1 Kings 13:1-34

God’s lessons from history

1 Kings

Philip Smith

Chapter 13

A *prophet warns Jeroboam

The *kingdom that David and Solomon used to rule had divided into two *kingdoms. The northern *tribes were not still loyal to David’s family. And those *tribes had chosen a new religion. They were *worshipping the images of *bulls, instead of the *Lord. But, by an extraordinary series of events, God showed that he still had a special relationship with those *tribes. They were *worshipping false gods. But they were still responsible to the real God.

v1 The *Lord ordered a *prophet from *Judah to go to Bethel. He arrived as Jeroboam stood by the *altar to make a *sacrifice. v2 The *prophet spoke against the *altar, as God had ordered him. ‘Oh *altar, *altar, this is what the *Lord says. “The family of David will have a son whose name will be Josiah. He will *sacrifice on you the priests of the high hills. They now make *sacrifices on you. He will burn human bones on you.” ’ v3 Then the *prophet gave a *sign. ‘Here is the *sign that the *Lord has given. This *altar will fall apart. The ashes on it will pour out.’

v4 When King Jeroboam heard this, he was standing by the *altar. He pointed to the *prophet and said, ‘Seize him!’ But then his arm became a dead, dry limb. So he was unable even to move his arm. v5 The *altar fell apart and the ashes poured out. This was the *sign that the *Lord had told the *prophet to give.

v6 Jeroboam said to the *prophet, ‘Please ask the *Lord your God to cure my arm.’ The *prophet prayed to the *Lord and he cured the king’s arm.

v7 Then the king said to the *prophet, ‘Come home with me. Have something to eat and I will give you a gift.’

v8 But the *prophet answered him, ‘No. Even if you gave me half of your possessions, I would not go with you. I would not eat or drink anything here. v9 The *Lord told me that I must not eat or drink anything. And I must not return by the way that I came. He told me that too.’ v10 So he went by another road. He did not go back by the same way that he had come to Bethel.

God warned Jeroboam that he was doing the wrong thing. He sent a *prophet who *prophesied to the *altar. In other words, the *prophet spoke to the *altar. He announced what would happen to the *altar in the future. He even named the king who would destroy that *altar. Josiah would *sacrifice the bones of the priests who had *worshipped other gods on this *altar. (This *worship often happened on high hills.) Josiah did this about 350 years later. We can read about it in 2 Kings 23:15-20.

As a *sign that this would happen, the *altar fell apart. The ashes of the *altar poured out.

Jeroboam tried to arrest the *prophet. But Jeroboam’s arm suddenly became weak. It seemed dry and without life. The king was unable to move it. God was showing everyone that Jeroboam had no power over the *prophet. The *prophet had authority from God. And no king’s authority is ever greater than God’s authority.

Jeroboam asked the *prophet to pray that God would cure him. And God did this. Then Jeroboam invited the *prophet to come home for a meal. He also offered him a gift. Jeroboam was trying to reward the *prophet, because Jeroboam’s arm was well again. The *prophet refused. He said that God had told him not to accept the king’s offer. He wanted to show Jeroboam that God did not want payment, but a change of mind. The *prophet did not want to associate with Jeroboam’s *worship of *idols. God does not forgive us because of the things that we do. He does not forgive us because of the gifts that we bring. We must change our minds. And today we must trust in Jesus.

The special instructions that God gave to this *prophet show the importance of the *prophet’s words. And people continued to remember his words for many centuries because of the strange events that happened next.

v11 Now there was an old *prophet who lived at Bethel. His sons told him what the other *prophet from *Judah had done in Bethel that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. v12 ‘Which way did he go?’ their father asked them. His sons showed him the road that the *prophet from *Judah had gone down. v13 He told his sons to put a saddle on his *mule. When they had done this, he got on the *mule. v14 He rode after the *prophet from *Judah. He found him as he sat under an oak tree (a large tree). He asked him, ‘Are you the *prophet who came from *Judah?’

