Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
1 Kings 12:25-32
Instead Of Choosing Wholly To Follow YHWH On The Basis Of The Covenant Made With Him, Jeroboam The New King Of Israel Chooses The Way Of Disaster (1 Kings 12:25).
But things were not going well in Israel, for sadly, on coming to the throne of Israel as YHWH had promised him through Ahijah, Jeroboam immediately forgot the covenant that YHWH had made with him promising him the establishment of his house (1 Kings 11:35), and he did it in view of what he saw as the greatest threat to his kingship. For while there were a number of sanctuaries in Israel where true worship of YHWH could be carried out (1 Kings 18:30; 1 Kings 19:14), and we need not doubt that there were true priests and prophets who were ready to maintain them, that did not alter the fact that the Central Sanctuary to which the tribes had to gather three times a year for worship together was in Jerusalem, and that many of his people had got into the habit of looking to Jerusalem as the central place of worship. This concerned him so much that he set about establishing a new cult. It was based on old recognised but bastardised sanctuaries, which were the bain of Israel, but it was his hope that they would turn his people away from Jerusalem. Thus instead of seeking YHWH's guidance through the prophets as to what he should do, he used the popular syncretistic sanctuaries which had grown up as the basis of a new approach to Yahwism.
We can understand the problem. Worship at Jerusalem as the Central Sanctuary which was intended to bind all Yahwists together, even though there were two nations, would depend on a peace treaty made with Rehoboam, and this, along with the loyalty of the current priesthood towards the Jerusalem Sanctuary, made him recognise that Israel could never fully be a separate nation while they acknowledged Jerusalem as the Central Sanctuary. Indeed his fear was that his people would be wooed back to serving Rehoboam. We do not know what would have resulted had the attempt been made, which was clearly YHWH's intention, but Jeroboam was not up to taking the risk, and consequently he made himself the standard of what was seen as evil in the northern kingdom, by carrying out ‘the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat'.
This sin consisted of setting up twin central sanctuaries in Bethel and Dan, two ancient and well recognised, but syncretistic sanctuaries, at which images of bulls were erected, and establishing a non-levitical priesthood made up of people of his own choosing. At these sanctuaries he established temples, in which the images could be placed, which contained ‘high places' at which the people could worship. True sanctuaries of YHWH were apparently at some stage torn down (1 Kings 19:14), although we do not know how soon this happened. This undoubtedly pandered to the people, many of whom found syncretistic worship very acceptable, and its purpose was to stop them looking to Jerusalem.
The bulls were not intended to be seen as images of God, but were rather probably intended to replace the Ark as the place where YHWH would invisibly meet with His people, stood, as it were, on the back of the bull, for elsewhere gods were regularly depicted as standing on the backs of bulls. Theoretically it still recognised the invisibility of YHWH, but dangerously the images were also reminiscent of Baal worship, for Baal was regularly depicted by means of the image of a bull. It was thus a compromise, possibly partly with the hope of placating his Canaanite subjects and integrating them into Israel, and definitely with a view to turning his people's thoughts away from Jerusalem. He also altered the timing of the popular Autumn festival, the time when all the harvests of the year were celebrated, which occurred prior to the coming of the rain in October/November. The result could only be a Yahwism that lost its purity, and became diluted and syncretised with Canaanite worship, bringing YHWH down to the level of other ‘gods'. This was ‘the sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat'.
Analysis.
a Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and dwelt in it. And he went out from there, and built Penuel (1 Kings 12:25).
b And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now will the kingdom return to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of YHWH at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah” (1 Kings 12:26).
c Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt”. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other he placed in Dan (1 Kings 12:28).
d And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even to Dan (1 Kings 12:30).
c And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi (1 Kings 12:31).
b And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made.
a And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made (1 Kings 12:32 b).
