“For the word of the LORD is right and true;
He is faithful in all He does.”
— Psalm 33 :4, New International Version
Jeroboam is offering incense at his new shrine in Bethel. The site is loaded with memory: Abraham once built an altar here (Genesis 12 :8) and Jacob dreamed of heaven’s gate (Genesis 28 :19). Now a counterfeit altar squats on holy ground, testifying that good locations cannot sanctify bad worship.
Into this scene strides “a man of God”—in Hebrew ʾîš hāʾĕlōhîm. The title is rare and weighty, normally reserved for Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha. His anonymity underlines the point: authority lies in the word he bears, not the name he carries.
He delivers a startling prediction: “O altar, altar … a son named Josiah will be born to the house of David” (v. 2). Archaeologists date Josiah’s reign almost three centuries later (640–609 BC). Such specificity underscores God’s long-range sovereignty. The prophecy is later fulfilled to the letter (see 2 Kings 23 :15-20).
Jeroboam’s raised fist withers (wayyibbāsh, “dries up”), an enacted parable: the king’s power is as fragile as a dead branch when he fights God’s purpose. Yet notice the mercy—when the king asks for prayer, the prophet intercedes and the hand is restored. Judgment and grace stand side by side.
Cross-References
• Deuteronomy 13 :1-5 – testing prophets.
• Psalm 106 :19-23 – the golden calf and Moses’ intercession.
• Matthew 12 :6 – “One greater than the temple is here.”
Spiritual Lens
True worship centers on God’s self-revelation, not on political
convenience. The modern temptation to shape devotion around comfort or
ideology finds an ancient mirror in Jeroboam’s altar.
God’s instructions to the man of God are clear:
• Do not eat or drink in Bethel.
• Do not return by the same road.
The command seems odd at first, but prohibitions often serve as boundary markers—reminding the prophet (and us) that God’s word, not local hospitality, sustains the mission (cf. 1 Kings 17 :4).
Enter an old prophet from Bethel. He, too, knows the vocabulary of revelation, yet he lives amid counterfeit worship. He finds the visitor resting under a terebinth and spins a lie: “An angel said, ‘Bring him back …’” (v. 18). Here the narrative whispers the echo of Eden—another voice, another meal, another death (Genesis 3).
For Western readers, ancient hospitality codes are easily missed. To refuse a meal in that culture bordered on insult. The offer would have sounded righteous, even godly, and the deceiver adds prophetic authority: “Thus spoke an angel.” The test, then, is not between good and evil appearances but between the first word of the LORD and a second, contradictory word.
Theological Thread
The Reformers stressed Sola Scriptura—God’s revealed word
judges all other claims. 1 Kings 13 dramatizes that principle centuries
before the Reformation.
While they sit at table, the true word of God now falls on the old prophet: because the man of God disobeyed, he will die. Irony piles up. The deceiver becomes the mouthpiece of authentic prophecy; the obedient messenger becomes the transgressor.
On the return journey a lion kills the man of God but does not eat him. Unusual animal behavior in Scripture often signals divine intervention (Numbers 22 :22-35; Daniel 6). The untouched donkey stands beside the lion—an emblem of judgment tempered by restraint. Nature itself bears witness that God’s sentence, not random violence, has fallen.
The old prophet retrieves the body, places it in his own tomb, and instructs his sons to bury him beside the visitor when his time comes: even compromised voices sometimes recognize truth when they see it.
Literary Note
The repeated phrase “by the word of the LORD” (vv. 1, 2, 5, 9, 17, 18,
20, 26) stitches the episode together like refrain in a ballad. Every
twist hinges on that word, inviting the reader to weigh every other
motivation against it.
Historical Side-Light
Lions roamed the Judean highlands until at least the 13th century AD.
Assyrian reliefs from Nineveh (7th century BC) show royal lion hunts—an
image the original audience would have pictured vividly.
Jeroboam learns nothing. The split altar, the withered hand, the death on the road—none of these signs move him to repentance. The chapter closes with the somber refrain: “This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall.”
Augustine comments, “Miracles instruct the teachable; they harden those set on their own ways.” Calvin adds that partial obedience is “the mother of all superstition.” The early Methodist preacher John Wesley used this passage to warn that past usefulness in God’s service is no shelter from present unfaithfulness.
Yet hope still gleams. Josiah will come. God already speaks the name of a reformer not yet born, proving that apostasy never gets the last word.
Broader Biblical Arc
1. Adam hears, eats, and dies (Genesis 3).
2. Israel hears, disobeys, and wanders (Numbers 14).
3. Jesus hears, obeys, and lives (John 5 :30; Philippians 2 :8).
Christ stands as the true Man of God who never deviates from the
Father’s command—even when offered bread in the wilderness by another
voice (Matthew 4 :3-4). Our security rests not in our flawless
performance but in His perfect obedience credited to us.
Reflection Questions
1. Where do I feel pressure to adjust God’s word for cultural comfort or
relational peace?
2. How do I discern between the first voice of Scripture and the second
voices that sound godly?
3. Am I lingering under an “oak tree” of fatigue, vulnerability, or
silent resentment where deception may find me?
Practical Step
Choose one instruction of Scripture you already know—perhaps about
forgiveness, generosity, Sabbath rest, or sexual integrity—and ask the
Spirit for strength to “listen all the way home,” without detour or
shortcut.
Suggested Hymn
“Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord” (B. Mansell Ramsey, 1919). Its repeated plea,
“Help me to walk aright, more by faith, less by sight,” captures the
heartbeat of 1 Kings 13.
Faithful God,
Your word is lamp and life.
Guard us from half-obedience,
from second voices that cloud our ears,
and from weariness that makes us easy prey.
Keep our feet on the path Your Son has walked before us,
till we, too, finish the journey in Your peace.
Through Jesus Christ, the true Man of God—Amen.