Address—C. Hendricks
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Please turn with me tonight to 1St Kings 11.
First Kings 11.
Verse one.
This is a sad chapter. The beginning of Solomon's days were.
Much more.
Delightful to behold when he asked for wisdom, didn't seek for glory or fame.
Honor down here, riches.
And the Lord granted it to him, and he was pleased with Solomon's request.
But now he has become older.
And we read some very sad things of Solomon.
But King Solomon loved many strange women.
Together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.
Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go into them, neither shall they come in unto you.
For surely they will turn away your heart after their God's Solomon clave unto these.
In love.
And he had 700 wives, princesses and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
For it came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods.
And his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtarith, the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milkham, the abominations of the Yemenites.
And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
Then did Solomon build in high place for Chimash?
The abomination of Moab in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
And the Lord was angry with Solomon.
Because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice.
And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods.
But he kept not that which the Lord commanded.
Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, For as much as this is done of thee.
And thou has not kept my covenant in my statutes which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the Kingdom.
From thee, and will give it to thy servant.
Notwithstanding in thy days, I will not do it for David thy father's sake, but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
Howbeit I will not rend away all the Kingdom, but will give one tribe to thy son, for David my servant's sake.
And for Jerusalem's sake, which I have chosen.
So here we have the announcement to Solomon because of his sins.
At the divine center.
Of the judgment that God was going to bring upon him, upon his Kingdom.
Taking 10 tribes, the majority of the tribes.
And giving them to.
Jeroboam. We don't read his name yet, but that's his name.
And his son, Rhea Balm was to be left with only two of the tribes.
And it's traced back to the Solomon's failure here.
It's traced back to the failure of the people.
Those that desired to follow Solomon his departure.
To become like the nation's roundabout.
The one thing that Israel was to render testimony to.
Was that Jehovah our God Is 1 Jehovah 1 Lord?
In the midst of the idolatry and the multiplicity of gods that were round about, Israel was to be a testimony that there was one true God.
Solomon, the head of the nation, failed in this.
He gave way to his pleasures. His wives turned away his heart.
And.
Because of this.
Because of the failure here at Jerusalem under Solomon that.
That king that was so blessed and had so much in the Kingdom of Israel rose to heights that it is never achieved before under the reign of Solomon.
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And he had peace.
During his reign, but now that he has departed, we read in verse 14, the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon. Hey dad, the Edomite he was.
Of the King's seed in Edom.
I'm not going to read all that.
There's another adversary in verse 23. God stirred him up. Another adversary, Reason, the son of Eliada, which fled from his Lord, had a Deezer, king of Zobah.
And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah, and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadid did.
And he abhorred Israel and reigned over Syria.
These adversaries that God stirred up.
Were because of Solomon's sin.
And the people's sin as well, for they followed him in it.
My people love to have it. So is an expression we read connection with the failure that had come in.
And now we read about Jeroboam verse 26.
And Jeroboam, the son of Nebat and Ephrathite of Zerida, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Arua, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.
And this was the 'cause that he lifted up his hand against the king.
Solomon built, Mellow and repaired the breaches of the city of David, his father.
And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor, and Solomon, seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the House of Joseph.
And it came to pass at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shiloh knight, found him in the way, and he had clad himself with a new garment, and they too were alone in the field. And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him and rented in 12 pieces.
And he said to Jeroboam, Take the 10 pieces. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the Kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, will and will give 10 tribes to thee.
But he shall have one tribe, for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.
Because, and here's the reason why God is doing this.
That they have forsaken me.
And have worshiped Ashtaroth. Notice here it says they in the earlier verses it was he Solomon.
They have forsaken me and have worshiped Ashtarith, the goddess of the Zidonians, Chmush the God of the Moabites, and Milcombe, the God of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my command and my judgments, as did David his father.
Howbeit, I will not take the whole Kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him Prince all the days of his life, for David my servant's sake, whom I have chosen because he kept my commandments in my statutes.
And I will take the Kingdom out of his Son's hand, and will give it unto thee.
Even 10 tribes.
