Final Testing of Messengers

The season for the final testing of the Lord’s messengers is underway. The Lord is finalizing messenger vessels and testing their quality to ensure that they will not crack under the pressure once true power and authority are entrusted to them. The Holy Spirit gives us an example of this in 1 Kings chapter 13 regarding what transpired with the young man of God, or the young prophet. 

The young prophet had been sent by the Lord to deliver a prophetic message of judgment, warning, and a call to repentance for the King of Israel, Jeroboam. Jeroboam was causing the people of God to commit idolatry. He was leading God’s people to himself instead of God. Jeroboam was manufacturing things to keep people dependent on him and his ministry, just as many church leaders are doing today. 

The young man of God spoke a word of judgment against the works of Jeroboam (the false altar he had created in an attempt to keep the influence of God’s people). Jeroboam pointed at the young prophet in anger and ordered his men to seize him, but his hand instantly withered from the judgment of the Lord. The altar then split in two just as the young man of God prophesied. 

The king then asked the young prophet for mercy and to pray that his withered hand would be restored, and it was restored. Then Jeroboam offered the young prophet a reward. The prophet refused and explained why he would not do so:

“But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ” So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.” (I Kings 13:8-10 NKJV)

The young prophet had passed the first two tests and was on his way to completing the third. The young man of God delivered the prophetic word at the risk of his own life. The prophetic word was a “negative” word to the king, and the king could have killed the young prophet, but the Lord preserved him. Next, the prophet could have decided to take a reward from the king which would have disqualified him from the messenger ministry like Gehazi did when he asked Naaman for a reward (2 Kings 5:20-27). However, the young prophet overcame the fear of man and greed to pass both of these tests. 

The final test would unfortunately claim the ministry and life of the messenger. The final test from God was, “Will you obey Me over all other prophetic voices? Will you obey Me over leaders who you respect and admire if they do or say something contrary to what I have told you? Will you yield to the pressure of what established ministers are saying is right, or will you believe and act on My word? Will you stand on the convictions of My revealed will or drift away from it if someone respectable presents a different revelation that appeals to your soul?”

The young man of God set out to obey God by not eating or drinking in that location and by returning home a different way than he had come. 

“Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. For I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ” He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.) So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ” (I Kings 13:11-22 NKJV)

It’s important to note that the scriptures refer to the older man as a prophet. He was not a false prophet, as some have incorrectly stated. The Lord was using the old prophet to bring a final test to the young prophet. If the young prophet passed the test, the Lord would be able to grant him much greater power and authority and we all would have known his name, just as we knew the name of Elijah. 

The Lord did not lie to the young man of God; the older prophet did. It’s important we make that distinction. It’s also important we don’t create doctrines regarding something we don’t fully understand. The older prophet knew by direct revelation that the younger prophet had needed to be tested. He also knew that he had disobeyed God after the test, so we can know that the old prophet was a true prophet and not from the Devil. He mourned over the death of the young man of God after the lion killed him (indicating he didn’t want it to happen and was grieved), and he recognized that his prophetic word of judgment would come to pass. 

The young prophet failed this final test because he listened to the trusted voice of the older prophetic ministry over the direct word and conviction that he received from the Lord. The young man violated his own conscience and obeyed an older, established minister over what he believed to be the will of the Lord. The younger prophet chose to believe the lie that an angel had appeared to the old prophet and spoke something contrary to what the Lord first said to the young man of God. 

The Lord will test His messengers in this way. Will they obey the word of the Lord He gave them directly, or will they trust the word of a senior minister over the Lord? How can a messenger be a messenger if they believe someone else over what the Spirit of God has spoken to them? The would-be messenger is only proving to the Lord that they really aren’t His messenger but merely a messenger of another minister or prophet. The senior minister or prophet is as God to them, and therefore idolatry has taken root in the younger messenger’s heart.

We should listen to and respect senior prophetic ministers. But if we back away from the voice of God because the senior leader is saying they carry the voice of God for us and know His will for our lives, we open ourselves up to deep deception. This is exactly how cults form and it’s one way the enemy will try and ensnare God’s people in these last days. Great deception will take over our hearts when we don’t trust our own ability to hear from the Lord, and we trust a senior minister to hear God for us. 

It's possible the young prophet even wanted to be accepted, welcomed, appreciated, and mentored by the older prophet. The young prophet was likely very lonely and wanted friendship and fellowship. Therefore, he willingly chose to embrace the lie which would have been contrary to his own conscience. It’s important we see that at that point he disqualified himself as a messenger of the Lord.

The young man of God didn’t have some dark and evil hidden sin. He didn’t fall into disqualifying sexual immorality, the pride of life, or lusting after wealth. He simply wasn’t willing to carry and obey the word of the Lord regardless of the personal cost. He wanted the friendship of the senior minister more than a friendship with the Lord. We are the Lord’s friends when we do what He commands (John 15:14). 

The younger prophet’s great sin was wanting friendship and acceptance with man over and above God. The Lord had given the young prophet a chance to prove his obedience and demonstrate that he wanted to be a friend of God (like Abraham) over anything else. The young prophet, by his actions, showed that he was taking friendship with the Lord lightly. He didn’t have the proper respect for the Lord that a person in his position should have had. Therefore the Lord brought a severe judgment against him and fulfilled the prophetic word of the old prophet and judged the young prophetic ministry.

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37-38 NKJV)

The young prophet demonstrated that he did not love the living God more than his need to be accepted by established senior prophetic ministries. He could have had one of the greatest prophetic ministries of all time and been a spiritual father to many prophets, but he threw it all away when he chose to disobey the word of the Lord. The Lord surely would have given the young prophet healthy friendships and relationships in the future so he would have had a certain level of fulfillment in spiritual community, but the prophet couldn’t wait for the Lord’s timing. 

We should be thankful and respectful of the Lord’s older ministers. However, if they are doing something or saying something to us that contradicts what the Lord has said or what is said in His word, we have a duty to reject their word and obey the Lord. For example, I will not compromise my convictions that are from the Holy Spirit and rooted in the word of God. If an older minister is supporting, platforming, endorsing, or ministering with another minister who has disqualified themself according to 1 Timothy chapter 3 and Titus chapter 1, then I will not shift my convictions to align with the older minister that I respect. The Lord is testing me to see if I will obey His written word and hold fast to my Holy Spirit convictions. 

That is just one example, and there are many different scenarios that believers could be experiencing right now. The Holy Spirit will reveal in your heart if there are any areas in your life where the Lord is expecting that you stand on His truth when the old prophetic ministry is trying to get you to believe something else. This is the hour in which we need to stand on the word of the Lord and our God-given convictions. Holding fast to the scriptures is more important than ever in these deceptive times. The Father wants us to pass the tests and to be approved. He will provide us with revelation and grace to pass the tests. Seek Him and His kingdom above all else. 

“And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”” (Luke 9:61-62 NKJV)

In the context of this message, putting our hands to the plow is when we hear the Lord and set out in obeying His word to us. If we look back (turn away and forsake) from our convictions and assignment because of a leader who is giving us conflicting direction “from the Lord,” we are proving that we are not readied vessels for the Lord’s use of bringing forth and manifesting His Kingdom.

May the Lord grant us grace, understanding, discernment, and wisdom in these difficult times.

-Ty Unruh (April 2025)