In 1 Kings 13 we see one of the most powerful and sad stories in the Old Testament wrapped up in one chapter. God sent a man of God from Judah to confront Jeroboam as he stood at the altar in Bethel. The prophet declared that a future king named Josiah would one day destroy the altar and burn the bones of its priests upon it. As a sign that the prophecy was from God, the altar split apart and its ashes poured out. When Jeroboam stretched out his hand to seize the prophet, his hand immediately withered, but after he pleaded for mercy, the prophet prayed and God restored it. The prophet then refused the king’s offer of food and reward in obedience to God’s command. However, after being deceived by an old prophet, he disobeyed the Lord by returning to eat and drink. Because of this, God pronounced judgment on him, and he was killed by a lion on his journey home. The old prophet buried him in his own sepulchre and instructed his sons to bury him beside the man of God when he died.
After these events we read some astonishing words. After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way (1 Kings 13:33). Although Scripture does not tell us what Jeroboam was thinking, the placement of verse 33 almost suggests that he dismissed the prophet because of his death. Rather than repenting, he returned fully to his evil ways.
From a human perspective, the prophet’s death could have appeared to invalidate his ministry. Yet the opposite was true.
The prophet did not die because his message was false. He died because his message was true, and God held him accountable to the very word he preached.
In fact, his death strengthened God’s credibility rather than weakening it. It demonstrated that God shows no partiality. If He judged His own prophet for disobedience, how much more would He judge Jeroboam?
The old prophet even recognized this. After the man of God’s death, he declared: it is the saying of the LORD, which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel… shall surely come to pass (1 Kings 13:32).
The old prophet never questioned the prophecy. He affirmed that it would certainly come to pass. So if Jeroboam dismissed the prophet because of his death, he completely misunderstood what had happened.
There’s also a timeless lesson here. People often try to discredit God’s message by pointing to the messenger’s failure. How many times have we heard: “That preacher fell into sin.” “That Christian wasn’t perfect.” “That church leader failed.”
Because of this, many assume the message itself must be false or flawed. But Scripture repeatedly separates the truth of God’s Word from the faithfulness of the messenger. Moses sinned. David sinned. Peter denied Christ. Yet God’s Word remained true.
As Paul would later write, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels… (2 Corinthians 4:7). We are flawed humans carrying priceless treasure. The cracks in the vessel do not diminish the value of what is inside.
Peter denied Jesus three times. Had the early church concluded, “Peter failed, therefore everything he ever taught is false,” they would have rejected the very man God chose to preach on the Day of Pentecost. Peter’s denial required repentance and restoration, but it did not make Jesus’ teaching false or nullify Peter’s future ministry after Christ restored him.
So what about Judas? Jesus sent all twelve apostles out to preach, heal the sick, and cast out demons (Matthew 10). Judas was among them. There is no indication that his sermons were false simply because he would later betray Christ. His later betrayal exposed his heart, but it did not make the truth he proclaimed a lie.
Paul makes a related point in Philippians 1:15-18. Some were preaching Christ from envy and selfish ambition, trying to add to Paul’s affliction. Yet Paul said What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice… (Philippians 1:18). Paul certainly cared about the character of ministers, as seen in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. But in this instance, he recognized that the motive of the preacher did not change the truth of the message.
There is also a practical warning for us. Sometimes people reject a Biblical truth because they find a flaw in the person who taught it. Can I tell you that we are all flawed followers. No one would want their life and every decision put on display for everyone to pick through and judge. Yet many try to do just this to find a flaw in a follower of Christ to justify themselves. We would do good when looking for flaws to use a mirror rather than a magnifying glass.
Even if a leader later falls into sin and they fall from ministry. It does not automatically make every Biblical truth they taught false.
Truth stands or falls on whether it agrees with God’s Word, not on whether the messenger lived up to it perfectly.
As Paul later wrote to Timothy: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13).
And again Paul wrote, Let God be true, but every man a liar (Romans 3:4). God’s truth is never established by human perfection. It remains true because He is true.
So don’t be surprised when you discover flaws in followers of Christ. We are all flawed followers. That is precisely why we needed a flawless Saviour. Our hope has never rested in the perfection of men but in the perfection of Christ. People may fail. Leaders may stumble. Messengers may falter. But God’s Word remains true.
Psalm 33:4: For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
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