Commentary - 1 Kings 13:11-32

Bird's-eye view

This passage is one of the strangest and most sobering in all of Scripture. It serves as a stark warning about the absolute and unyielding authority of God's direct and specific revelation. After the man of God from Judah courageously pronounced judgment on Jeroboam's idolatrous altar in Bethel, a trial of a different sort comes upon him. It does not come from the pagan king, but rather from a fellow prophet, an old man living in the compromised city of Bethel. The story unfolds as a tragic lesson in disobedience. The man of God, who could stand against a king, falls to the deception of a peer.

The central conflict is between a clear command from God and a subsequent, contradictory claim, also presented as a word from God. The man of God from Judah fails this test, and the consequences are swift and fatal. God's judgment is executed by a lion, a sign-act that underscores the divine source of the punishment. The lying prophet from Bethel is then, in a stunning display of God's sovereignty, used to pronounce the judgment, retrieve the body, and confirm the truth of the original prophecy. The entire event demonstrates that God is jealous for His word, that obedience must be total, and that temptations often come from the most unexpected and seemingly trustworthy sources.

Outline

Commentary

1 Kgs 13:11-14 Now an old prophet was living in Bethel; and his sons came and recounted to him all the work which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they recounted to their father. And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons had seen the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone. Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it. So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak; and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.”

The scene shifts from the public confrontation at the altar to a private home in Bethel. And right away, we should have questions about this "old prophet." What is a prophet of Yahweh doing living in Bethel, the very heart of Jeroboam's apostate counterfeit religion? His presence there is already a compromise. He is not crying out against the altar; he is living there, and his sons are observing the events as spectators. When he hears what the man of God from Judah has done, his first impulse is to go after him. His motives are not stated, but they are suspect from the outset. Is it professional jealousy? A desire to associate himself with a true move of God? Or something more sinister? He finds the man of God resting under an oak, perhaps weary from his spiritual exertions. The initial question is straightforward, establishing the identity of the man he has been seeking.

1 Kgs 13:15-17 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” And he said, “I cannot return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. For a word came to me by the word of Yahweh, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.’ ”

Here is the test. The old prophet extends an invitation of fellowship and hospitality. It seems like a kind gesture. But the man of God from Judah gives the correct answer. He states his prohibition clearly and authoritatively. Notice the basis of his refusal: "For a word came to me by the word of Yahweh." This is bedrock. He has a direct, specific, and unambiguous command from God. The prohibition was not just about sustenance; it was a symbolic act. To eat or drink in Bethel would be to have fellowship with its apostasy. The command was a hedge of protection, keeping him separate from the corruption. His obedience was to be as precise as his prophecy. At this point, he is standing firm on the rock of God's revealed will.

1 Kgs 13:18-19 And he said to him, “I also am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of Yahweh, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” But he dealt falsely with him. So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

This is the moment of the fall, and the temptation is masterful in its wickedness. The old prophet does not challenge the man of God's initial revelation. Instead, he claims a subsequent, superseding revelation. He pulls rank with his age and status: "I also am a prophet like you." He mimics the language of true revelation: "an angel spoke to me by the word of Yahweh." He couches the temptation in the language of piety. The Scripture then adds the blunt, damning commentary: "But he dealt falsely with him." He lied. And the man of God from Judah, who had faced down a king, believed the lie. Why? Perhaps he was tired and hungry. Perhaps he was lonely and wanted the fellowship of a fellow prophet. But the reason does not matter as much as the failure itself. He allowed a secondary word, from a man, to overturn a primary word, directly from God. He failed to understand that God is not the author of confusion and does not contradict Himself. Once God has spoken clearly, any "angel" or "prophet" who says otherwise is to be rejected. The man of God disobeyed, and in that simple act of eating and drinking, he sealed his doom.