Note that in ‘a' he fortified two fortresses in Israel, one on each side of the Jordan, probably with the aim of the focus of his people's political thought being on them, and in the parallel he ‘fortified' Bethel as a religious centre by providing it with a priesthood, hoping that it would become the central focus of their religious thought. In ‘b' he was afraid that the people would observe the feasts and go and sacrifice in Jerusalem, and in the parallel he ordained a counter-feast, and himself went up to the altar and sacrificed in Bethel. In ‘c' he established two main sanctuaries to rival the Central Sanctuary, setting up images within them, and in the parallel he established temples including high places in Bethel and Dan, and set up false priests within them. Centrally in ‘d' what he did became a sin to the people.
‘ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and dwelt in it. And he went out from there, and built Penuel.'
Taking advantage of the short peace which had been granted as a result of YHWH's intervention in Jerusalem, Jeroboam set up two political centres, one on each side of Jordan, the one in Shechem which had been at the very heart of the rebellion, and the other in Penuel. Both were seemingly fortified in order to act as political centres in their areas. He would, however, eventually establish his capital city at Tirzah (1 Kings 14:17), but he knew that he would have to guard against the possibility of Rehoboam wooing the Israelites in Transjordan if they felt themselves cut off from any political influence.
Shechem, which was in the territory of Manasseh, but was geographically in ‘the hill country of Ephraim', guarded the pass from east to west, and commanded the road through the hills of Manasseh to Bethshean. It was a crucial centre. Its refortification at this time is evidenced archaeologically. Penuel was in the east of Jordan, guarding a ford of the Jabbok, and possibly straddling the main trade route. It was no doubt established as a political centre in order to cement Israel's unity with the Transjordanian tribes, and especially with Gilead. Within five years it would be listed by Shishak of Egypt as paying tribute on his expedition through Judah and Israel to interfere with the trade routes which had been so profitable for Solomon, and to obtain plunder and tribute throughout Judah and Israel, something which is evidenced by a relief in the temple of Amun in Thebes which names many Palestinian towns which were forced to pay tribute, and by a broken stele of his from Megiddo. It was an expedition which would have severely dented the military capacity of both nations, but only feasible because the empire had broken up.
The statement that there was continual war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam in 1 Kings 14:30 is clearly only a general one indicating the state of belligerence that constantly existed between the two nations. It was something which would result in hostilities at various points in time. They were unable to become reconciled. It does not, however, prevent there having been a period of uneasy peace at the beginning of his reign, not be it noted as a result of any friendly intention by Rehoboam, but arising out of YHWH's intervention and no doubt the fear that Rehoboam may well have had on reflection of what the result of such a civil war might be, especially with Egypt making threatening noises. Israel could after all call on a large number of conscripts. The invasion of Shishak of Egypt in Rehoboam's fifth year (1 Kings 14:25), reducing a number of the cities of Judah commencing with Gezer, and enforcing heavy tribute on Rehoboam, would undoubtedly later reduce his effective military capability, and would mean that he always had to be watching his back from then on. His folly at Shechem was reaping a bitter reward.
‘ And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now will the kingdom return to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of YHWH at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” '
Along with his attempt to strengthen Israel's ability to resist invasion, Jeroboam turned his thoughts to the religious position. He recognised the great danger that if Israelites continued their visits to the Temple in Jerusalem at one or other of the three great feasts (1 Kings 9:25), and went up to offer sacrifices there, their hearts might be turned back to Rehoboam, who would no doubt be on the lookout for the opportunity. And the consequence would be that they would then kill him at Rehoboam's request and return to the service of Rehoboam. He felt that it was something that he could not risk.
It is very possible that had he consulted Ahijah the prophet he might have found a satisfactory solution to his dilemma, especially as any Israelite would certainly have been hesitant about visiting Jerusalem with no guarantee of safe conduct. In the time of David it had been solved by having two central sanctuaries for a time, neither of which had contained the Ark. And there were a number of genuine sites in Israel where YHWH had recorded His Name where this might have been arranged. But instead he determined to take matters into his own hands.
‘ Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” And he set the one in Bethel, and the other he placed in Dan.'
