Strange Story: I Kings 13 A Prophet is Deceived by Another Prophet

Chapter 13 of I Kings relates another strange story.

An unnamed prophet was commanded by God to go from Judah into the territory of the northern tribes (which after the kingdom was split in two were collectively called Israel) and deliver a message to King Jeroboam (v.1).

Why didn’t God call a prophet from Israel?

It appears that there were no prophets left in the northern tribes who had stayed in touch with God. A local “prophet” figures prominently in this story but notice that he is not the one God called for this task. God could not trust any of the prophets from the northern tribes, so He sent a prophet from Judah. This is our first hint that the old prophet was probably not in touch with God, or he would have been given the assignment.

It is noteworthy that the Hebrew text uses a different word for each of these “prophets.” For the true prophet the text consistently uses the phrase “man of Elohim,” – i.e. “Man of God,” specifically indicating which deity he was committed to. The other one is referred to as “one who speaks, or one who prophecies.” The word was used of genuine prophets of the God of Israel as well as false prophets, however, it seems to have been used so often of false prophets that the term was given a bad reputation and that is why it does not occur in Isaiah, the Psalms (with one exceptions for a good reason) and other wisdom literature. The original readers of this story would have seen the difference in the terms used to describe these men and would have noticed right away that the “man of Elohim” was a follower of Elohim, while the other one was questionable. The reader would have to wait and see how the story played out to make a final determination about the older prophet.

Let’s continue. The “man of Elohim” arrived and prophesied against what king Jeroboam was doing – worshipping idols and leading his people into worship idols. His prophesy was accompanied by a sign. At this point the king ordered him to be seized (for punishment) but the king’s arm was immediately struck by God and it “dried up” so he could not pull it back. We do not know if God removed energy from the cells, or made the muscles rigid similar to cramps, or if the skin shrunk so no bending of the joints was possible, but we do know that rigidity was the result. After trying to exercise his authority, making a gesture with his command, he was left standing there like a statue, still in the stance of a command, but powerless to act. He had tried to use his authority to punish, but instead was punished immediately by a higher power.  Simultaneously, the sign given by the “man of Elohim” came true; the heathen altar was split in two, confirming that he was not making this stuff up. The king changed his tune and asked the “man of Elohim” to pray for the restoration of his rigid arm. The “man of Elohim” did so, and the king’s arm was healed. The king invited the “man of Elohim” to come eat and drink with him, and he also promised him a gift. The “man of Elohim” refused the offer saying that God had commanded him to neither eat or drink in that place, and to not return by the same way he had gone there (vv 2-9).

 Why these strange stipulations?

God’s orders were designed to motivate His prophet to get there, give the message and get out. The command to not drink any water (or anything else) while in that place made the time allowed for the trip quite narrow; this should have given this prophet an urgency to get home. His trip was from somewhere in Judah to Bethel, which was about 10 miles north of Jerusalem. Therefore, such restrictions were possible to fulfill, but not easy or comfortable. The reason King Jeroboam was offering sacrifices in Bethel, which was close to the border with the southern kingdom, was that he had established places of worship to foreign Gods in the southern and northern extremes of his new country (Bethel and Dan respectively).

The reason for not returning by the same way he had arrived was likely to keep the prophet from sizing up places on his inbound trip where he might stop on his outbound trip to seek hospitality. The idea behind this command was that he should not accept any hospitality or gifts that might accompany that hospitality.

In those days and in that culture, it was very difficult to turn down an offer of any kind because it was often seen as a slap in the face to turn it down. However, if one had a very good reason to turn it down, one could do so, but the refusal should come at the first opportunity. If the “man of God” had gone to eat with the king and then tried to refuse a gift of money, such a refusal would have been seen as a contradiction. If he accepted the offer of a meal, he was basically obliged to accept whatever else was offered him along with the meal.

In those days a prophet (and a priest) often received a monetary “thank you” for his services. Many prophets had their motivation twisted because of this practice of receiving gifts. Also, many others wanted to get into the gig of being a prophet (or a priest) because there was money in it. Most of the time, it was not enough to live on comfortably, but it made a nice second job, and there are various ones in scripture who seem to have gotten into it for the wrong reasons. For those who made a name for themselves doing this, there was indeed considerable money to be gained from it.

Let’s continue. After delivering God’s message to King Jeroboam, the “man of Elohim” left and started home by a different road than he had come. Here is where the story gets weird. An old “prophet” heard from his sons the story of this “man of Elohim,” how he had confronted the king, and what had taken place (vv. 10-11).