1 Kgs 13:20-22 Now it happened as they were sitting down at the table, that the word of Yahweh came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he called out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you have rebelled against the word of Yahweh, and have not kept the commandment which Yahweh your God commanded you, but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water”; your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers.’ ”

The irony here is thick enough to cut with a knife. As they are in the very act of disobedience, the word of the Lord comes. But it comes to the lying prophet, the instrument of the temptation. God commandeers the mouth of the liar to speak the truth of judgment. This is a terrifying display of God's sovereignty. He is not limited to using pure vessels. The judgment is pronounced publicly, at the table of compromise. The charge is explicit: "you have rebelled against the word of Yahweh." The Hebrew is "rebelled against the mouth of Yahweh." He had heard God's command from God's own mouth, and he disobeyed. The sentence fits the crime. Because he would not honor the boundary God had set for him in life, his own bones would not come to their proper resting place in death. This was a significant curse in the ancient world, a sign of shame and dishonor.

1 Kgs 13:23-25 Then he went and on the way a lion met him and put him to death, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body. And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and spoke about it in the city where the old prophet lived.

The judgment is not long in coming. The instrument of God's wrath is a lion, but this is no ordinary animal attack. This is a sign-act, a miracle of judgment. The lion kills the man of God but does not devour the corpse. It does not attack the donkey. The lion and the donkey stand there together, guarding the body on the road. This is a supernatural tableau, a public spectacle for all to see. God is making a point, and He wants everyone to see it. This is what happens when the word of the Lord is disobeyed, especially by one of His own messengers. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and this scene was intended to teach that fear to all who saw or heard of it.

1 Kgs 13:26-32 Then the prophet, who brought him back from the way, heard it and said, “It is the man of God, who rebelled against the command of Yahweh; therefore Yahweh has given him to the lion, which has mauled him and put him to death, according to the word of Yahweh which He spoke to him.” ... He laid his body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” ... “When I die, you shall bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the word shall surely happen which he cried by the word of Yahweh against the altar in Bethel...”

The old prophet hears the news and immediately knows what it means. He is a false prophet, but he is not an ignorant one. He understands the ways of God well enough to interpret the event perfectly. His words are a confession: "It is the man of God, who rebelled... according to the word of Yahweh." He then goes to retrieve the body, and the scene is just as it was reported, with the lion and donkey standing watch. He takes the body, buries it in his own family tomb, and leads a mourning ritual, crying, "Alas, my brother!" What are we to make of this? It is a complex mixture of guilt, sorrow, and a strange sort of respect. He caused this man's death, yet he honors him as a "brother." His final act is to instruct his sons to bury him next to the man of God. He wants to be identified with the true prophet in death. Why? Because he knows that the prophecy against Bethel, spoken by this man he deceived, is true and will certainly come to pass. In the end, the lying prophet validates the message of the man he destroyed. It is a pathetic attempt to find safety by proximity to a holiness he was unwilling to imitate in life.

Key Issues

Application

This is a hard story, and it is meant to be. The primary lesson is about the absolute finality and authority of the clear word of God. When God gives you a command, it is not up for renegotiation. It does not matter if an angel, or a respected elder, or a famous preacher comes along with a different message that sounds pious. If it contradicts what God has already plainly said in His Scripture, it is a lie from the pit. We are to hold fast to the Word. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20).

Second, we must be wary of temptations that come from within our own camp. The man of God was not swayed by King Jeroboam, but he was swayed by an "old prophet." We are often most vulnerable to those who look like us and talk like us. We must test the spirits, and our standard for testing is always the written Word of God, not the charisma or reputation of the speaker.

Finally, this story teaches us the severity of God. The man of God was a true prophet who did a great work for the Lord. And yet, for one act of disobedience, he was struck down. This is not to say that God is eager to destroy us, for we live under a covenant of grace. But it is to say that God takes obedience seriously. He is holy, and He will not be trifled with. Our obedience is the necessary fruit of our faith, and we must never think that our service for God gives us a license to disregard His specific commands. The fear of the Lord is a profound and necessary gift, and this story is here to cultivate it in us.