Kings of Israel #6
“The Man of God Rebukes Jeroboam”
Key Verses: 1Ki 13:1-10
In the next two studies, we will cover the “man of God” who is sent by the Lord to rebuke Jeroboam and prophesy coming doom to his idolatrous altars and priests. The second part is a more familiar story that deals primarily with this prophet from Judah himself being deceived by a false prophet and thereby disobeying the Lord’s commandments. This “man of God” story like all these history lessons are there to admonish (1Co 10:11) and help us as we are making the transition from the man of sin (Jeroboam) to the man of God (Christ). Until this is settled in our hearts we remain unstable and are tossed by many winds of doctrine.
1Ki 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him…
Jas 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Here are the verses in focus today.
1Ki 13:1 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.
1Ki 13:2 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.
1Ki 13:3 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.
1Ki 13:4 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.
1Ki 13:5 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.
1Ki 13:6 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.
1Ki 13:7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
1Ki 13:8 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:
1Ki 13:9 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.
1Ki 13:10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
The man of God sent from Judah is in New Testament terms, a preacher sent to speak the gospel (truth) to those being prepared to hear it. Inwardly, this is our new man confronting our old man and speaking the Word that comes against our abominable acts which lead to the destruction of our old man.
Jer 5:14 Therefore thus hath the LORD God of the hosts said: Because ye have spoken this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
The prophecy on the destruction of the altars of Bethel has a second witness in Amos which was still over 100 years future in its outward fulfillment. The power (horns) of our idolatry, the carnal mind, will be cut off from Israel.
Amo 3:14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
This story is inwardly being fulfilled as we grow and mature in the Truth and our double-mindedness is revealed, rebuked and then brought into unity with Christ. When the Word is spoken and heard, that Word always points to Christ and His bringing in of salvation. Our man of sin is being destroyed by the working of the Word spoken by the Lord’s sent preachers (Rom 10:14-15). This is how our unbelief is turned into belief, little by little.
2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
The prophet speaks against Jeroboam’s worship and specifically the two altars in Bethel and Dan where golden calves were set and offerings made to them in the Name of the Lord. We covered the last study that these calves and the altars where they were placed was all about SELF-worship and claiming the Name of God yet doing things our way. The prayers of our old man are the incense offered upon this altar which is rejected and a stench to the Lord.
Pro 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
Joh 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
As those in Truth now know, this is a long process to be converted rather than a onetime sinner’s prayer to be delivered our worship of self and worldly fornication. The man of God prophesies of a child, named Josiah, who would be born many years later that would clean up the worship and destroy the abominable altars of Israel.
Synopsis of King Josiah: The Word is prophesying to the coming of Christ to every man in the appointed time. Josiah was a major reformer of worship in Israel and is a type and shadow of Jesus Christ who was also a reformer (Heb 9:10) as both were born and raised up by God and put on the throne of Israel. Josiah, after rediscovering the law (2Ki 23:2) that had been lost, began to institute worship reforms and cleansed the temples and made right the worship and sacrifices that had been forgotten. Those are the very things Christ had done and is doing in the hearts and minds of His elect in every age (Joh 2:14-19). We will cover those details when we get to king Josiah much later in this study series. Josiah was the most righteous king ever to sit on the throne before the coming of the One True King.
2Ki 23:25 Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.
King Josiah comes onto the scene approximately 300 years after the man of God’s prophecy, thus fulfilling it outwardly. We fulfill the Word of God and this prophecy INWARDLY now in this age when the Lord begins to raise up Christ (the new man) on the throne of His Temple (1Co 3:16) and we begin to rule over our flesh. Josiah was only eight years old when made the king and is drawn towards the Lord and the needed reformations in the 8th year of his reign. These witnesses of the number eight symbolize the new man rising forth (See Spiritual Significance of the Number Eight Study).
2Ch 34:3 For in the eighth year of Josiah’s reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.
The burning of men’s bones refers to the burning up of all the lies and false doctrines which hold up the carnal world and holds them all in bondage. Bones are another symbol for doctrines and a good Rom 1:20 application. What holds up a physical body and gives it form and strength is also what holds up a spiritual body. The Body (the woman) is made from and held up by the bones of Christ who is also the first Adam.
Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
The doctrines of Christ are the Scriptures which cannot ever be broken.
Joh 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 19:36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.
It is when these carnal bones are burned on the altar that the house of the old man will collapse and will never rise again. Burning the bones in fire is casting out the lies and false doctrines, the very thing which brings salvation. The father of lies and all his many demons (false spirits/doctrines) are cast out.
Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven…
The bones of Christ are never broken, and no fire can ever harm them (Dan 3:27). We now read the fulfillment of this prophecy when Josiah instituted reforms in Israel. The idols were removed replaced by the bones of men, meaning we give up our lives as a living sacrifice dying daily (Gal 2:20) with the Lord.
Josiah’s fulfillment of Prophecy:
2Ki 23:14 NKJV And he (Josiah) broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.
2Ki 23:15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image.
2Ki 23:16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
2Ki 23:20 He executed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.
Upon hearing this prophesy spoken against him, Jeroboam, like our rebellious old man, will seek to stay the rebuke and judgment against our ungodly ways
1Ki 13:4 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.
1Ki 13:5 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.
1Ki 13:6 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.
The Lord ordained that Jeroboam heard the man of God’s words that cried against his altar. When the Word of God goes forth (is heard), it begins to work its work in its hearers.
Eze 12:25 For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD.
