From 1 Kings 13:1-5
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.
1 Kings 13:1-5
Background
Israel has split off from Judah, and Jeroboam becomes King of Israel. God said to Jeroboam if he obeyed Him, all would go well for Jeroboam. He did not listen. Jeroboam made idolatrous shrines on the high places. He established a new priesthood from among all the people—not necessarily from the tribe of Levi, as God had ordained. He set up a new religious calendar, with a great feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, replacing the Feast of Tabernacles, which was in the seventh month. He himself usurped the office of the priest by offering sacrifices on the altar which he had made at Bethel. That many of the people of Israel accepted these changes reveals that their hearts were far from the Lord. He set up two altars, one at Bethel and one at Dan, with two golden calves, one at each altar. He did not want the tribes of Israel to go into Jerusalem to worship God. The story of the man of God in the above scripture takes place at the altar at Bethel. They are burning incense to a false god.
(13:1–3) While Jeroboam was offering incense at the altar in Bethel, a man of God was sent from Judah to denounce the idolatrous altar. He predicted that a king named Josiah would arise in Judah and would burn the idolatrous priests on the altar. The fulfillment of the prophecy in verse 2 is found in 2 Kings 23:15, 16. Over 300 years elapsed between the prophecy and its fulfillment. As a token of the certainty of the prophecy, he said that the altar would be split apart and the ashes … poured out.
(13:4–6) As Jeroboam pointed to the prophet and ordered him to be apprehended, the king’s hand became withered. In effect, the king was saying, “Lay hold on him. He is to be slain.” When the king pointed to the man of God, his hand dried up; that is, it withered and became paralysed.
Also, the altar was split apart and the ashes spilled out—an omen of doom for Jeroboam’s religion. In answer to the prophet’s gracious prayer, the withered hand … was restored to normal.
Thoughts -
Man of God - We are not given his name, just that he is a man of God.
By the Word of the Lord - We are told twice that this man's actions are directed by the Word of the Lord.
Fearless - This man of God was courageous. He was compelled by the Word of the Lord to walk right in to this false altar...to walk right into the crowd of worshippers and boldly speak that Jeroboam's priest (Josiah) will be burned on this false altar. He risked his life for God. He spoke for God.
Judgment - the man of God proclaimed God's judgment as a result of their disobedience.
The audience - The crowd that received the harsh words of judgment was Israel - God's people.
Today we are told we must not judge others. We are especially told we must not judge God's people. That is not true. Apparently those that say this have never read their Bible at all. There are continual stories about judging by the Word of the Lord. In fact, in the New Testament we are told to use righteous judgment (John 7:24) and we are most certainly to judge the doctrine of God's people (1 Cor. 5:12, 1 Cor. 6:3). Righteous judgment sees sin for what it is, and is not afraid to point it out. In 1 Corinthians 5:12 we are told: 12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
This indicates believers are to judge those within the church, especially in cases of serious sin.
This man of God was willing to do what God said regardless of the risk...the risk of offending the people of God, the risk of being the outcast, and the risk of death. Today we are afraid to criticize anything or anyone, especially in the Church. This is often reflected on social media if I post my thoughts about false teachers. Radio silence. No comments. Yet if I post a picture of a puppy then tons of comments. It is very sad that, at least as of today, we are still free to speak about Jesus without death threats, yet people are amazingly silent when it comes to pointing out false doctrine. This is a horrible tragedy. We fear people more than our God who created us. May God help us to hear and obey. We have His entire word. We are without excuse. God forgive, have mercy, and help us to read and obey and to fear You more than men.
Think about it.