1 Kings 13:1 – 10 “Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD. And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’”
That day the man of God gave a sign, saying, “The LORD has spoken this sign: ‘Surely the altar will be split apart, and the ashes upon it will be poured out.’ ”
Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back. And the altar was split apart, and the ashes poured out, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray that my hand may be restored.”
So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him as it was before.
Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your possessions, I still would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. For this is what I was commanded by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’”
So the man of God went another way and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
PRESUMPTION!!! Jeroboam might be the king of Israel, but he is really the king of presumption. When the prophet came to Jeroboam and told him that God was going to give him ten of the tribes of Israel and that God would establish his throne as a dynasty if he did what was right, Jeroboam should immediately have asked the prophet to advise him. Nope! Jeroboam is young and strong and he is already supervising the labor force from Ephraim and Manasseh. Jeroboam evidently thinks that God has finally recognized him for his true worth, not realizing that God could easily have picked someone else. Ask advice from some prophet? Are you kidding??? Rather than humbling himself to learn what God wants from a king or how he should go about it, Jeroboam simply blunders forward.
Solomon is responsible for much of Jeroboam’s problems. After all, Solomon is the one who built magnificent buildings and dedicated his temple with the blessing of the Lord, only to end his reign by worshiping idols. Jeroboam probably thinks he can do at least as well as Solomon in that regard. Now Jeroboam has sought advice from who knows where and has made two golden calves and has placed one in a temple in Dan and the second in the temple at Bethel. (Who was advising Jeroboam? Probably idol – worshiping relatives who were hoping for places of power in the new kingdom.)
Compounding the heresy, Jeroboam has announced that these golden calves represent the gods that have brought the Israelites out of Egypt! Depending on your point of view, these gods either represent the Egyptian goddess Hathor, the goddess of fertility, or Baal, the god of the Sidonians. Never mind that during the ten plagues, God has handily defeated every single major Egyptian god. Why would any Egyptian god allow slaves to escape from his or her territory? But logic has no place in Jeroboam’s thinking. All he can think of is how he can retain power.
Having no regard for the God who has torn ten tribes away from Rehoboam and given them to him, Jeroboam now proceeds to attempt to act as a priest, even though he has no God – given mandate to do so. But as Jeroboam is about to commit further heresy, a young prophet cries out against the altar and the altar splits, spilling its ashes on the ground. When Jeroboam points to the prophet to have the prophet seized, Jeroboam’s hand is withered. (This is presumably Jeroboam’s right hand, his social hand. In this culture, the left hand is used to wipe oneself after defecating. The right hand is reserved for greeting and other important gestures. To lose the use of one’s right hand means becoming a social outcast.)
Jeroboam begs the prophet to pray for him, and the prophet does so, restoring Jeroboam’s hand. But when Jeroboam tries to curry favor with the prophet, the prophet refuses, stating that God has ordered him not to eat or drink anything at Bethel and to take another route home.
APPLICATION: Jeroboam is really a slow learner! What lessons should Jeroboam have learned that he has not?
- God gives Jeroboam a wonderful prophecy about kingship; however, Jeroboam assumes that he is fine as is and has no need to make any changes. Jeroboam only listens to half the promise. 1 Kings 11:38 – 39 records God’s conditions: “But as for you, I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your heart desires, and you will be king over Israel. If you listen to all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight in order to keep My statutes and commandments as My servant David did, then I will be with you. I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. Because of this, I will humble David’s descendants—but not forever.’”
- NONE of us is fine as is. Isaiah 64:6 says, “Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; (like a stained menstrual garment.)” Jeroboam seizes on the promise of power without paying the slightest attention to the conditions. Jeroboam never humbles himself before the Lord but instead goes out and sets up his own religion. The results are disastrous.
- Even when God sends a prophet who cries out against Jeroboam’s fake religion and when God shrivels Jeroboam’s arm, Jeroboam fails to repent. When that altar splits and Jeroboam nearly loses the use of his right hand, he should be falling on his face and repenting. Nope!
In an earlier generation, there was a saying when someone was doing something that would only result in disaster for himself that “He is cutting off his own nose to spite his own face.” God has sent a prophet to advise Jeroboam that if Jeroboam will walk in God’s ways, God will establish his dynasty. But the reverse is also true. By refusing to follow the One True Living God and establishing his own religion, Jeroboam is bringing curses on his descendants as well as on himself. We must keep this in mind as we continue to follow Jeroboam’s downward spiral. We must also search our own hearts. Are we coming closer to God each day, or are we refusing to humble ourselves, feeling that we are really good people and have no need of a Savior? May each of us individually come to realize our need for deliverance from our sins!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, if we are honest, we know that nothing we do is good enough for us to earn our way into heaven. Because of our sins, You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to die for us. But we must believe in Jesus and we must humble ourselves before You. Help all who read these words to come to a saving knowledge of Your Grace. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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