The Prophet With No Name (First Kings 13)

The man of God found in First Kings 13 is a leader who we find doing right initially, but finishing horribly and leaving behind a legacy of shame and dishonor. What did he do right, and what did he do wrong? These questions will be explored as we go through the text of First Kings 13.

The Leadership of the Nameless Prophet (verses 1 through 6)
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.'" Now when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, "Seize him." But his hand which he stretched out against him dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. The altar also was split apart and the ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. The king said to the man of God, "Please entreat the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me." So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before. (New American Standard Bible)

We see in verse one that this prophet was indeed called from God and showed up in God's timing, which is always to say, at just the right time. The Lord called him out of his own land of Judah to proclaim His judgment on the practicing of the false religion into which Jeroboam was leading Israel.

In verses two and three, the Unknown Prophet demonstrates his leadership here in the fact that he proclaims the message that God has given him not with timidity and fear, but with boldness and vigor. He cries out his message, in a mixture of rage and despair, voicing the sentiment that Israel has kindled in the heart of God. Nameless delivers a message that is not milk and honey in the ears of its audience, but rather a painful image of what was to come about as a punishment for their spiritual adultery. He is here faithful to the Lord in that he proclaims completely; he holds nothing back. He gives a foretelling of what is to come in hundreds of years and what is to come in just a few moments, with a splitting of the altar and pouring of the ashes.

God's seal of approval on Nameless is demonstrated in verses four and five with the shriveling of Jeroboam's hand and with the fulfillment of the prophecy made in verse three. Jeroboam's partial paralysis as he attempts to exert power over God's man instantly shows what is the true power of the king and, for that matter, who ultimately is the True King.

Nameless does well in not condemning Jeroboam in verse six. We have here a demonstration of an attribute that is essential in any leader: GRACE. From this action it can be argued that the Lord is extending (pun intended) an opportunity to Jeroboam to be restored and to do right from this point forward, and using the Prophet With No Name to make the offer. Grace in service yields opportunities to more grace. As we see in the next passage, however, Jeroboam will respond incorrectly, whereas Nameless will respond there correctly.

The Limitations of the Nameless Prophet (verses 7 through 10)
Then the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward." But the man of God said to the king, "If you were to give me half your house I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came.'" So he went another way and did not return by the way which he came to Bethel.

So relieved was Jeroboam that he again had full use of his faculties, he makes an offer that would make Satan proud(er). All of the players in this drama know that the offer being made is more than just one of polite and mandatory hospitality; this is an invitation to co-mingle with an idolatrous lifestyle, indeed to approve of and applaud it. Jeroboam has not yet spoken righteously concerning the evil practices that he was promoting at the opening of this chapter, and now he is inviting God's man to sit with him idly and enjoy his hospitality and compensation.

In Nameless's response to Jeroboam, we begin to see his weakness which will be exploited to his demise in the following verses, even though his response here is essentially correct. Verse eight gives us the only statement that comes wholly from himself. His response is reminiscent of Eve in the garden, incorrectly quoting the command from God to the serpent by adding to it. In terms of leadership, Nameless has a good working knowledge of the Word of God, but his lack of an intimate knowledge of the details will ultimately lead to his downfall. This chink in his armor will lead to his destruction, and not only his own, but to many others.

In comparing what Nameless says from himself in verse eight and his quotation of the Lord's command to him in verse nine, the glaring difference is that the Lord does not mention rewards; we know where Nameless's mind is focused. Jeroboam invites to hospitality, refreshment, and reward, and Nameless replies to reward first, then hospitality, and finally refreshment. He may have realized his speaking out of turn, or perhaps he simply sought to buffet his statement with the word-for-word command from the Lord in verse nine. For whatever reason, he demonstrated in that moment a dichotomy within himself that the deceiver will depend on in the next passage to destroy this nameless prophet.

