Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and burned the high place, stamped it small to powder, and burned the Asherah.
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And Josiah turned himself, and saw the sepulchres that were there on the mount; and he sent and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned [them] upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of Jehovah, that the man of God had proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.
Josiah's war on idolatry took him north to Bethel, to the altar Jeroboam had built generations earlier. There he burned bones from the nearby tombs on it, matching words a prophet had shouted at that altar three and a half centuries before.
The original message at Bethel was aimed at a structure, not a statue. One writer draws out why a rival altar provokes God so sharply, and what its end must be:
H. L. RossierThe man of God cries against the altar (1 Kings 13:2), not against the idol. For man to imagine that he can replace God's altar is more hateful in God's eyes than anything else he can do. God's altar is unique; this He has proclaimed before all. Believers have but one altar, Christ, the Lamb of God (Heb. 13:10). God will judge wicked men who want to set up another altar alongside His own. A worship instituted by man cannot last forever; divine judgment shall fall upon it... But God will not destroy it without at the same time putting the priests of this profane religion to death upon their own altar.
The prophecy did not merely describe a future king in general terms. It named him. That detail is exactly where modern readers stumble, and one writer meets the objection head on:
W. W. FeredayNow this is prophecy. Why make a difficulty about it? If God is God, if He is indeed the "I am," He can easily speak about men and their doings centuries in advance, if He chooses to. We, creatures of a day, can only speak of things happening before our eyes. Tomorrow is quite unknown. This prophecy is very precise in that the man who would destroy Jeroboam's altar is named. In the same way the LORD named Cyrus hundreds of years before his birth (Isa. 45:1).
Three centuries is long enough for a warning to become a joke, or to be lost entirely. The gap between the spoken word and the burning bones is itself part of the lesson:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinSo the prophecy came true, the one the man of God from Judah had spoken more than three hundred years earlier (1 Kings 13:2). The prophecy may have been forgotten, and unbelievers may have laughed at the idea of its fulfilment. But when God's time came He saw to the literal fulfilment of His own Word. It is so today. Rationalists scoff at the Word of God. Others treat the Bible's predictions as symbols only, and do not believe God will ever fulfil them.
The people of Bethel had not forgotten either:
W. W. FeredayThe memory of it lingered in the district, and the people recognised the fulfilment of the words of the man of God in the terrible doings of Josiah.
Josiah did not merely close the shrine down. He emptied the graves, burned the bones on the altar, and ground the site to dust. That completeness is held up as a pattern, and it points forward:
W. W. FeredayNowhere was idolatry ever rooted out as thoroughly as Josiah rooted it out across the whole land of Israel. He killed all the priests and burned their bones on their altars. Then he destroyed the altars themselves, grinding them to powder. Such thoroughness God loves... The Lord Jesus will carry out a world-wide clearance when He appears. "The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 13:41-42).
Josiah dug up every other tomb on that hillside. One grave he ordered left alone: the grave of the prophet who had first spoken against the altar, and of the old prophet buried beside him. One writer reads that as a picture of how God treats His own people:
Hamilton SmithWe are allowed to see this. God in His holiness may have to chasten His people for their failure and unfaithfulness. Even then He does not unrighteously forget any work or labour of love shown toward His Name. So, three hundred and fifty years after these events, Josiah carries out the word of the LORD given through the man of God. He burns the bones of the false prophets. But he spares the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah, and of the old prophet of Bethel. Through their unfaithfulness, the people of God may come under His chastening. But through the faithfulness of God they will not share in the judgment that overtakes the world.
- Word spoken. A prophet cried against Jeroboam's altar and named Josiah as its destroyer, long before he was born.
- Word doubted. Three centuries of silence tempt people to forget a prophecy, or to laugh at it. Delay is not failure.
- Word kept. God's time came, and His Word came true to the letter — down to the bones, the altar and the king's own name.
- Word obeyed. Josiah burned the bones, broke the altar and ground it to powder. God loves that thoroughness, and Christ will bring the same clearance to the whole world.
- Word remembered. The same word that emptied every other grave protected one, because God does not forget work done for His Name.
Then he said, What tombstone is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
A man of God once spoke God's judgment against the altar at Bethel, and he named the king who would carry it out. Three and a half centuries later that king, Josiah, stood among the graves of that town and asked about one stone.
Josiah was at work against the altar at Bethel. One grave there caught his eye.
W. W. FeredayWhen looking around the graves in Bethel, one in particular attracted Josiah's attention… A remarkable story is here recalled. The men of Bethel were speaking of a visit to their city three and a half centuries earlier. The memory of it lingered in the district, and the people recognised the fulfilment of the words of the man of God in the terrible things Josiah was doing.
What Josiah saw was a gravestone, and the men of the city could still read off what the buried man had said.
Leslie M. GrantSeeing another gravestone, he asked about the person buried there, and was told this was the grave of the man of God who had prophesied of what Josiah had just done (v.17). So his grave was left unmolested.
Three hundred years is long enough for any message to be forgotten. This one was not.
C. KnappIt proves, however, that after at least three hundred years the prophecy of the prophet from Judah was still fresh in people's minds. God lets none of His words fall to the ground. He also takes care that, one way or another, the people involved keep those words in memory. The inscription on the man of God's tomb would no doubt help to keep the event from being forgotten.
Josiah was not only fulfilling a prophecy. In the middle of the work, he learned that God had named him for it 350 years earlier.
The Bible TreasuryThe king of Judah must have been strengthened in heart and encouraged when he found that God had spoken of him by name 350 years earlier. God had appointed him to do the very work he was busy with (2 Kings 23:17). This settled his soul in the confidence that he was God's servant, with his work planned out for him.
