Bible Lesson: Miracles Of The Old
Testament: Jeroboam's Hand
Crippled.
Occasion: Punishment
For Defying God's Messenger.
Location:
Bethel.
Bible Text: I Kings 13:1-10 NLT
I Kings 13:1-10 NLT
1 At The Lord’s
command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, arriving there just
as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to burn incense.
2 Then at The
Lord’s command, he shouted, “O altar, altar! This is what The
Lord says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of
David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines
who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on
you.”
3 That same day
the man of God gave a sign to prove his message. He said, “The Lord
has promised to give this sign: This altar will split apart, and its
ashes will be poured out on the ground.”
4 When King
Jeroboam heard the man of God speaking against the altar at Bethel,
he pointed at him and shouted, “Seize that man!” But instantly
the king’s hand became paralyzed in that position, and he couldn’t
pull it back.
5 At the same
time a wide crack appeared in the altar, and the ashes poured out,
just as the man of God had predicted in his message from The Lord.
6 The king
cried out to the man of God, “Please ask The Lord your God to
restore my hand again!” So the man of God prayed to The Lord, and
the king’s hand was restored and he could move it again.
7 Then the king
said to the man of God, “Come to the palace with me and have
something to eat, and I will give you a gift.”
8 But the man
of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of everything
you own, I would not go with you. I would not eat or drink anything
in this place.
9 For The Lord
gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you
are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’”
10 So he left
Bethel and went home another way.
So very much,
could be said about King Jeroboam, just how evil a man he was.
He was an evil
opportunist, Idolatrous king. He was a main driving force in the
permanent separation of the 10 tribes of the north from the tribes of
Judah and Benjamin to the south.
Here is his
Biblical epitaph.
I Kings 14:16 KJV
And he shall give Israel up because
of the sins of Jeroboam, who did
sin, and who made Israel to sin.
I Kings 22:52 KJV
And he did evil in the sight of the
Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his
mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made
Israel to sin:
II Kings 10:29 KJV
Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not
from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and
that were in Dan.
II Kings 14:24 KJV
And he did that which was evil in
the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
II Kings 15:9 KJV
And he did that which was evil in
the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done: he departed not from
the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
II Kings 15:18 KJV
And he did that which was evil in
the sight of the Lord: he departed not all his days from the sins of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
II Kings 15:24 KJV
And he did that which was evil in
the sight of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the
son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
II Kings 15:28 KJV
And he did that which was evil in
the sight of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the
son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
II Kings 23:15 KJV
Moreover the altar that was at
Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place
he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to
powder, and burned the grove.
I Kings 13:1 NLT
At The Lord’s command, a man of
God from Judah went to Bethel, arriving there just as Jeroboam was
approaching the altar to burn incense.
Our story opens with King Jeroboam assuming a priestly role (A sinful
act, for he was not a priest.) of burning incense at the altar.
Do evil
people flee religious concerns?
Far, far from it, they fully embrace religion, their kind of
“false-religion.”
Matthew 7:21-23
KJV
21 Not every
one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in
heaven.
22 Many will
say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works?
23 And then
will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that
work iniquity.
The Confessions (Book I) St. Augustine
"..yet man, this part of Your creation, desires to praise You.
You move us to delight in praising You; for You have formed us for
Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You."
God, the creator, who had every right, created man with the
propensity to worship Him.
Not only was this evil King more than willing to embrace the altar to
preform priestly rites, he presumed to call ungodly men to the
priesthood itself!
I Kings 12:13-33
NLT
25 Jeroboam
then built up the city of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and
it became his capital. Later he went and built up the town of Peniel.
26 Jeroboam
thought to himself, “Unless I am careful, the kingdom will return
to the dynasty of David.
27 When these
people go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple of The Lord,
they will again give their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah. They
will kill me and make him their king instead.”
28 So on the
advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to
the people, “It is too much trouble for you to worship in
Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of
Egypt!”
29 He placed
these calf idols in Bethel and in Dan—at either end of his kingdom.
30 But this
became a great sin, for the people worshiped the idols, traveling as
far north as Dan to worship the one there.
31 Jeroboam
also erected buildings at the pagan shrines and ordained priests from
the common people—those who were not from the priestly tribe of
Levi.
32 And Jeroboam instituted a religious festival in Bethel, held on
the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in imitation of the annual
Festival of Shelters in Judah. There at Bethel he himself offered
sacrifices to the calves he had made, and he appointed priests
for the pagan shrines he had made.
33 So on the
fifteenth day of the eighth month, a day that he himself had
designated, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar at Bethel. He
instituted a religious festival for Israel, and he went up to the
altar to burn incense.
I Kings 13:33,34
NLT
33 But even
after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to
choose priests from the common people. He appointed anyone who wanted
to become a priest for the pagan shrines.
34 This became
a great sin and resulted in the utter destruction of Jeroboam’s
dynasty from the face of the earth.
I Kings 13:1-3
NLT
1 At The Lord’s command, a man
of God from Judah went to Bethel, arriving there just as Jeroboam was
approaching the altar to burn incense.