The Laziness of the Nameless Prophet (verses 11 through 19)
Now an old prophet was living in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the deeds which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they related to their father. Their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" Now his sons had seen the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone. Then he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it. So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak; and he said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" And he said, "I am." Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread." He said, "I cannot return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. For a command came to me by the word of the LORD, 'You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.'" He said to him, "I also am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'" But he lied to him. So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

Verse eleven introduces us to another leader, an old prophet living in Bethel; his introduction at this juncture in the narrative invites many delicious inquiries that this discourse is not intended to explore. He may have been a righteous and godly prophet of the Living God at some time in his past or a false prophet from the beginning; either way, he shows a great interest in Nameless. It is quite curious that while a prophet lives in Bethel, the Lord sends a man of God from Judah to go to Bethel to speak against the wicked king.

One of the absolute necessities in terms of character traits of leaders is the character trait of integrity: that which is without being true to that which is within. The most striking contrast within the nameless prophet is shown in verses 14, 16 and 19. In the previous passage we see Nameless's zeal and determination to carry out God's express command to go by another way than the way which he came to Bethel, but we keep reading and in verse 14--the next time we see him--he is found sitting! Sitting occurs when the work is done, and this man of God has not yet finished doing what God commanded him to do. His laziness gives occasion to temptation in the form of Old Nameless offering him essentially the same offer that Jeroboam offered. Furthermore, when asked about his identity, his terse response, "I am," betrays a bit of unchecked pride that Nameless harbors. Jesus said, "Let your yes be yes, and your no, no." A proper response for this tired prophet was a simple "Yes." The "I am" statement also gives us a clue that Nameless is operating under his own power at this point, and not the Lord's. He utters the statement reserved for the Almighty. Nameless here lacks two qualities that are requisite for any competent leader: diligence and humility.

Whether Nameless's spirit is willing or not, the weakness of his flesh betrays the fact that he is wearing down. The comparison of his response to Jeroboam with his response to Old Nameless in verse 15 yields an item of interest: he told Jeroboam that he would not go with him, but he tells this old prophet that he cannot go. Perhaps it was merely a slip of the tongue and he didn't mean it that way, but one might infer that he really wanted to go back with the old prophet and refresh himself.

In all falsehood, there is a grain of truth somewhere contained. Old Nameless speaks one fact truthfully in his statements to Nameless. He says, "I also am a prophet like you, ...," but neither man realizes the irony: it's only true because they are both disobedient to God. This liar goes on to make a false statement about what the Lord told him, and Nameless returns with him to eat and drink, and in so doing demonstrates a lack of another necessary quality for leadership: stalwart faithfulness. He disregarded God's direct command to him because of a second-hand statement from a second-rate seducer. As we shall see in the next passage, Nameless will pay for this lapse of character with his earthly life.

The Loss of the Nameless Prophet (verses 20 through 25)
Now it came about, as they were sitting down at the table, that the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because you have disobeyed the command of the LORD, and have not observed the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you, but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, "Eat no bread and drink no water"; your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers.'" It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. Now when he had gone, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body. And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.

God is a God of miracles; He made a donkey speak, and similarly here in verses 20 and 21, he uses a useless mouth to proclaim His command. This passage relates the righteous judgment of Almighty God on a disobedient servant and the just recompense to a rebellious steward. Nameless finds himself in this passage at the nadir of his descent; he finds himself in the position Jeroboam was in at the opening of the chapter. Leaders are given more responsibility than followers, and as such they are given opportunity to greater rewards and punishments. Nameless made a willful decision to disobey the Lord. That he was lied to is immaterial in the eyes of God; he had already been given explicit instructions from God. He could have at any point between the tree and Old Nameless's house repented and returned to doing what God told him to do. He was a grain of salt that lost his savor; found with fault, he lost his favor, he was good for nothing except to be cast down and trodden under foot.

