1 Kings 13:28

_AND, BEHOLD, MEN PASSED BY, AND SAW THE CARCASE CAST IN THE WAY, AND THE LION STANDING BY THE CARCASE: AND THEY CAME AND TOLD IT IN THE CITY WHERE THE OLD PROPHET DWELT._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

23-34 God is displeased at the sins of his own people; and no man shall be protected in disobedience, by his office, his nearness to God, or any services he has done for him. God warns all whom he employs, strictly to observe their orders. We cannot judge of men by their sufferings, nor of sins by present punishments; with some, the flesh is destroyed, that the spirit may be saved; with others, the flesh is pampered, that the soul may ripen for hell. Jeroboam returned not from his evil way. He promised himself that the calves would secure the crown to his family, but they lost it, and sunk his family. Those betray themselves who think to support themselves by any sin whatever. Let us dread prospering in sinful ways; pray to be kept from every delusion and temptation, and to be enabled to walk with self-denying perseverance in the way of God's commands....

Verse 28. _THE LION HAD NOT EATEN THE CARCASS, NOR TORN THE ASS._] All here was preternatural. The lion, though he had killed the man, does not devour him; the ass stands quietly by, not fearing the lion; and the lion does not attempt to tear the ass: both stand as guardians of the fallen prophet. How evident is the hand of God in all!...

THE LION HAD NOT EATEN THE CARCASE, NOR TORN THE ASS - These strange circumstances were of a nature to call men’s attention to the matter, and cause the whole story to be bruited abroad. By these means an incident, which Jeroboam would have wished hushed up, became no doubt the common talk of the whole people....

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 WENT AND FOUND HIS CARCASS CAST IN THE WAY, AND THE ASS AND THE LION STANDING BY THE CARCASS,.... As before described: THE LION HAD NOT EATEN THE CARCASS, NOR TORN THE ASS; both which were very marvellous; as also that the ass should stand so quietly, and without fear, by the carcass along with the lion and not run away; but here both stayed till the prophet came to take care of the carcass, which shows the singular providence of God in this affair; and that though he chastised the man of God with a temporal judgment for his offence, yet he was dear to him, and even his carcass precious in his sight....

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

D. THE LAMENTATION FOR THE MAN OF GOD 13:27-32 TRANSLATION (27) Then he spoke unto his sons, saying, saddle for me the donkey, and they saddled it. (28) And he went and found his carcass cast in the way with the donkey and the lion standing beside the carcass; the lion had not eaten the carcass nor torn the donkey. (29) And the prophet lifted up the carcass of the man of God and laid it on the donkey, and brought it back and came unto the city of the old prophet to mourn and to bury it. (30) And he laid the carcass in his own grave, and he lamented over him, Alas my brother! (31) And it came to pass after he buried him, that he said unto his sons, saying, When I die bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; cause my bones to rest beside his bones. (32) For the word which he cried in the word of the LORD against the altar which was in Bethel, and against all the houses of the...

THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET 2. Josiah] for the fulfilment see 2 Kings 23:15. Some 300 years separated the prediction from the event, and the mention by name of the king destined to accomplish it is unlike the methods of Hebrew prophecy in general. It is possible that the records upon which the present account is based were less precise, and that Josiah's name was introduced by the compiler of the book of Kings, who lived after Josiah's time and was familiar with what he had done. OFFER] better, 'slaughter.' They would not be offered in sacrifice....