And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light, all we before me.
In Jerusalem.
The city which I have chosen.
Me to put my name there notice the failure of Solomon and the failure of the people at Jerusalem at the divine center and made God angry with Solomon and he comes in in severe chastening discipline punishment to the.
2 tribes that were to remain at the divine center under Solomon's son Rehoboam.
Because he was angry with them and gave 10 tribes to Jeroboam, he never abandoned the divine center. That was the place that he had chosen to put his name there, and so there was a light always to be maintained in that place.
Well, this division, we've gone through one.
And there are many things in that which we've passed through that parallel this.
If we're honest about it, we will have to say we have sinned.
We have failed.
The tendency of our hearts is to point to those that have left and speak of their failure.
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But here we have the failure traced back to those that were at Jerusalem, to Solomon the king, so privileged, so blessed.
And yet now so far departed from the Lord.
Notice what he says to Jeroboam.
In verse 36 Unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light. All we before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen to put, chosen me to put my name there, and I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shall be king over Israel. From this point on, when there was a division of the 10 tribes and the two, the 10 tribes were called Israel.
Or Ephraim.
The head tribe of the 10 Israel now refers to the 10 tribes, and Judah refers to the two that remained at the divine center in Jerusalem.
And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto me.
That I will command, that I command thee, and will walk in my ways and do.
That his right in my sight to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did. That I will be with thee.
And build thee a sure house.
As I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee, notice the blessings that God promises, Jeroboam.
Had he walked in obedience to the word of the Lord?
Had he walked in obedience, had he submitted, he would have had those 10 tribes given to him.
God would have built him a sure house, he said. I will be with thee.
But he didn't have a heart to do it.
He didn't walk in the way of the Lord, and we'll read that sad history of Jeroboam, but that doesn't change the fact that God promised him all this had he walked in obedience even though he was.
Separate now from the two that were at the center in Jerusalem.
And then he says in verse.
39 and I will for this.
Afflict the seed of David, but not forever.
The division is going to be healed. The two sticks will become one according to the prophet. But that's still future. That division still lasts. It still ends. I'm convinced having gone through this sorrow that we've gone through, that division among the people of God is the worst sin there is.
It's the first one that Paul deals with in Corinthians.
There are evils that were there that had to be corrected, but the first one that he has to deal with is.
Division.
Is Christ divided?
It's a terrible thing and we feel it.
I don't believe we felt it as we should. The Saints of God throughout the Christian world have been divided for a long time.
Now he's brought it right home to us and made us to feel it right in our own.
Circle of Fellowship made us to feel it.
I trust.
Made me to feel that I trust.
It divides families, it divides assemblies, it divides the Saints. An awful evil. It was his chastening hand. It was his government because of the sin that was going on at Jerusalem.
At the divine center.
Solomon sought therefore, to kill Jeroboam.
And Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt unto Shishak, king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. You see, Solomon didn't submit to the word of the Lord, He sought to kill Jeroboam. God had said that he was going to take 10 tribes and give them to Solomon to give them to Jeroboam. Solomon tries to stop that from happening.
He tries in the energy of the flesh, we could say, to kill Jeroboam. He doesn't submit.
To the judgment that had been pronounced against him and against his people because of his departure.
And then we read and the rest of the Acts of Solomon, and all that he did in his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the Acts of Solomon? And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was 40 years. And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
Chapter 12 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
And it came to pass when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, for he was fled from the presence of King Solomon. And Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt, that they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous. Now therefore the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke, which he put upon us later.
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And we will serve thee. And he said unto him, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed. And King Rio Bomb consulted with the old man that stood before Solomon his father, while he yet lived. Notice the old men that stood before fallen the previous generation, the old men that stood before Solomon that had heard the wisdom of Solomon.
And they give good counsel.
And he said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people? And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and will serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants forever.
But he forsook the counsel of the old men.
Which they had given him, and consulted with the young men. Notice this that were grown up with him.
And which stood before him. This is an entirely new generation.
