Jeroboam’s Hand Withers
(2 Kings 23:4–20; 2 Chronicles 34:3–7)
Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD. 1Ki 12:32-332Ki 23:171Th 4:15Jer 25:3Jer 32:291Ki 12:221Ki 13:261Ki 13:32 And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’” 1 2Ki 23:15-18Ezk 36:12Ki 22:1-2Jer 22:291Ki 13:322Ch 34:12Ch 34:4-7Deu 32:1
That day the man of God gave a sign, saying, “The LORD has spoken this sign: ‘Surely the altar will be split apart, and the ashes upon it will be poured out.’” 1Co 1:22Exo 4:3-5Jdg 6:17Jhn 2:181Sa 2:342Ki 20:8Deu 13:1-3Exo 4:8-9
Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back. Rev 11:52Ch 18:25-272Ch 16:102Ch 25:15-162Ki 6:18-20Act 13:8-11Act 6:12-14Act 9:4-5 And the altar was split apart, and the ashes poured out, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 1Ki 13:31Ki 22:281Ki 22:35Act 5:1-10Deu 18:22Exo 9:18-25Jer 28:16-17Mrk 16:20
Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray that my hand may be restored.” Act 8:24Exo 10:17Exo 8:8Exo 9:28Luk 6:27-28Exo 8:28Num 21:71Sa 12:19
So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him as it was before.
Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” 2Ki 5:151Sa 9:7-81Pe 5:2Act 8:18-20Gen 18:5Jdg 13:15Jdg 19:21Jer 40:5
But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your possessions, I still would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. Num 24:13Num 22:181Ki 13:16-172Co 11:9-102Ki 5:162Ki 5:26-27Exo 5:3Exo 5:6 For this is what I was commanded by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” Jhn 13:17Jhn 15:14Jhn 15:9-10Job 23:12Rom 16:171Ki 13:11Ki 13:21-221Sa 15:22
So the man of God went another way and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
The Old Prophet and the Man of God
Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his sons 2came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that the man had spoken to the king. 2Ki 23:181Ki 13:20-211Ki 13:251Sa 10:111Ti 3:52Pe 2:16Ezk 13:16Ezk 13:2
“Which way did he go?” their father asked.
And his sons showed him 3the way taken by the man of God, who had come from Judah. So the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” 1Ki 13:272Sa 19:26Jdg 10:4Jdg 5:10Num 22:21
Then they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it and went after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree 4and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” 1Co 4:11-121Ki 19:42Co 11:27Jhn 4:34Jhn 4:6Php 4:12-13
“I am,” he replied.
So the prophet said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some bread.”
But the man replied, “I cannot return with you or eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 1Ki 13:8-9Gen 3:1-3Mat 16:23Mat 4:10Num 22:13Num 22:19 For I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’” 1Ki 20:351Th 4:151Ki 13:1
Then the prophet replied, “I too am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” 1Jn 4:1Mat 7:152Co 11:13-152Pe 2:1Jer 23:32Jer 28:15-16Num 22:35Rom 16:18
The old prophet was lying to him, but the man of God went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water. 1Ki 13:92Pe 2:18-19Act 4:19Deu 13:1Deu 13:3Deu 13:5Deu 18:20Gen 3:6
While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back, 1Co 13:2Jhn 11:51Mat 7:22Num 23:16Num 23:5Num 24:16-24Num 24:4 and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the commandment that the LORD your God gave you, 1Sa 13:13-141Sa 15:22-24Gal 1:8-91Ki 13:171Sa 15:191Sa 4:182Sa 12:9-112Sa 24:13 but you went back and ate bread and drank water in the place where He told you not to do so, your body shall never reach the tomb of your fathers.’” 1Ki 13:301Ki 14:132Ch 21:19-20Isa 14:18-20Jer 22:18-19
And after the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet who had brought him back saddled the donkey for him. As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 1Ki 20:361Co 11:31-321Pe 4:17-182Ki 2:24Amo 5:19Pro 22:13Pro 26:13
And there were men passing by who saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported this in the city where the old prophet lived. 1Ki 13:11
When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard this, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the command of the LORD. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, and it has mauled him and killed him, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to him.” Ezk 9:61Co 11:302Sa 12:102Sa 12:14Heb 12:28-29Lev 10:3Pro 11:31Psa 119:120
Then the old prophet instructed his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it, and he went and found the body lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the body or mauled the donkey. 1Ki 17:41Ki 17:6Act 16:26Dan 3:22Dan 3:27-28Dan 6:22-24Heb 11:33-34Jer 5:22-23 So the old prophet lifted up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they lamented over him, “Oh, my brother!” Jer 22:181Ki 14:13Act 8:2
After he had buried him, the prophet said to his sons, “When I die, you must bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones, 2Ki 23:17-18Ecc 8:10Luk 16:22-23Num 23:10Psa 26:9 for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.” 1Ki 16:241Ki 13:21Ki 12:31Lev 26:302Ki 23:16-191Ki 12:292Ch 25:13Ezr 4:10
Even after these events, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but again he appointed priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained anyone who desired to be a priest of the high places. 2Ch 11:152Ch 13:91Ki 12:31-332Ti 3:13Amo 6:11Exo 28:41Jdg 17:12Jer 18:4 And this was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its extermination and destruction from the face of the earth. 1Ki 12:301Ki 14:101Ki 15:29-302Ki 17:211Ki 12:262Ki 10:31Pro 13:6