1 Kings 13:18

18. — But he lied unto him.] It should here be well observed, bow great the guilt, and how fatal the effect of lying is. Not only the command of God is here violated by a bold lie, but the life of one Prophet is destroyed by its means, and the souls of both the deceiver and deceived are exposed to the danger of eternal death: of the one for his lie; of the other for believing it. This shews the great reason our Lord had for joining the liar and the murderer in the character of the devil, John viii. 44. Satan’s lie betrayed all mankind to death, as the old Prophet’s did his too credulous brother. This latter, indeed, had not the same malice, yet it had the same unhappy effect—even the death of him that was deceived thereby. Wogan.

1 Kings 13:24

24. — a lion — slew him.] It might appear that the offence of the Prophet hardly deserved so severe a fate; but then we should do well to consider, that whenever God in an extraordinary manner discovers His will to a Prophet, He always makes such a sensible impression on his mind, that he cannot but perceive himself actuated by a Divine spirit, and consequently cannot but be assured of the evidence of his own revelation. This evidence the Prophet that was sent to Beth-el had; for, as he was able by the power that was given him to work miracles, he could not but be sensible that he had a Divine mission, and that the particular injunction of not eating or drinking in the town of Beth-el was as much the will of God as any other part of his commission. Stackhouse. There are several aggravations of the Prophet of Judah’s crime. He suffered himself to be imposed upon by a stranger, by one whom he did not know, and against the express command of God, whom he did know; this stranger too one of whose honesty he had no assurance, and who might probably have corrupt views in the business. Again, besides the fact that no good end was answered by his returning with the old Prophet, there was a marked difference in the manner in which the two opposite commands were conveyed to him. The one came directly from God, or from an angel of God; the other from a man only. There ought to have been the same proof and certainty of a Divine repeal, as there had before been of a Divine command. A Prophet might lie; God Himself, or an angel of God, could not. The man of God should have insisted on a sign to prove this Prophet’s commission for saying what he did; or should have waited till God Himself might direct what he should do. It is remarkable, that the deceiving Prophet was not punished, but the deceived one was. And we are taught from this instance not to pass any judgment, as to God’s final favour or disfavour, from His outward dispensations, any farther than we have special grounds for it. The Prophet that was spared appears to have been a much worse man in every view than the Prophet that was punished. But his account was adjourned to another time, or another world. Every history supplies us with many similar instances of the best men being taken off first, and the worst being left behind, to live longer and repent, or to meet with a severer doom. Whatever the reason be, the fact is certain, that so it often is. And it is no more an argument against Scripture, than it is against the being and providence of God; that is, it is none at all; for a life to come will adjust every seeming inequality, and set all things right. Dr. Waterland. The Prophet, who had a Divine direction given to himself by a revelation, of the truth whereof he was perfectly assured, both by the internal conviction of his own mind, and by the outward testimony of a miracle added

1 Kings 13:28

28.—the ass and the lion standing by the carcase:] This circumstance seems to be mentioned, to shew that the lion acted by a supernatural direction. In the ordinary course of things, this animal would not have attacked the man, unless impelled by the cravings of hunger; and, that this was not the case in the present instance, is proved by the fact of its having remained for a considerable time without touching the carcase of the ass. Again, the ass seems to have acted under supernatural direction in not attempting to escape, as if convinced that the fury of the lion was only directed against one object. —the lion had not eaten the carcase, &c.] Though God so severely punished the Prophet of Judah unto death, yet he shewed a miracle for him when he was dead. This shews that God had not cast away all care of him, though He punished him so sorely, and may be a fair sign that He did not suffer his soul to be cast away. It is true indeed, that he died for transgressing God’s command; but had he not repented of that transgression? It is observable, as is related at verse 21, that the old Prophet “cried unto the man of God,” whom he had brought back. When God revealed to him what wrong he had done in lying to the unhappy Prophet, and making him transgress the Divine command, and how sad a fate would befall him for his transgression, he cried out with sadness and affection, and told him how it would fare with him. And can we think that the good man, having his sin so laid before him, and his dreadful punishment, was not deeply touched with the sense of his sin, and with all earnestness prayed to God for pardon? We may not judge of him by ourselves: we little take to heart what we have misdone, and what is denounced by God against our sinning; but a holy Prophet was of better temper, and of a tenderer heart, and deeply sorrowed, no doubt, for his transgression when he was convinced of it; sought pardon for it, and obtained it: so that though he died for his sin, yet he died not in it. Dr. Lightfoot.

1 Kings 13:30

30.—Alas, my brother:] He and his sons made the usual lamentations over the deceased Prophet, of which this was the form in aftertimes, as we find at Jer. xxii. 18. Bp. Patrick.

