1 Kings 14 tells of Jeroboam sending his wife to Ahijah, the prophet of God, to ask whether his son would recover from an illness. Shortly before, another prophet had condemned Jeroboam’s unauthorized methods of worshipping God and prophesied the end of his kingdom, but Ahijah was the one who had foretold his taking of the northern kingdom from Solomon’s dynasty. Ahijah would certainly give him a better prediction, he must have thought.
Yet what did he do? Ahijah was old and could not see well. (Perhaps he had cataracts.) Still, Jeroboam told his wife to disguise herself. He told her to take gifts to the prophet. Surely he must have felt some trepidation to take such measures. But think how ridiculous those precautions were. If he believes that Ahijah is a prophet of the God who controls all, how will this prophet not know who is standing before him? Sin can make you do stupid things.
And sure enough, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another?” 14:6.
The scriptures tell other tales of people trying to disguise themselves—Saul when he went to the necromancer at Endor, and Jacob seeking the blessing of his father Isaac, among them. But in every case, God knows who is standing before him and his purpose is fulfilled.
We often act like we are better than those foolish people, but, sadly, that is not the case. It isn’t just the obvious cases we often mention—Sunday morning Christians who seem to think that God will not know what happens the rest of the week, pew sitters whose worship is only in form while their hearts are elsewhere, the disobedient and presumptuous who think that as long as they sing loud and pray long that their deviation from God’s commands won’t matter. Sometimes we try to hide behind other methods of anonymity. It’s an easy thing to do these days.
When you talk to someone on the phone, it’s easy to be someone else isn’t it? It’s easy to say hard things because you aren’t looking someone in the eye, maybe even because they are out of arm’s reach. When you write a letter it’s easy to go on a tirade—no interruptions, no one to gasp at your audacity or become angry at your hyperbolic accusations. When you sit behind the steering wheel, the other guy can’t hear you curse him. It’s easier to blast away on the horn or do unto him as he did unto you because that tinted glass gives you a feeling of security and facelessness.
Be careful that you don’t do just as Jeroboam did and forget that there is no anonymity with God. There is no rationalizing with him either—he can see right through your excuses just like he can phone lines, mailboxes, and windshields. He sees every tyrant in the letter, every harridan over the phone, and every bully behind the wheel.
What he had rather see is our doing right. Nineteen times in the Old Testament I found the phrase “he did right in the eyes of God.” Jesus told us we should give in secret, pray in our rooms, and do our best not to let others know when we are fasting for religious purposes (Matt 6). Just as God will see the wrong we try to hide, he will see the good we don’t brag about—one just as easily as the other. Give him something nice to look at today.
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good, Prov 15:3. Dene Ward
Yet what did he do? Ahijah was old and could not see well. (Perhaps he had cataracts.) Still, Jeroboam told his wife to disguise herself. He told her to take gifts to the prophet. Surely he must have felt some trepidation to take such measures. But think how ridiculous those precautions were. If he believes that Ahijah is a prophet of the God who controls all, how will this prophet not know who is standing before him? Sin can make you do stupid things.
And sure enough, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another?” 14:6.
The scriptures tell other tales of people trying to disguise themselves—Saul when he went to the necromancer at Endor, and Jacob seeking the blessing of his father Isaac, among them. But in every case, God knows who is standing before him and his purpose is fulfilled.
We often act like we are better than those foolish people, but, sadly, that is not the case. It isn’t just the obvious cases we often mention—Sunday morning Christians who seem to think that God will not know what happens the rest of the week, pew sitters whose worship is only in form while their hearts are elsewhere, the disobedient and presumptuous who think that as long as they sing loud and pray long that their deviation from God’s commands won’t matter. Sometimes we try to hide behind other methods of anonymity. It’s an easy thing to do these days.
When you talk to someone on the phone, it’s easy to be someone else isn’t it? It’s easy to say hard things because you aren’t looking someone in the eye, maybe even because they are out of arm’s reach. When you write a letter it’s easy to go on a tirade—no interruptions, no one to gasp at your audacity or become angry at your hyperbolic accusations. When you sit behind the steering wheel, the other guy can’t hear you curse him. It’s easier to blast away on the horn or do unto him as he did unto you because that tinted glass gives you a feeling of security and facelessness.
Be careful that you don’t do just as Jeroboam did and forget that there is no anonymity with God. There is no rationalizing with him either—he can see right through your excuses just like he can phone lines, mailboxes, and windshields. He sees every tyrant in the letter, every harridan over the phone, and every bully behind the wheel.
What he had rather see is our doing right. Nineteen times in the Old Testament I found the phrase “he did right in the eyes of God.” Jesus told us we should give in secret, pray in our rooms, and do our best not to let others know when we are fasting for religious purposes (Matt 6). Just as God will see the wrong we try to hide, he will see the good we don’t brag about—one just as easily as the other. Give him something nice to look at today.
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good, Prov 15:3. Dene Ward
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