1 Kings 13

1 Kings 13:1-10

In this chapter, 1. God by his prophet threatens Jeroboam’s altar, ver. 1, 2. and gives him a sign, ver. 3. which immediately comes to pass, ver. 5. 2. On attempting to serve the prophet, the king’s hand is withered, but restored at the prophet’s proper, ver. 4—5. 3. The prophet refuses the kindness offered him thereupon, ver. 7—10. 4. An old prophet brings him back by a sin, ver. 11—19. 5. For his disobedience he is threatened with death, ver. 20, 21, 22. 5 E 6. The

VOL. I. Biden Child

6. The threatening is executed, ver. 23, 24, he is buried at Beth-el, ver. 25-32. 7. Jeroboam is bardeed in his idolatry, ver. 33: 34.

7. AND behold there came a man of God out of Judah, by the word of the LORD unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 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 be offer the prattle of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee. 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. 4. And it came to pals when king Jeroboam heard the laying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, ’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. 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. 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’ be sought the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. 7. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and ‘I will give thee a reward. 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: 9. For so it was 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. 10. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el.

Jeroboam, in the heights of his impious offering, seemed to glory in his shame; his courtiers around him joined his idolatrous service, and none dare remonstrate against the horrid crime: but God will not suffer these doings to pals without a severe rebuke.

1. God sends a prophet from Judah to Beth-el, and in the midst of the crowd, near the altar where the king stood, he boldly delivered his message, and proclaimed aloud the Divine judgment upon the altar, and its worshippers; that it should be defiled with dead men’s bones, and that a king should arise, Judah by name, who would offer up the idolatrous prattle upon it; and to confirm the truth of his message, he gives a sign, v. 3, which immediately came to pals, an evidence of God’s present displeasure, and an earnest of the threatened destruction, which came to pals as foretold, about three hundred and fifty years after, 2 Kings xxiii. 17-20. Nate, (1.) Before God thieves, he warns; he willets not that any should prattle, but rather that they should come to repentance. (2.) God’s prophets must not fear the faces of men, but openly and faithfully, even to the greatest, declare their message, however unwelcome or dangerous. (3.) No events, however contingent to us, are so to God; our names, abode, and flate, pretext and eternal, are all fourteen, and fixed by his unalterable decree.

2. Jeroboam, enraged at what he termed such insolence, stretches out his hand, and commands to seize the prophet, when instantly struck of God, it grew stiff, and withered; a warning to him, how dangerous it was to fight against God. Nate, (1.) Faithful rebukes often provoke proud wrath. (2.) The preachers of God’s word are the especial butt of malice, but God will protect them; he that toucheth them, toucheth the apple of his eye. (3.) In the way of duty, we need fear no danger. (4.) The hearts of sinners, like the arm of Jeroboam, are, by repelling God’s warnings, given up to judicial hardness and impenitence.

3. Such a stroke, though it turned not his heart, for the time altered his tone: for miracles cannot, unfit Divine Grace works with them, convert men’s souls. He begs now the prophet, whom he had threatened, to be his advocate, hoping for more success from his prayers, than his own: not that he sought forgiveness of his sin, but deliverance from his affliction. The prophet charitably confents to pray for him, and at his request God restores the withered arm. Nate, (1.) They who in their prosperity reject the warnings of God’s ministers, in their distress will have recourse to their prayers. (2.) An impenitent heart ever betrays itself, in a greater concern for its sufferings

than its sins. (3.) To pray for those who desirabfully use and persecute us, is the way to obtain the promised beatitude, Mat. v. 10. 44. (4.) Mercies nor judgments make any lasting impression upon the reprobate.

4. Jeroboam now would reward the prophet for his prayers, but he is forbid to eat or drink in Beth-el, and therefore refuses the king’s invitation, and returns, as ordered, by another way, v. 9. Nate, (1.) We must testify against the workers of iniquity, by refusing to have any fellowship with them. (2.) Neither offers nor threatensly must prevail with us, to swerve a step from the path of duty.

5. Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el, and his ty sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el; the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. 12. And their father said unto them, ‘What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. 13. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the afa. So they saddled him the afa, and he rode thereon. 14. And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak; and he said unto him, ‘Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. 15. Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 16. And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread, nor drink water with thee in this place. 17. For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. 18. He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art, and ‘an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread, and drink water; But he lied unto him. 19. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. 20. And it came to pals as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back: 21. And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thou saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 22. But camest back, and hast eaten bread, and drunk water in the place of which the LORD did day to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

1 Kings 13:7-20

Jeroboam’s wife is bid carry to her husband tidings of bitter woe. The God of Israel, whom he had so dishonoured, and whose people he had so injured, will avenge their quarrel upon him.

1. He upbraids him with his safe ingratitude, and impious apology. God, who had so highly distinguished him, might justly expect a return of fidelity; but he he had exceeded all that went before him in wickedness. David had sins, great ones; but he never turned to idols. Solomon for a time was unfaithful, but repented: even Saul added not this to his iniquities. But Jeroboam had opened the flood-gates of idolatry, and not only sinned himself, but involved the people in this mortal sin. Note, (1.) The greater the mercies we have received, the greater the guilt of unfaithfulness to God. (2.) They who cause others to sin, heap up the measure of vengeance against themselves.

2. He denounces the approaching ruin on Jeroboam’s house, chap. xv. 29. His family should be utterly extirpated, v. 14. and their dead bodies lie unburied, as dung on the earth. Nor was the day distant, when God would raise up another king to the throne, who should execute his vengeance: even now the judgment was at their door. Note, (1.) Sudden destruction often overtakes sinners in the midst of their career. (2.) Their carcasses in the day of God shall be thus cast out, as an advening to all fiefs, lfa. levi. 24.

3. The death of the heir of his throne, who was sick, as soon as she reached the city, should be the prelude and earnest of the judgments which approached. In one thing he shall be distinguished from his ungodly family; he shall go to his grave with honour; and this, because in him alone some good thing was found towards the Lord God of Israel. When all the rest apollatized, he shewed the gracious symptoms of a heart inclined to God, and which cleaved to his worship. Note, (1.) Every gracious desire God implores, he will take notice of. (2.) Youthful piety is peculiarly amiable. (3.) A little grace in bad times, and in kings courts, shines bright. The light is heightened by the dark shades around it. (4.) God in mercy removes the righteous from the evil to come. (5.) The darling child is often snatched away for a warning to the family. (6.) The soul that is early ripe for glory, God gathers, like a sweet flower, into his bosom.

4. Though the king shall bear the heaviest burden, his apostle subjects, who followed his wicked ways, shall not be unpunished. The prophet foretells their tumultuous, unfeited state, torn with fashion, and changing frequently their kings; till, weakened by intestine division, they would become an easier prey to foreign enemies, and be carried away captive beyond the river Euphrates, or Gozen, as was the case, a King xvii. 6. Note, (1.) Though we may have never so great examples to plead for our sin, it will not screen us from punishment. (2.) Ruin is not far from a kingdom, when righteousness is expelled, and iniquity triumphant.

5. The prophecy begins to receive an immediate accomplishment in the death of Abijah, who, according to the word of the prophet, died as soon as Jeroboam’s wife entered the palace at Tirzah. His amiable dispositions, as well as his dignity,

made him much lamented, and occasioned, no doubt, dire forbearings of the approaching evil. Note, Death pays no more respect to palaces, than to the clay-built hut.

6. Jeroboam himself, after a reign of twenty-two years, finished a wicked life by a miserable death, Ser 2 Chron. xiii. 20. struck with some dire disease, which brought him to his grave, and leaving his tottering crown to his unhappy son Nadab, who following his father’s wicked ways, soon filled up the measure of the imagery of his family. Reference is here made to a book of annals, for farther particulars of Jeroboam’s reign; but these not being inspired writings, like those of many other nations, are left.

7. ¶ And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah: Rehoboam was forty and one years old, when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel; to put his name there: and his mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonite’s. 22. And * Judah did evil in the fight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealously with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. 23. For they also built them high places, and images, and groves on every high hill, and under every green tree. 24. And there were also sodomites in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD call out before the children of Israel. 25. ¶ And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: 26. And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, he even took away all; and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 27. And king Rehoboam made in their stead brazen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king’s house. 28. And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber. 29. ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 30. And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 31. And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonite’s. And * Abijah his son reigned in his stead.