Ignoring the prophets, and taking advice from his political advisers, Jeroboam set up two ‘calves of gold', one in Bethel and the other in Dan, and called on Israel not to go up to Jerusalem but rather to worship at one of these two sanctuaries. ‘Calves' was probably a derogatory description by the author of what were actually bulls, the description being based on the incident of Aaron and the molten calf. (Exodus 32:4). The idea of the bulls was probably that they be seen as bases on which the invisible YHWH would be visualised, thus replacing the Ark. Gods like Hadad, perched on the backs of bulls, were a common feature of local nature religions. The words cited are mainly taken from Exodus 32:4, indicating that that incident had suggested the idea to Jeroboam, but with ‘gods' being in the plural because there were bull two bases, a plural which was no doubt also intended to be seen as a plural of intensity. Jeroboam, and the people, knew that there was only one YHWH, even though they were as it were, dividing Him into two on the two bases, a dangerous precedent.
Bethel and Dan had both been sanctuaries in the past, although the one in Dan very much had a reputation for unorthodoxy (Judges 18:30). It had clearly then ceased for a period, but had probably been later revived out of local enthusiasm. It was thus a convenient site for Jeroboam to seize on, both because of its ancient respectability in northern Israel, and in its readiness not to stick to the norm. Bethel was an even more ancient sanctuary (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3; Genesis 28:19; Genesis 35:1), and was also a place where YHWH had recorded His Name. It catered for the south of Israel. But the probability is that the genuine priests of Bethel would not cooperate with Jeroboam, especially once the golden bull had been placed there. To them it would smack of Baalism (Baal was depicted in the form of a bull) and of setting up a graven image. That no doubt was why in the end he had to appoint his own priests. He may well have intended by his bulls to also lure the many Canaanites in his country to participate in the worship, thus uniting the country, even if it did produce a watered down Yahwism.
‘ And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even to Dan.'
The people began to flock to Dan, with its unorthodox and doubtful background, as their ‘central sanctuary', something which ‘became a sin' to them because it meant that they had turned away from orthodox Yahwism. This may well have been because there was already a regular annual pilgrimage to Dan which took place year by year around this time, which all now took advantage of, delighted to be freed from the old ties. Dan made no awkward demands on them. It must indeed be seen as probable that, with its syncretistic form of Yahwism, things went on in Dan that were very pleasing to the flesh, but not to YHWH. Dan had in fact been an alternative, but unorthodox, ‘central sanctuary' in the days of the Judges (Judges 18:30). It thus enjoyed a distinction that Bethel did not have. And as suggested, it may well be that a well established procession and pilgrimage, which had long taken place yearly, brought about this situation (encouraged by Jeroboam because it took them as far from Jerusalem as possible). Excavations in Dan have in fact revealed there a high place and enclosure erected in the time of Jeroboam.
‘ And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.'
In Bethel and Dan Jeroboam also set up ‘temples' to house the bulls (houses of high places), which also contained ‘high places' where the people could worship, reminiscent of Baal worship. And, presumably because he could not persuade orthodox priests to serve in them, he set up his own priesthood of non-Levites because the Levitical priests would not cooperate. (What he should have done, of course, was find something in which they would cooperate. But Solomon had encouraged diverse ‘high places' and they had become popular with the people - 1 Kings 3:2).
‘ And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; so did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.'
In his thoroughgoing attempt to turn the people away from Jerusalem worship Jeroboam replaced the three great feasts of YHWH with a feast established in the eighth month, to celebrate the end of the harvests. This was aping the Feast of Tabernacles, which was, however, in the seventh month. He was aware that the only way in which he could achieve success was by weaning the people completely away from orthodox Yahwism. The people of Israel lived so far from Jerusalem that they had in the main probably only attended one great feast a year (compare 1 Samuel 1:3), and this was thus the alternative that he now gave them which he hoped would take their minds off the regular feasts. And he supported this by himself ‘going up' to the altar in Bethel and offering the same kind of sacrifices (presumably through his new-fangled priests) as would be offered during the feast of Tabernacles, no doubt at the same time arranging for many other freewill offerings which would result in great feasting and celebration. He may well by this have been intending to make Bethel more popular, and it is possible that he arranged the festival fairly quickly in order to celebrate the establishment of his kingship at ‘a feast of YHWH'. (If the gathering at Shechem had been for the seven year reading of the Law, that assembly would have been in the seventh month - Deuteronomy 31:9).