This means that the sons of this old “prophet” were present at this event which was obviously a religious event in which idol worship was practiced. It begs the question, “What were they doing there unless they too were committed to idol worship?” This is our second hint that this old “prophet” was probably not a follower of YHVH/Elohim, but rather was likely a worshipper of false gods.

Let’s continue. The old “prophet” asked his sons which way the “man of Elohim” had gone, then he had his sons saddle his donkey and went after him.  He found him sitting under an oak tree (vv. 12-14).

Why did the old “prophet” go after him?

From verse 23 we learn that the “man of Elohim” was also riding a donkey (although the point is not entirely clear and is therefore disputed), which tells us that the old “prophet” didn’t have much of a chance of catching the “man of Elohim” unless the “man of Elohim” stopped along the way. I personally think that the older “prophet” wondered how truly committed the “man of Elohim” was. If he could not catch up with him, that would have proved total commitment; if he found him loitering it would call his commitment into question and the old “prophet” would have an opportunity to enact what we later see was his nefarious plan.

What was the “man of Elohim” doing under a tree?

This is actually an important detail. It serves as the first sign that the motivation of this “man of God” might not have been entirely pure. If he could not even drink water in that place, what was he doing sitting under a tree? It would appear that he was loitering, hoping for someone to give him something, hoping to get something out of the trip to compensate him for his time and effort. We are not told in specific terms, but it is implied that there was something wrong with this picture; he should have been pressing on, rather than sitting under a tree.

Let’s continue. The old “prophet” asked the “man of Elohim” to come eat at his house. The “man of Elohim” refused and gave the same explanation he had given the king. The old “prophet” responded that he too was a prophet and he had heard directly from an angel that the “man of Elohim” should come eat and drink at his house (but the biblical text makes it clear that he was lying, which tells us for sure that the old “prophet” was evil and had evil intentions). The “man of Elohim” agreed and went with the older prophet. While they were eating the old “prophet” received a word from the true God and prophesied to the “man of Elohim” that he would not be buried in the tomb of his fathers. After leaving the old prophet’s house the “man of God” was killed by a lion for having disobeyed the specific directions given him by God. After killing the man, the lion did not eat the man or harm the donkey; it just stood beside them (vv. 14-24).

After the death of the “man of Elohim,” the old “prophet” told his sons to bury him in his own tomb. Then he instructed his sons that when he (the old prophet) died, they should bury him next to the “man of Elohim” (vv. 30-31). This was against the Law of Moses (but this false prophet did not care) and it was possibly against the traditions of other religions as well (I’m not sure). At best it was a bit strange to bury people from different families together. But the old “prophet” wanted to show honor for the “man of Elohim” because he saw something genuine in him, and because he knew the man of God’s words would surely be fulfilled (vv. 32).

My take on the old “prophet” is that he was committed to the worship of false gods just like King Jeroboam. When he heard that this “man of Elohim” had come and done some things that demonstrated the power of Elohim, he hoped for a way to diminish this defeat and harm the cause of Elohim. People of other religions thought that there were many gods and each one had power over certain realms. Hearing of the power of Elohim did not make him stop believing that his other gods also had power in other realms. His goal to salvage a little bit of benefit from this situation would only be possible if this “man of Elohim” were not 100% committed to serving God without monetary reward. He knew human nature, so he knew just what to do to test the “man of Elohim’s” resolve.

There is more to the story.

Well over 300 hundred years later the main part of the prediction of the “man of Elohim” came to fruition . It involved the destruction of the temple that Jeroboam had built and the burning of human bones on its altar. As the men of righteous King Josiah were carrying out the defilement of that heathen altar, they dug up bones from tombs in the area to burn on that altar. One tomb must have had something different about it, causing the king to inquire as to its details. It turned out to be the tomb where the false prophet and the “man of Elohim” were buried. Out of respect for the “man of Elohim,” King Josiah commanded them to spare that tomb and not disturb it (II Kings 23:15-18).

Why is this story included in the Bible?

I see three reasons for this being included in the Bible.

1) It shows how much idolatry there was in the northern tribes (called Israel) because there were no longer any trustworthy prophets there.

2) It reminds everyone that we should keep our motives pure. If we are striving to serve God, there is zero room for an impure motive attached to that service. This is probably the biggest point being made by this story.

3) It shows us that God can use anyone for His purposes. Here he used a young prophet whose motivation was not fully pure, and then he also used a false prophet. Most of us can identify more with the young, zealous, but flawed “man of Elohim.” We want to do what is right, but we are weak. The enemy of our souls knows our weaknesses and he will prey on them just like a lion. But that does not mean God cannot use us. He can, and He will. So take heart; keep serving God and commit every choice to Him in order to minimize your weaknesses.