‘I am’, he replied.

v15 The old *prophet said, ‘Come home and have a meal with me.’

v16 But the *prophet from *Judah said, ‘I cannot turn back. I cannot go with you. I cannot eat or drink anything with you here. v17 God told me not to eat or drink anything. And he said that I must go home by a different way.’

v18 Then the old *prophet from Bethel said to him, ‘I am a *prophet like you. The *Lord ordered an *angel to tell me that I should take you home. He said that I must offer you food and water.’ However, the old *prophet was lying. v19 So the *prophet from *Judah went home with the old *prophet. He had a meal and drank with him.

v20 While they were sitting at the table, God spoke to the old *prophet. v21 He cried out to the *prophet from *Judah, ‘This is what the *Lord says. “You have not obeyed the word of the *Lord. You did not obey the command that he gave to you. v22 Instead, you came back and you ate a meal. You did this in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Because of this, you will die. And your family will not bury you in the grave of your *ancestors.” ’

v23 The *prophet from *Judah finished his meal. Then the old *prophet put the saddle on his *mule. v24 On his way home, a lion met him and killed him. His body lay on the road and the *mule and the lion stood next to it. v25 Some people, who passed by, saw the body on the road and the lion next to it. They went and told the people in the city. This was the city where the old *prophet lived.

v26 When the old *prophet heard about it, he said, ‘It is the *prophet who did not obey the *Lord’s command. So the *Lord handed him over to the lion. And the lion attacked and killed him. The *Lord said that he would do this.’

v27 The old *prophet said to his sons, ‘Put the saddle on my *mule.’ So they did. v28 He rode off and he found the body on the road. The lion and the *mule were still standing by it. The lion had not eaten the *prophet’s body. And it had not attacked the *mule. v29 The old *prophet picked up the body and he put it on his *mule. He brought it back to his own city, to show *sorrow over it and to bury it. v30 He put the body in his own family grave. He and his sons showed *sorrow over it. They said ‘Oh my brother!’

v31 After he had buried the *prophet, the old *prophet spoke to his sons. ‘When I die, bury me in this grave. Lay my body next to his. v32 He gave a message from the *Lord against the *altar in Bethel. He also spoke against all the places of *worship on the high hills in Samaria. All that he said will certainly happen.’

This is a very unusual story. The *prophet from *Judah refused the king’s invitation, but he accepted the old *prophet’s invitation. Perhaps he thought that the old *prophet from Bethel was telling the truth. In fact he was lying. He told the *prophet from *Judah that an *angel had told him to give his invitation. When people talk to us about God, we need to be careful. Paul says this in Galatians 1:8. ‘We taught you the good news about Christ. Let God punish us if we teach you something different. Let God punish even an *angel from heaven who teaches something different.’ We must compare everything with what the Bible teaches. People may say that they are teaching God’s truth. But not all of them actually are.

The *prophet from *Judah trusted the old *prophet. And so he (the *prophet from *Judah) did not obey the instructions that God had given to him. That was a very foolish decision. The *prophet from *Judah had received God’s word. And he had seen that the message was right, because of the *sign in verse 5. But the *prophet from *Judah wanted to eat the meal. So he went with the older *prophet. We may often think that God is guiding us. This is often the case when we want to do something. But we should not just follow our own desires. We should find out what God wants.

The old *prophet had lied. But that did not mean that he was unable to *prophesy. He gave a genuine *prophecy from God. The *prophet from *Judah would die because he had not obeyed God.

The *prophet from *Judah should have confessed his *sin to God. (It is a *sin not to obey God.) He should have asked God for *mercy. But for some reason, he did not do this. He even continued to eat after he heard the *prophecy. Then, he prepared to return home.

As the *prophet travelled back towards *Judah, a lion attacked him. Usually a lion eats the bodies of anything that it kills. But the lion did not even damage the *prophet’s body. Instead, the lion stood by the body, like a guard. Usually a *mule would run away from a lion. Otherwise the lion would kill the *mule. But this *mule did not run away. Instead, it stood with the lion by the body. These animals were behaving in a very strange manner. The people who saw this talked about it. The actions of these animals showed that the dead *prophet deserved great honour. He deserved honour because he spoke God’s words.