The man in that grave had a record of unfaithfulness of his own. Josiah still protected his bones.
H. L. RossierHowever, he spares the tomb of the man of God who had spoken these things. Whatever this man's unfaithfulness had been, Josiah recognizes what he had done for God. He spares the bones of the prophet from Samaria too — the man who caused his fall, but who had humbled himself for his mistake. In the same way, every true Christian heart recognizes what men of God in past times have done to serve Him. It respects their work, even when failure marred it and made it lose its power or spoiled its result.
Another writer sees in those spared bones a picture of how God deals with His own people.
Hamilton SmithStill, we are allowed to see this. If God, in His holiness, has to discipline His people for their failure and unfaithfulness, He is not unrighteous. He does not forget any work or labour of love shown toward His Name… Through their unfaithfulness, God's people may come under His discipline. But through the faithfulness of God, they will not share the judgment that falls on the world.
The tomb marks a man who let a fellow servant lead him away from God's word. The warning runs both ways — to older believers and to younger ones.
W. W. FeredayAn older believer can become a spent force. Should we not guard against this? Old age does not always bring more spirituality… The old prophet — a man God could seemingly no longer use — trapped a younger man and ruined him. Younger men today must not overlook this danger. Respect for age and experience is good. But our only authority for action, in any area of life, is the Word of God. "A fellow believer advised me," or "an angel spoke to me," will not sound well at the judgment seat of Christ.
Josiah himself did not take the lesson home.
W. W. FeredayWith the tender heart that marked him, Josiah should have gained from the story. But sadly, a few years later his own life — so valuable to the nation — ended in shame. Like the man of God, he stepped off the path of full obedience to the Word of the Lord.
- Word spoken — a man of God stood at Bethel 350 years earlier. He named Josiah, and he named the very act the king was now carrying out.
- Word remembered — God lets none of His words fall to the ground. The inscription on the tomb kept the prophecy fresh in people's minds for three centuries.
- Word confirmed — the discovery steadied Josiah. He was God's servant, and his work was already planned out for him.
- Word-bearer spared — God disciplines failure, but He does not forget love shown to His Name. Josiah left the bones untouched. Honour past service, even where failure spoiled its result.
- Word obeyed — the grave also warns. Respect age and experience, but act on one authority only: the Word of God. Josiah's own end shows the cost of leaving that path.
And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. And they saved his bones, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
Josiah is at Bethel, burning bones from nearby graves on Jeroboam's altar. Then he stops at one tomb and orders it untouched. Two men lie there: a man of God who had failed, and the old prophet who had ruined him.
The men of the city could still name that grave, centuries after the burial. One writer draws out what that meant to the king.
C KnappIt proves that after at least three centuries, the prophecy of the prophet from Judah was still fresh in people's minds. God lets none of His words fall to the ground. He also makes sure that, in some way, the people they concern still remember them. The inscription on the man of God's tomb would no doubt help to keep the event from being forgotten. How awed and encouraged King Josiah must have felt! God had named him and appointed him for this work, so many generations before.
Two men are spared here, not one. The prophet called "out of Samaria" is the same man who lived at Bethel.
Leslie M. GrantSeeing another gravestone, he asked who was buried there. They told him this was the grave of the man of God who had prophesied what Josiah had just done. So his grave was left undisturbed. This also covered the bones of the prophet who lived in Bethel. This verse tells us he had come from Samaria. He had buried the first prophet in his own grave and told his sons to bury him there too.
The man of God buried here had failed. Yet his grave is the one place in Bethel that Josiah's fire does not touch.
Hamilton SmithIf God, in His holiness, has to chasten His people for their failure and unfaithfulness, He is still not unrighteous to forget any work or labour of love shown toward His Name. Through their unfaithfulness, the people of God may come under His chastening; but through the faithfulness of God they will not share in the judgment that overtakes the world.
One writer sees the scene as a picture of the day God judges the world.
J. G. BellettThe Lord comes to carry out through Josiah the judgment He had pronounced through the man of God. The power of His hand makes good the declarations of His Spirit, and the day of the world's doom arrives. At that moment the hand of God respects the old prophet just as it respects the man of God. Josiah saves the tomb of these men. He keeps their bones from the punishing burning he was giving all the others found in that unclean place around the altar at Bethel.
One writer turns Josiah's restraint into a pattern for us, covering even the man who caused another's fall.
H. L. RossierHe spares the tomb of the man of God who had pronounced these things. Whatever this man's unfaithfulness had been, Josiah recognises what he had done for God. He also spares the bones of the prophet of Samaria. That prophet caused his fall, but he had humbled himself for his error. In this way every true Christian heart acknowledges what men of God in the past have done to serve Him. It respects their work, even where failures marred it and robbed it of power or spoiled its result.
Respect for the grave is not approval of the lives. One writer draws out the danger for older and younger believers alike.
W. W. FeredayIt is possible for an older believer to become a spent force; should we not guard against this? Growing older does not always mean growing more spiritual... The old prophet — a man God apparently could no longer use — trapped a younger man and ruined him. Younger people today must not overlook this danger. Respect for age and experience is good; but our only authority for action in any area of life is the Word of God. "Another believer advised me," or "an angel spoke to me," will not sound well at the judgment seat of Christ.
- Word kept. People still remembered a three-hundred-year-old prophecy at this graveside. God does not let His words fall to the ground.
- Word disobeyed. The man in this tomb was ruined when he took an older man's word above God's own.
- Work remembered. God chastens failure, yet He does not forget work done in love — so the altar burns while the grave stands.
- Judgment passed over. Everything around these bones burned; the bones stayed untouched. God's people do not share the world's doom.
- Pattern set. Honour the real service of those who went before you. Do not excuse the failures that spoiled it.