1 Kings 13:1-10 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Kings 13:1-10. As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first. See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Kings 13:1-10 (NIV)
1 By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering.
2 He cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD: “O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.'”
3 That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the LORD has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”
4 When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back.
5 Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD.
6 Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.
7 The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.”
8 But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here.
9 For I was commanded by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.'”
10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
On verses 1-10: King Jeroboam is now deeply entrenched in idolatry. An unnamed prophet from Judah appears before Jeroboam while Jeroboam is offering an idolatrous sacrifice. This unnamed prophet predicts that one day a young man named Josiah will be born to the house of David and “will sacrifice the priests who now make offerings here” (v2). In other words, the prophet predicts that this young man Josiah would put an end to idolatry in Israel. Approximately 300 years after this prophecy is made, a young man Josiah is indeed born to the house of David, becomes king of Judah, and puts an end to idolatry in his land (See 2 Kings 23).
Other signs take place at Jeroboam’s encounter with the unnamed prophet that further substantiate the prophet’s claims, clearly showing that God is with this prophet. As the prophet predicted, the altar where Jeroboam was sacrificing splits apart and the ashes on it fall to the ground (v3, 5). Also, when King Jeroboam calls for this prophet to be apprehended, Jeroboam’s hand shrivels up and is not restored until the prophet prays for Jeroboam’s healing (v4). (Centuries later, Jesus would perform a similar miracle, healing a man’s shriveled hand; see Matthew 12:9-13.)
Jeroboam offers to have the prophet stay for a meal and to give him a gift, but the prophet refuses, saying that the Lord had told him not to eat or drink or return by the way he came (v6-10).
What can we learn from this? Notice that up to this point, Jeroboam has made up an entirely new idolatrous religion that he and his nation are following. Yet there is no indication that this religion brought about any real change in the lives of its followers or any miracles. It was a religion without power. Compare this to the moment when this unnamed prophet, representing Yahweh, arrives on the scene. God’s power and authority are evident. It goes to show that when you place your faith in the God of the Bible, you’re not just placing your faith in wishful thinking, superstition or ineffective idols. Rather, the power of our God to foretell the future, to heal diseases and to cleanse people and even an entire nation of sin is real.
The fact that this prophet is unnamed lends credence to the truth that anyone can experience the power of our God in their lives as long as they have faith and believe. You don’t have to have a big name or be famous in order to experience God. Like the unnamed prophet, may you be courageous in standing up to our enemy Satan and in exercising the power and authority you have in Jesus Christ. God’s power will follow you when you go with faith in His name.
Father, thank You that there is real power in Your name — power to break strongholds, power to heal, power to cleanse us from our sins, and power to prepare us for the future. May we experience much of that power at work among us as we trust in You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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