But Jeroboam could not have accomplished all this unless the hearts of the people had been with him. It was clearly only possible because Solomon's own behaviour had encouraged a diluted Yahwism. Loyalty to pure Yahwism had long grown dim, except among those who heeded the prophets.
We may end the passage by summing up ‘the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat which will have such prominence throughout Kings.
1). He set up two separate sanctuaries at which the people could worship, thus breaking their sense of unity. They no longer had a central sanctuary at which to gather, and seemingly no focus on the covenant (no Ark). Moreover both sanctuaries were syncretistic and included Canaanite features such as ‘high places'.
2). He set up two visible graven images that the people could look on in two separate places as they worshipped, each of which was supposed to be bearing the invisible God. Such graven images were contrary to God's Law, and to have two figures which indicated the presence of God in two different places destroyed the idea of His essential unity, as the reference to ‘these are your gods' emphasises. He was virtually making God like the gods of the nations.
3). He established a non-Levitical priesthood consisting of men of his own choosing, instead of those chosen and set apart by God.
4). He himself acted as king-priest by offering incense.
5). He instituted a feast of his own devising to replace the three feasts of YHWH which had commemorated the deliverance from Egypt.
He was thus basically rejecting the revealed religion of YHWH and shaping a pale copy of it to his own choosing. As a result he was misrepresenting the God of the Covenant of Sinai, and rejecting all His revealed requirements. He was turning the God of Sinai into a god like any other god, and removing the sense of awe and holiness that the Tabernacle had been designed to inculcate. Although he possibly did not realise it, it was an act of open rebellion against YHWH and His revelation of Himself.
We, too, can be in danger of the sin of Jeroboam, for whenever we fail to recognise our own responsibilities towards Jesus Christ as our Lord, and begin to shape our worship of God around things which are simply pleasing to ourselves, rather than around what encourages true worship, and begin to fit our ‘heavenly service' into the shape of men's earthly ideas instead of according to the will of God as revealed in the Scriptures, we become as guilty as Jeroboam. The sin of Jeroboam is responsible for much of the ‘worldliness' which is in the church today.
Jeroboam, The False Altar, The Man Of God And The Old Prophet (1 Kings 12:33 to 1 Kings 13:34).
What follows may appear to be strange story with which to commence the reign of Jeroboam, but we must not take it out of context, and in context it is a cameo of the future of Israel. It is a story of contrasts and warnings against disobedience. On the one hand we have the downrightly disobedient Jeroboam who has basically turned away from true Yahwism, and received ample warning of what YHWH would do unless he repented. On the other, standing out in stark contrast, we have the fearless man of God, who came from Judah in total obedience, only for him also to turn out to be disobedient because he allowed himself to be persuaded by lies to go against YHWH's word. He was a warning to the godly in Israel that they must stand firmly by the truth, and not be persuaded to waver by smooth tongues. And in the middle we have the wavering, and backslidden prophet who was unsure of both himself and the current situation. Unwilling to accept the man of God's genuineness because of his readiness to compromise, he brought about his disobedience by subtlety, only to recognise too late that he was dealing with a true man of God, and that what he had brought was the truth. He was a warning to the compromisers in Israel, who were not happy with what Jeroboam was doing, but were not prepared to do anything about it, and as a consequence were in danger of also dragging down the true believers. It is thus a story of the unbelieving, the true believer and the doubter, a picture in miniature of the situation in Israel as it fought to cope with the new situation.
It is a remarkable story also in that it introduces a new period in which God will manifest Himself in a series of miracles, a series which will come to its head in Elijah and Elisha, as God encourages the faithful in the midst of apostasy. God was acting positively in the new situation as, humanly speaking, He fought to keep the believing in Israel faithful to Himself. It will be noted as we continue that most of what we know about Jeroboam revolves around, not his achievements, but his apostasy and his contact with men of God who pass judgment on him and seek to bring him to repentance. This was the story that the prophetic author wanted us to be aware of. How God dealt with the erring nation.