God still turned the evil of disobedience into a blessing to all who have been able to study this account. Even in the slaying of this nameless prophet, the Lord still sends us all a message, particularly in leadership roles. He is faithful, just and merciful. God is fair; His judgments are just. The picture in verse 24 of the lion and the donkey standing together are a clear picture of mercy from Messiah Himself, the Righteous Judge, the Lion of Judah, and the Carrier of our Burden. He will not allow His own to carry on in willful sin.

The Legacy of the Nameless Prophet (verses 26 through 34)
Now when the prophet who brought him back from the way heard it, he said, "It is the man of God, who disobeyed the command of the LORD; therefore the LORD has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke to him." Then he spoke to his sons, saying, "Saddle the donkey for me." And they saddled it. He went and found his body thrown on the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion had not eaten the body nor torn the donkey. so the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back, and he came to the city of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him. He laid his body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!" After he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the thing shall surely come to pass which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria." After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but again he made priests of the high places from among all the people; any who would, he ordained, to be priests of the high places. This event became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of the earth.

In leadership roles, every action taken by the leader yields consequences beyond the scope of the individual. In verse 26 we see Nameless receiving another designation; he goes from being "the man of God from Judah" to "the man of God, who disobeyed the command of the LORD." This crafty old prophet is left to put himself in the position of appearing righteous even after he lied to Nameless. He goes so far as to have himself buried at the time of his death alongside nameless in his own grave. Even in his death he seeks vainglory.

The greatest tragedy that could have been averted is the downfall of Jeroboam. Even after the episodes of Nameless's message from God and the account of his judgment by God Himself after his disobedience, Jeroboam is back to his idolatrous business. One could argue that Jeroboam's resolve was steeled upon hearing of the prophet's demise who turned down his generous invitation to join him in fellowship.

In conclusion, the prophet with no name who came to Bethel from Judah started well. His display of resolve to communicate God's word and grace to plead for God's restoration were to his credit; his lack of intimacy with God, integrity, diligence, humility, and faithfulness led to his own downfall, and contributed to the downfall of a king and his line. We in the service of the True King will do well to take note of this cautionary tale, and be faithful in our lives of service to not make the Holy Name less.

