INTRODUCTION

A number of years ago, there was this highly effective t.v. commercial that went something like this: The screen would show a moving picture of people in a large shopping mall; the shoppers were all caught up in the hustle and bustle of shopping, when all of a sudden a voice would say: “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.” At that moment, all the shoppers stopped in their tracks and struck a listening pose.

As we enter this strange story of the man of God confronting King Jeroboam, and the old prophet of Bethel deceiving his colleague—this man of God, we do well to listen to the message that rings through this seemingly weird story: Flee from idolatry and take God’s Word seriously! I hope that you are intrigued by the story, for it is filled with insights and it has a powerful punch line for the people of God.

We live in a world of idols, ranging from the god of money and power to the goddess of immoral sex and pleasure to the gods of our unbridled imagination and self-exaltation. As John Calvin has said: the human heart is prone to manufacture many gods to which we bow down. There is no end to idolatry, so it seems. That’s why we do well to listen to God’s Word and take it seriously.

SOME OBSERVATIONS

As we consider the story, we should first of all note how the story is “framed.” There is a top frame and a bottom frame. Vs. 1-11 form the top frame. There we learn of King Jeroboam, standing by an altar in the town of Bethel, bowing down and offering sacrifices to the gods of the surrounding nations rather than the God of Israel. King Jeroboam has a policy of keeping the people of Israel away from God’s temple in Jerusalem by building an altar in Bethel.

No longer would the people in the northern kingdom of Israel be required to travel to Jerusalem in the southern kingdom of Judah. They now can stay and worship God—and other gods as well—by traveling to Bethel. By promoting the worship of many gods, and by building a massive altar in Bethel, Jeroboam hoped to strengthen the political power and unity of his northern kingdom. Never mind that such a policy goes against God’s law. Never mind that such political and religious accommodation would lead to spiritual decadence and ultimately to the spiritual ruin of God’s people. In that top frame of 11 verses, then, we encounter King Jeroboam being humiliated by the man of God and being condemned and warned by the Word of God.

The last few verses of the passage make up the bottom frame. Listen: (vs. 33, 34) “Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.”

Thus the entire passage is framed with God’s overriding concern about the worship of false gods. In fact, when you take the top frame, with its story about the man of God confronting King Jeroboam and combine it with the summary reference to Jeroboam’s sin of idolatry in the bottom frame, you begin to see the background setting of idolatry. And the message in these two frames is unmistakably clear: Flee from idolatry!

Why? Why should God’s people stay away from idolatry? Because God tells us in his Word. And we must take his Word seriously! How seriously? The answer to that question lies between the top and bottom frame. And the answer comes to us in the form of a gripping, shocking, and breath-taking encounter between the fiery preacher referred to as “the man of God,” and the prophet in Bethel referred to as “the old prophet” (vs. 18).

So then, the Holy Spirit speaks to us in this passage by a framework that says “Flee from idolatry!” and by a sandwiched, seemingly strange story that says: “Take God’s Word seriously!”

SOME INSIGHTS

Now we move from observations to some insights.

Eating and drinking—these are occasions for fellowship and harmony. Enemies do not eat together. But friends and family members do. When family members who once were at odds with each other eat and drink together, the entire community knows that peace and harmony and agreement has come to that family. Imagine Saddam Hussein and George Bush eating and drinking together. That would be a sign of agreement and harmony.

Eating and drinking play a significant role in the story. When Jeroboam, for example, warned by the man of God, and punished by the hand of God, then delivered from his punishment by the prayers of the man of God—invites the man of God to his palace to eat with him, Jeroboam wanted to communicate this message to all the people in Bethel and Israel: “You see? We are in agreement! Your king and this man of God are on friendly terms. Your king and the God of this man of God are on the same page: we are in fellowship!”

But the man of God says: (vs. 8, 9) “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. 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.’” The message is clear to all God’s people. God does NOT condone nor does he wink an eye to idolatry or to idolatrous kings.

Signs—these are significant markers for God’s people. Signs have a way to drive home a message. There are lots of signs in this passage: There is the sign of divine judgment—the shriveling up of Jeroboam’s hand, for example. And there is the sign of the split altar. There is the sign of divine prophecy, when the man of God says: (vs. 2) “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.’” And there is the sign of divine judgment—the sign of a lion and the donkey, together, standing by the mangled corpse of the man of God along the roadside. All of these signs cry out: Take the Word of the Lord seriously! Do not disobey!

There is one more sign: burial in a family grave is important to an Israelite. To be buried in the tomb of one’s fathers signifies the covenantal hope of God’s people to inherit the new heavens and earth together. God’s covenant promises to the patriarchs and tribes of Israel, together with their communal longing to inherit together this covenantal promise of eternal life are dear to any devout Israelite. So it is also with this charismatic preacher from Judah. His tragic end fulfilled the prophecy of the old prophet when he said to the man of God: (vs. 22) “…your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.” How right he was about that!

Congregation, pay attention to these tell-tale insights of eating and drinking and divine signs. Together they all cry out: “Flee idolatry! And take God’s word seriously!”

THE MAN OF GOD AND THE PROPHET OF BETHEL

I like the man of God. I imagine him to be a fiery, young preacher called by God to warn the Israelites and to pronounce judgment upon King Jeroboam. It takes courage and boldness—a fearless spirit to stand up to the King and speak the Word of God. The Lord is very specific in his calling of this fiery preacher: You must prophesy against the royal house of Jeroboam and against all his idolatry saying: (vs. 2) “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.’” The Lord also warned the man of God saying: (vs. 9) “’You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” Surely, this man of God has a difficult but very clear assignment from the Lord.

