First Kings 13:20

The Bible says in First Kings 13:20-28, “And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:[21] And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,[22] But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.[23] And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.[24] And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.[25] 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.[26] And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.[27] And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.[28] And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.” This tells us about chastisement. This tells us what can happen when a believer does not go God’s way or do God’s will. If you do not do His will, the Lord just might take you off the earth. It says in First Corinthians 11:30 concerning Christians who have unconfessed sins in their lives, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” To sleep means to die. It also says in First John 5:16, “…There is a sin unto death…” If you are not going to serve the Lord Jesus on this earth, then why should He leave you here? Thankfully, there is also a God who forgives sins. Make sure that you take full advantage of First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Turn quickly and often to the Lord Jesus to confess your daily sins, and you will avoid the great chastisements.

The Bible says in First Kings 13:29-34, “And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.[30] And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother![31] And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:[32] For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.[33] After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.[34] And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.” Notice the words “after this thing” in verse thirty-three. God brought a strong chastisement to the man of God by killing him with a lion. The prophet understood the lesson and learned from it. The lesson is that you had better pay attention to the Word of God. The prophet said about the man of God in verse thirty-two, “he cried by the word of the LORD.” But Jeroboam did not learn. He did not return from his evil way, and he even made things worse because he made “the lowest of the people priests of the high places.” In other words Jeroboam put in places of authority the worse people of the nation instead of the best. Sometimes we see the same types of things happen in our countries. Notice the result as stated in verse thirty-four, “And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.”

The Bible says in First Kings 14:1-4, “At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.[2] And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.[3] And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.[4] And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.” Jeroboam’s son was sick. Such an event drives many people to prayer and to seek help from the people of God. “Please help me. Please pray for me. My son is sick.” But where are they all the other times when they think things are going well for them? They are nowhere to be seen because they are not serving God. Wearing a disguise here is a good symbolism for this phenomenon. They pretend to be something that they are not. But no one can hide the truth from God.

The Bible says in First Kings 14:5-13, “And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.[6] And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.[7] Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,[8] And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;[9] But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:[10] Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.[11] Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it.[12] Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.[13] And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.” God knows everything. The unbelievers do not know this, but the believers do. We rely upon the fact that God knows everything. He knows the beginning from the end. He knows the future. He knows what is best. He knows everyone’s heart. We know very little compared to Jesus. That is one of the reasons that we rely upon Him to work things out the way that He wants to work them out according to the plan that is in His mind. God gave the prophet Ahijah the knowledge of what to do and say when Jeroboam’s wife came to him because God knew ahead of time what was going to happen. God does that same thing for every preacher who is in fellowship with Jesus. God speaks through His Word to give a message from God to the hearers. That is one of the reasons that He wants His Word to be preached. His Word is powerful. He speaks through the preaching of His Word. Jeroboam’s son was sick because God allowed him to be sick. And God decided what the result of that sickness would be, just like the Lord decides for every sickness. Every life is in God’s hands, and every life is temporary. The Lord decides how long we will live and when we will die. It all fits into His plan for His reasons. He knows: we do not know. God decided that Jeroboam’s son would die from this sickness. That is why the prophet said in verse twelve, “Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.” But notice also that the prophet indicated in verse thirteen that this child was going to be blessed because the timing of his death meant that he would have a decent burial. Evidently, that child had some good spiritual qualities about him. The prophet said in verse thirteen about Jeroboam’s child who would soon die: “…because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel…” We know that every child that dies will go to heaven. Anyone who goes to heaven is better off than those who are still on earth. In this particular case God was letting Jeroboam know that Jeroboam’s bad decisions had consequences: Jeroboam would not be given a lineage like God gave to David.

The Bible says in First Kings 14:14-16, “Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.[15] For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.[16] And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.” The judgment upon Jeroboam and thus the future of any descendants is made very clear. Sin has consequences. Therefore, we need to repent of our sins. Jesus said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

The Bible says in First Kings 14:17-20, “And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;[18] And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.[19] And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.[20] And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with this fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.” Of course, it all happened just like God said and just like God decided: the child died and eventually Jeroboam died. What a terrible life and what a terrible loss. If only Jeroboam had followed the Lord, but he did not. Therefore, his life was wasted, his lineage was destroyed, and he started the northern ten kingdoms down a horrible ungodly path from which they never departed all the way until they were conquered by the kingdom of Assyria.

The Bible says in First Kings 14:21-24, “And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.[22] And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.[23] For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.[24] And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.” The kingdom of Judah was not doing well at this point either and it was because of Rehoboam the king. There were two main sins mentioned in these verses: false religion and immorality. Why was Rehoboam such a bad king? He was after all the son of Solomon. Yes, but it says in verse twenty-one, “And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.” Solomon’s weakness was played out in the life of Rehoboam. Solomon had many wives and many of them were heathens from other nations who did not know the Lord. That probably was the case with Naamah because it mentions that she was an Ammonitess. Rehoboam would have learned false religious ideas from his mother. Sadly, one sin leads to another. Repent and turn to Jesus or your life will have a similar pattern.

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