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Jeroboam’s reaction is our man of sin’s reaction to the words of Christ which come against us and touch our idols. Flesh naturally wants to silence those that oppose our beast to continue to justify ourselves. Yet the Lord will take away even the little bit of spirituality we have in drying up (withering) our works and ensuring we stagnate. The rebuke of our carnal and dead works is the sun (Christ) rising upon our earth. This is what begins to draw us away from the flesh and towards faith. To be raised from the dead we must first fall to the ground and die.
Mat 13:6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
Mar 11:21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
All men are resurrected from the valley of dry bones where all of our works are first withered, and no sustenance of spiritual life is found (Eze 37:1-4).
The word for ashes in this story is not the primary Hebrew word for ashes as used in Scripture. The word here is H1880 which comes from a root word meaning fat and is as often translated as fatness versus ashes.
H1880, deshen
Total KJV Occurrences: 15
ashes, 8
Lev_1:16, Lev_4:12 (2), Lev_6:10-11 (2), 1Ki_13:3, 1Ki_13:5, Jer_31:40
fatness, 7
Jdg_9:9, Job_36:16, Psa_36:8, Psa_63:5, Psa_65:11, Isa_55:2, Jer_31:14
The residue of our offerings to the Lord when we are under the law for the lawless is our spiritual fatness in the negative sense. The residue of idolatrous sacrifices to the Lord are the ashes that we look to in justifying ourselves before the Word is sent and begins rebuking us. We don’t know what we don’t know when we are deceived of the Lord and feeding on the ashes of our idolatry of self.
Isa 44:17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
Isa 44:20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
Signs are not for believers but unbelievers (1Co 14:23). This rending of the altar and pouring out the ashes was a physical sign to Jeroboam and our old man in our appointed time. A time will come when we hear the Word and our self-worship is rebuked and henceforth fails to bring forth any fruit but only death (the wages of our sin). Mighty signs and wonders are very convincing in the short term but do little to manifest true and lasting repentance.
The Word of God brings rebuke that destroys the strength of our flesh and dries up the food that sustains our old man and religious beast’s (Rev 13:11) existence. This event is part of the Revelation of Jesus Christ where our hearing of the Word first wounds one of our seven heads, but then that wound is quickly healed and we carry on being a beast and the man of sin that Jeroboam represents.
Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Jeroboam’s afflicted hand brings seeming repentance but that is short lived as the flesh cannot help but be flesh and it is appointed for destruction (1Co 15:50).
1Ki 13:33 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.
1Ki 13:34 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.
As the Lord’s prophets, ministers and kings in the making, we are to give to all who ask of us even those outside the covenant of faith. Men of God are not to pray for the world in general (Joh 17:9, Jer 11:14). However, the sum of the Word that is Truth (Psa 119:160), teaches us that when specifically asked to pray for anyone, we need to be Christ and answer that petition.
Mat 5:42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
Righteous prayers are integral to deliverance and conversion from our sinful ways.
Jas 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Mar 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
With his hand restored, Jeroboam seeks to make friends with the prophet and reward him for his actions.
1Ki 13:7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
1Ki 13:8 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:
1Ki 13:9 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.
1Ki 13:10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel
Our final verses speak more to the lessons our new man from Judah is learning rather than to our old man Jeroboam. The Northern Kingdom is Samaria and while Christ “must go through Samaria”, we also know that our mission field is only those the Lord is preparing to be found and judged in this age.
Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Mat 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Our old man is always seeking to save his life and stave off its own destruction. Flesh will naturally want to bring Christ and his physical blessings into our household and continue on with business as usual. This is what we all do in our time in the Orthodox churches of men and also in our time in spiritual Babylon. The real Christ and His more mature messengers avoid such situations in getting entangled with carnal people and the affairs of the world.
The people of God work out of duty having been purchased by the Lord and now becoming His unworthy servants. We are never to ask for nor take rewards for what is our reasonable service to our fellow man, all of whom are Christ in the making(Mat 25:40).
Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Luk 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
The Lord sustains his prophets and provides all the food, drink and rest that we need. We are not to look to the world for our sufficiency in these things, be they physical or spiritual.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
We have an obedient man of God who rightly rejects the offer of Jeroboam and honors the commandments given to him by the Lord. Those following Christ go forward, they go straight and do not turn back, remembering Lot’s wife.
Luk 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Eze 1:12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.
Another command of the Lord is the commandment to not eat and drink spiritually speaking with those outside of faith such as Jeroboam. We have to be discerning as prophets and know when to speak and when not to speak ensuring we are ministering to the lost house of Israel (Psa 10:17, Mat 10:6).
2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Those led by the flesh (Jeroboam’s) are spiritual fornicators with whom God’s people are not to keep company and not to be actively discussing spiritual matters.
Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
1Co 5:9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
1Co 5:10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
1Co 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
Jeroboam did not hold to the prophet’s rebuke and he continued on with his evil abominations. The Lord is not going to save the old man, he is using his evil acts to give the occasion to bring judgment to us in the appointed time and thereby teach us His right ways.
Jeroboam’s house will soon enough be destroyed as we move forward with the next king of the Northern Kingdom. It is at the end of our judgment process when the false altars and listening to false prophets will come to an end. Josiah (Christ) will come onto the scene 300 years later and the false prophets and their lies within us all will be consumed by the fire of the Word thus fulfilling the man of God’s prophecy.
Act 3:22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
Act 3:23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
The man of God was obedient in his initial assignment in passing this test and performing what the Lord had demanded. But as we know, we are being saved and being made righteous (AORIST TENSE) and there will be many failures as we are being made complete in Christ.
Pro 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
Next week, we will look at the second part of the story about the Man of God. We will see his obedience turn into disobedience because of his immaturity and failure to strictly adhere to the Lord’s commands.