One of the problems that many find puzzling is as to why God allowed the faithful man of God to be deceived with the result that, having faithfully fulfilled his mission, he was struck down for disobedience. And we ask ourselves, ‘what got into the old prophet?' But what happened to the man of God came as a stark and permanent warning to the believing in Israel to beware of itself being led into disobedience by false words. Like Samson who was similarly guilty of disobedience the man of God probably accomplished more in his death than he did in his life. And the behaviour of the false prophet is the all too familiar story of the path of compromise that often not only renders useless the ministry of those caught up in its ways, but can also undermine the faithful who are seeking to remain true to God. This is the story of Israel, and of the church.
We should recognise that while to us the man of God's sin was not very heinous, it was not only an act of gross disobedience, but was also in Israel's eyes a declaration that YHWH was at peace with Israel because the man of God accepted Israelite hospitality. The only thing that could annul that declaration was the death of the one who had made it. (Had the man of God still been alive he would have been the first to agree).
The first and last verses in the passage form an inclusio, with 1 Kings 12:33 defining the crowning sin that brought the wrath of God down on Jeroboam, and 1 Kings 13:33 indicating that in spite of that he did not turn from his sin, but continued in it so that his sin became sin to the whole house of Jeroboam resulting in it being cut off from the earth.
Within the inclusio are three subsections: the judgment of the man of God on the altar of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:33 to 1 Kings 13:10), the dealings of the old prophet with the man of God (1 Kings 13:11), the final conclusion about the house of Jeroboam (1 Kings 13:33).
But first we must bring out the overall chiasmus which binds the passage as a unity. The passage can be analysed as follows:
a And he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart (1 Kings 12:33 a).
b And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up to the altar, to burn incense (1 Kings 12:33 b).
c And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of YHWH to Bethel, and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar by the word of YHWH, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says YHWH, Behold, a son will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and on you will he sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones will they burn on you.” And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which YHWH has spoken, Behold, the altar shall be torn apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.” And it came about, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, “Lay hold on him.” And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him. The altar also was torn apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of YHWH. And the king answered and said unto the man of God, “Entreat now the favour of YHWH your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.” And the man of God entreated YHWH, and the king's hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before. And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” And the man of God said to the king, “If you will give me half your house, I will not go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place, for so it was charged me by the word of YHWH, saying, You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, neither return by the way that you came.” So he went another way, and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel (1 Kings 13:1).
d Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el, and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el. The words which he had spoken to the king, them also they told to their father (1 Kings 13:11).
e And their father said to them, “What way did he go?” Now his sons had seen what way the man of God went, who came from Judah (1 Kings 13:12).
f And he said to his sons, “Saddle for me the ass.” So they saddled the ass for him, and he rode on it (1 Kings 13:13).
g And he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak, and 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” (1 Kings 13:14).
h And he said, “I may not return with you, nor go in with you, nor will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, for it was said to me by the word of YHWH, “You shall eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way in which you came” (1 Kings 13:16).
i And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of YHWH, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.' ” But he lied to him (1 Kings 13:18).
j So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water (1 Kings 13:19).
i And it came about, as they sat at the table, that the word of YHWH came to the prophet who brought him back, and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says YHWH, Forasmuch as you have been disobedient to the mouth of YHWH, and have not kept the commandment which YHWH your God commanded you, but came back, and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, ‘Eat no bread, and drink no water,' your body will not come to the sepulchre of your fathers' ” (1 Kings 13:20).
h And it came about, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back, and when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him, and his body was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it. The lion also stood by the body (1 Kings 13:23).
g And, behold, men passed by, and saw the body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body, and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. And when the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God, who was disobedient to the mouth of YHWH, therefore YHWH has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him, and slain him, according to the word of YHWH, which he spoke to him (1 Kings 13:25).
f And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle me the ass.” And they saddled it (1 Kings 13:27).
e And he went and found his body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body, nor torn the ass. And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on the ass, and brought it back, and he came to the city of the old prophet, to mourn, and to bury him. And he laid his body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” (1 Kings 13:28).
d And it came about, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones” (1 Kings 13:31).
c “For the saying which he cried by the word of YHWH against the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come about” (1 Kings 13:32).
b After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places, whoever would, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places (1 Kings 13:33).
a And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth (1 Kings 13:34).
