I Kings 12:25-30- Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
Solomon's temple was still in Jerusalem, which was under the rule of Rehoboam, Solomon's son. Jeroboam was worried that if people went to worship the Lord in Jerusalem that they would revolt against his reign, Jeroboam thought that if the people he ruled over went to worship God in the temple in Jerusalem that eventually they would decide to follow Rehoboam instead of him. So, he had two golden calves made and put them in two different cities in his part of Israel. He told the people to worship these false idols. And, in doing so sealed his fate.
God wasn't going to allow Solomon to get away with leading His people into idolatry, and He certainly wasn't going to accept the same from the newly crowned king! God wasn't going to allow Jeroboam to get away with this sin!
I Kings 13:1-3- 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. 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. 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.
God sent a prophet to warn Jeroboam of the consequences of his actions. The Bible never tells us the name of the prophet. It just tells us that he shows up while Jeroboam was beside one of his altars offering to his false god and curses the altar that Jeroboam is using.
This prophet names a King of Judah from the line of David that would come through and destroy the altar to this false god. He then gives a sign that the word he spoke came from the Lord; the sign was the altar would break into two halves and the ashes of the burnt sacrifices would fall off it onto the ground.
How do you think King Jeroboam felt about this?
I Kings 13:4-5- 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. 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.
Well, Jeroboam got so mad that he ordered the people around him to arrest the prophet. But, when he held out his hand to point at the prophet the Lord crippled his hand. While the King stood looking at his messed up hand, the altar he was beside broke in half and what was on it fell to the ground.
That would certainly humble anyone!
I Kings 13:6- 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.
Instead of getting right with God and turning from his idolatry, the king begged the prophet to pray to God and ask Him to heal his hand. The prophet prayed and God granted his request.
Perhaps the king thought he could get on the Lord's good side by inviting this prophet to his house and feeding him, we don't know what he was thinking, but he invited the prophet home.
I Kings 13:7-10- And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. 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: 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. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
This was not only a test for the king, but for the prophet. God had given the prophet very specific instructions- he couldn't eat or drink anything in the city, and he had to take a different route home. The prophet passed the test and told the king that he wouldn't go with him.
But, there was another test waiting for the prophet.
I KIngs 13:11-18- 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. 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. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, 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. Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 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: 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. 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.
An old prophet who lived in the city went to the man of God and lied to him. He said an angel told him to bring the prophet home and feed him. The Bible tells us to listen to God, and if an angel says something different than what God says that we aren't to listen to it.
Galatians 1:8- But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Why would an angel lie? Because fallen angels can still look like heavenly angels, but they lie all the time. If God tells you one thing and an angel tells you something else, you'd better obey God!
We don't know what God saw in the young prophet's heart to test him twice, but He did. And, it's a lesson we should all learn from.
I Kings 13:19-22- So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. 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: 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, 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.
For his disobedience, the Lord told the young prophet that he would die before he made it home. That sounds pretty rough, huh? All he did was eat something at an old prophet's house. But, God sees all disobedience as wicked!
I Kings 13:23-24- 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. 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.
While the young prophet was riding a donkey home a lion came out and attacked him. The lion killed the man but never harmed the donkey or ate the body. The lion and the donkey just sat by the body so that everyone who passed by and saw would know that God had sent the lion to kill the disobedient young prophet.
I Kings 13:25-31- 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. 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. And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. 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. 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. And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! 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:
The old prophet was very saddened by the fate of the young prophet. He went and picked up his body and buried him in his own tomb. He then told his sons to bury him with the young prophet.
The news of the young prophet's death certainly made it's way through the city. But, nothing would make King Jeroboam change his ways.
I Kings 13:33-34- 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. 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.
King Jeroboam kept worshiping his false gods. He kept encouraging the people to turn their backs on the God of heaven who had saved them. And for his sin, God was going to destroy him!