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The Leadership of the Nameless Prophet (verses 1 through 6)	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.'" Now when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, "Seize him." But his hand which he stretched out against him dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. The altar also was split apart and the ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. The king said to the man of God, "Please entreat the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me." So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before. (New American Standard Bible) We see in verse one that this prophet was indeed called from God and showed up in God's timing, which is always to say, at just the right time. The Lord called him out of his own land of Judah to proclaim His judgment on the practicing of the false religion into which Jeroboam was leading Israel. In verses two and three, the Unknown Prophet demonstrates his leadership here in the fact that he proclaims the message that God has given him not with timidity and fear, but with boldness and vigor. He cries out his message, in a mixture of rage and despair, voicing the sentiment that Israel has kindled in the heart of God. Nameless delivers a message that is not milk and honey in the ears of its audience, but rather a painful image of what was to come about as a punishment for their spiritual adultery. He is here faithful to the Lord in that he proclaims completely; he holds nothing back. He gives a foretelling of what is to come in hundreds of years and what is to come in just a few moments, with a splitting of the altar and pouring of the ashes. God's seal of approval on Nameless is demonstrated in verses four and five with the shriveling of Jeroboam's hand and with the fulfillment of the prophecy made in verse three. Jeroboam's partial paralysis as he attempts to exert power over God's man instantly shows what is the true power of the king and, for that matter, who ultimately is the True King. Nameless does well in not condemning Jeroboam in verse six. We have here a demonstration of an attribute that is essential in any leader: GRACE. From this action it can be argued that the Lord is extending (pun intended) an opportunity to Jeroboam to be restored and to do right from this point forward, and using the Prophet With No Name to make the offer. Grace in service yields opportunities to more grace. As we see in the next passage, however, Jeroboam will respond incorrectly, whereas Nameless will respond there correctly.
The Limitations of the Nameless Prophet (verses 7 through 10)	Then the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward." But the man of God said to the king, "If you were to give me half your house I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came.'" So he went another way and did not return by the way which he came to Bethel. So relieved was Jeroboam that he again had full use of his faculties, he makes an offer that would make Satan proud(er). All of the players in this drama know that the offer being made is more than just one of polite and mandatory hospitality; this is an invitation to co-mingle with an idolatrous lifestyle, indeed to approve of and applaud it. Jeroboam has not yet spoken righteously concerning the evil practices that he was promoting at the opening of this chapter, and now he is inviting God's man to sit with him idly and enjoy his hospitality and compensation. In Nameless's response to Jeroboam, we begin to see his weakness which will be exploited to his demise in the following verses, even though his response here is essentially correct. Verse eight gives us the only statement that comes wholly from himself. His response is reminiscent of Eve in the garden, incorrectly quoting the command from God to the serpent by adding to it. In terms of leadership, Nameless has a good working knowledge of the Word of God, but his lack of an intimate knowledge of the details will ultimately lead to his downfall. This chink in his armor will lead to his destruction, and not only his own, but to many others. In comparing what Nameless says from himself in verse eight and his quotation of the Lord's command to him in verse nine, the glaring difference is that the Lord does not mention rewards; we know where Nameless's mind is focused. Jeroboam invites to hospitality, refreshment, and reward, and Nameless replies to reward first, then hospitality, and finally refreshment. He may have realized his speaking out of turn, or perhaps he simply sought to buffet his statement with the word-for-word command from the Lord in verse nine. For whatever reason, he demonstrated in that moment a dichotomy within himself that the deceiver will depend on in the next passage to destroy this nameless prophet.
The Laziness of the Nameless Prophet (verses 11 through 19)	Now an old prophet was living in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the deeds which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they related to their father. Their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" Now his sons had seen the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone. Then he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it. So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak; and he said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" And he said, "I am." Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread." He said, "I cannot return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. For a command came to me by the word of the LORD, 'You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.'" He said to him, "I also am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'" But he lied to him. So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water. Verse eleven introduces us to another leader, an old prophet living in Bethel; his introduction at this juncture in the narrative invites many delicious inquiries that this discourse is not intended to explore. He may have been a righteous and godly prophet of the Living God at some time in his past or a false prophet from the beginning; either way, he shows a great interest in Nameless. It is quite curious that while a prophet lives in Bethel, the Lord sends a man of God from Judah to go to Bethel to speak against the wicked king. One of the absolute necessities in terms of character traits of leaders is the character trait of integrity: that which is without being true to that which is within. The most striking contrast within the nameless prophet is shown in verses 14, 16 and 19. In the previous passage we see Nameless's zeal and determination to carry out God's express command to go by another way than the way which he came to Bethel, but we keep reading and in verse 