1 Kings 13:1-19
On the day "which he had devised of his own heart" (1 Kings 12:33), Jeroboam celebrates a feast at Bethel in honour of his golden calf. But someone comes and disturbs the ceremony. He is a man of God who arrives from Judah with a message of the most solemn kind, "O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD!" The altar is rent; the rebellious king is smitten, and then cured by the power of God. The prophet had received the order to return as soon as his mission was accomplished. To rest, to eat and drink in the territory of these disobedient tribes, would have been a contradiction of the words of judgment that he had pronounced. Likewise we are not able to show fellowship with religious organisations that are not in submission to Scripture.
The old prophet, whose sons appear to have been present at the feast of the golden calf, had no business to be found at Bethel. For this reason, although living in the town where there was this service to be undertaken, he had not been charged by the Lord with it. But by inviting the man of God from Judah to his house, the old man was justifying his false position and strengthening his own reputation. On his side, if the prophet from Judah had exercised more urgency in leaving the district, he would not have been overtaken (v. 14).