The Story of the Bible

Jeroboam forgot that the Lord, who had given him the kingdom, could care for him and keep him, if he should be faithful to the Lord. But because he would not trust the Lord, he did that which was very evil. He chose two places, Bethel in the south, on the road to Jerusalem, and Dan far in the north; and made these places of worship for his people. And for each place he made a calf of god, and set it up; and he said to the people of Israel:

"It is too far for you to go up to Jerusalem to worship. Here are gods for you, at Bethel and at Dan. These are the gods which brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Come and worship these gods."

And as the priests of the tribe of Levi would not serve in Jeroboam's idol-temples, he took men out of all the tribes, some of them common and low men, and made them his priests. And all through the land, upon hills and high places, Jeroboam caused images to be set up, to lead the people in worshipping idols.

In the fall of the year there was held a feast to the Lord in Jerusalem, to which the people went from all the land. Jeroboam made a great feast at Bethel, a few weeks later than the feast at Jerusalem, in order to draw people to his idol-temple at Bethel, and to keep them away from the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem. At this feast King Jeroboam led his people away from the Lord to idols; and ever after this, when his name is mentioned in the Bible, he is spoken of as "Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin."

On a day when Jeroboam was offering incense at the altar, a man of God, a prophet, came from Judah; and he cried out against the altar, saying:

"O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord, Behold, in the time to come there shall rise up a man of the house of David, Josiah by name. And Josiah shall burn upon this altar the bones of the priests that have offered sacrifices to idols in this place. And this altar and this temple shall be destroyed."

The prophet from Judah also said to Jeroboam, "I will prove to you that I am speaking in the power of the Lord; and this shall be the sign. This altar shall fall apart, and the ashes upon it shall be poured out."

When King Jeroboam heard this, he was very angry. He stretched out his arm toward the prophet, and called to his guards, saying, "Take hold of that man!"

And instantly the hand which Jeroboam held out toward the prophet, dried up and became helpless And as if by an earthquake the altar before which the king stood was torn apart, and the ashes fell out upon the ground. Then the king saw that this was the work of the Lord. He said to the prophet, "Pray to the Lord your God for me, that he may make my hand well again."

Then the prophet prayed to the Lord, and the Lord heard his prayer, and made the king's hand well once more. Then King Jeroboam said to the prophet, "Come home with me, and dine, and rest; and I will give you a reward."

And the man of God said to the king:

"If you would give me half of your house, I will not go to your home, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place. For the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Eat no bread, and drink no water in this place; and go to your home in the land of Judah by another way.' "

So the man of God left Bethel by a road different from that by which he came, and went toward his own home in the land of Judah.

There was living in Bethel at that time another prophet, and old man. His sons told him of the coming of the man of God from Judah, what he said, and what the Lord had wrought. The old man learned from his sons which road the prophet had taken, and followed after him, and found him resting under an oak tree. He said to him:

"Are you the man of God that came from Judah?"

And he said, "I am." Then said the old prophet of Bethel to him, "come home with me, and have supper with me."

But the man of God said to him, "The Lord has commanded me not to eat bread or drink water in this place; and I must therefore go back to my own home in the land of Judah."

Then the old man said:

"I am a prophet of the Lord as you are; and an angel spoke to me from the Lord, saying, 'Bring the prophet from Judah back to your house, and let him eat and drink with you.' "

Now this was not true. It was a wicked lie. Then the prophet from Judah went home with him, and took a meal at his house. This also was not right, for he should have obeyed what the Lord had said to him, even though another man claimed to have heard a different message from the Lord.

And even while they were sitting at the table, a word came from the Lord to the old prophet who had told the lie; and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, saying:

"Thus saith the Lord, 'Because you have disobeyed my command, have come back to this place, and have eaten bread and drunk water here, therefore you shall die and your body shall not be buried in the tomb with your fathers.' "