Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

13:2 The prophetic words about the future king Josiah point forward to a time when all the northern Israelite dynasties have come to an end, and only the house of David remains to take action against Bethel (2 Kings 22:1-23:30).

13:3-5 Since Josiah's reign is still a long way off, a sign is also described and then enacted, indicating that the prophecy is true: the altar . . . was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar. This demonstration of God's power strikingly illustrates the truth that God is not under Jeroboam's control just because he has invented a new worship system, any more than God's prophet is under royal control when the king's hand stretches out to capture him, and the king experiences an immediate judgment from God: he could not draw it back to himself.

13:7-32 Jeroboam's invitation to the man of God to dine and receive a reward is best understood as an attempt to buy his loyalty, perhaps hoping for the curse on the altar to be reversed. The invitation from the old prophet living in Bethel is best understood in the same way (v. 15), as an attempt to stave off the destruction of Bethel (and the desecration of his own tomb that he knows must follow the Judean's words of v. 2; see v. 32). No doubt concern about the possibility of such a corruption of the man of God lay behind the detailed instructions given to him about his journey (vv. 9, 17)--that he should go directly to Bethel and come directly back, not even stopping to eat and drink; and that he should vary his route so that he could not be easily found and prevented from completing his mission (he should not return by the way that he came). Disobedience leads him to an unfortunate end: a lion meets him on the road and kills him (vv. 23-25)--a lion ordained by God and behaving quite out of character (the lion had not eaten the body or torn the donkey, v. 28). True prophecy will bring forth the judgment it promises. Even prophets cannot escape if they are disobedient. Bethel will indeed be destroyed (v. 32), and by extension all the other houses of the high places in Samaria, for which Bethel provides the focal point. The name "Samaria" is used here by extension for the territory of which the city of Samaria became the capital under Omri, the father of Ahab (16:24).

13:33-34 did not turn from his evil way, but made priests . . . again. The Hebrew is literally "did not return from his evil way, but returned and made priests," playing on the verb shub ("to return") earlier in the story (vv. 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 29) and particularly on the phrase "return by the way" in vv. 9, 10, 17. The man of God was told not to retrace his steps at any point on his journey, but he did so in order to return to the prophet's house (vv. 19, 22). Because he allowed himself to be brought back alive ("returned") by this prophet (vv. 18, 20, 23, 26), he was eventually brought back dead (v. 29), as God's judgment fell upon him. In spite of this, Jeroboam also "retraces his steps," and this too will bring downfall and destruction (v. 34).