Message from 1 Kings 13
Jeroboam was in sin because he didn’t trust God, but led his people into idolatry, using religion as a means of unifying people under his rule.
God sent an unnamed prophet to rebuke him. This prophet gave an amazing prophecy, saying that the altar of false worship would be used to burn the bones of false prophets who worshipped there, and that this would be done by King Josiah, a king who hadn’t even been born yet, and wouldn’t come on the scene for another 290 some years! He also gave a sign from God as proof of the accuracy of his prophecy, saying the altar would be split apart and the ashes poured out. What happened next is truly amazing!
Jeroboam was naturally offended and irate, and stretched out his hand to order the prophet seized. The king obviously intended to arrest the man of God and probably harm him. But God supernaturally intervened by causing the king’s hand to become atrophied and frozen in place. This miraculous intervention forced Jeroboam to recognize the hand of God with the prophet, and appeal for mercy, asking the man to pray that God would restore his hand. The prophet did this, and the hand was indeed restored.
So then, this man of God very definitely heard from God and moved by His power and influence. He brought a supernaturally inspired word to the king, which was a very brave and bold thing to do, seeing it was so confrontational and such an obvious rebuke. He risked his life to obey God and do this. God did several miracles in this episode. First, He inspired the word, He spoke to the prophet, in very clear and specific terms, even giving the name of a future king of Judah and describing specific actions that future king would carry out. God also gave the prophet a sign to confirm the word, saying the altar would be split and the ashes poured out, a sign which happened right before everyone’s eyes. Then He did a further miracle by causing Jeroboam’s hand to wither and “freeze” in position, thus supernaturally defending His prophet, until Jeroboam requested prayer. Finally, in answer to the prophet’s prayer, God restored the king’s hand. All of this was amazing and obviously of God.
The king then asked the prophet to come home with him and eat. Perhaps this was Jeroboam’s attempt to show he wasn’t really that bad of a man. Or perhaps he wanted to question the prophet about how he got this word. Or who knows? He may have wanted to influence the prophet to change his message in some way, so as to not make Jeroboam look bad. The latter seems reasonable, since God prohibited the prophet from fraternizing with the king. It would seem God was saying such fraternizing would not be good for His prophet, and would spoil the effect of the message God had given him to deliver in some way.
The prophet was obedient to God in this instance. He refused to fall for the king’s temptation and offer, even though it would probably have been of benefit to him. He could perhaps have gained favor and approval from the king. He would at least have received a meal from the king’s table. He would probably have been more accepted by the king, becoming more of a friend to him by spending some time there at his palace. All of these enticements the prophet resisted, because of the word he had received from God. By God’s Word then, he kept himself from sin. This was all well and good, and quite admirable.
Enter the false prophet. Here we have an interesting twist to this story. The sons of an old man who had at times received words from God and was thus called a prophet came home and reported to him all the happenings of that day. The old prophet was quite impacted by their story, and apparently really wanted to speak with the prophet who had been so used of God with king Jeroboam. He inquired as to the direction the man had gone, and had his sons saddle his donkey so he could go after him. Why did he want to do this? We can only conjecture. Maybe he just wanted fellowship with someone who heard from God. Maybe he hadn’t heard anything from the Lord for some time and wanted to speak with someone who had. Maybe he wanted to know about the man’s life, in order to learn more about how to hear from God himself. We just don’t know.
What we do know is that the man invited the prophet to his home to eat and drink. This had been strictly forbidden by God, and the prophet had resisted the first temptation to break the prohibition. However, this time, the temptation came, not from an obvious idolater (Jeroboam), not from someone who was hostile to the right ways of the Lord, but from someone who called himself a prophet. Not only that, but this “prophet” very plainly said that an angel of the Lord had told him to invite the man for a meal. But the scripture says, “he was lying.”
Why this happened is quite a mystery! Why would this old man lie to a man of God? Did he so want to speak with this prophet that he was willing to do anything to get his way? Why? Did he assume that there would be no serious consequences to this act and this effort to get a man of God to disobey the Lord? Was he just too casual about the things of God? We can only conjecture, but this man ultimately caused the death of a true prophet of God because of his selfish and foolish desire to chat with him and eat together! What a terrible price to pay for such a trivial thing!
The true prophet had been told by God what to do and not do. He had seen God’s power manifested, confirming everything he had done to this point. He was therefore, a man who knew the things of God and was on a higher level than “the average Joe.” Thus he was more accountable than a person who didn’t really know much.
Nevertheless, even this true prophet, a man who really knew the Lord, fell for the lie of the old prophet! Because he was told his message came from an angel, he thought his previous orders had been rescinded. I’m sure he was tired and hungry as well, and to go have a meal with a fellow believer must have been very attractive to him. So he acquiesced and went along with the old man, and enjoyed the meal.
But suddenly, as the meal was coming to an end, the Word of the Lord came to the old prophet! Jumping up, he told the younger man that because of his disobedience, his body would not come to be placed in the tombs of his fathers. What a shock this must have been to everyone present! What a negative and fearful thing! It’s very curious to me that God would speak through this old man who had so obviously lied and deceived the other prophet. Why would God use a person like him? Well, He used a donkey to speak to Balaam, did He not? This just goes to show that being used of God doesn’t necessarily mean a person is godly or right in all their ways! God just used the old man because He had no one else there to communicate His message to the prophet!
The old man’s words came to pass, exactly as spoken. The prophet rides off on his donkey, but is met by a lion on the road, and is killed. Yet curiously, the lion does not eat either him or his donkey, and neither does he or the donkey run off. The circumstances of this incident clearly show that the whole thing was orchestrated by God Himself. He used the lion to punish His prophet, but made him then stand by the body and not do further harm to it. He caused a donkey, which would normally flee in terror from a lion, to just stand by him. It’s all supernatural! The scene was so abnormal that passersby, upon seeing this, brought news to the town where the old man and his sons lived, and he rode out to collect the body. He buried the man, and ordered his sons to one day bury him in the same tomb. Thus he showed his respect for the prophet, even though he had caused his death! And he reiterated that the words spoken by the man were definitely of God.
The chapter ends with the sad report that even though he had received a direct prophecy from God, with accompanying signs and supernatural occurrences, Jeroboam did not change his ways. His stubbornness is shocking! Yet we can understand his ways. We realize that he valued his position of power more than he did the favor or God. He loved the praise of men more than the praise of God! (Jn. 12:43) He feared the loss of his position and power if he were to allow continued worship in Jerusalem. It seems incredible to me, especially because God Himself had promised him his position. He just couldn’t trust God! Unfortunately, many are those, even in our day, who calculate in this same way. Sadly, Jeroboam created a counterfeit religion so he wouldn’t lose His position of power, but ended up losing exactly that because he didn’t trust God. We think we have to preserve our lives, hold on to them by our own power, but God says to give them over to Him and we’ll find them. We cling to idols for personal gain, but end up losing the very thing we want so desperately!
There are various teachings or messages we can derive from this passage. God speaks to the situation of His people. He rebukes idolatry and calls people to repent and serve Him only. He can do this in many ways, but in this story, He spoke through a prophet. In our day, He speaks through the Bible, through the conviction of the Holy Spirit working in our conscience, through pastors and other preachers, and through fellow believers who rebuke us or call us to account. Do we accept such rebukes? Or do we, like Jeroboam, become angry at the messenger and try to hinder his or her ministry to us?
A second very important theme of this passage has to do with the two prophets. The true prophet’s experience is very important for us. He knew the Lord, heard from the Lord, and was obedient to the Lord in the first part of the story. He risked his life to obey God and rebuke the king. His faith and faithfulness to this point are very impressive indeed! When tempted to do the wrong thing by Jeroboam, he stayed faithful to what God had told him. He clung to the Word of the Lord, and was saved from harm by doing so. Though it cost him a meal, and perhaps the favor of a very important man, and though it led him to a place of hunger and loneliness, he was obedient to the Lord and kept himself on the right path.
