Reflections on 1 Kings 13

1 Kings 13 (Contemporary English Version)

1. One day, Jeroboam was standing at the altar in Bethel, ready to make an offering. Suddenly one of God's prophets arrived from Judah and shouted: The LORD sent me with a message about this altar. A child named Josiah will be born into David's family. He will sacrifice on this altar the priests who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on it.
2. (SEE 13:1)
3. You will know that the LORD has said these things when the altar splits in half, and the ashes on it fall to the ground.
4. Jeroboam pointed at the prophet and shouted, "Grab him!" But right away, Jeroboam's hand became stiff, and he could not move it.
5. The altar split in half, and the ashes fell to the ground, just as the prophet had warned.
6. "Please pray to the LORD your God and ask him to heal my hand," Jeroboam begged. The prophet prayed, and Jeroboam's hand was healed.
7. "Come home with me and eat something," Jeroboam said. "I want to give you a gift for what you have done."
8. "No, I wouldn't go with you, even if you offered me half of your kingdom. I won't eat or drink here either.
9. The LORD said I can't eat or drink anything and that I can't go home the same way I came."
10. Then he started home down a different road.
11. At that time an old prophet lived in Bethel, and one of his sons told him what the prophet from Judah had said and done.
12. "Show me which way he went," the old prophet said, and his sons pointed out the road.
13. "Put a saddle on my donkey," he told them. After they did, he got on the donkey
14. and rode off to look for the prophet from Judah. The old prophet found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, "Are you the prophet from Judah?" "Yes, I am."
15. "Come home with me," the old prophet said, "and have something to eat."
16. "I can't go back with you," the prophet replied, "and I can't eat or drink anything with you.
17. The LORD warned me not to eat or drink or to go home the same way I came."
18. The old prophet said, "I'm a prophet too. One of the LORD's angels told me to take you to my house and give you something to eat and drink." The prophet from Judah did not know that the old prophet was lying,
19. so he went home with him and ate and drank.
20. During the meal the LORD gave the old prophet
21. a message for the prophet from Judah: Listen to the LORD's message. You have disobeyed the LORD your God.
22. He told you not to eat or drink anything here, but you came home and ate with me. And so, when you die, your body won't be buried in your family tomb.
23. After the meal the old prophet got a donkey ready,
24. and the prophet from Judah left. Along the way, a lion attacked and killed him, and the donkey and the lion stood there beside his dead body.
25. Some people walked by and saw the body with the lion standing there. They ran into Bethel, telling everyone what they had seen.
26. When the old prophet heard the news, he said, "That must be the prophet from Judah. The LORD warned him, but he disobeyed. So the LORD sent a lion to kill him."
27. The old prophet told his sons to saddle his donkey, and when it was ready,
28. he left. He found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and lion standing there. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey.
29. The old prophet picked up the body, put it on his own donkey, and took it back to Bethel, so he could bury it and mourn for the prophet from Judah.
30. He buried the body in his own family tomb and cried for the prophet.
31. He said to his sons, "When I die, bury my body next to this prophet.
32. I'm sure that everything he said about the altar in Bethel and the shrines in Samaria will happen."
33. But Jeroboam kept on doing evil things. He appointed men to be priests at the local shrines, even if they were not Levites. In fact, anyone who wanted to be a priest could be one.
34. This sinful thing led to the downfall of his kingdom.

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This chapter is a commentary on disobedience. Even seemingly "innocent" disobedience. 

Jeroboam, now king of Israel's ten northern tribes had established an apostate religion in an effort to protect his influence over his people. He was fearful that by going to Jerusalem to worship at the official temple they would be influenced to return to rule under Judah's king. Though his religion imitated Judaism in many respects, it also imitated the pagan religions of the surrounding nations. It is often said that a lie can be "sold" to others if it also incorporates truth in it. So it was with Jeroboam's apostate religion. It had incorporated enough of true Judaism to convince the people there was nothing wrong with it. This age-old question, "what's wrong with it?" or "what harm can it cause?" has led many to sin. The question to ask is, "what is right with it?" In the case of Jeroboam's false religion, nothing was right about it when compared to God's covenant with Israel. And, after all, if it is God one wishes to worship, it is His instructions for worship that should be followed. At the heart of worship is obedience and surrender - not ritual.

God sent a prophet from Judah to confront Jeroboam about his false religion. When the prophet arrived at Bethel, Jeroboam was at the altar burning incense. The prophet addressed his message to the altar saying, "'A son will be born to the house of David, named Josiah, and he will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who are burning incense on you. Human bones will be burned on you.'" (13:2) Though this prophet is unknown and unnamed, his prophecy was completely accurate though it didn't take place for nearly 300 years. Because the fulfillment of the prophecy was so distant into the future, a sign was given to validate it: "This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: 'The altar will now be ripped apart, and the ashes that are on it will be spilled out.'" (13:3) 

Jeroboam attempted to have the prophet arrested but discovered the Lord to be more powerful than he. When he extended his hand to give the command to arrest the prophet, it suddenly withered and he could not pull it back. Meanwhile, the altar ripped apart according to the sign that was given. Then Jeroboam pleaded with the prophet to ask, "for the favor of the LORD your God and pray for me so that my hand may be restored to me." Many consider faith to be unreasonable, but then, so is lack of faith. Jeroboam knew the God who had sent this prophet could heal his hand but he had turned away from this God to a religion of his own making. There is nothing reasonable about this.

The remainder of this account is about the prophet. He had been instructed by God not to "eat bread or drink water or go back the way you came." (13:9) Jeroboam invited him to his palace to refresh himself and receive a reward for healing the king. But the prophet refused giving his instructions from the Lord not to do so. But then as he returned home by a different route, he was approached by an older prophet who lived near Bethel in the apostate kingdom. This prophet also invited him to his house for a meal and the younger prophet again stated his instructions from the Lord not to do so. But the older prophet deceived him by telling him he had a word from the Lord instructing him to take the prophet home with him. The younger man was convinced and went home with the man. 

While the two men were eating, a word from the Lord came to the older prophet saying to the younger prophet, "Because you rebelled against the command of the LORD and did not keep the commandment that the LORD your God commanded you, but you went back and ate bread and drank water in the place that He said to you: Do not eat bread and do not drink water, your corpse will never reach the grave of your fathers.'" (13:21-22) This word from the Lord was fulfilled soon after the younger man left to continue his return home. He was attack by a lion and killed.

This judgment on the younger prophet, who was deceived by the older man, seems grossly unfair. But we have to remember that the purpose of his mission was to address disobedience and in his conduct of the mission he disobeyed. Accepting the word of another is no excuse for disobeying the Lord. If the Lord's instructions were given to him directly, then any change in those instructions should also be given to him directly, not a stranger.