The king tried to persuade the Levites, some of whom were living within his realm, to serve as priests in the newly erected shrines at Bethel and Dan; but in this effort he met with failure. He was therefore compelled to elevate to the priesthood men from “the lowest of the people.” Verse 31. Alarmed over the prospect, many of the faithful, including a great number of the Levites, fled to Jerusalem, where they might worship in harmony with the divine requirements. “Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrific- ing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.” Verse 32. The king’s bold defiance of God in thus setting aside divinely appointed institutions was not allowed to pass unrebuked. Even while he was officiating and burning in- cense during the dedication of the strange altar he had set up at Bethel, there appeared before him a man of God from Jereboam [99-101] 86 Prophets and Kings the kingdom of Judah, sent to denounce him for presuming to introduce new forms of worship. The prophet “cried against the altar . . . 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.” Immediately the altar “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.” 1 Kings 13:2, 3, 5. On seeing this, Jeroboam was filled with a spirit of de- fiance against God and attempted to restrain the one who had delivered the message. In wrath “he put forth his hand from the altar” and cried out, “Lay hold on him.” His im- petuous act met with swift rebuke. The hand outstretched against the messenger of Jehovah suddenly became power- less and withered, and could not be withdrawn
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 05:32:18 +0000
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