1 Kings 13:11-22

Nothing could be more noble than the prophet’s behaviour before the king, and one cannot but grieve to see him afterwards thus deduced and flain.

1. The instrument of his fall is called an old prophet, originally of Samaria, but now of Beth-el; whose dubious character makes it difficult to determine, whether he were a good or bad man. He is called a prophet; was favoured with revelations; did not attend the idolatrous worship; believed and confirmed the word of God against the altar at Beth-el; buries the prophet in his tomb; and desires to lie by his side. On the other hand, his abode in Beth-el; his permitting his sons to attend the altar; and especially the baje decent hers put upon so good a man, would rather induce one to think, that, like Baalam, the speaking some truth, he was false and faithless. Having heard by his sons what had passed, v. 11. he follows the prophet, and invites him to take some reëachment. The prophet pleads his express prohibition, but this he pretends to over-rule by a later revelation made to him, who boasts himself a prophet also, enjoining him to bring his brother back. Deceived by this pretence, the good prophet complies, and suffers for it. Nate, (1.) False prophets are the most fatal enemies of God’s people. (2.) They who seek to draw us aside from God’s revealed will, however plausible their pretenses, are the censurates of hell. (3.) We may be seduced to do evil by appearances of piety, when we should not be driven into it by any fears of suffering.

2. The doom denounced on the disobedient prophet. The instrument of his delusion is made the messenger of his destruction. He upbrands him with his misdeception, in returning contrary to his orders, and foretells his sudden and approaching death, before he returned to the place of his abode in Judah, v. 22. If we enquire into so strange a translation, we are not. We know only God is just in all his ways; the deceived and the deceiver are his; we must wait till a judgment-day shall clear up every mysterious providence, and make his righteousness clear as the noon day.

3. ¶ And

4. Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city, * shall the dogs eat: and him that dieth in the field, shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it. 12. Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. 13. And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. 14. Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that they: but what? * even now. 15. For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall suture them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to answer. 16. And he shall give Israel up, because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin. 17. ¶ And Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to * Tirzah: and when the came to the threshold of the door, the child died. 18. And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Abijah the prophet. 19. And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warned, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 20. And the days which Jeroboam reigned, were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

1 Kings 13:21-31

The histories of the kingdom of Judah and Israel are throughout this book interested. Jeroboam’s reign was near five years longer than Rehoboam’s; but, to finish his history, his death is first recorded.

1. The accounts of Rehoboam contains nothing either great or good, but gives just suspicion, that his government was as weak and wicked, as the opening of it was safe and impolitic. He began his reign when, if ever, he might have been wise, at the age of forty-one, having enjoyed all the advantages of the best instruction; but he imitated his father’s aged folly, rather than his early wisdom. He reigned not half to long as his predecessors, but forescent years, and these also disturbed by perpetual wars or bickerings with his rival Jeroboam. His mother was an Ammonite’s, a bad wife for a king of Israel; and her son partook more of the temper of Ammon, than the Spirit of Abraham. Note, Ungodly connections entail miteries often on the latest palerity. He died at Jerusalem, where he reigned, and left the crown to Abijah, a bad son of a bad father.

2. The account of his subjects is bad, very bad. Led by his example, or not restrained by his negligence, far from being shocked at their neighbour’s idolatry, they quickly imitated them, and committed abominations even beyond their father’s world days; provoking God to jealously by their images and hill altars, and forsaking the house of his glory; giving up their bodies to abominable and unnatural lusts, as well as their souls to spiritual adultery, v. 24. imitating all the profane rites, and following all the dreadfuls involved of the occupied Canaanites, whom God had cast out before them. Note, (1.) They grow most abandoned, who fall from the profession of religion they once made. (2.) When men provoke God by their sins, he in just judgment gives them up to their own hearts lusts. (3.) If Canaan for such things suffered, shall Israel escape? no, in no wise.

3. God begins his visitations for their sins, by giving them up to Shishak king of Egypt, who, in the fifth year of Rehoboam, after plundering the country, beforesd Jerusalem, and was only to be bought off by the surrender of all the treasures which David and Solomon had amassed; such passing vanities are this world’s riches! Among the rest, he carried away the golden

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