1 Kings 13:1

1 Kings 13:1 says, And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.  A man of God, a prophet out of Judah was sent by God to Bethel, and Jeroboam was standing before the altar of his false god ready to burn incense.   God sent him straight to the source of the problem, which was Jeroboam and his false gods.  God will still send people to address false gods today I believe, and He will make it clear when He does.  Verse two adds, And he cried 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; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.  This prophet didn't address Jeroboam, but he addressed the altar instead.  This was where the people were worshipping the false gods.  God today will condemn the sin while still reaching out to the sinner with His love.  I am sure that God would have preferred for Jeroboam to repent and be saved instead of being destroyed.  Matthew Henry says it was about 356 years before this prophesy was fulfilled totally fulfilled, but it was always a certainty that it would be, just as the return of Christ is, no matter how many years may pass before He returns.   Verse three continues, 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.  The prophet gave a sign that this was going to happen, and that sign was that the altar would be rent and the ashes on it would be poured out.  This would show God's superiority over these false idols, and we would have thought would have made Jeroboam repent and return to worshipping God.  I don't believe that God is going to destroy all the false religions today, but when Jesus Christ died on the cross, all these false religions were already defeated and one day all their places of worship will be destroyed.  All we can do in the meantime is share the gospel.  Verse four states, And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.  When Jeroboam heard what the prophet had to say, instead of repenting, he removed his hand from the altar and told those there to grab the prophet.  This prophet was not afraid of what Jeroboam might do to him, but was ready to do as God had commanded him to do, and so must we be ready to do whatever God calls us to do.  Jeroboam's hand dried up and he couldn't pull it in again.  This should have been a pretty good sign that the prophet was speaking for God.  Verse five adds, The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.  What God had said was going to happen to the altar then happened, and so would the things that He foretold about the future.  When Jesus Christ died and arose, all earthly barriers between man and God were removed, but this only matters if we accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord.  We can also be certain of His return when God says the time is right.  Verse six continues, And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.  Jeroboam asked the man of God to pray to his God and ask that his hand might be restored.  Of course, this should have been Jeroboam's God as well, and I believe it tells us a lot that he didn't pray to his god.  False gods will always be powerless to do anything.  The prophet then prayed to God and Jeroboam's hand was restored, which once more showed the power of God.  Verse seven says, And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.  Having just been ready to seize the prophet, Jeroboam then asked him to come home with him and he would reward him.  If God does something great through Christians today, the people of the world may want to reward us materially, but we need to make sure that God gets the credit and the glory instead.  We should never do anything for God expecting any material reward for it.  Verse eight adds, And 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:  The prophet told Jeroboam that he would not go with him if he offered him half of his kingdom, and he added that he would not eat or drink in that place.  If we are offered a reward for doing God's work today, we likewise need to decline ifr God has told us to have nothing to do with the place where we have been sent after we proclaim His word. Of course, we are supposed to reach out to sinners, but even in doing this we must act under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Verse nine continues, 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.  The prophet said God had charged him to not eat bread or drink water there, but to deliver the message and leave.  Sometimes, all God calls us to do is deliver His message of salvation and then to be on our way.  Verse ten concludes, So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.  Having been told not to return the way he came, the prophet took a different way back to Bethel.  We must also go where God sends us and leave it up to Him where we go next.