23 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 . 24 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 . 25 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 . 26 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." 27 Then he spoke to his sons , saying , "Saddle the donkey for me." And they saddled it. 28 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 . 29 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. 30 He laid his body in his own grave , and they mourned over him, saying, " Alas , my brother !" 31 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 . 32 " 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 ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 13:23-32
Commentary on 1 Kings 13:23-34
(Read 1 Kings 13:23-34)
God is displeased at the sins of his own people; and no man shall be protected in disobedience, by his office, his nearness to God, or any services he has done for him. God warns all whom he employs, strictly to observe their orders. We cannot judge of men by their sufferings, nor of sins by present punishments; with some, the flesh is destroyed, that the spirit may be saved; with others, the flesh is pampered, that the soul may ripen for hell. Jeroboam returned not from his evil way. He promised himself that the calves would secure the crown to his family, but they lost it, and sunk his family. Those betray themselves who think to support themselves by any sin whatever. Let us dread prospering in sinful ways; pray to be kept from every delusion and temptation, and to be enabled to walk with self-denying perseverance in the way of God's commands.