1 Kings 13

The Explanation

King Jeroboam stood at his altar in Bethel. Smoke curled up. He was about to burn incense, a sweet-smelling offering, on an altar God had never asked for.

Then a man came walking in from Judah. God had sent him. He did not look at the king. He shouted at the altar itself: "Altar! Altar!" And he said that one day a king named Josiah would come and put an end to all this. Then he gave a sign. "The altar will split apart, and the ashes will pour out."

Jeroboam went red with anger. He stuck out his arm and pointed at the man. "Seize him!"

And his arm froze. It went stiff and dry as a stick. He could not pull it back. At that same moment there was a crack, and the altar broke in two. Ashes spilled all over the ground.

Now the king's voice was small. "Please, pray for me. Pray that my hand comes back."

The man of God prayed, and the king's arm was healed, as good as before. Then the king smiled his friendliest smile. "Come home with me. Eat with me. I will give you a reward."

But the man said no. "Even if you gave me half of your house, I would not come. God told me: eat no bread, drink no water, and go home a different way."

So he went another way. He had been brave in front of a king. Would you have dared to do that?

Farther along the road, an old prophet from Bethel came riding on his donkey. He found the man of God resting under an oak tree. "Come home with me and eat bread," he said.

"I may not," said the man of God. "God told me not to."

Then the old man said something that was not true. "I am a prophet too. An angel told me to bring you back."

He lied to him. And the man of God went with him.

They were sitting at the table when God's word came, and the old prophet had to say it out loud: because you disobeyed God's mouth, you will not be buried in your father's grave.

On the way home a lion met the man of God on the path and killed him. And then something strange happened. The lion did not eat him. The lion did not touch the donkey. The lion just stood there, beside the body, while people walked past and stared.

The old prophet came and took him and buried him in his own grave. "Alas, my brother," they mourned. And he told his sons, "When I die, lay my bones beside his bones. Because everything he said about that altar is really going to happen."

What Does This Mean?

This is a hard story, and the Bible does not make it soft. God's word is not a suggestion. The man of God said no to a king, which was brave. But then somebody said, "An angel told me," and he stopped listening to what God had said to him.

Here is the thing to hold on to: God's word had not changed. Not one letter of it. And every single thing God said in this chapter came true, the split altar, the healed hand, all of it. God keeps His word, even when people do not.

The Common Thread

God promised a king named Josiah, hundreds of years before he was born. God knows the future and God keeps promises like that.

And there is a bigger promise still. Jesus came, and when the devil tried to talk Him out of obeying His Father, Jesus answered with God's own words and did not budge. Jesus obeyed all the way, even to the cross. Where the man of God failed, Jesus held on. That is why we can be forgiven when we fail too.

For You

When someone says, "Come on, nobody will notice," you already know what is true. Do the thing you know God wants, even if it is small. Say sorry today. Give your little brother the bigger half. Tell the truth when a lie would be easier.

Talk About It

Why do you think the man of God believed the old prophet instead of what God had already told him?

What is something you know is right, but is hard to do?

Praying Together

Lord God, You always keep Your word. Help me to listen to You, even when someone else says something different. Thank You that Jesus obeyed for me. Amen.