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The Man of God is the prophet from Judah. He comes to prophesies against Jeroboam [13:1] and his usurping of the priesthood authority. He speaks of Josiah {13:2] and what he will do to the bones of the illegitimate priests. We know he is a true prophet because what he said came true about 350 years later [II Kings 23:13-20]

Jereboam is attempting to combine the priesthood [I Kings 12:31-33] and the judges which had been made separate by God. This is one of the reasons the Levites came down to be with Judah [II Chronicles 11:13-15] and subsequently became known as Jews.

[13:3-4] Jereboam heard what the Man of God had been saying and put forth his hand and immediately it was dried up...or paralyzed. The alter was also rent [13:5] according to the sign of the Man of God. Jereboam asks that his hand be restored and the hand becomes as it was before [13:6]. You would think that by Jereboam asking for a favor from the Man of God that perhaps he has had a change of heart. No way!

[13:7] The king offers the Man of God a reward...or a payoff... by asking him to come home with him. The Man of God refuses because he had received instructions not to eat any bread nor drink any water nor turn away from your errand [13:8-9]. And when he was done to get home now!

So far....so good! The Man of God (prophet from Judah) is obeying all instructions until......[13:10] he went another way and runs into the sons of an Old Prophet [13:11]. This prophet was a prophet in Israel before Jereboam became bad, appointing his own priests and prophets, and this Old Prophet evidently lost his job.

[13:12] His sons come home and tell him about the Man of God and the Old Prophet asks his sons "Which way did he go?" They knew, so the Old Prophet asks that his ass be saddled so he can go talk with the Man of God [13:13] Well, they catch up with him sitting under a tree [13:14] and ask if it is he who is the Man of God. He replies yes and the Old Prophet invites him home for supper [13:15]. [13:16] The Man of God tells the Old Prophet he cannot do any of this....and why [13:17].

Here's the clincher: [13:18] The Old Prophet lies! A good lesson here....watch what people claim.... and claim to be. Some will explain to you....convincingly error after error...and you will believe! He (the Man of God) fell for it probably because he was hungry and tired and wanted to believe. If God tells you something.... don't let a man tell you different.

[13:19] So, he goes back to the Old Prophet's house and dines and the Word of God [13:20] came to the Old Prophet. This guy knew he had lied and cried out to the Man of God [13:21]"For as much as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of The Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which The Lord commanded thee." The Lord is using the Old Prophet at this point to reveal a message.

You came back, ate....drank and now your carcass will not go to your father's graves[13:22]. The ten tribes had become an abomination to The Lord and here the Man of God sat...in Israel, in complete defiance of God's command with his belly full and his thirst quenched. This same man (Old Prophet) that lied to him is now telling him he ain't gonna make it! Another good lesson here; God expects you to use common sense and do what he commands.

[13:23] The Old Prophet now gives the Man of God a better animal for his short journey, knowing he will not arrive and sure enough, before he had gone too far [13:24] a lion meets him and kills him. This lion is of God because the lion does not eat the mule...it just kills the Man of God and sits there by the road. [13:25] People pass by and take note. [13:26] And when the Old Prophet heard of it he says "It was because the Man of God did not obey the commandment" knowing it was also his lie that convinced the man of God to do what he had done. He says [13:27] let's go and they [13:27] went and they found the carcass....still not eaten by the lion [13:28]....nor the ass! This was because the entire episode was a divine act and God wanted everyone...including the passersby, that this was his doing. [13:29] The Old prophet then hauls away the carcass....to mourn over and bury.

Remember, God had warned the Man of God not to stop and eat or drink and to come right back to Judah. The Old Prophet appears to be somewhat saddened but knows that it was his lie that caused it [13:30]. He probably did some repenting....maybe other folks aware of the situation did also. He requests [13:31] that his sons bury him with the Man of God when his time comes. [13:32] The Old Prophet is now a second witness to what the Prophet of Judah (The Man of God) was doing and what he had stated before the alter of Jeroboam. The Man of God had prophesied that God would bring forth Josiah.....a King that would rid the land of idol worship and bring down these high places.

{13:33] Jereboam continued in his evil ways and [13:34] this thing was known to be a sin unto the house of Jereboam.

The Man of God has a duty to teach the Word of God to all who are of him. To teach it exactly as it is written so all may understand what God expects of them. When you begin anointing certain individuals to carry on this task and they fail in their efforts and manipulate the word to their own ends they are robbing God of his word. This is what the Man of God had done. He had robbed God of his commandment because he was hungry and thirsty....and would believe anything!

The Assyrians came on the scene about a couple of hundred years later and took Israel away. They have never returned! God does not go back on his word or contradict himself and if he says it will happen in a certain order you can believe it. If someone tells you that God is not going to do something...and scripture clearly shows them to be wrong....you can know for sure that person is a liar. There are no short cuts....trust and obey.

why did the one man in the town lie to him to get the man of God to go with him. What was the purpose? This is a very strange chapter.

To show the result of disobedience.