to the integrity of the younger man - even though he did state his mission correctly twice. "Two out of three" is obviously insufficient.

Nonetheless, this prophet should have known that if God had somehow "changed His mind," He would definitely have conveyed that to the unnamed prophet just as He did with his initial charge - and, much later with the underhanded older man.

The warning we must heed, as Christians today, is the certainty that many pretentious "prophets," those that range from professional religionists to the friendly, neighborhood minister, may suggest every manner of false teaching. *Indeed, they are often entirely unaware of the fact themselves! These are the ones described by Christ in Matthew's Gospel:

Just who are these "ravening wolves" if not those who appear so benign and trustworthy? Does it matter whether they seem sincere with their false doctrine, as was the lying older prophet in 1 Kings 13?

Was God's command to the unnamed prophet specifying in 1 Kings 13 symbolic to us today?

The examples you have given of David's sinful past, as well as that of the judges, and many other sinful men do not necessarily apply because they all suffered greatly following their sins.

In David's household, "the sword would never depart" (2 Sam. 12:10) as he lost (at least) three sons (1 child, 2 older), and nearly had his kingdom taken away. Even his daughter was raped by one of the brothers. You'll remember that Samson's eyes were gouged out (Jdgs. 16:21), and others paid a very high price for their sins as well.

Was God's command to the unnamed prophet in 1 Kings 13 symbolic to us today?

The examples you have given of David's sinful past, as well as that of the judges, and many other righteous men who proved to be quite sinful do not necessarily apply because many of them suffered greatly following their sins.

In David's household, "the sword would never depart" (2 Sam. 12:10) as he lost (at least) three sons (1 child, 2 older), and nearly had his kingdom taken away. Even his daughter was raped by one of the brothers. You'll remember that Samson's eyes were gouged out (Jdgs. 16:21), and others paid a very high price for their behavior as well.