sent by the Lord from Judah to prophesy against King Jeroboam of
Israel. He declared, "O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a
son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall
sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on
you, and human bones shall be burned on you'" (verse 2). The unnamed
prophet also gave a sign: "Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and
the ashes that are on it shall be poured out" (verse 3).
Jeroboam sought to seize the man, "but the hand he stretched out
toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back" (1
Kings 13:4). At the same moment, "the altar was split apart and its
ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the
word of the Lord" (verse 5). The king asked for the man of God to pray
for him and his hand. When he healed the king's hand, the king
attempted to reward him, but the man of God replied, "So was it
commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'You shall neither eat
bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came'" (verse 9).
This man of God was careful to keep God's three-fold command. He ate
nothing and drank nothing, and he began to walk a different way home.
However, on his way home, another, older prophet came to him, saying,
"I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word
of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house that he
may eat bread and drink water'" (verse 18). But this second prophet
was lying. No angel had visited him, and God had not spoken to him
regarding the matter. But the man of God believed the old prophet and
went home with him. At supper the old prophet suddenly received a true
word from God: "This is what the Lord says: 'You have defied the word
of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you.
You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told
you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the
tomb of your ancestors" (1 Kings 13:21–22). When the man of God left,
"a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in
the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside
the body" (verse 24).
The prophet who had lied buried the man of God in his own grave and
instructed his own sons to, upon his death, bury him beside the man of
God. In doing these things, the old prophet showed his sincere belief
that the prophet who died had been a true man of God—his prophecies
against the idolaters of Israel would come true (1 Kings 13:31–32).
This account concludes with a note on the king's stubborn refusal to
obey: "After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but
made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any
who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places. And this
thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to
destroy it from the face of the earth" (1 Kings 13:33–34).
So we have a prophet who lied and a prophet who died. In this account
we see that both the godly and the ungodly face consequences for
disobedience to the Lord. The evil king faced judgment because of his
idolatry. And the man of God likewise faced judgment for his
disobedience. No one is above the rules.
We also see that sometimes temptations come from surprising quarters.
The king tempted the man of God to break God's command, but the man of
God refused. His guard was up, and there was no way he would disobey
God for the sake of dining with an evil king. However, when a fellow
prophet tempted the man of God to sin, he gave in. His guard was let
down, and he did disobey God for the sake of dining with a (seemingly)
genuine prophet.
When God speaks, the matter is settled. There is never an excuse for
disobeying God's Word. Even a fellow believer—even an angel descending
from heaven—cannot nullify God's Word (cf. Galatians 1:8–9).
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