But when the old prophet came and told him an angel had contradicted his original orders, he was not discerning! He didn’t resist the more “spiritual” deception and temptation. He fell for it! He was deceived by false doctrine, because staying on the right track was harder and lonelier and he really wanted fellowship and food – natural human desires. This is why the apostle Paul says in Galatians 1:8, “Though we or an angel of heaven preach any other gospel to you than that which you have received, let him be accursed!” We have our orders! We have the faith that was “once and for all delivered to the saints,” (Jude 3). Even if an angel or other supposed supernatural being (an appearance of Mary for example, or a UFO, or the angel Gabriel, or whatever else) comes to us and tells us a new message, if that message doesn’t agree with scripture, it is a false revelation and must be resisted!
Temptations don’t come once. Satan doesn’t give up easily! He will try in one way and then another to get us off God’s path of righteousness and into disobedience or idolatry. He can come as a dragon – fierce and open in his attack. Or he can come as a serpent – subtle and wily, slithering in so that he’s hardly noticed. That’s why we must stand firm. We must use discernment. We need to compare everything we hear with the Word of God. We must be careful to not let our natural desires and even what might make perfect “common sense” lead us into anything contrary to what God has told us.
Now the old prophet is another interesting case. Why did he lie? Why did he do what he did? We can only conjecture, for the scripture doesn’t tell us much. One thing is sure. We must be very careful what we tell other believers. We must be careful saying things like, “The Lord told me to tell you…” or “I have a word for you…” We must be very careful that we only influence other believers to be faithful to what God has revealed and to stay obedient to Him. Our own desires can sometimes lead us to influence others in the wrong way, and that is very serious business! The old man’s desire for fellowship, and perhaps his curiosity, caused him to lead a brother astray and cause his untimely death!
Perhaps the most important message of all is this. God blessed Jeroboam to become king of Israel. He promised him a dynasty, based conditionally upon his obedience to God and willingness to seek Him and submit to Him. But Jeroboam didn’t trust the Lord to fulfill His Word. Instead, he trusted human reason and wisdom. He trusted in himself instead of God. He “leaned upon his own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5) Because of this, he didn’t obey the Lord, but connived to get people to stay under his authority. This is such a common sin! How often do we as modern people do things contrary to God’s will, because we don’t really trust His way is best, and that His way will really work for us.
A young woman who is dating an unsaved man, for example. “Well, I know God says not to do it, but He doesn’t know my situation. I really love this guy, and if I do what God wants, I’ll lose him. God can’t be trusted in the nitty-gritty, here and now, to meet my needs in the best way possible.”
A businessman or woman who lies or compromises with the world in order to maintain his/her business. “I know God loves me and promises to take care of me, but doesn’t it also say, ‘God helps those who help themselves’? If I don’t lie, I won’t get this contract. If I don’t do this unethical thing, I won’t make the money I need. If I don’t hang out and sin with these people, they won’t do business with me.”
A young person who compromises with his/her friends instead of being true to God, because, “These are the only friends I’ve got, and if I don’t do these things, I’ll be all alone. God loves me, but this is the real world, and I have to compromise down here on earth.”
God promised Jeroboam! He never fails to keep His promises! He is omnipotent! Jeroboam didn’t have to resort to using religion to control people. God would have kept him in power if he’d obeyed Him. God even did miraculous things to speak to the man and rebuke him, to call him to repent and get back in right relationship. And still, Jeroboam refused! Those who listen to God and abide in Him have everlasting life and experience His blessing. Those who refuse will be cut off forever! In the end, Jeroboam’s benefit for doing things his way was very short-lived. How much greater the blessing would have been if he had only trusted the Lord!