We learned in yesterday's text that Jeroboam is filled with fears that the people of his kingdom will continue going up to Jerusalem to worship and will be won over by King Jeroboam of Judah. Jeroboam believes the people will assassinate him in favor of Rehoboam. We talked about how the Lord made Jeroboam the promise that if he would be faithful to God, God would prosper his kingdom and make his dynasty great. But instead of doing as the Lord commanded to ensure the success of his reign, Jeroboam followed man's advice and built altars for worship within his territory in an effort to prevent his people from going up to Jerusalem to worship at the temple.
When we concluded yesterday's study we found Jeroboam making sacrifices at Bethel, which was one of the two locations where he placed a golden image of a calf. This is where we pick up today with a prophet of God coming to speak words of judgment against the king's idolatrous state religion.
"By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: 'Altar! Altar! This is what the Lord says: 'A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.' That same day the man of God gave a sign: 'This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.'" (1 Kings 13:1-3) The prophecy regarding Josiah will be fulfilled in the book of 2 Kings. The priests the prophet speaks of are the priests (not of the tribe of Levi) that Jeroboam appointed to serve at his sinful altars.
If King Jeroboam had responded correctly to this word of warning and repented of his sins and given his heart in obedience to the one true God, he could have lived a successful and productive life. He could have eradicated the land of the sinful idols and altars he set up and he could have set a godly example for his people. Instead, when he hears the words of judgment pronounced by the prophet, he reacts in anger. "When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, 'Seize him!'" (1 Kings 13:4a)
I believe he gave this order with the intention of having the prophet killed. But to his shock and horror, he soon needs the help of this prophet. "But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. Also, 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. Then the king said to the man of God, 'Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.' So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king's hand was restored and became as it was before." (1 Kings 13:4b-6)
I think it's important---and very sad---to take note of how Jeroboam words his request to the prophet. He asks him to pray to "the Lord your God", not to "the Lord my God". Jeroboam doesn't call out to the Lord on his own behalf and I can't help concluding that this means he has no relationship with the Lord.
Why does the prophet do as Jeroboam asks? I think he does it to prove that his message really did come from God. Jeroboam didn't repent when he heard the message. He wanted to silence the messenger and stretched out his hand to harm the prophet. The shriveling of his hand was God's doing. The splitting of the altar was God's doing. The restoration of his hand was God's doing. If the prophet's message hadn't come straight from the Lord, these things wouldn't have happened.
Jeroboam doesn't drop to his knees in thanks to the Lord when his hand is restored. He doesn't repent of making sacrifices on an idolatrous altar. He doesn't call out to the Lord to save his soul and help him to live in godly ways. His heart and life don't change at all. The only thing he does is invite the prophet to a meal at his house where he plans to offer him a reward for healing his hand. "The king said to the man of God, 'Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.'" (1 Kings 13:7)
"But the man of God answered the king, 'Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. For 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 he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel." (1 Kings 13:8-10) Sitting down to "break bread" with someone is a way of fellowshipping with them. If the prophet had gone to dinner at Jeroboam's palace and if he had accepted a gift it would have created a bad impression. People might have erroneously believed that Jeroboam bought the prophet's favor and that the prophet blessed Jeroboam's sinful household in return.
This doesn't mean we can't eat dinner with unbelievers; the Lord Jesus ate with unbelievers. But I imagine that there were a lot of idolatrous items in Jeroboam's household and I suspect that the meat on Jeroboam's table had been offered to idols first. Even if that were not the case, the prophet could not have been certain he was being told the truth about that. Also, no one else could have been certain whether the prophet ate meat that had first been offered to idols and a man in his position could not afford to have people thinking he indulged in any form of idolatry or else he ran the risk of influencing others to do the same. In addition to perhaps influencing people to do wrong, he would have lost his ability to influence people to do right, for those who disapproved of him eating at the king's house would never again have listened to any message or advice he offered. So although we, as believers, are not forbidden to sit down to a meal with unbelievers, we have to take care where and how we sit down to a meal with them. The Bible commands us to avoid every appearance of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:22) We have to be careful not to give the impression that we are indulging in sinful things or else we will lose our ability to set a godly example for believers and unbelievers both.
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