14--the next time we see him--he is found sitting! Sitting occurs when the work is done, and this man of God has not yet finished doing what God commanded him to do. His laziness gives occasion to temptation in the form of Old Nameless offering him essentially the same offer that Jeroboam offered. Furthermore, when asked about his identity, his terse response, "I am," betrays a bit of unchecked pride that Nameless harbors. Jesus said, "Let your yes be yes, and your no, no." A proper response for this tired prophet was a simple "Yes." The "I am" statement also gives us a clue that Nameless is operating under his own power at this point, and not the Lord's. He utters the statement reserved for the Almighty. Nameless here lacks two qualities that are requisite for any competent leader: diligence and humility. Whether Nameless's spirit is willing or not, the weakness of his flesh betrays the fact that he is wearing down. The comparison of his response to Jeroboam with his response to Old Nameless in verse 15 yields an item of interest: he told Jeroboam that he would not go with him, but he tells this old prophet that he cannot go. Perhaps it was merely a slip of the tongue and he didn't mean it that way, but one might infer that he really wanted to go back with the old prophet and refresh himself. In all falsehood, there is a grain of truth somewhere contained. Old Nameless speaks one fact truthfully in his statements to Nameless. He says, "I also am a prophet like you, ...," but neither man realizes the irony: it's only true because they are both disobedient to God. This liar goes on to make a false statement about what the Lord told him, and Nameless returns with him to eat and drink, and in so doing demonstrates a lack of another necessary quality for leadership: stalwart faithfulness. He disregarded God's direct command to him because of a second-hand statement from a second-rate seducer. As we shall see in the next passage, Nameless will pay for this lapse of character with his earthly life.
The Loss of the Nameless Prophet (verses 20 through 25)	Now it came about, as they were sitting down at the table, that the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because you have disobeyed the command of the LORD, and have not observed the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you, but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, "Eat no bread and drink no water"; your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers.'" It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. Now when he had gone, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body. And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived. God is a God of miracles; He made a donkey speak, and similarly here in verses 20 and 21, he uses a useless mouth to proclaim His command. This passage relates the righteous judgment of Almighty God on a disobedient servant and the just recompense to a rebellious steward. Nameless finds himself in this passage at the nadir of his descent; he finds himself in the position Jeroboam was in at the opening of the chapter. Leaders are given more responsibility than followers, and as such they are given opportunity to greater rewards and punishments. Nameless made a willful decision to disobey the Lord. That he was lied to is immaterial in the eyes of God; he had already been given explicit instructions from God. He could have at any point between the tree and Old Nameless's house repented and returned to doing what God told him to do. He was a grain of salt that lost his savor; found with fault, he lost his favor, he was good for nothing except to be cast down and trodden under foot. God still turned the evil of disobedience into a blessing to all who have been able to study this account. Even in the slaying of this nameless prophet, the Lord still sends us all a message, particularly in leadership roles. He is faithful, just and merciful. God is fair; His judgments are just. The picture in verse 24 of the lion and the donkey standing together are a clear picture of mercy from Messiah Himself, the Righteous Judge, the Lion of Judah, and the Carrier of our Burden. He will not allow His own to carry on in willful sin.
The Legacy of the Nameless Prophet (verses 26 through 34)	Now when the prophet who brought him back from the way heard it, he said, "It is the man of God, who disobeyed the command of the LORD; therefore the LORD has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke to him." Then he spoke to his sons, saying, "Saddle the donkey for me." And they saddled it. He went and found his body thrown on the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion had not eaten the body nor torn the donkey. so the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back, and he came to the city of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him. He laid his body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!" After he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the thing shall surely come to pass which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria." After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but again he made priests of the high places from among all the people; any who would, he ordained, to be priests of the high places. This event became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of the earth. In leadership roles, every action taken by the leader yields consequences beyond the scope of the individual. In verse 26 we see Nameless receiving another designation; he goes from being "the man of God from Judah" to "the man of God, who disobeyed the command of the LORD." This crafty old prophet is left to put himself in the position of appearing righteous even after he lied to Nameless. He goes so far as to have himself buried at the time of his death alongside nameless in his own grave. Even in his death he seeks vainglory. The greatest tragedy that could have been averted is the downfall of Jeroboam. Even after the episodes of Nameless's message from God and the account of his judgment by God Himself after his disobedience, Jeroboam is back to his idolatrous business. One could argue that Jeroboam's resolve was steeled upon hearing of the prophet's demise who turned down his generous invitation to join him in fellowship. In conclusion, the prophet with no name who came to Bethel from Judah started well. His display of resolve to communicate God's word and grace to plead for God's restoration were to his credit; his lack of intimacy with God, integrity, diligence, humility, and faithfulness led to his own downfall, and contributed to the downfall of a king and his line. We in the service of the True King will do well to take note of this cautionary tale, and be faithful in our lives of service to not make the Holy Name less.