There were those old men that had accompanied with Solomon and now here are the men that had grown up with Rehabong Solomon's son.
And he said unto them, What counsel give ye, that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy Father did put upon us lighter?
And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us. Thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. And now, whereas my father did laid you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father hath chastised you with wits.
But I will chastise you with scorpions.
He took the counsel of the young men that had grown up with him forsook that of the old men that had accompanied that had were contemporary with Solomon.
And this speaks severely to them.
It was. It was from God. This should happen.
God had already said he was going to take the 10 tribes.
From Rehoboth, not while Solomon was living, but from his son.
Give them to Jeroboam.
And so Jeroboam Rehoboam speaks.
To the 10 tribes under Jeroboam's leadership in this harsh way.
So Jeroboam verse 12 And all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him, and spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke. My father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people.
For the cause was from the Lord.
That he might perform his saying, which the Lord spake by Ahijah the Shiloh knight, unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat. There is one instance in our King James where in chronicles it says it was of the Lord.
That's a mistake. If you read it in Mr. Darby's translation, it says the cause, again, just as it says here, was from the Lord. Division is never of the Lord. It's of Satan, but it's from the Lord. If he's displeased with us, he may allow Satan to do his evil work.
It's of the Lord to unite.
It's of the Lord when brethren dwell together in unity.
But here this thing was from the Lord.
Well.
What happened verse 16?
So when all Israel saw that, the King hearkened not unto them.
The people answered the king, saying What portion have we and David? What a terrible statement to make on the part of the 10 tribes under Jeroboam. Even though Rehoboam had spoken so harshly to them, they now cut themselves off from the House of David.
From the one that was a type.
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One of the best, one of the most beautiful types in scripture of Christ in his reign.
And.
They say, What portion have we in, David?
Neither have we inheritance.
In the son of Jesse they gave up their crowning glory.
In saying so to your tent, so Israel, see now to thine own house, David.
So Israel departed unto their tents. But As for the children of Israel, which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
Then King Rehoboam Centadoram, who was over the tribute and all Israel stoned him with stones that he died.
Therefore King Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel rebelled against the House of David unto this day still hasn't been healed. It came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the House of David but the tribe of Judah.
Only.
And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the House of Judah.
With the tribe of Benjamin and 104 score 1000 chosen men which were warriors to fight against the House of Israel.
To bring the Kingdom again to Rehoboth, the son of Solomon.
But the word of the Lord, the word of God, came unto Shamaya the man of God, saying, Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the House of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, Thus sayeth the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren. The children of Israel. Return every man to his house, for this thing is from me.
They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart according to the word of the Lord. It's to Rehoboam credit. He bows to the.
To the chastening hand of God he submits. Solomon didn't. He tried to kill Jeroboam when he heard that.
He tried to get rid of the one that was going to receive the 10 tribes, but now that it's happened, Rehoboam submits and he withdraws his troops and goes back.
Now we read about Jeroboam, and we see that he didn't follow the Lord. Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein, and went out from thence and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the Kingdom return to the House of David.
He gets to reasoning and thinking. He was not a man of faith. He was not a man of obedience to the Lord, and he he gets to thinking and reasoning about it. We can see an analogy of what's happened today in in Christendom where man has departed from the divine center that God has set up.
And.
Come with all kinds of things of his own devising and thinking, and instituted them in the House of God. This is what Jeroboam's doing here. So he reasons and says, If this people go up to sacrifice in the House of the Lord of Jerusalem, then shall the heart of the people turn again unto their Lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah. And they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
God said if you obey me, I will build you a sure house and bless you and establish you.
Instead, he reasons just the opposite.
Whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold.
It's striking, isn't it, that when the enemy imitates?
What God set up, which was one center at Jerusalem.
He sets up two centers, one in the northern part of the land at Dan, one in the southern part of the land at Bethel.
He imitates, but he imitates wrongly. Where did he get the calf idea? Well, it came from Egypt. Remember when Moses came down from the mount with the 2 tables of stone in his hand with the 10 commandments? Aaron had made a golden calf and they were dancing round about it.
They.
Sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. And they said, this is that these be thy gods. And this is what we have happening here. The same kind of departure, the very thing that Solomon had departed in causing God's chastening hand to come upon him, to rend the Kingdom from him and give 10 tribes to Jeroboam, now characterizes the 10 tribes of Jeroboam and the worship that Jeroboam set up.
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They're characterized from the very beginning by departure.
From the truth of God. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them.
It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods, O Israel.
Which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. But a striking statement of infidelity, that is.
Gods which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt?
It was when Aaron and the children of Israel were dancing around the golden calf that had brought judgment upon them, and now again they set themselves up in the place to be judged of God.
By God.
And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he and Dan. Bethel means the House of God, and Dan means that God will judge, and he surely will judge all that man has set up in the energy of his own will.
He will judge it.
The House of God is to be set up according to God's order, not man's order. And so here, the very place that means the House of God, Bethel was set up by one who?
Began it with idolatry.
And this thing became a sin.
For the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
And he made an House of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. Another departure from the divine order. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month. Another departure from the divine order, the the Feast of Tabernacles was to be held in the seventh month.
On the 15th day of the month, like under the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar, so did he in Bethel.
Sacrificing unto the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
Not of the sons of Aaron, but priests that came from other.
Tribes.
So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the 15th day of the 8th month, even in the month that he had devised of his own heart, and ordained A feast unto the children of Israel. And he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense. But a contrast this is with the Solomons solemn statement in Exodus, after God had given all the the instructions for the Tabernacle and the priesthood, and the ordering of everything.
Be sure that thou fulfill everything exactly according to the pattern that was given thee in the mount. And here we have just the opposite of that. Now we come to chapter 13.
And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah, by the word of the Lord unto Bethel. Notice that expression by the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord guided the man of God. He came out of Judah, the place of the divine center. He came where God had placed his name to bear.
Living in complicity with it.
He was there, dwelling there in that place.
You'll never find.
Those that are in the wrong place.
That have any power to witness against the evil of a place that they're in.
That would move them out if they did so.
So the man of God comes from Judah to render testimony against the evil that Jeroboam had set up at Bethel and at Dan.
And he cried, verse two against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar.
Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born unto the House of David Josiah by name.
You read about him in Second Kings 23, and we'll look at that at the end of the address. But here that man, this King's name is given to us, Josiah by name. And upon these shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken. Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. And it came to pass, when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him.
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And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up.
So that he could not pull it in again to him.
And the altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the men of God had given by the word of the Lord.
And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God.
And pray for me that my hand may be restored me again.
When the man of God besought the Lord, he had come to pronounce judgment.
Against the altar that Jeroboam had set up in defiance of the word of God.
But now he shows grace to him and mercy.
The man of God besought the Lord in the King's hand, was restored him again, and became as it was before.
Jeroboam was now the head of this 10 tribe nation, a new nation now separate from the 2 tribes of Jerusalem, and he was the head of this world power.
And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and.
I will give thee a reward.
The overtures of the world, the offerings of the world to reward the man of God out of Judah because he had showed mercy to him.
Are refused. Faithfully refused.
Then the man of God said unto the King, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place.
For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord saying.
Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.
Turn again by the same way that thou camest. Don't do that.
That is his, his going down was simply to pass through, not to sit down and have fellowship with those that were at that place of of departure, that place of idolatry where the golden calf had been set up by Jeroboam. But he was just to pass through and then come back another way so that it didn't look like he had spent any time there.
He had showed any fellowship there that he had eaten and drunk in that place. He was just to render his testimony and pass on and come home another way. He was very faithful in discharging that.
For so was it charged me, verse 9 by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again, by the same way that thou camest. So he went another way.
And returned not by the way, that he came to Bethel.
So any that had seen him going would not see him coming back as though he went to spend time there.
He just passed through, delivered his message and.
Passed through.
Now verse 11 There dwelt an old prophet in Bethel.
And his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel.
The words which he had spoken unto the King, then they told also to their father.
And their father said unto them, What way went he?
