The reactions of two men finish the chapter. One of them is the old prophet, and the other is the king. The old prophet’s grief would be touching if we wouldn’t be so disgusted that his lie tempted the man of God to his death. But the king’s reaction is positively hideous. He ignored the Lord.
27 The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so. 28 Then he went out and found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. 29 So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. 30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, “Alas, my brother!”
The most famous World War I flying ace of Germany was without a doubt Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. Von Richthofen owed a lot of his success to his commander and teacher, Oswald Boehlke, but as a new pilot he was also partly responsible for Boehlke’s death in October of 1916. Boehlke’s plane crashed when Von Richthofen dashed off after an enemy fighter leaving a trail of destruction behind him. The Baron was new to flying and eager to shoot down ten planes and become an ace. He cut in front of Boehlke and his wingman, Erwin Böhme. Böhme was the oldest pilot in the squadron (37) and thought to be too old to be flying by everyone except Boehlke. Böhme had to react quickly to get out of Von Richthofen’s way, but as he jerked his plane over his wheels tore through Boehlke’s wing, and the older man could only watch in horror as his beloved Rittmeister spun down to his death. Von Richthofen mourned for his comrade, but never really took responsibility for his death.
There was more remorse in the old prophet’s throat: “Alas! My brother!” He laid the body of the man of God in his own tomb. By doing this, he might have been taking responsibility for prophet’s death, or he might just have wanted to associate (in death) with this true prophet of God. Commentator Adam Clarke’s notes include this statement: “Perhaps the old prophet said it as much in reference to himself, who had been the cause his untimely death, as in reference to the man of God.”
31 After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the message he declared by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”
It was an easy thing to say that the man of God’s prophecy about the altar would come true, when part of it had happened already there before the prophet, the priests and the king. Faith is not a matter of seeing, but of trusting in what we haven’t seen.
The “towns of Samaria” are mentioned here, and we should note that this is the earliest mention of Samaria in the Bible. It’s possible that the author who wrote the book of Kings inserted this word so that the meaning would be clear for later readers, but it’s also possible that the old prophet was speaking a prophecy, and that just as the man of God named Josiah centuries before his birth, so the old prophet now named Samaria fifty years before King Omri bought the land from Shemer and named it for him (1 Kings 16:24).
Perhaps a good epitaph for the man of God would be this:
He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor
than he who has a flattering tongue. (Proverbs 28:23)
33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. 34 This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth. (NIV)
Jeroboam saw a miracle and didn’t learn from it. We’re not told his heart was hardened, but he certainly didn’t change his ways. He heard the truth. He had been given the word of God specifically delivered for himself. He had turned away from the Lord and had been given a chance to repent. But time and time again, he blew it. Jeroboam stands for us as an example of just how wrong things can get. But things in the northern kingdom were going to get even worse.
Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord,
but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble. (Proverbs 28:14)
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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