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him as simply a false prophet, whose object it was to seduce "the man of God," either
from jealousy or to destroy the effect of his mission.^225
On the other hand, it seems equally incorrect to speak of him as a true prophet of God,
roused from sinful conformity with those around by the sudden appearance of the
Judean messenger of Jehovah, and anxious to recover himself by fellowship with "the
man of God," even if that intercourse could only be secured by means of a falsehood.^226
Nor would we describe his conduct as intended to try the steadfast obedience of the
"man of God." The truth seems to lie between these extreme opinions. Putting aside the
general question of heathen divination, which we have not sufficient materials
satisfactorily to answer, it is at least certain that not every Navi was a prophet of
Jehovah. That God should have sent a message through one who was not His prophet,
need not surprise us when we recall the history of Balaam. Moreover, it was peculiarly
appropriate, that the announcement of guilt and punishment should come to the "man
of God" through the person who had misled him by false pretense of an angelic
command, and at the very meal to which the "man of God" should never have sat
down. Again, it is evident that, from the moment he heard of the scene in the idol-
temple, the "old prophet" believed in the genuineness and authority of the message
brought to Bethel. Every stage in the history deepened this conviction, until at last it
became, so to speak, the fundamental fact of his religious life, which must have
determined his whole after-conduct. May it not have been that this "old Navi" was one
of the fruits of the "Schools of the Prophets" - the prophetic order having apparently
been widely revived during the later part of Solomon's reign? Settling in Bethel (as Lot
in Sodom), he may have gradually lapsed into toleration of evil - as the attendance of
his children in the idol-temple seems to imply -without, however, surrendering his
character, perhaps his office of "Prophet," the more so as the service of Jehovah might
be supposed to be only altered in form, not abolished, by the adoption of the symbol of
the Golden Calves. In that case his immediate recognition of the "man of God," and his
deepening conviction may be easily understood; his earnest desire to claim and have
fellowship with a direct messenger of God seems natural; and even his unscrupulous
use of falsehood is accounted for.
These considerations will help to show that there was an essential difference between
him and "the man of God," and that the punishment which overtook the latter bears no
possible relation to the apparent impunity of the "old prophet." That terrible judgment
ought to be viewed from two different points, as it were, absolutely - from heaven
downwards; and relatively to the person whom it overtook - from earth heavenwards.
The most superficial consideration will convince, that, from the nature of the case, the
authority of God must have been vindicated, and that by a patent and terrible judgment,
if the object and meaning of the message which He had sent were not to be nullified.
When "the man of God" publicly proclaimed in the temple the terms which God had
(^)