CHAPTER XIII _A man of God prophesies against Jeroboam's altar, and foretells_ _the destruction of that altar, and of its idolatrous priests by_ _Josiah; and gives Jeroboam a sign that the prophecy should be_ _accomplished_, 1-3. _Jeroboam is enraged, and orders the man of God to be seized;_ _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:2. _HE CRIED AGAINST THE ALTAR_] He denounced the destruction of this idolatrous system. _A CHILD SHALL BE BORN - JOSIAH BY NAME_] This is one of the most remarkable and most singular prophecies in the Old Testament. It here most circumstantially foretells a fact which took place... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:3. _AND HE GAVE A SIGN_] A miracle to prove that the prophecy should be fulfilled in its season.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:4. _LAY HOLD ON HIM._] No doubt, stretching out his own hand at the same time, through rage, pride, and haste, to execute his own orders. _AND HIS HAND DRIED UP_] The whole arm became suddenly rigid; the nerves no longer communicated their influence, and the muscles ceased to obey... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:5. _THE ALTAR WAS ALSO RENT_] It split or clave of its own accord; and, as the split parts would decline at the top from the line of their perpendicular, so the ashes and coals would fall off, or be poured out.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:6. _ENTREAT - THE FACE OF THE LORD THY GOD_] The _face_ of God is his _favour_, as we see in many parts of the sacred writings. He says, _thy God_; for Jeroboam knew that he was not _his God_, for he was now in the very act of acknowledging other gods, and had no portion in the God... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:7. _COME HOME WITH ME - AND I WILL GIVE THEE A REWARD._] Come and be one of my priests, and I will give thee a proper salary.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:9. _FOR SO IT WAS CHARGED ME - EAT NO BREAD, C._] That is, Have no kind of communication with those idolaters. He was charged also not to return by the way that he came probably lest the account of what was done should have reached the ears of any of the people through whom he _had... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:11. _AN OLD PROPHET_] Probably once a prophet of the Lord, who had fallen from his steadfastness, and yet not so deeply as to lose the knowledge of the true God, and join with Jeroboam in his idolatries. We find he was not at the king's sacrifice, though his sons were there; and per... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:14. _AND WENT AFTER THE MAN OF GOD_] I can hardly think that this was with any evil design. His sons had given him such an account of the prediction, the power, and influence of this prophet, that he wished to have a particular acquaintance with him, in order that he might get farth... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:18. _AN ANGEL SPAKE UNTO ME_] That _he lied unto him_ is here expressly asserted, and is amply proved by the event. But why should he deceive him? The simple principle of curiosity to know all about this prediction, and the strange facts which had taken place, of which he had heard... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:19. _SO HE WENT BACK WITH HIM_] He permitted himself to be imposed on; he might have thought, as he had accomplished every purpose for which God sent him, and had actually begun to return by another way, God, who had given him the charge, had authority to say, "As thy purpose was t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:20. _THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO THE PROPHET THAT_ _BROUGHT HIM BACK_] "A great clamour," says Dr. _Kennicott_, "has been raised against this part of the history, on account of God's denouncing sentence on the _true_ prophet by the mouth of the _false_ prophet: but if we examine... [ Continue Reading ]
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.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:22. _THY CARCASS SHALL NOT COME_] This intimated to him that he was to _die an untimely death_, but probably did not _specify_ by what means.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 24. _A LION MET HIM - AND SLEW HIM_] By permitting himself to be seduced by the old prophet, when he should have acted only on the expressly declared counsel of God, he committed _the sin unto_ _death_; that is, such a sin as God will punish with the death of the body, while he extends mercy t... [ Continue Reading ]
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. H... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:30. _ALAS, MY BROTHERS_] This lamentation is very simple, very short, and very pathetic. Perhaps the old prophet said it as much in reference to _himself_, who had been the cause of his untimely death, as in reference to the man of God, whose corpse he now committed to the tomb. But... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:31. _LAY MY BONES BESIDE HIS BONES_] This argues a strong conviction in the mind of the old prophet, that the deceased was a good and holy man of God; and he is willing to have place with him in the general resurrection.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:32. _IN THE CITIES OF SAMARIA_] It is most certain that Samaria, or as it is called in Hebrew _Shomeron_, was not built at this time. We are expressly told that Omri, king of Israel, founded this city on the hill which he bought for two talents of silver, from a person of the name... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:33. _JEROBOAM RETURNED NOT FROM HIS EVIL WAY_] There is something exceedingly obstinate and perverse, as well as blinding and infatuating, in idolatry. The prediction lately delivered at Beth-el, and the miracles wrought in confirmation of it, were surely sufficient to have affected... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 13:34. _AND THIS THING BECAME SIN_] These abominations were too glaring, and too insulting to the Divine Majesty, to be permitted to last; therefore his house was cut off, and destroyed from the face of the earth. A HOLY priesthood, a righteous ministry, is a blessing to any state, b... [ Continue Reading ]