1 Kings Chapter 13

At a Glance

  • 1 Kings 13 unfolds as a dramatic prophetic confrontation that pits a true prophet’s obedience against a counterfeit prophetic influence in Bethel.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • This chapter sits within Solomon’s aftermath when Jeroboam leads the northern tribes.
  • counterfeit prophecy: discernment about whose word is truly from God.
  • - Obedience to God’s specific commands: the cost of following a personal agenda over divine instruction.

CHAPTER REFERENCE

Chapter Overview

1 Kings 13 unfolds as a dramatic prophetic confrontation that pits a true prophet’s obedience against a counterfeit prophetic influence in Bethel. A man of God from Judah confronts Jeroboam at the altar, delivering a stark word from the LORD: a child named Josiah will come from the house of David and will purge the high places, even burning the bones of priests on the altar. The sign accompanying the prophecy—dust and ash poured out as the altar splits—confirms the message. Jeroboam’s anger leads him to seize the prophet, but the LORD intervenes in a miraculous way, and the prophet pleads for mercy. Yet the king’s attempt to reward the man of God cannot override the divine charge. A younger prophet from Bethel then deceives the man of God with a conflicting message and invites him to a meal, violating the Lord’s explicit command to eat no bread or drink water and return by a different way. The old prophet who lies to him embodies a counterfeit prophetic tradition that tempts fidelity with personal honor or reward. The result is tragedy: disobedience to direct divine instruction opens the door to deception, and the man of God from Judah meets an untimely death, becoming a cautionary tale about obedience, discernment, and the peril of listening to the wrong voices.

Historical & Literary Context

This chapter sits within Solomon’s aftermath when Jeroboam leads the northern tribes. It acts as a prophetic wedge—an assertion that God’s word remains authoritative even when political powers threaten to control it. The genre is a prophetic narrative embedded in the wider kings’ history, illustrating how prophets function as agents of conscience and judgment. The story’s compression—prophecy, signs, deception, and consequence—serves to highlight the seriousness of obedience to Yahweh and the risk of following “prophetic” voices that align with personal gain. Thematically, it creates a counterpoint to the earlier chapter’s prosperity, showing that true fidelity to God is more crucial than fame or wealth.

Key Themes

- Authentic vs. counterfeit prophecy: discernment about whose word is truly from God.

- Obedience to God’s specific commands: the cost of following a personal agenda over divine instruction.

- The danger of listening to flattering or convenient voices: deception can masquerade as divine instruction.

- Consequences of disobedience in leadership: a public demonstration of judgment for private faithlessness.

- The fragility of miraculous signs without a faithful heart: signs confirm truth, but truth requires obedience.

Modern Application

In a contemporary setting, 1 Kings 13 warns believers to test claims of spiritual authority against God’s revealed will. It challenges readers to beware of “prophetic” voices that promise ease, reward, or advancement in exchange for compromising explicit divine directives. For churches, denominations, and individuals, the chapter underlines the importance of obedience to Scripture over personal gain, prestige, or tradition that contradicts God’s commands. It also speaks to the value of discernment within communities—instituting safeguards that ensure prophetic voices align with the wider witness of Scripture and the leading of the Spirit. The tale invites modern readers to seek humility before God, resist expediency, and cultivate a posture of obedience even when it carries personal cost. Finally, it echoes Jesus’ teaching that true fruitfulness comes from faithful obedience, not from spectacular signs or popular endorsement.

- Deuteronomy 18:20-22 (test the prophet)

- Jeremiah 28 (false prophecy contrasted with true obedience)

- Acts 13:1-3 (the church’s discernment and sending of true workers)

- Ezekiel 22 (the seriousness of spiritual corruption)

Recommended Personas

- Elijah (prophetic boldness and fidelity)

- Jeremiah (discernment under pressure)

- Paul (defending true gospel against counterfeit voices)

- King David (contrast in obedience and heart)

Chapter Text

1

And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

2

And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.

3

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

4

And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

5

The altar also was rent, 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.

6

And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

7

And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

8

And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

9

For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.

10

So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

11

Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.

12

And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.

13

And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,

14

And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.

15

Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.

16

And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:

17

For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.

18

He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.

19

So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

20

And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:

21

And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,

22

But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

23

And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.

24

And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.

25

And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

26

And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.

27

And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.

28

And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.

29

And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.

30

And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

31

And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:

32

For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

33

After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.

34

And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.

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