I like him. He carries out his mission; and he is clear-minded. When King Jeroboam wanted to smooth things over by inviting him to come to his palace and eat and drink with him, this man of God remembered and obeyed the personally-given, specific instructions of the Lord. Even when his colleague, the old prophet in Bethel invited him to come to his home, the man of God refused. Good for him! For we must obey the word of the Lord.

I’m inclined to dislike the old prophet in Bethel. He seems a scoundrel; yet, in the end he redeems himself. What shall we make of him?

We must read in between the lines of the story. You see, the town of Bethel has become King Jeroboam’s “all American city,” where especially the priests of Baal have a prominent place, and to where the Israelites flock to bow down and worship false gods. But…but was not there a prophet of the Lord in Bethel? Was not there a man of God and a community of faith present in Bethel, who would stand up to King Jeroboam and who would speak out against idolatry? What happened to this prophet? What happened to the people of God in that town?

It seems that the old prophet was “sleeping.” It appears that his approach to King Jeroboam was one of “eating and drinking with the King,” of “closing one eye” to the idolatry of the people. This old prophet was sleeping at his post. His voice was no longer heard.

But he has two sons, and these sons came home, excited and impressed by the fiery preacher of Judah. That man of God spoke with power and conviction. That man of God leveled even with King Jeroboam. Boy, that man of God is unlike our father! That man of God puts our father—an old prophet in Bethel--to shame!

The testimony of his two sons so pricked the conscience of the old prophet, that he had to find a way to show his sons and all the people in Bethel that he, too, is the real “McCoy”—a real preacher and man of God. But how? How to show to the people of Bethel that the man of God and this old prophet are in agreement, on the same page, and serving the same God? Well, invite the man of God for dinner!

And that’s what he does. He barks a command at his sons: (vs.13) “Saddle the donkey for me.” And he finds the man of God “sitting under an oak tree” (vs.14). Oh, oh. There comes trouble. Thinking that he has accomplished his mission and pleased about the outcome, the man of God (without realizing it) now becomes vulnerable to temptation. And that temptation is riding toward him on a donkey.

“Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” asks the old prophet from Bethel. “If so, come with me and dine at my home!” “I can’t,” says the man of God. “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.’” Oh good! He remembers! He obeys the word of the Lord!

But the old prophet is bent on saving his face in the community. So, why not try a bit of deception and make use of one of the devil’s tricks? (vs.18) “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” How ingenious to appeal to an angel! The problem is that this angel was on the side of the father of all lies. But alas, it works. The man of God forgets the strict and personal command of God and now accepts as truth the word of this old prophet in Bethel.

There they are in Bethel’s parsonage! The old prophet glories in the honor of having this upcoming “Billy Graham of a prophet” in his house. The citizens in Bethel are impressed (and soothed in their conscience) that if this man of God is having a meal of agreement and fellowship in the old prophet’s home, then things are not as spiritually dismal as at first appeared when God split the altar and chastised the king. Surely, all must be well in Bethel after all!

Not quite! Whereas a while ago it was an angel of the devil that came to the old prophet with a lie, now it is the Spirit of the living God. The old preacher can’t keep his mouth shut—he has to prophecy: (vs. 21) “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.’”

It seems so unfair, so unreasonable, so harsh of God to mete out death to this young fiery preacher for a seemingly minor infraction as eating in the old prophet’s house. But that’s precisely the point: Disobeying God’s specific command is not a minor thing. Just as bowing down to idols points to rebellion and disobedience to God’s holy law, so ignoring or not taking so seriously God’s specific command is a form of rebellion.

In fact, by coming to this old prophet’s house to wine and dine, this fiery preacher’s sizzling sermon to Jeroboam and Israel fizzled into a watered-down message of compromise. And God will not have it that way! Flee idolatry and take God’s Word seriously!

That’s the message that comes through the signs we hear and see: First, there is the irresistible God-inspired prophecy of divine judgment on the man of God: (vs. 22) “Your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.” And then there are the lion and the donkey, standing together by the roadside, guarding over the corpse of this poor fiery young preacher.

Travelers report the baffling sight to the people in Bethel. The tell-tale story reaches the ears of the old prophet. Shocked, touched to the core of his being, he barks again at his sons: (vs. 27) “Saddle the donkey for me.” Then, boldly, courageously, grief-stricken, the old prophet faces the lion, picks up the body, lays the corpse on the donkey’s back, and “brought it back to his own city to mourn for [the man of God] and bury him” (vs. 29).

The Lord willing, I will say much more about this old prophet’s remarkable action in about two weeks. Do not think, however, that this is a dismal story, showing a merciless God. Do not think, for example, that this man of God is lost for eternity. He is not condemned to hell. Rather, God denied him burial in the tomb of his fathers. That was a form of judgment. But God also showed mercy. And that mercy came through the old prophet who, with remorse and a repentant spirit, offered his own burial tomb. Like Joseph of Arimathea, giving Jesus, the Son of God his tomb, so the old rascal of a prophet sees the light of mercy and hope, and he offers his grave to the man of God. The old prophet says to his sons: (vs. 31) “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the message he declared by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”

Should you and I come across that grave today and enter into that tomb, we would find two skeletons, side by side, waiting together—in hope for Josiah, for Jesus—the Son of God and Savior of the world, waiting for the resurrection of the dead to come.

Learn from their story. Hear God’s call to flee from idolatry and take God’s word seriously. Read again the ending of their story: the old prophet and the young man of God sleeping in the dust, waiting together with all God’s people throughout the ages—including you and me—waiting for the day when all knees shall bow, not to idols, but to the living God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now and forevermore! Amen.