Pastor Rusty Milton
1 Kings 13:1-8 ESV
"God's Response to Jeroboam's New Religion"

We must look to the works of Christ, not the works of our flesh, to make us right with God. In 1 Kings 13, Jeroboam readies himself to begin worship ceremonies in his new temple when an unnamed prophet is sent by God to warn him of the consequences of false worship. Jeroboam responds with contempt, and commands the prophet to be arrested. To validate the prophet's message, the altar is cracked and Jeroboam's hand is withered. In this passage, we see grace extended to the king via the prophet's warning (vv. 1-3), his initial contempt for God's message (vv. 4-8), his eventual repentance (however temporary and shallow), and his thwarted attempt to earn God's favor via gifts for the prophet. God similarly extends the same graces to us: warnings, and urgings toward repentance. It is the Spirit, however, who has the power to truly change our hearts and work a righteousness within us. When conviction is sent by the Spirit, therefore, we should confess and repent, and be mindful of our utter dependence on God for our hearts to be changed. In our own flesh, we are completely incapable of true change, and incapable of pleasing God.

1 Kings 13
English Standard Version
A Man of God Confronts Jeroboam

13 And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings. 2 And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’” 4 And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. 5 The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. 6 And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it was before. 7 And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” 8 And the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place, 9 for so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came.’” 10 So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.