The king said—come home with me, &c.— The reason is obvious, why this prophet was forbidden to eat and drink with the people of Beth-el; because he was to have no familiarity with idolaters. But why he should not return by the same way that he came is not so evident. Probably God enjoined his prophet not to return by the same way, lest Jeroboam, or any other of the inhabitants of Beth-el, either to satisfy their curiosity upon an occasion so uncommon, or to do him some mischief for his severe denunciations against their altar and way of worship, might send men after him to bring him back. See Calmet and Le Clerc.
REFLECTIONS.—Jeroboam, (who himself ministered as a priest,) in the height of his impious offering, seemed to glory in his shame; his courtiers around him joined his idolatrous service, and none dared remonstrate against the horrid crime: but God will not suffer these doings to pass without a severe rebuke.
1. God sends a prophet from Judah to Beth-el; and in the midst of the crowd, near the altar where the king stood, he boldly delivered his message, and proclaimed aloud Divine judgment upon the altar and its worship-pers; that it should be defiled with dead men's bones; and that a king should arise, Josiah by name, who would offer up the idolatrous priests upon it: and, to confirm the truth of his message, he gives a sign, which immediately came to pass, an evidence of God's present displeasure, and an earnest of the threatened destruction. Note; (1.) Before God strikes, he warns; he willeth not that any should perish, but rather that they should come to repentance. (2.) God's prophets must not fear the faces of men, but openly and faithfully, even to the greatest, declare their message, however unwelcome or dangerous.
2. Jeroboam, enraged at what he termed such insolence, stretches out his hand, and gives command to seize the prophet; when instantly, struck of God, it dried up; a warning to him how dangerous it was to fight against God. Note; (1.) Faithful rebukes often provoke proud wrath. (2.) The preachers of God's word are the especial butts of malice; but God will protect them: he that toucheth them, toucheth the apple of his eye. (3.) In the way of duty, we need fear no danger. (4.) The hearts of sinners, like the arm of Jeroboam, are, by rejecting God's warnings, given up to judicial hardness and impenitence.
3. Such a stroke, though it turned not his heart, altered for the time his tone. He now begs the prophet, whom he had threatened, to be his advocate, hoping for more success from his prayers than his own: not that he sought forgiveness of his sin, but deliverance from his affliction. The prophet charitably consents to pray for him, and at his request God restores the withered arm. Note; (1.) They who in their prosperity reject the warnings of God's ministers, will in their distress have recourse to their prayers. (2.) An impenitent heart ever betrays itself, in a greater concern for its sufferings than its sins. (3.) To pray for those who despitefully use and persecute us, is the way to obtain the promised beatitude, Matthew 5:10; Matthew 5:44.
4. Jeroboam now would reward the prophet for his prayers, but he is forbidden to eat or drink in Beth-el, and therefore refuses the king's invitation. Note; (1.) We must testify against the workers of iniquity, by refusing to have any fellowship with them. (2.) Neither offers nor threatenings must prevail with us to swerve a step from the path of duty.