“Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. For I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ”” I Kings 13:11-17 NKJV
a. Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel: It seems that this was a faithful prophet to the LORD. This demonstrates that not every godly person left Israel for Judah; some still remained behind.
i. “Probably once a prophet of the Lord, who had fallen from his steadfastness, and yet not so deeply as to lose the knowledge of the true God, and join with Jeroboam with his idolatries.” (Clarke)
b. Come home with me and eat bread: This prophet from Bethel invited the unnamed man of God to his home, as Jeroboam had invited him. The man of God refused, under the same reason he refused Jeroboam – that God had specifically told him to return to Judah without accepting hospitality, and to return a different way (also in 1 Kings 13:10). (Guzik)
Word of the Lord!
Notice this: “For I have been told by the word of the Lord”, when God speaks to us we need to listen and obey!
Can you guess why the man of God and the old prophet aren’t specifically named in the Bible?
Blessings
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