The last two verses of 1 Kings 13 allude to the terrible wickedness of
Jeroboam and the eventual outcome. Despite what happened to him at the altar at
Bethel, and the restoration of his withered hand, his evil heart was not
changed. He persisted in the wicked way and continued to break God's
instructions given through Moses. He continued to ordain non-Levitical priests
indiscriminately. Anyone who wished to be a priest was ordained as a priest to
the high places, even if he did not have the qualification for the priesthood.
This was a total disregard for God and a blatant violation of His word to him through
the prophet Ahijah. Verse 34 did not mince words, and Jeroboam’s whole clan was
led to act sinfully and they were eventually purged and eliminated from the
face of the earth.
God
knows our proclivity, so He often speaks to alert us in advance. And His word
will always come to pass. Both the nameless prophet from Judah as well as
Jeroboam learned it the hard way. For the prophet from Judah, he was given a
personal word saying, “You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by
the way which you came.” He did right by turning down Jeroboam’s
invitation to a meal. But in a moment of unguardedness, he allowed someone from
out of the blue to deceive him into turning his back on God’s word. We learn
from this incident to stay alert in our walk. It’s often not the obvious but
the insidious that will do us in. Hence, 1 Peter 5:8 urged us to “Be of
sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil,
prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
Similarly,
God also gave an advance word to Jeroboam through Ahijah. Though the king did
not take heed to this prophet’s word, God gave him another chance. He sent the
unnamed prophet from Judah to dramatically alert him to his sin again. In this
second encounter, God even restored his withered hand which he rudely pointed
at the messenger of God. Despite God’s kind gesture, he was obviously
unreceptive to the mercy of God. He was so incorrigibly dense and would not
take God seriously. Hence verse 34 came upon his house and they were eliminated
from the face of the earth.
God’s
word to us will come to pass. Obeying it is imperative to avert the troubles of
life. Furthermore, obedience proves our trust and faith in Him and
demonstrates our love for Him. Obedience to God is a sure way of being
progressively transformed. Always remember that partial obedience is a
euphemism for disobedience. So obey God wholeheartedly!
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