Note that in ‘a' Jeroboam goes to celebrate his self-appointed feast at Bethel, the false sanctuary that he has set up, and in the parallel ‘this thing' became a sin to the house of Jeroboam, and resulted in it being cut off. In ‘b' Jeroboam offered incense on the false altar, and in the parallel he did not return from his evil way but consecrated as priests whom he would. In ‘c' the man of God cried against the altar and demonstrated its condemnation, prophesying its future defilement, and in the parallel the old prophet confirmed that the words of the man of God were true and that they would surely come about. In ‘d' the old prophet learned what the man of God had said and done, and in the parallel, having sought him out, he buried him because he had accordingly led him astray. In ‘e' the old prophet discovered the way that the man of God had taken, and in the parallel he went and found the man of God's body cast in the way. In ‘f' he called on his sons to saddle his ass, and in the parallel he did the same. In ‘g' the old prophet found the man of God and invited him to eat with him, and in the parallel he declared that he was dead because he had done so. In ‘h' the man of God declared that he must not eat or drink in Israel, and in the parallel he ate and drank, and died. In ‘i' the old prophet declared a false prophecy to the man of God, and in the parallel he declared a true prophecy. Centrally in ‘j' the man of God was disobedient to YHWH and ate and drank water in Israel.
Jeroboam Is Challenged By A Man Of God (1 Kings 12:33 to 1 Kings 13:10).
Jeroboam appears not only to have appointed his own priests, but also to have exalted himself by taking the position of king-priest, for he offered incense at the altar, thus making himself the centre of the cult, something for which in future days Uzziah would be struck with leprosy. But his enjoyment of his new position was somewhat tarnished by the arrival of a man of God from Judah at the very moment when he was offering incense, who, with all eyes upon him, denounced the altar at Bethel as a false altar, declared that it would one day be desecrated by the sacrificing on it of the very priests of the high places whom Jeroboam had appointed, and warned that as a sign that this would be so YHWH would that day tear the altar apart and spill out its ashes.
An infuriated Jeroboam then sought to have the interloper arrested, but to his horror, on stretching out it became withered, and it was only due to the compassionate intercession of the man of God that his hand was restored. Immediately thereafter the altar was duly torn apart and the ashes spilled out. YHWH was revealing His view of things in no uncertain terms. When Jeroboam then tried to persuade the man of God to partake of food with him, the man of God refused on the grounds that YHWH had forbidden him to either eat or drink until he had returned to Judah. This was a further sign of YHWH's enmity towards Jeroboam because he had spurned the covenant of YHWH. He could no longer ‘eat before YHWH' (Exodus 24:11).
That the man of God came from Judah is itself significant. We know, for example that the prophet Ahijah lived at Shiloh, and we will soon discover that there was an old prophet who lived at Bethel. Why then did YHWH not send them to denounce Jeroboam? We can only assume that thereby it was YHWH's purpose to emphasise that while the countries were operating separately they were to see themselves as still united in YHWH. Judah and Israel were still to be united by the covenant, and Judah therefore had an interest in Israel's religious purity. (We must remember that the tribes of Israel had been able to maintain such a unity even when they had been divided up into separate groups under different Judges in the book of Judges, for it was a religious unity rather than a political one).
We should note that by this exhibition of His power and anger YHWH was actually giving Jeroboam an opportunity to repent (1 Kings 13:33), but sadly the cry fell on deaf ears. Jeroboam had set himself on a path from which he would not turn aside.
Analysis.
And he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart (1 Kings 12:33 a).
And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up to the altar, to burn incense (1 Kings 12:33).
And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of YHWH to Bethel, and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar by the word of YHWH, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says YHWH, Behold, a son will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and on you will he sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones will they burn on you” (1 Kings 13:1).
And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which YHWH has spoken, Behold, the altar shall be torn apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out” (1 Kings 13:3).
