TEXT: 1 KINGS 13: 1, 7- 34 1 And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou give me half of thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

9 For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.

10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.

12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.

13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,

14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.

15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.

16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:

17 For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.

18 He said unto him, 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.

19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came upon the prophet that brought him back:

21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,

22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.

24 And when he was gone, 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.

25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.

27 And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.

28 And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.

29 And the prophet took up the caecase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.

30 And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones besides his bones:

32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

33 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made against of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whatsoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.

34 And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth. (KJV)

Today I would like to deliver a message entitled “EAT NO BREAD NOR DRINK WATER.”

We would like to learn the meaning of the commandment of the Lord, “Eat no bread, nor drink water.”

Let’s look at the text.

1 “And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.”

Jeroboam was the first king of the divided northern kingdom. This refers to the Catholic now as a sign. To this country, the man of God came from Judah, which refers to the Protestant now as a sign.

So, the story mentioned here is about the faith of the Catholic and the Protestant. Concretely speaking more in detail, it is the story concerning whether the Protestant should accept the teaching of the Catholic or not.

7 “And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself (to dine), and I will give thee a reward.”

It is told here about to dine. To dine means bread and water, that is, the metaphor of the teaching of the Word of bread and work of the Holy Spirit of water. So the proposal of the Catholic to receive their bread and water was offered to the man of God of the Protestant.

8 “And the man of God said unto the king, If thou give me half of thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

9 For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.”

It means in short not to follow the walk of the Catholic, “I will not go in with thee.” So, all the walk of the Catholic such as worship of Mary or Pope, Apocrypha and so on are out of God’s will. It is also told, “Neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place.” So, bread, the teaching of the Catholic, should not be received.

It is recently said in the Catholic that there comes the movement to establish “The Fifth Doctrine of Mary” that is totally blasphemous like, “Mary is our co-savior with Christ.” We should never accept such bread (teaching), or doubtful water of the spirit as, “The bodies of the dead saints do not decay.” Such bread and water are also out of God’s will. God clearly said that these bread and water should not be partaken.

God also commanded, “Nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.” What does this mean? It is necessary to remember the word of Christ, “I am the way, the truth, and life.” Christ is the very way. But, that time, the northern Israel of Jeroboam, the Catholic now, was out of the way. If they walk the way of Christ, “the way, the truth, and the life,” they will get to the eternal life. But if they return to the way of the Catholic now, destruction and disaster will be waiting for them.

Ahead of these teachings as, “There is no hell, the theory of evolution is correct, or let’s worship Mary of Fatima,” are only destruction and hell waiting for them. For these recommended teachings of the Catholic are totally opposite of the word of Christ, the Bible, and out of the way of life. So, the Lord said, “Nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.”

10 “So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.”

“The way that he came to Bethel” is not of His will. This is out of the way of God’s will.

11 “Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.”

There was a prophet in Bethel who served God and understood the will of God.

12 “And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.”

It is also told about the way as, “What way went he?” So, we know that the main theme on the passage is not the issue of whether God is there, or the Church is there, but of the way, that is, how to serve God. The issue is whether they should worship God through Mary, they should serve God through Pope, or these ways are right or nor.

13 “And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,

14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.

15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.

16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:

17 For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.”

Here, again, it is told about bread, water, and way. We understand that it is very important whether we now accept the teaching and the spirit of the Catholic.

Deception will come to the man of God from Judah concerning bread, water and way.

The Protestant has so far drawn a line, put distance from and untouched the Catholic. But now the subject has been changed. Deception and temptation concerning receiving bred and water will come once again in the end time to brave men of faith of Judah, the Protestant, who have kept the commandments of God. But it will lead them to destruction and disaster for them to take this temptation.

18 “He said unto him, 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.”

This prophet tried, what, to deceive the man of God of Judah who had kept warning and commandment of God, telling a lie.

He said, “An angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord.” And, sad to say, this man of God from Judah was deceived by this lie. This man of God made a foolish mistake. But we should now know that the Protestant people who easily follow the teaching to hear what the people of the Catholic say such as that an angel or Mary speaks to them make the same mistake.

19 “So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.”

House is the metaphor of a church. So, this man of God went in his church, that is, the Catholic Church, and received the bread, their teaching, and water, the spirit of deception.

20 “And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came upon the prophet that brought him back:

21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,

22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.”

What this prophet of Bethel did was total deception, cunning action, and clever.

But, this story is not limited to that time. Conversely, we should know this is the sign for the pattern and way of clever deception of how the Protestant people will be overturned in the end time. And, those Protestant who are deceived by this lie will not come to the grave of their fathers, that is, they will not receive the resurrection life that their fathers of faith should receive on that day. We should bear it in mind.

23 “And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.

24 And when he was gone, 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.”

A lion slew this man of God. A lion is the metaphor of the devil, as is written, “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about.” Therefore, we should know that those who eat this bread, drink this water and are tempted to the way will be the prey of a lion, the devil at last.

Many Catholic people have already been the prey and walked miserably to be robbed of all their faith and reward by the enemy, saying such deception as, “Those who believe the Bible as it is have no knowledge of philology.”

25 “And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.”

This man of God was slain by a lion as God had warned beforehand.

Likewise, if we hear this warning of God concerning the Catholic and reject it, we will come to the same conclusion, deception and destruction of a lion.

28 “And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.

29 And the prophet took up the caecase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.”

This man of God was buried not in Judah but in northern Israel, though he was from Judah. Likewise, those Protestant people who are entangled into the lies of the Catholic will die spiritually there. They will never be buried in the grave of their fathers of faith. And, so they will not receive the same honor or reward as they receive on the day of resurrection, as long as they are not in the same grave. Rather, they may enter the eternal abstinence. They will be entangled into unbelief, sin and lie.

30 “And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!”

This man of God was mourned, “Alas, my brother!” by the people of northern Israel who had blood relationship with Judah, for they were brothers each other.

Likewise, the Protestant people who die spiritually to be entangled by lie will be mourned, “Alas, my brother!” by their brother, the Catholic people.

31 “And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones besides his bones.”

The prophet of northern Israel said, “When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones besides his bones.” So, he will also not receive resurrection or honor, as the man of God of Judah is not buried in the grave of their fathers so that he will not receive the honor of resurrection. As these two men show, we should know that the way of Samaria, the Catholic, is a lie and is out of God’s will.

32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

33 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made against of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whatsoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.”

It is written, he “made against of the lowest of the people priests of the high places.” The priests o the Lord should be Levites, that is, those who attach to the Lord (Levy means to attach to), but it may mean that common people, not disciples of the Lord, serve in this church.

34 “And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.”

This thing, “Those who are not ordained of the Lord become fathers,” is very grave sin, for by this the house of Jeroboam, the Catholic Church, became sin. And, it is written, “Even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.” We should take it solemnly, for in short, the way of the Catholic is totally out of the will of God, and if we walk this way we will be destroyed from off the face of the earth.

Let’s do the will of the Lord in the end time.

End.