The death of the *prophet from *Judah caused the old *prophet to turn back to God. The old *prophet buried the *prophet from *Judah with great honour. The grave was in an important position near to Jeroboam’s *altar (2 Kings 23:17). The old *prophet declared to his sons that the *prophet from *Judah gave a genuine message from God. So the old *prophet emphasised the importance of that message.

This event was very unusual. *Prophets did not usually die if they chose not to obey God (Numbers chapter 12; Numbers 20:12; Jonah 1:17). But sometimes they did (1 Kings 20:37). But a *prophet who was not obeying God often lost God’s special protection. (Compare 1 Peter 5:8.) It seems that God allowed the *prophet from *Judah to die for a special reason. Without these events, people would soon forget the *prophet’s message about the *altar. But because of the *prophet’s death, people would remember. Even 350 years later, people still knew about his message (2 Kings 23:17).

v33 Even after these events, Jeroboam still did not change his wicked ways. He chose priests from ordinary families to serve as priests on the high hills. Anyone who wanted could become a priest. v34 This was the *sin of the family of Jeroboam. As a result, it lost power and God *destroyed it completely.

Jeroboam did not change his behaviour even after God warned him. He probably repaired the *altar and *sacrificed on it again. He made priests from families that God had not chosen. In the end, his family were no longer kings of *Israel.

This is very sad, because God gave Jeroboam every opportunity to be a great king. God even made special promises to Jeroboam. His family would always rule, if only they would obey God (1 Kings 12:38). These were like the promises that God gave to David (2 Samuel 7:16) and to Solomon (1 Kings 9:4-5). But Jeroboam’s family would lose everything because of their *sin.

prophet ~ a person who prophesies.
prophesy ~ to speak God’s word; or, to say what will happen in the future.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or a queen rules.
tribe ~ a group of people; a family or people that have the same ancestors; family from one man. Israel came from the 12 sons of Jacob. These 12 families formed the 12 tribes of Israel.
ancestor ~ any person from the past from whom the families of your father or mother have come.
Israel ~ the country or nation of people who are descendants of Jacob; the northern part of that country after it divided.
descendants ~ people in your family who live after you.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God; to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
bull ~ the male animal that mates with a cow.
Lord ~ the name of God. It can translate either of two words in Hebrew, which is the original language of this book. The word ‘Yahweh’ is God’s most holy name, and means ‘God always’. The word ‘Adonai’ means ‘master’.
Judah ~ one of the tribes of Israel. The southern part of the *Jewish kingdom after it divided.
tribe ~ a group of people; a family or people that have the same ancestors; family from one man. Israel came from the 12 sons of Jacob. These 12 families formed the 12 tribes of Israel.
Israel ~ the country or nation of people who are descendants of Jacob; the northern part of that country after it divided.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or a queen rules.
ancestor ~ any person from the past from whom the families of your father or mother have come.
descendants ~ people in your family who live after you.
altar ~ a table on which people offer or burn gifts or sacrifices to a god.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that people offered to a god.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that people offered to a god.
sign ~ a thing or event that has a special meaning. It shows that somebody or something is present; or it shows that something will happen.
prophesy ~ to speak God’s word; or, to say what will happen in the future.
idol ~ the image of a god to whom people give honour.
mule ~ an animal that is born after a horse mates with a similar animal called a donkey. A mule can carry heavy burdens.
burden ~ a heavy thing to carry; or, a difficult duty.
angel ~ a servant of God who is in heaven or who comes from heaven.
ancestor ~ any person from the past from whom the families of your father or mother have come.
sorrow ~ sad feelings.
prophecy ~ what people say when they prophesy.
prophesy ~ to speak God’s word; or, to say what will happen in the future.'sin/sinful ~ an action that is wrong or wicked. It is against a religious or moral law.
religious ~ about religion.
mercy ~ kindness or forgiveness instead of punishment.
forgiveness ~ when somebody decides to forgive a person who has done something wrong. The person who forgives is not still angry with that other person.
prophet ~ a person who prophesies.
prophesy ~ to speak God’s word; or, to say what will happen in the future.
destroy ~ to damage something so badly that it no longer works; or, to kill almost all the people in a group.
Israel ~ the country or nation of people who are descendants of Jacob; the northern part of that country after it divided.
descendants ~ people in your family who live after you.