And it came about, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, “Lay hold on him.” And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him (1 Kings 13:4).
The altar also was torn apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of YHWH (1 Kings 13:5).
And the king answered and said unto the man of God, “Entreat now the favour of YHWH your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.” And the man of God entreated YHWH, and the king's hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before (1 Kings 13:6).
And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” And the man of God said to the king, “If you will give me half your house, I will not go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place, for so it was charged me by the word of YHWH, saying, You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, neither return by the way that you came” (1 Kings 13:7)
So he went another way, and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel (1 Kings 13:10).
.
Note that in ‘a' Jeroboam went up to Bethel for a feast that he himself had devised, and in the parallel the man of God left Bethel using a new way, and not the previous way that he had used. In ‘b' Jeroboam ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and in the parallel the man of God refused to partake of Jeroboam's food and water. In ‘c' the man of God cried out against Jeroboam's altar declaring it to be unfit, and that it would never be restored, and in the parallel Jeroboam had been rendered unfit by a withered hand, and the man of God restored it. In ‘d' the man of God declared that the altar would be torn open and the ashes spilled out, and in the parallel that is what happened. Centrally in ‘e' Jeroboam sought to have the man of God arrested and finished up with a withered hand which like the withered altar was unfit for use.
‘ And he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up to the altar, to burn incense.'
Note the prophetic author's emphasis on the fact that Jeroboam went up to the altar of his own devising (‘the altar which he had made') in the month which ‘he had devised of his own heart', and ordained a strange ‘feast for the children of Israel', with himself acting as king-priest by offering incense. In other words he was seeking to rid Israel of all that God had required at Sinai, and replacing it with devices and ideas of his own. He had basically rejected the revelation at Sinai in favour of his own innovations. It was the grossest of sins.
‘ And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of YHWH to Bethel, and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.'
But as he stood at the altar ready to burn incense a man of God from Judah strode into the sanctuary in response to ‘the word of YHWH' (compare Isaiah 9:8; Isaiah 55:11) and caught him in his act of sacrilege (compare 2 Kings 15:5 along with 2 Chronicles 26:19). It is probable that the man of God would have been distinctively dressed so that all knew that he was a prophet of YHWH.
‘ And he cried against the altar by the word of YHWH, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says YHWH, Behold, a son will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and on you will he sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones will they burn on you.”
Before all the gathered people the man of God denounced the altar ‘by the word of YHWH'. ‘By the word of YHWH' indicates that it was as a result of the word of YHWH being at work within him, in other words, he was under inspiration of the Spirit of God. He declared that a king named Josiah would arise in the house of David who would one day sacrifice on that very altar the priests of the high places who burned incense on it, and would burn dead men's bones on it. (For the fulfilment of this see 2 Kings 23:20).
It will be noted that he did not attack Jeroboam directly, only by implication. Instead he directly attacked the altar. He could not therefore be accused of insulting the king. The prophesying of a name belonging to someone who would arise in the future was unusual, and can be compared with Isaiah's prophecy of the coming of Coresh (Cyrus) in Isaiah 44:28 to Isaiah 45:1. But the name Josiah means ‘YHWH has given.' It was indicating that a future king would be ‘given by YHWH' who would bring all this about. And if we compare this with 2 Samuel 12:25 we can see that the name may originally simply have been seen as declared by YHWH as a God-given name indicating His personal choice of that person without it necessarily being intended to be the person's given name which was used of him (just as YHWH had given the name of Jedidiah to Solomon, a name which was not used of him but indicated that he was God's chosen one). Thus the prophecy did not strictly require that a Josiah should be born under that name, only that one would be born whom God could call ‘Josiah'. In the event, however, as so often happens with God, it later turned out that the prophecy was fulfilled to the letter.
The importance of this is that we must not see this as simply a kind of ‘forecast ‘ that would then wonderfully happen so that we could say, ‘how wonderful'. It was a declaration of what God would give to His people in the future in His God-given chosen king. That God chose to combine the two and granted both adds to its wonder.