2 Then at The Lord’s command,
he shouted, “O altar, altar! This is what The Lord says: A child
named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will
sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn
incense, and human bones will be burned on you.”
3 That same day the man of God
gave a sign to prove his message. He said, “The Lord has promised
to give this sign: This altar will split apart, and its ashes will be
poured out on the ground.”
Josiah, a Godly king, would be a righteous reformer for Judah and
Israel, cleansing the land of all pagan altars and shrines.
I Kings 13:4,5
NLT
4 When King Jeroboam heard the
man of God speaking against the altar at Bethel, he pointed at him
and shouted, “Seize that man!” But instantly the king’s hand
became paralyzed in that position, and he couldn’t pull it back.
5 At the same time a wide crack
appeared in the altar, and the ashes poured out, just as the man of
God had predicted in his message from The Lord.
King Jeroboam had set up pagan altars at Bethel and Dan, so the Jews
would not have to go to Jerusalem to worship.
God, knew, and God was very angry!
Jeroboam, would have seized the messenger of God, and perhaps caused
him physical harm, but, the God who he served, would not allow that.
God does “not,” always sentence evil doers immediately, but
beware, beware, He sees, He knows, and He is keeping perfect records
of all events!
Ecclesiastes
8:11 KJV
Because
sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the
heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
Hebrews 10:31
ERV
It is a
terrible thing to face punishment from the living God.
I
Kings 13:4 NLT “... instantly the king’s hand
became paralyzed...”
There may be some well meaning Christians at this venue, where some
dear saint may gasp in disbelief saying”certainly God couldn't
possibly cause paralysis!”
All Bible Prayer Line readers, have years ago, written the following
verse in the flyleaf of their Bibles and if you haven't done so yet,
then stop here and do it now.
Psalm 145:17 KJV
The Lord is
righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.
And He doesn't need your opinion or mine to determine the work of His
hands!
My what a blow to our ego, that is.
Romans 11:33,34
KJV
33 O the depth
of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!
34 For who hath
known the mind of The Lord? or who hath been His counselor?
Isaiah 55:8,9
KJV
8 For My
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith
The Lord.
9 For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your
ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Much more could be said along these lines, but this is not a treatise
on the character of God.
God can do, what God can do, paralysis? Yes, sickness, death,
anything and everything except sin, is in God's tool box, to be used as He sees
fit. But remember well the words of the Psalmist “The Lord is
righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.”
I Kings 13:6 NLT
The king cried out to the man of
God, “Please ask The Lord your God to restore my hand again!” So
the man of God prayed to The Lord, and the king’s hand was restored
and he could move it again.
Oh, that every sin, would force us to stop, and beg forgiveness!
How important it is to have a right conscience before the Almighty,
for if we sear that God given guide, we are doomed.
Psalm 51:9-12 KJV (King David new only too well how important
this is.)
9 Hide thy face
from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me
a clean heart, O God; and renew a right Spirit within me.
11 Cast me not
away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore unto
me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit.
Jeroboam, begged the man of God, to rescind the judgment of God, and
he did, causing Jeroboam's hand to be restored.
I Kings 13:7-10
NLT
7 Then the king said to the man
of God, “Come to the palace with me and have something to eat, and
I will give you a gift.”
8 But the man of God said to the
king, “Even if you gave me half of everything you own, I would not
go with you. I would not eat or drink anything in this place.
9 For The Lord gave me this
command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there,
and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’”
10 So he left Bethel and went
home another way.
There are so many messages to be seen in I Kings 13, but we end this
story with these words.
No servant of The Living God, should fellowship with known sinners!
No exceptions, no if's, may-by's and or buts.
Psalm 1:1 KJV
Blessed is the
man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful.
Proverbs 4:14
KJV
Enter not
into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
I Corinthians
5:11 KJV
But now I have
written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is
called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a
railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to
eat.
II Corinthians
6:14-18 KJV
14
Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what
concord hath Christ with Belial (the devil)? or what part hath he
that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what
agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of
The Living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in
them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
17 Wherefore
come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith The Lord, and
touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
18 And will be
a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith The
Lord Almighty.
The end of King Jeroboam.
I Kings 14:6-11 NLT (The Prophet Ahijah, prophesies the fate
of Jereboam.)
6
...Ahijah...called out...
7
Give...Jeroboam, this message from The Lord, The God Of Israel: ‘I
promoted you from the ranks of the common people and made you ruler
over My people Israel.
8 I ripped the
kingdom away from the family of David and gave it to you. But you
have not been like My servant David, who obeyed My commands and
followed Me with all his heart and always did whatever I wanted.
9 You have done
more evil than all who lived before you. You have made other gods for
yourself and have made Me furious with your gold calves. And since
you have turned your back on Me,
10 I will bring
disaster on your dynasty and will destroy every one of your male
descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel. I will burn up
your royal dynasty as one burns up trash until it is all gone.
11 The members
of Jeroboam’s family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and
those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures. I, The Lord,
have spoken.’”
