Bro. Bruce's commentaries for the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus are
now available in hard copy for $7.50. Just mail your request for COMMENTARY ON GENESIS to the address above.

1KINGS
CHAPTER 13

1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

God sent a prophet to Jeroboam to tell him that this was WRONG! The prophet spoke of a man named "Josiah." Josiah was king of Judah - some 300 years later!!

3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. 4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he 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 pull it in again to him. 5 The altar also was rent, 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 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. 7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. 8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: 9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. 10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

Obviously, Jeroboam did not believe the prophet. Therefore, God had given the prophet a "sign" to prove that what he said was true.
As Jeroboam pointed to guards that would take the prophet into custody, God dried up his arm. Then the altar on which Jeroboam had been sacrificing was torn in half!
Notice that Jeroboam asked the prophet to pray to "..the Lord THY God.."
Here is a truth that is evident in today's world. Some folk will have a tremendous experience with God, but will NOT surrender to Him. Jeroboam had been visited now by TWO prophets of God. He had seen firsthand the prophecies of God being fulfilled.
But he would NOT proclaim God as HIS!
When the prophet called for God's healing, Jeroboam offered hospitality. But God had told this prophet not to fall prey to that ploy. And he wouldn't.
Now, note the specific statement of God's Word to the prophet in verse 9. This is going to be important in the next part of the story.

11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. 12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. 13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, 14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. 15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: 17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. 18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. 19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. 20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back: 21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. 23 And it came to pass, 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. 24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. 25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. 26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him. 27 And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. 28 And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass. 29 And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him. 30 And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! 31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones: 32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

The prophet left a different way than the way he had entered Bethel (verse 10). But another old prophet heard about it. He wanted to get in on the action. So he "..lied unto him." (verse 18)
He said that an "angel" had talked to him and told him to bring the visiting prophet home with him. Friends, be CAREFUL what good-meaning people will tell you! Sometimes they genuinely want to help, but they do not use the TRUTH!
When you know the TRUTH, stick with it! Don't let ANYONE detour you. Paul said, "But whether I or an angel from heaven, preach ANY OTHER GOSPEL unto you that that which we HAVE PREACHED unto you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8)
When Jesus told the story of the wedding feast and said, "Go...into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage" (Matthew 22:9), that means that evangelism is the MOST IMPORTANT function of the church! Programs are fine, but their focus should be upon gathering the lost and preaching the gospel.
The second prophet realized his sin when the first prophet was found DEAD! THEN he wanted to make amends! He demanded that his sons bury him alongside this TRUE prophet of God! (verse 30)
Notice the words "..Alas, my brother!" (verse 30)
Here is an untrue prophet who continues to live, and a true prophet who died for one wrong act even when he was deceived. With those words "..Alas, my brother," the untrue prophet was admitting his sin had caused the death of the true prophet!
To me, there is something a little odd about any organization who would bid their comrads good-bye with such words. It is indeed sad to lose a good man...but sadder still when some would use these particular words to commit that man to eternity!
Our walk with God should be so influential that others will want to be as we are, and do as we do.

33 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. 34 And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.

Jeroboam refused to believe god, and continued to set up a corrupt priesthood and ritualistic religion.
The prophecy given in verse 34 is that God will one day destroy Jeroboam's family and not allow his descendents to have influence any more because of Jeroboam's corrupt mannerisms.
One day, God is going to remove those who refuse Him. He will consign them to a place where there is total corruption and eternal unrest! Let us learn from this chapter to WHOLLY follow the Lord in HOLINESS!

Please continue with us in daily Bible study.