1 kings 13:1-4 - 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.
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. 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,
Jeroboam continued to turn away
from God…offering sacrifices to the idols he had built…never even considering
the consequences of the decisions he had made. So God sent a prophet…to tell
him he had future plans to reinstate a king from David’s family line…and all
the priests that he had appointed to serve him would die on this very altar. He even gave Jeroboam a sign to verify his
words as being from God….the splitting of the altar…so that the ashes on it
would be poured out.
Jeroboam was crazy angry...and
grabbed the prophet’s arm…only to find his own arm paralyzed in that same
moment. The altar beside him split…and
ashes poured out on the floor where they were standing….and out of fear for his
own life he called out to the prophet to ask God to restore it…and God did. He
ask the man to come dine with him…but he declined the invitation…God had told
him to go deliver his message and come home another way…with no food or water
till he returned.
Jeroboam must have been one cold
fellow. It is so inconceivable to me that witnessing this moment would not have
changed his heart…but he went right back to business as usual. He continued to worship these idols…and
appoint new priests from any tribe….forgetting God’s words that all priests
should come from the tribe of Levi.
I guess that is why the world is
in such bad shape. We have more Jeroboam’s in the world than we do Noah’s or
Moses’s. I am sure as I write this that
most of us have had one of these crazy moments with God...where he reveals to
us the error of our ways...and calls us to follow him...and change our lives.
Some of us listen…the pure holiness of meeting God lights a passion in our soul
to do what he asks us. But others just
go back to our old ways….cold…thinking selfishly like Jeroboam that the world
was made just for us…and we can do as we please.
Father…thank you for this story
that reminds me to let the things you allow in my life to teach me more about
who you are and what you need me to do while I am here on Earth. Help me to
recognize those moments form you that are sent just to wake me up….and warm up
my cold selfish heart. Help me be a
Noah….or a Moses…and listen to your words…and make them a fire in my own heart
to do your work…whatever it is you have called me to do. Amen.
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