And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings.
Jeroboam has torn ten tribes from the house of David and built his own worship centre at Bethel — his own altar, his own priests, his own feast. Into the king's ceremony God now sends a stranger from Judah, and one phrase governs everything he does: "by the word of the LORD."
The altar Jeroboam was standing at
The altar in this verse was not one God had asked for. It was part of a system the king thought up himself, copied from the real worship in Jerusalem.
C KnappThis "feast" of Jeroboam's imitated the Feast of Tabernacles, which God had commanded Israel to keep in the seventh month. The eighth was the month Jeroboam "devised from his own heart" — a heart always deceitful and desperately wicked. And how many practices and customs in the Christian world have come out of men's own hearts, with no foundation in Scripture! Instead of "Thus says the LORD," many seem to think that in spiritual things a person may do what is right in his own eyes. It is the thoughts of God's heart, not mine, that I am to heed and put into practice.
The king himself stands at the altar, doing the work of a priest.
H. L. Rossier"Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings" (v. 1). It goes without saying that the man who had invented his own priesthood, and ordained anyone who wanted the job, could not hold that priesthood in high regard. Under royal authority it had become a political tool in his hands. So there is nothing surprising in the king claiming the right to perform its rites as he pleased.
God's answer to the evil
God does not strike yet. He sends one man out of Judah with a set errand, and the same word that told him what to say also told him what not to do.
Hamilton SmithGod, however, raised up a witness against this terrible evil. "By the word of the LORD," God gave this man light about the evil at Bethel. He learned that this evil was so hateful to God that the day was soon coming when God would deal with it in judgment (vv. 1, 2)... God warned him especially not to weaken his testimony by keeping company with the evil. He was to deliver his message, give his sign, and then leave.
Commission, message and conduct
Notice how often the phrase repeats through the chapter. It is not decoration; it marks off every area of the man's service.
The Bible TreasuryThe Lord sends a missionary into that land with words of judgment. "The word of the LORD" ordered it all: his commission, his ministry, and his conduct in his ministry. He comes out of Judah to Bethel "by the word of the LORD" (v. 1). He cries against the altar "in the word of the LORD" (v. 2). And "the word of the LORD" lays down how he is to behave while he is in that place doing that service (v. 9)... This provided for everything: he had only to keep to it.
Why he is called "a man of God"
The messenger's own name is never given — and that silence is part of the lesson.
H. L. RossierThe man through whom God gives His testimony counts for so little that the prophet is not even named in this account. He is simply a man of God — but what a title! A man of God is a servant who represents God before men, and on whom God has stamped His own character. Such a man speaks for God; he speaks the very words of God. It is a high and solemn office. But it reduces the man himself to nothing and strips him of all confidence in the flesh.
Where the story goes from here
The chapter opens in strength and ends in tragedy. The turning point is a word from another prophet.
An Outline of Sound WordsWhile Jeroboam was standing beside his idolatrous altar in Bethel, God brought a prophet from Judah to pronounce His judgment against it. The message named Josiah of the house of David as the one who would carry out that judgment. More than three hundred years later Josiah carried it out to the letter (1 Kings 13:1–5; 2 Kings 23:15–18). The man of God then listened to the lie of the old prophet of Bethel and disobeyed, and judgment overtook him for it. This is a solemn reminder of the great danger of listening to men instead of to the voice of God, whatever those men have been and whatever they claim.
Summary
- Devised — Jeroboam's altar, priests and feast came out of his own heart, not God's command. The same warning covers any practice with no foundation in Scripture.
- Sent — God answers invented religion with a witness first: one man, out of Judah, on a set errand.
- Word — the same word settles his commission, his message and his conduct; he had only to keep to it.
- Title — the messenger is never named. "Man of God" is enough: a servant who represents God before men and carries His stamp.
- Danger — the man who cried against the king's altar was undone by another prophet's lie. God's voice, not a religious man's, must stay the final authority.