1 Kings 13:1-10
The Message of the Man of God
1 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’” 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the LORD has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.”
4 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. 5 The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6 Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.”
So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before. 7 Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”
8 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. 9 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.’” 10 So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.
The lesson for King Jeroboam of Israel who setup the golden calves of idol worship was given through a man of God who brought the divine message of judgment to the false altar of the LORD where the king dared come. This prophet told of a man of the line of David named Josiah who would sacrifice on this altar the very priests whom the king setup in the high places (1 Kings 12:28-29) to serve idols (1 Kings 12:30-31). The sign of this message’s validity was to be the destruction of altar there at Bethel by splitting it in half and spilling the ashes all over as a sign of the disregard and unholy worship of Jeroboam and those he led astray. When the king heard this truth, he ordered the messenger arrested to stop God’s word which only brought judgment on himself. His hand reaching towards the altar withered as the altar was severed in two just as God had said. The king begged for mercy to heal his useless hand and it was restored, so he tried to appease the messenger by inviting him to his house to eat and be rewarded for healing him, totally ignoring the judgment pronounced just then. The wise man of God refused most vehemently, making it clear that he would never disobey the LORD who sent him for any earthly reward to remain silent or go along with the evil of the king against God. Then the man left by another route to avoid being punished for resisting the evil. This Josiah he spoke of would later destroy the false altar (2 Kings 23:15) and burn the bones (2 Kings 23:16) at Bethel as promised by God would be done. False worship is held accountable. May we learn from this and not substitute any other idols for unacceptable worship on altars of our own making as they did. We are to worship the Father through the Son in the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit in these temples where He lives and not worship any other person or institution above our Lord and Savior. We are to obey God and not any man in earthly authority above Him. Amen!
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