For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ***. So they saddled him the *** and he rode there on, and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak.
Lovely place. Speaks of the tree, speaks of the cross.
Sitting there, place of communion.
And he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that came from Judah? He said, I am.
Then he said unto him, Come home with me and eat bread. Now that's the very thing that Jeroboam had tried to get him to do, and he had refused. He had refused the overtures of the world, but now he's tested much more severely.
He's tested by a fellow prophet.
How many times we have heard well?
We're both Christians.
We're going to spend eternity together.
Why won't you have fellowship?
Fellowship will come to my church.
Had he done so?
He would have.
Negative. The testimony, the faithful testimony. He would have nullified the face faithful testimony that he had rendered against the wickedness that Jeroboam had set up at Bethel.
Let's see how he handles this temptation.
And he said, I may not return with thee, verse 16, nor go in with thee. Neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place.
For it was said to me by the word of the Lord. Again, he has the same source of authority, the word of the Lord. It hasn't changed. The word of the Lord said don't do that.
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Come back another way. Eat no bread, drink no water, have no fellowship.
For so was it said to me, by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
Now Jeroboam, when he heard that, he stopped.
But the man of God, the old prophet of Bethel.
He says more.
He said unto him, I am a prophet also, as thou art.
And an Angel spake unto me, by the word of the Lord.
He even uses the very expression that the man of God out of Judah.
Had used.
But he says the source of it is the Angel.
And the Angel said, Bring him back with thee into thine house.
That he may eat bread and drink water.
But he lied to him.
He lied to him.
I think of Adam back in the garden, God had said to him.
Of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Satan comes in the form of the serpent, and says, Ye shall not surely die.
He is a liar.
Satan is a liar.
And.
They listened to the lie, and so the man of God.
Listen to the lie. Once we have the word of the Lord, we are not to allow any others to talk us into a different view.
The word of the Lord would have preserved the man of God.
So he went back with him and did eat bread in his house and drank water.
In so doing, he justified the false position of the old prophet of Bethel. In so doing, he rendered his testimony against the evil that was there null and void. He showed complicity with the evil and fellowship with it by eating there at that place, and drinking there, and sitting down with the old prophet.
Reminds me of.
Another expression that we find in the kings, where Jeroboam, not Jeroboam, Jehoshaphat says to Ahab, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people.
And I will be with thee in the battle now. God has made a difference between those that walk in obedience to the Word of God and those that don't.
And so the man of God.
Is seduced, is deceived.
To compromise his testimony.
Verse 20 now.
And it came to pass as they sat at the table place of fellowship.
That the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back. God is now going to use the old prophet of Bethel that had seduced the man of God out of Judah to come back.
Use him to pronounce judgment against the man of God. And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, For as much as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord.
And has not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water.
In the place of which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water, Thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
And it came to pass after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the *** to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back in pronouncing that judgment against the man of God out of Judah. He was judging himself. He was pronouncing and condemning the position that he was in.
In condemning what the man of God out of Judah had done.
And when he was gone, verse 24, a lion met him, by the way.
And slew him.
He loses his testimony. He loses his life.
Because he did not.
Deliver the message faithfully and go back. He was enticed to come back and eat and drink and have fellowship in that place.
The lion slew him, and his carcass was cast in the way, and the *** stood by it. The lion also stood by the carcass. And behold, men passed by and saw the carcass cast in the way, the lion standing by the carcass, And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
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And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord.
Therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord which he spake unto him.
And he spake to his son, saying, Saddle me the ***. And they saddled him, And he went, and found his carcass cast in the way, and the *** and the lion standing by the carcass. The lion had not eaten the carcass nor torn the ***. Most extraordinary, all the lion had done was killed a man of God.
Sent by the Lord to do so.
But he hadn't eaten the carcass, nor had he eaten the ***.
And the prophet took up the carcass of the man of God, laid it upon the ***.
And brought it back.
And the old prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him, and he laid his carcass in his own grave.
And they mourned over him, saying, alas, my brother.
Here he had.
He had misled a brother.
