Human Willfulness

The story also shocks and offends, for it presents one prophet deliberately lying to another. The action develops in unexpected ways, and the meaning of it all is veiled until the very end. When the meaning is disclosed, it provides the key for understanding the fate of Jeroboam and his kingdom.
[1 Kgs. 13:8] And the man of G-d 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 was it charged me by the word of the L-RD, 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 Bethel.
[11] Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of G-d had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
My refusal of thy favor, is not from any contempt, or hatred of thy person; but in obedience to the just command of my G-d, who hath forbidden me all father converse or communication with thee. Neither eat nor drink in that place, or with that people. Whereby G-d declares, how detestable they were in G-d's eyes; because they were vile apostates from the true G-d, and embraced this idol - worship, against the light of their own consciences, merely to comply with the king's humor and command.
Nor turn by thy avoiding the way that led thee to Beth-el as execrable, although thou went by my special command, thou might teach all others, how much they should abhor that way, and all thoughts of going to that place, or to such people, upon any unnecessary occasion.
The scene shifts abruptly to the home of an old prophet in Bethel, and the story takes a surprising turn. The sons of the old prophet have just returned from the encounter between the man of G-d from Judah and Jeroboam and report to their father all that transpired.
A prophet was one to whom, and by whom G-d did sometimes impart His mind; as it is manifest from v. 20, 21, and one that had a respect to the L-rd's holy prophets, and gave credit to their predictions: but whether he was a good man, may be doubted, seeing we find him in a downright lie, v. 18. And although' an holy prophet may possibly have continued in the kingdom of Israel, he would never have gone from his own habitation, to dwell at Beth-el, the chief seat of idolatry, unless with design to preach against it: which it is evident he did not; his sons seem to have been present at, and, and to have joined with others in that idolatrous worship.
The old prophet follows after him and after establishing his identity, the old prophet invites him to return and eat with him. The man of G-d from Judah declines and explains, as he had to Jeroboam, the divine constraint he was under about dining. Incredibly, the old prophet of Bethel overcomes the Judahite’s objections by identifying himself also a prophet and by declaring that an angel spoke to him by the word of the
L-rd. Without further protest or inquiry, the Judahite accepts disobeying the word of the L-rd that was given to him directly.
His punishment was “Thou shalt not die a natural, but a violent death; and that in this journey, before thou returnees to thy native habitation. (Your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers).” But is it not strange that the lying prophet escapes, while the man of G-d is so severely punished? Certainly there must be a judgment to come, when these things shall be called over again, and when those who sinned most and suffered least in this world, will receive according to their works.
The Bethelite saddled a ass for him and sent him on his way, were he runs into a lion. The lion does not eat him or attack the ass, but with the ass remains standing beside the body, sentinels of an event both mysterious and awesome. There was a wood near Beth-el infested with lions (2 Kings 2:24). This sad catastrophe was a severe but necessary judgment of G-d, to attest the truth of the message with which the prophet had been charged. All the circumstances of this tragic occurrence (the undervalued carcass, the untouched ass, the passengers unmolested by the lion, though standing there) were calculated to produce an irresistible impression that the hand of G-d was in it.
The lion slew him - But why doth G-d punish a good man so severely for so small an offence? His sin was not small, for it was a gross disobedience to a positive command. And it cannot seem strange if G-d should bring his deserved death upon him in this manner, for the accomplishment of his own glorious designs, to claim his own justice from the accusation of partiality; to assure the truth of His predictions, and thereby provoke Jeroboam and his idolatrous followers to repentance; and to justify himself in all his dreadful judgments which he intended to inflict upon Jeroboam's house, and the whole kingdom of Israel.