While some have suggested that the name slipped in later as a marginal note made by someone who knew who it was who had acted like this, and wanted to draw attention to it, there are no real grounds for denying its genuineness in context. After all if YHWH could not forecast the name of someone in the future He would not be the God of Scripture, and certainly not the God Who has already recorded the names of all His elect in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8; Revelation 17:8).
‘ And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which YHWH has spoken, Behold, the altar shall be torn apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out” '
The man of God then gave a sign which would take place on ‘the same day'. He declared that that very day the altar would be torn apart and its ashes would pour out onto the ground. The ashes of the genuine altar were looked on as sacred and had normally to be disposed of in a ‘clean place' (Leviticus 6:10). Thus the idea here was that these ashes would be defiled, and revealed as ‘common' and not sacred, by being tossed on the ground, an indication that YHWH had rejected the altar and its contents. The tearing apart of the altar would further indicate that it too was rejected by YHWH. The covenant that it was supposed to represent had been ‘torn up'.
‘ And it came about, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, “Lay hold on him.” And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him.'
Hearing what the man of Good had declared, and rapidly recovering from his surprise, the king ‘put forth his hand from the altar' and called on his men to arrest the man of God, because of the words that he had spoken against the altar. But then to his horror he realised that the hand that he had put forth had become withered and dried up so that it was useless (it was thus not just nervous paralysis). Moreover he discovered that he could not draw it back again. He realised that he had reached out his hand against the servant of YHWH and had been smitten. In those times a dried up ‘hand' would be seen as excluding him from any future participation in the priesthood and the cult. He would be seen as disfigured (compare Leviticus 21:16). It would also, of course, mean that he was maimed for life.
‘ The altar also was torn apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of YHWH.
And then as all watched in horror the altar itself burst open, and its ashes poured out onto the ground, fulfilling the sign given by the man of God. The bursting open of the altar may have been caused by excessive heat within it, or even by an earth tremor, but the miracle was that it had happened just as the man of God had prophesied, and at the right time. It confirmed to all YHWH's rejection of the altar.
‘ And the king answered and said unto the man of God, “Entreat now the favour of YHWH your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.” And the man of God entreated YHWH, and the king's hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before.'
Meanwhile the king was conscious of his own troubles. His hand was withered and useless. And recognising that this really must be a man of God who was before him, he called on him to have compassion on him and plead his case before YHWH. The man of God responded and entreated YHWH on his behalf, and his arm was restored to what it had been before
“Entreat now the favour of YHWH.” This literally means ‘soften the face of YHWH'. He was acknowledging his sin and recognising the need for propitiation.
‘ And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” '
No doubt very shaken and relieved the king now called on the man of God to come home with him and refresh himself after which he would give him a reward. He was hoping that, as a result of the man of God eating with him he would be able to know that he was no longer seen as YHWH's enemy, and that he was forgiven. The laws of hospitality were such that to eat with someone was to declare goodwill towards them and indicate no evil intentions against them. And this would equally apply in the case of an official representative. Thus he was seeking to curry the man of God's favour, and the favour of YHWH Himself.
‘ And the man of God said to the king, “If you will give me half your house, I will not go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place, for so it was charged me by the word of YHWH, saying, You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, neither return by the way that you came.”
But the man of God rejected both his offer of food, and of reward. Indeed, he declared, if Jeroboam were to offer him half his house he would not accept his hospitality, or eat or drink with him. For YHWH had strictly charged him not to eat or drink, or to return in the same way in which he had come.
This last was a further indication of YHWH's firm judgment on the house of Jeroboam, and on Israel, for ‘not returning by the same way' indicated that this was not a friendly visit. There was to be no peace between them and YHWH. Someone avoided taking the same way back when they suspected possible reprisals. Thus this was a further act of rejection and an indication of open hostility between Israel and YHWH.
‘ So he went another way, and did not return not by the way that he came to Bethel.'
So the man of God left Bethel and took another way back to Judah, not returning by the way that he had come, thus openly confirming Jeroboam's rejection by YHWH. Indeed the whole scene had been prophetically acted out for that purpose, as a final plea to Jeroboam to consider his ways (1 Kings 13:33).