The two take a false position with himself.
So as to nullify that faithful testimony which the man of God out of Judah had rendered.
And to express fellowship, and to justify in so doing the false position of the old prophet of Bethel.
And the old prophet of Bethel realizes the solemnity of what he had done. Alas, my brother.
And it came to pass after he had buried him, that he spake to his son, saying, When I am dead.
Then bearing me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried.
Lay my bones beside his bones.
For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places.
Which are in the cities of Samaria shall surely.
Come to pass.
Now let's turn to 2nd Kings 23.
2 Kings 23.
Whole chapter is about Josiah.
Who was?
Zealous for the glory of the Lord.
And we'll begin by reading at verse 14.
And he break in pieces the images, and cut down the Groves, and fill their places with the bones of men.
Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel.
And the high place which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin. That's a formula that you read over and over and over again in the in the historical books, Jeroboam, the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin. That's what characterized the 10 tribes. It was set up in disobedience to the word of the Lord. It was set up in rebellion against the House of David, against the divine center of Jerusalem. And God had to.
Defying against it, bring up a profit down the man of God out of Judah to render a testimony.
In succumbing to the enticing influence of the old prophet of Bethel, that man of God lost his life.
And lost his testimony.
But notice what happens here.
Verse 15 Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel in the high place, which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made both that altar in the high place, he breakdown and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the Grove.
And as Josiah turned to himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount, and sent and took the bones out of the sepulchers, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, Let him, let him alone.
Let no man move his bones, so they let his bones alone with the bones of the prophet.
That came out of Samaria.
So these two prophets, the man of God out of Judah, the old prophet of Bethel, who was a true brother in the Lord, if you would say a true man of a true child of God, and yet in a false position. And he seduces the man of God to compromise and to lose his testimony. But they're both the Lords. And so when judgment is executed upon the ungodly.
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Those who were godly, even though they had failed, are untouched. We will never suffer the judgment that is executed against the world, even though we fail in our testimony. That's a wonderful thing and comforting to remember. Now the last two verses of chapter 13 in one Kings.
Did it? Did this have any effect on Jeroboam? Did it cause him to repent and change his ways? Not a bit of it.
Verse 33.
First Kings 1333 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people, of priests of the high places. Whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
And this thing became sin unto the House of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.
Well, what a solemn portion.
It begins with the failure at the Divine center by Solomon.
Who had been so privileged? Who had begun so well?
But what turned away his heart was his many wives. He loved many strange women.
And his wives turned away his heart.
The king was not to multiply horses to himself. He was not to multiply wives to himself.
He was not to multiply riches. All of these Solomon did.
But it was his wives that turned away his heart and he ended up very poorly.
But what lessons we learn here. Even though there was failure at the divine center, it still remained the divine center. And what was set up in the energy of the human will by Jeroboam was never owned of God. Remember the Lord's encounter with the woman of Samaria?
She said to him, Our Father's worshipped in this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Now what did the Lord answer her?
He said he worshiped, you know, not what. He never owned Samaria. Never.
Never owned it. It was set up in rebellion.
And in idolatry.
Ye worship, ye know not what we know, what we worship. For salvation is of the Jews. The Messiah came from the nation of the Jews, from the tribe of Judah, son of David.
Salvations of the Jews. God owned that center, not Samaria.
Well, these are solemn lessons and very important for us to remember that we do not express fellowship with a false.
Table with a table that has been set up.
In independence.
And not according to the word of God. The word of the Lord would have kept the man of God. The word of the Lord will keep us. And once we have the word of the Lord, there's no need to get on the telephone. It's no need to discuss the matter with other brethren. You can only get confused by these things. If you have the word of the Lord. That is where you stop.
And that's where the man of God ought to have stopped. Instead, he entered into a dialogue with the old prophet of Bethel, and he fell and lost his testimony. May God keep us. Let's end by.
Singing 224.
O that we never might forget what Christ has suffered for our sake, to save our souls and make us meet of all his glory to partake. But keeping this in mind, press on to glory and the victor's crown.