A prophet's warning

1 Kings Chapter 13

The Lord sent a man of God from Judah to Bethel and he arrived just as King Jeroboam was approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice. As the Lord commanded, the man shouted, "Oh altar, altar. This is what the Lord says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you." Then the man of God gave a sign to prove his message and said, "The Lord has promised to give this sign: This altar will split apart, and its ashes will be poured out on to the ground."

King Jeroboam was angry with the man of God and pointed at him and shouted, "Seize that man!" But his hand instantly became paralyzed in that position and he couldn't pull it back. At the same time, a crack appeared in the altar and the ashes poured out, just as the man of God had predicted. And the King cried out to the man of God and said, "Please ask the Lord to restore my hand again!" So the man of God prayed to the Lord and the king's hand was normal again.

Then the King asked the man of God to come to his palace and eat and accept a gift. But the man would not go with him and said he would not eat any food or drink any water from that place because the Lord had commanded him so, and he was to take an alternative way home to Judah.

There was an old prophet living in Bethel and his sons told him what the man of God had done in Bethel that day and what he said to the king. The old prophet got on a donkey and rode out after the man of God and found him sitting under a tree. The prophet asked the man of God to come home with him and eat some food. But the man of God refused because the Lord had commanded him. But the prophet told him, he too was a prophet and an angel had given him a message from the Lord to bring the old man of God home and give him food and water. And though the old prophet was lying, the man of God went with him.

Later as they sat at table, a message came from the Lord to the old prophet and he cried out to the man of God from Judah, "The Lord says you have defiled his message and have disobeyed the command the Lord gave you. You came back to this place and ate food and drank water where God told you not to eat or drink. Because of this, your body will not be buried in the grave of your ancestors."
Then the man of God climbed on his donkey and started off again, but as he was traveling, a lion came out and killed him. His body lay on the road and people came by and saw the body with the lion and the donkey standing beside it and they reported it in Bethel. When the old prophet heard this report, he said, "It is the man of God who disobeyed the Lord's command. The Lord has fulfilled his word by causing the lion to attack and kill him."

Then the prophet had his sons saddle a donkey and he rode out to the body where he found the donkey and lion still standing there. The lion had not eaten the body nor attacked the donkey. So the prophet laid the body on the donkey and took it back to the city to mourn over him and bury him. He laid the body in his own grave. Afterward he told his sons, "When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones. For the message the Lord told him to proclaim against the altar in Bethel and against the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria will surely come true."

Even after all of this, King Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests from the rank and file and anyone who wanted, could become a priest for the pagan shrines. This was a great sin and resulted in the destruction of Jeroboam's kingdom and the death of his family.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW: The prophecy of Josiah will be fulfilled three hundred years later in 2 Kings chapter 23.

The fact that the lion and donkey were standing by the prophet's body showed that this was a divine judgment.

Under penalty of death, God had forbidden anyone to be a priest who was not from the tribe of Levi (Numbers chapter 3). Jeroboam's priests were financed by the king and his fees. These new priests mixed priestly and secular duties and fell into politics and were easily corrupted by bribes.

HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO US TODAY? As readers, we can see the reign of Jeroboam going downhill. In our own lives it is often hard to see immediate consequences of the disobeyance of God's law. But don't ever doubt, the downhill spiritual spiral is still there. God alone sees the "big picture". Don't make the same mistake that the poor old prophet made. He trusted someone who claimed to also have messages from God. We must be ever vigilant to those who try to fool us into thinking they are more than they really are. Beware of the slick evangelists. Beware of those that preach that we deserve the "feel good" theory. Listen instead to the voice of God that is in everyone of us, inside your heart.

Yours in Christ,
Mary

Prayer Requests are needed for:
HEALTH: Gabe, Wanda, Janice Long’s parents, and Arlene’s nephew David. Pray for my neighbor Al who is nearing the end of his life. Pray for Carolyn’s brother Ronald who has cancer. Pray for our friend Michelle who was diagnosed with MS. Pray for Cyndi Sullivan who was given 14 months to live with cancer, but has made it six years. The pain has returned and she needs our prayers.
UPDATE on Barb who went in for back surgery and had a heart attack and stroke, she has 90 percent of her speech back and is home from the hospital and having rehab for the paralysis on one side of her body. Continue to pray for her recovery.
Pray for Robert Sargent with lung cancer and Marthaline Sargent with serious health issues. Update on Stella: She has shed the feeding tube and is taking formula on her own! But breathing problems are still with her, though improving all the time. She continues to have a long road, so prayers are still needed. She has been moved to a St. Louis hospital.
Pray for Carolyn’s friend Margaret and her husband who were in a car accident. As elderly drivers they may face a life change which may cost them their independence. Let’s all raise our voices to God to hear our prayers.
SPIRITUAL UPLIFTING: Gail, Mary
RESTORATION OF FAITH: Al, John
LOVE AND SUPPORT: Claire, Hunter, Brian
SUPPORT: Haiti, Chile, survivors of Japan’s earthquake,those who need jobs, those who are about to lose or have lost their homes. Pray too, for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom.