The Prophet From Judah

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Chapter 13 records the prophecy of the Prophet from Judah. Jeroboam was attending the altar at Bethel when he received a warning from God against his idolatry. The Lord sent a Prophet from Judah. Note He would not allow the armies of Judah to reprimand Jeroboam, but He did send His Prophet. The Prophet told him that the altar at which he was worshipping would be shattered to pieces and that the Priests themselves would become the sacrifices and that this would be done by the house of David (Judah). It took about 356 years before this prophecy came true but it did, after all, a 1,000 years is but a day in the eyes of the Lord. A sign was given to confirm the prophesy, the altar was shaken to pieces and the ashes of the sacrifice was scattered. Jeroboam reached out his hand to hit the Prophet and immediately his hand withered and he was unable to pull in his hand. He repented and sought the Lord and his hand was healed.
Matthew Henry applies this attack of Jeroboam upon the man of God and the ultimate consequences, to the defiant sinner who strikes out at the one who brings to them the Gospel message. Note what he says, "If God, in justice, hardens the hearts of sinners so that the hand that they stretch out in sin cannot be pulled back again by repentance, that is spiritual judgment".
Notice how a "word to the wise" is not always sufficient, but physical affliction, is. Jeroboam struck out at the Prophet from Judah and became physically afflicted. Notice when Jeroboam needed healing he did not go to the "golden calves", he turned to the man of God and asked him to intercede for him and seek God's healing, and the Lord was gracious and healed him.
Now Jeroboam was thankful and wanted to repay the Prophet so he invited him to come to his home and be refreshed, but the Prophet refused because he was under orders from the Lord. Notice the orders that he had gotten from the Lord. "Drink no water or eat no bread while you are in Israel also return home a different way from the way you came." Why? It would appear that the Lord did not want the Prophet to fellowship with them lest he be influenced by their evil. Also, socializing with them might give the appearance that he approved of what they were doing. As to his journey home, he was not to appear to have come that way for the sole purpose of warning Jeroboam, for he was unworthy of such a favor. It was to appear that he just happened to be passing by and was stirred by the Spirit to speak. So, when the Prophet left Bethel, he continued the way he was going and did not appear to be returning to Judah.
Now there was an old Prophet at Bethel who, when he heard from his sons all that had gone on that day, had them saddle him a mule and went after the Prophet from Judah. When he caught up with him, he talked the Prophet from Judah into coming back with him to Bethel and receives some nourishment.
First, who was this old Prophet? He was probably an alumnus of the Collage of Prophets that had been established at Bethel years ago by Samuel. Because of the sin in Israel, the Spirit of Prophesy had long departed from him. He was, in effect, a False Prophet.
Secondly, how was he able to talk the Prophet from Judah into disobeying God when the King of Israel could not do it? Two evil tactics were used:

He lied. He lied about an Angel that was supposed to have told him to go and get the Prophet and bring him back to his home where he could eat and drink. Surly, by now, the Prophet was hungry and thirsty. Might not the Lord answer his needs this way?
Was this not a Prophet that made him this invitation? "Is he not one of us?" The "Anti-christ" will appear to be "one of us"; they will come from out of the Church. The Lord "Beware of false prophets and do not believe every spirit."

Notice what appears to be the injustice in all this. The Prophet from Judah went back and ate with the old Prophet and as they were eating, that old Prophet told the Prophet from Judah that he would never get back to Judah because he had disobeyed God and taken nourishment. Why, I ask, why was the "deceived" to be punished and the "deceiver" go unpunished? Paul says that the judgments of the Lord are unfathomable. He also says, in Romans Chapter 9, "Is there injustice in God's judgments, by no means, for as the Lord said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion upon whom I have compassion."
Matthew Henry says, "The deceived and the deceiver are His and He can do with them as he will." I suggest that one of the horrors of Hell will be to have Satan tell you all the sins you have committed and how he was the one that led you to do it.
So how does it end? On the way home, the Prophet from Judah is killed by a lion that does not eat him. When the old Prophet hears of this he went out and brought back the body of the Prophet and buried it in his own tomb. Then we see, finally, the reason in God's judgment, the old Prophet repented. The Prophet from Judah witnessed by being naive and thus being deceived. The old Prophet told his sons that he wanted to be buried beside the Prophet from Judah for he knew that all that the Prophet had said would come true. The old Prophet repented but Jeroboam did not. His evil increased to the extent that his house was cut off from the face of the earth.

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