1 Kings · chapter 13 of 22
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1 Kings 13 tells how a man of God comes from Judah to Bethel and condemns Jeroboam's altar, announcing that a king named Josiah will defile it. The king's hand withers and is healed. The man of God refuses the king's hospitality, but an old prophet of Bethel deceives him into eating at his house, and a lion kills him on the road. Jeroboam does not repent.
After the false worship Jeroboam set up in 1 Kings 12, God sends a word of judgment to Bethel. This strange and difficult chapter shows the importance of obeying exactly what God says, and teaches that even the Lord's messenger must answer for his actions. It also prepares for a fulfillment that will come centuries later, with King Josiah.
While Jeroboam stands by the altar at Bethel to burn incense, a man of God arrives from Judah, by the word of the Lord, and cries out against the altar. He announces that a son of the house of David, named Josiah, will sacrifice the priests of the high places on it and burn human bones. As a sign, the altar will split and its ashes pour out. Jeroboam stretches out his hand and orders the man seized, but his hand withers and the altar splits. The king asks the man of God to pray for him, and his hand is restored.
The king invites him to his house to give him a gift, but the man of God replies that the Lord commanded him not to eat bread or drink water in that place or to return by the same way. An old prophet of Bethel hears of it, goes after him and finds him sitting under an oak. He says an angel spoke to him by the word of the Lord to bring him to his house to eat. It was a lie, and the man of God believes him and eats with him.
While they are at the table, the word of the Lord comes to the old prophet, who announces that, because he disobeyed, the man of God will not be buried with his fathers. On the road a lion kills him, but leaves the body and the donkey standing beside it without devouring them. The old prophet takes up the body, buries it in his own tomb and asks his sons to bury him beside it, since the word against the altar of Bethel will come true. Even so, Jeroboam does not turn from his evil way and keeps appointing priests for the high places, which led his house to ruin.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The man of God cries out against the altar and announces that a son will be born to the house of David, named Josiah, who will sacrifice the priests on it. Centuries before it happens, the Lord announces the end of this false worship.
The man of God says the Lord commanded him not to eat bread or drink water in Bethel or return by the way he came. The command was clear, and faithfulness meant keeping it, even in the face of the king's kind offer.
The old prophet says an angel spoke to him by the word of the Lord, but the text makes clear he lied to him. The man of God believed a fellow prophet instead of holding to what God had told him.
After all that happened, Jeroboam does not turn from his evil way and keeps appointing priests for the high places. The chapter ends with a king who sees signs and does not change, which leads to the fall of his house.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He came from Judah and went to Bethel, where Jeroboam's altar stood. — 1 Kings 13:1
Answer: One named Josiah, of the house of David. — 1 Kings 13:2
Answer: It withered, and was later restored when the man of God prayed for him. — 1 Kings 13:4-6
Answer: Not to eat bread or drink water in Bethel, and not to return by the same way. — 1 Kings 13:9
Answer: By lying, saying an angel had spoken to him by the word of the Lord. — 1 Kings 13:18
Answer: A lion killed him, and the old prophet buried him in his own tomb. — 1 Kings 13:24-30
The chapter shows the seriousness of departing from what God has clearly said, even when it comes from someone respected or spiritual-sounding. In a class or small group, talk about how to discern whether what someone says, even a believer, agrees with what God has revealed in his Word, and why it is wise always to return to Scripture.
It also warns against a hardened heart: Jeroboam witnesses a powerful sign and carries on unchanged. Ask yourselves what signs from God, warnings from friends or convictions of the Spirit you have ignored, and what step of obedience is yours to take today.
1 Kings 13 ends with Jeroboam unchanged and his house marked for destruction. In 1 Kings 14, Jeroboam's son falls ill, and the prophet Ahijah announces the end of his dynasty.
The text does not excuse the old prophet's deception, but it makes clear that the man of God had a direct command from the Lord and disobeyed it. His duty was to hold to the word he had received and not believe a different message without confirmation. It is a hard story that underscores the seriousness of obedience.
Josiah was a king of Judah who reigned centuries later, about 640 to 609 BC. In 2 Kings 23 it is told that he destroyed the altar at Bethel and burned bones on it, just as announced here.
The text presents that scene as a sign that the death was no accident but a judgment of the Lord. All who passed by could see the lion, the body and the donkey standing together, something out of the ordinary.