The False Prophet At Bethel Series

Introduction: Bethel was the scene of some good encounters between people and the LORD. Sadly it was also a place where Jeroboam established a false religion, centering on the worship of a golden calf. The background for this message comes from 1 Kings 12-13

Full disclosure: Sermon Central has previously accepted a message based on this text called “O Altar, Altar” showing how a true prophet cried out against Jeroboam’s altar, but listened to a false prophet, and paid with his life. This message is not merely a copy and paste of that one, but rather focuses on the false prophet.

1 The false religion: Jeroboam’s altar, idol, and proclamation

Text, 1 Kings 13:1-10, KJV: 1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. 5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. 8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: 9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. 10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

This event probably took place not long after Israel split into two kingdoms. It’s been mentioned many times by many people that the Ten Northern Tribes remained known as Israel, but the Two Southern Tribes (Judah and Benjamin) became known as Judah. All this is found in 1 Kings 12,

After this, Jeroboam built (re-built?) Shechem in Mount Ephraim and apparently made this city his capital, at least for a while. Likely, during this time, there seemed to be at least some religious tolerance for those of the Ten Tribes to worship and sacrifice at the Temple in Jerusalem. But Jeroboam wasn’t idle—he “took counsel” and had golden calves installed as objects of worship in Bethel and Dan. Dan was in the farthest north of Israel, but Bethel was about as close a border town as anybody could make it. So, from the north to the south of the Ten Tribes, Jeroboam was about to install an entirely new religious system. See the last several verses of 1 Kings 11 for some of the details.

To digress for a moment, some have wondered just what Jeroboam was really planning to do. I myself am of the opinion that Jeroboam took the original golden calf imagery from Exodus 32 and planned to force the Ten Tribes to worship that calf. If I’ve read Exodus 32 properly, the same people of Israel who had only recently seen the LORD deliver them from Egypt, kept them safe and dry while crossing the bed of the Red Sea, and had provided food and water ever since they left Egypt—now, while Moses was on the mountain obtaining the very Law they had sworn to obey, they were breaking that Law!

Even so, there were some in the North who remained there for whatever reason. As time went on, there seemed to be a push to either worship the calf-god either alongside the worship of the LORD (Laban had tried this “I want to be sure” strategy in Genesis; compare Genesis 24 and 31:30; his daughter Rachel had stolen his “gods” or household idols!) or separate and distinct from the worship of the LORD. Of note, Jeroboam had fled to Egypt to escape Solomon’s wrath and in my opinion, he got the idea for the calf-worship there.