God knows the beginning from the end. He will not be mocked or denied His glory. He foretold the intersection of Josiah, Jeroboam, the prophet from Judah, and the old lying prophet. Some of this story in regards to Josiah has been discussed previously, but now will be concluded with this amazing prophesy.
1 Kings 13:1-3 Now behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.
He cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the LORD, 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'"
Then he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the LORD has spoken, 'Behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ashes which are on it shall be poured out.'"
As we have discussed previously, Jeroboam was an evil idolatrous king. God had sent this prophet to both warn Jeroboam and give him a sign. God also foretold the destruction of these altars by Josiah. But, Jeroboam did not take any of these warnings seriously. Most of today’s leaders and false teachers don’t take God seriously either.
2 Kings 23:12-14 The altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king broke down; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron.
The high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled.
He broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with human bones.
As we had studied previously, Josiah was the only king that truly sought to destroy all the high places, Ashtoreth poles, altars of idolatry, and the priests that attended to them. But, one grave stopped him from his appointed duties.
23:15 Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah.
This is a few hundred years later, but everyone knew who was responsible for this evil altar.
23:16-17 Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.
Then he said, "What is this monument that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel."
The story lived on even as the worship of God had been lost. They knew who this man was, what he had done, and where he was buried. Did they remember what God has done, what God had proclaimed, and what God had required?
23:18 He said, "Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones." So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.
Graves were sacred places. As were the bones or remains of those within them. Burning the bones on an altar desecrates the altar. It makes the altar totally unsuited for any more religious use. Josiah knew this and thus left this grave undisturbed. But, did he know that this prophet had mentioned him by name?
23:19-20 Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking the LORD; and he did to them just as he had done in Bethel.
All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.
The idolatrous priests were killed on the very altars they had previously performed sacrifices upon. Then their bones were burned upon them totally making them unclean even for the worship of demonic gods. This seems like such harsh punishment.
Deuteronomy 13:1-3 "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
How are you doing on God’s tests? Jeroboam lead the people to go after other gods, gods he created. What about the leader you are following?
13:4-5 "You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.
Today we listen to God’s voice by meditating on His Holy Word. We don’t sit around waiting for God to actually speak to us. We also should not follow anyone who claims God speaks to him. Especially, when their message doesn’t conform to God’s Word.
"But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.
In a theocracy, God commanded His people to put to death anyone who counseled rebellion against God. Today, we must be discerning and insure that we are not putting ourselves under a false teacher.
Remember, they don’t start out making bold, false claims. Much like their father the devil, they creep in and slowly begin to introduce heresy and blasphemy.
Are you able to discern the errors?