1 Kings 13:31

31.—lay my bones beside his bones:] This he seems to have said, partly out of affection to the Prophet, and partly because, being assured that the words of the Prophet denounced against the altar and the priests and false prophets, ver. 2, would punctually come to pass, he hoped that, when the officers came at that time to dig up the bones of such offenders, in order to burn them, his own might escape together with this true Prophet’s, with whose they would lie mixed, and out of respect to whose character that sepulchre would escape from being rifled. Nor did his hopes deceive him, as appears from 2 Kings xxiii. 15, &c. Bp. Patrick, Pyle. This aged seducer hath yet so much truth as to make a right comment upon what had happened: he shewed the danger of disobedience, and confirmed the certainty of that judgment which his late guest had denounced Jeroboam still persisteth in his evil courses. Before CHRIST 975.

1 Kings 13:32

32.— which are in the cities of Samaria.] The city of Samaria was not built at this time, nor had the separate kingdom of Jeroboam yet obtained that name; so that the author or compiler of this book, who lived later, writes of places and things by the names which they bore in his days, in order to make himself more intelligible to his readers. Calmet.

1 Kings 13:33

33.— Jeroboam returned not &c.] The foregoing instance, related at ver. 4. &c. of Divine severity, tempered with mercy, had no influence on the corrupt heart of this prince. He persisted in his evil ways, which brought down destruction on himself and his family. Dr. Hales.

We may observe in the character of Jeroboam, that men of proud hearts, although they smart under the visible tokens of God’s displeasure, yet have not grace to repent, and to forsake the sin that has provoked Him to punish them. Jeroboam felt both the wrath and the goodness of God, in the withering and subsequent restoring of his arm: he had gratitude enough to offer the Prophet a reward for the mercy received, yet still persisted in his sin; still remaining ungrateful to that God, whose favour had raised him to a throne, whose vengeance he had sensibly experienced, and whose mercy he had so undeservedly obtained. After so remarkable a vicissitude of judgment and mercy, who would not expect that Jeroboam should immediately turn penitent? And yet we find he goes on in his old course, as if nothing had happened, and lives and dies a rank idolater. Wogan. Jeroboam perseveres in his former courses, as if God had neither done him good nor evil. Though his hand was amended, his soul is not; that continues still dry and inflexible. No stone is no more hard or insensate than a sinful heart. The changes of judgment and mercy do but harden it, instead of melting. Bp. Hall.

CHAP. XIV.

1 Kings 13:34

34. And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam.] If we lay together all the particulars that have been enumerated in the latter part of the last and the beginning of this chapter concerning Jeroboam, and consider the parts, rise, and degrees of his sin, we shall find, that it was not for nothing that the Spirit of God so frequently and bitterly in Scripture stigmatizes this person: for it represents him first encroaching upon the civil government, thence changing the religion of his country, debasing the office that God had made sacred, introducing a false way of worship, and destroying the true. And in this we have a full and fair description of a foul king; that is, of an usurper and an impostor: or, to use one word more comprehensive than both, of “Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.” Dr. South.

Chap. XIV. ver. 2.—Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, &c.] The motive of Jeroboam in sending his wife to consult the prophet probably was, that he wished the proceeding to be completely secret; for, had it been publicly known that he himself had no confidence in his own senseless idols, and that, in any matter of importance, he applied to the Prophet of the true God, the confidence of his subjects in his government would have been materially shaken, and they would have returned to the worship of that true God whom they had imprudently forsaken. His wife then was the only person in whom he could confide: he knew that, as a mother, she would be diligent in her inquiry, and as a wife, faithful in her report. And he desired her to disguise herself, probably because he was aware that the Prophet was offended with him for his gross idolatries, and therefore thought that he would not admit his wife to consult him, knowing her to be such. But herein consisted his strange infatuation, that he should think the very person whom he deemed capable of resolving the fate of his son, unable to see through all this guile and disguise. Stackhouse.

O the gross folly mixed with the craft of wickedness! Could Jeroboam think that the Prophet could know the event of his son’s disease, and did he think that he could not know the disguise of his wife? The one was present, the other future; this was but wrapt up in a cloak, that event was wrapt up in the counsel of God: yet this politick head presumes, that the greater shall be revealed while the lesser shall be hid. There was never wicked man that was not infatuate; and in nothing more than in those things wherein he hoped most to surpass the reach of others. Bp. Hall.

Ahijah, forewarned by God, denounceth God’s judgment. Before CHRIST 966. thine hand. § Or, bottle. for his heariness.