1 Kings 13:21

_AND HE CRIED UNTO THE MAN OF GOD THAT CAME FROM JUDAH, SAYING, THUS 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,_ He cried unto the man of God that came from Judah - rather, 'it cried;' i:e., the word of the Lord. What a sad contrast between his present and his former conduct! When first introduced to our notice, he presents a spectacle worthy of admiration. He appears in the schismatic chapel at Beth-el, a fearless messenger of God-a faithful and uncompromising bearer of terrible denunciations-yet he stood undaunted in the midst of a multitude, and the frowns nor the flatteries of a king, neither the pleasures of a luxurious table nor the prospect of comfortable lodging after the fatigues of a long journey, could tempt him to swerve from the path of commanded duty. But now we see him...

11-22 The old prophet's conduct proves that he was not really a godly man. When the change took place under Jeroboam, he preferred his ease and interest to his religion. He took a very bad method to bring the good prophet back. It was all a lie. Believers are most in danger of being drawn from their duty by plausible pretences of holiness. We may wonder that the wicked prophet went unpunished, while the holy man of God was suddenly and severely punished. What shall we make of this? The judgments of God are beyond our power to fathom; and there is a judgment to come. Nothing can excuse any act of wilful disobedience. This shows what they must expect who hearken to the great deceiver. They that yield to him as a tempter, will be terrified by him as a tormentor. Those whom he now fawns upon, he will afterwards fly upon; and whom he draws into sin, he will try to drive to despair....

Verse 1 Kings 13:21. _AND HE_] That is, according to the above interpretation, _the voice of God_ from heaven addressing the man of God, the old prophet having nothing to do in this business....

FORASMUCH AS THOU HAST DISOBEYED THE MOUTH OF THE LORD - It was his duty not to have suffered himself to be persuaded. He should have felt that his obedience was being tried, and should have required, ere he considered himself released, “the same, or as strong, evidence,” as that on which he had received the obligation. Disobedience to certain positive commands of God, was one which it was at this time very important to punish signally, since it was exactly the sin of Jeroboam and his adherents....

EXPOSITION THE DISOBEDIENCE AND DEATH OF THE MAN OF GOD.—The seduction of the man of God, who has borne such fearless witness against Jeroboam's ecclesiastical policy, and his tragical end, are now narrated, partly because of the deep impression the story made at the time, but principally because these events were in themselves an eloquent testimony against the worship of the calves and the whole ecclesiastical policy of Jeroboam, and a solemn warning for all time against any, the slightest, departure from the commandments of God. The very unfaithfulness of this accredited messenger of the Most High, and the instant punishment it provoked, became part of the Divine protest against the new _regime, _against the unfaithfulness of Israel; whilst the remarkable manner in which these occurrences were recalle

AND HE CRIED UNTO THE MAN OF GOD THAT CAME FROM JUDAH,.... His mind being greatly affected with the word brought to him, partly on his own account, who, by a lie his conscience must accuse him of, had been the means of seducing the man of God, and partly on his account, who was threatened with death for complying with him: SAYING, THUS SAITH THE LORD; being obliged to deliver, in the name of the Lord, what was said unto him: FORASMUCH AS THOU HAST DISOBEYED THE MOUTH OF THE LORD; the order that came out of his mouth, as follows: AND HAST NOT KEPT THE COMMANDMENT WHICH THE LORD THY GOD COMMANDED THEE; not to eat nor drink in Bethel....

2. JEROBOAM AND REHOBOAM AND THEIR REIGN CHAPTER 13 The Man of God from Judah _ 1. The man of God and Jeroboam (1 Kings 13:1)_ 2. The temptation and lying message (1 Kings 13:11) 3. Judgment announced (1 Kings 13:20) 4. The fate of the man of Judah (1 Kings 13:23) 5. Jeroboam's impenitence (1 Kings 13:33) A dramatic scene opens this chapter. The idolatrous King is engaged in his religious ceremony when an unnamed man of God interrupted him. He did not rebuke Jeroboam, but addressed

1 Kings 12:25 to 1 Kings 13:34. THE SIN OF JEROBOAM. THE PROPHET AT BETHEL. The sources cannot be exactly determined. Some (see Cent.B) may belong to the annals of the northern kingdom, but the tone is decidedly Deuteronomic. The prophet's message to Jeroboam is certainly late. Jeroboam's first act as recorded was to build or fortify Shechem (1 Kings 12:25). Then for some reason he transferred his seat of government to the E. of Jordan to Penuel. Possibly he was hard pressed by his former patron Shishak, who invaded Israel in his reign (1 Kings 14:25). There is no proof of this; but Abner after Saul's death set up Ishbosh

DISOBEYED. rebelled against. The same expression used of Moses and Aaron at Meribah (Numbers 20:24; Numbers 27:14). Safety found only in the path of obedience. Compare 1 Kings 13:26....

_as thou hast disobeyed_ The expression is precisely the same as in 1 Kings 13:26 below. There the A.V. has -disobedient unto", and for the sake of consistency that rendering has been adopted here by R.V. -as thou hast BEEN DISOBEDIENT unto". A very frequent translation is -to rebel against the word of the Lord". See margin of R.V....