When the old prophet of Bethel hears of the unidentified corps companioned by an ass and a lion, he knows immediately who it is and what has happen. Here was a harmony of miracles: that the ass did not run away from the lion, according to his nature, but boldly stood still, as reserving himself to carry the prophet to his burial; that the lion did not devour its prey, nor yet go away when he had done his work, but stood still, partly to preserve the carcase of the prophet from other wild beasts or fowls, partly, as an evidence that the prophet's death was not casual, nor the effect of a lion's starving nature, but of
G-d's singular and just judgment; and consequently, that his prediction was divine, and should be unfailingly accomplished in its proper time; and partly, as a token of G-d's favor to the deceased prophet, of whose very carcase he took such special care: thereby signifying, that although for wise and just reasons He thought fit to take away his life, yet his remains was precious to him. Promptly going to bring him back to Bethel, mourning him, and buries him is a remarkable burst of energy for one who apparently felt indisposed to attend the dedication of Jeroboam’s altar.
So that threatening, v. 22, was fulfilled; and withal, the memory of his prophecy was revived and preserved among them, and his very carcase resting there, might be a witness of their madness and desperate wickedness, in continuing in their abominable idolatry, after such an assurance of the dreadful effects of it. The old prophet and his sons, and others, whom common humanity taught to lament the untimely death of so worthy a person. Tho' he was a lying prophet, yet he desired to die the death of a true prophet. Gather not my Soul with the sinners of Beth-el, but with this man of G-d: Because what he cried against the altar of Beth-el, shall surely come to pass. Thus by the mouth of two witnesses was it established, if possible to convince Jeroboam.
The old prophets motive in making this request was either that his remains might not be disturbed when the predicted events took place (v. 18), or he had some superstitious hope of being benefited at the resurrection by being in the same cave with a man of G-d.
The tomb of the man of G-d from Judah and the old prophet of Bethel served as a constant reminder of G-d’s disapproval of the altar at Bethel.
Bethelite prophet becomes intelligible, and the veil of obscurity before this strange sequence of events is finally lifted. The Bethelite prophet may have been stirred by feelings of professional jealousy at the intrusion of an outsider into his sphere of influence. In any case, because he was a prophet he had to take seriously a prophecy proclaimed so courageously and reinforced by a sign. It was vital to him to find out whether or not the prophecy of the man of G-d from Judah was genuine.
If the Judahite could be induced to disobey the prohibition against eating and drinking and there were no consequences, this would prove that he was without divine mandate and that his prophecy had no power. Thus it was precisely the death of the man of G-d that proved that he acted under divine authority and that his prophecy would be fulfilled. This is why the news of the unidentified corpse on the way to Judah made such an impact on the old prophet of Bethel. And it is because he knew that the man of G-d from Judah was a true prophet that he brought him back to his house, mourned him, and buried him in the family tomb. The Bethelite’s saddling the Judahite’s ass before sending him on his way is a poignant touch, indicating that the old prophet anticipated the fate of his colleague.
Jeroboam returned not from his evil way but persisted in his determination to maintain a rival center of worship to Jerusalem. He also persisted in the equally harmful practice of promoting worship at the high places led by a priesthood indiscriminately chosen.
The importance of obedience, particularly in ‘little things’, the man of G-d from Judah was heroic in obedience to the command to deliver – at great risk to himself – the prophecy against the altar at Bethel, but accepted too readily the alleged revelation of another that contradicted the revelation G-d had given him. Obedience is a matter of life and death. The focus on ‘little things’ emphasizes by contrast the importance of obedience in ‘big things.’
The lie of the old prophet of Bethel attributes the authority for his invitation not directly to G-d but to an angel, this does not excuse the lie. Rather, the Bethelite’s lie should be seen as a lack of resourcefulness and moral maturity by one intent on determining the true character of the prophecy against the altar at Bethel.
The passage is a powerful expose of the seriousness of persisting in a wrong course of behavior when one knows better. Jeroboam’s religious reforms were wrong, but there was still hope for him. The prophecy against his altar and its confirmation by the two prophets was an urgent summons to him to turn from his evil way but he refused. The problem of Jeroboam was not that he was ignorant of G-d’s will, but that he knew it and ignored it.
The tomb of the man of G-d from Judah and the old prophet of Bethel stands as a brooding, accusing witness against Jeroboam and human willfulness.
Jeroboam tries to suppress, subvert, and ignore it; the Judahite man of G-d who delivers it is disobedient; and the old prophet of Bethel verifies it with a lie. But in spite of everything, it triumphs. Even death confirms it, and a tomb becomes its memorial.