The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.” – 1 Kings 13:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 14, 2019): 1 Kings 13

Thank you. It is so easy to say. It doesn’t take much time out of our day to speak the words, and yet I am not sure that we speak them enough. I don’t think that anyone expects to be thanked for the things that they do to support a stranger, but it is also noticed when the sentiment is absent. If you hold a door open for someone, maybe you aren’t expecting a thank you, but if gratitude is not shown, then there is a noticeable void in the situation. When we let someone into our lane in traffic, we do so because we know that someday we may be the ones who need to be let in, but a thankful wave or a momentary acknowledgment from the “four-way flashers” acknowledging our actions can make a huge difference in our day. Saying “thank you” is one of the crucial moments of a life lived in community.

But there are also times when saying thank you can be problematic. Jeroboam is healed by the man of God. He is thankful for the action that was undertaken on his behalf. And he should have been grateful. So, as a way of saying thanks, the king invites the man of God to his home for a meal and promises a gift. On the surface, it seems like an appropriate reaction.

However, there is a problem with Jeroboam’s thankfulness. The whole situation arose because of the sin of the King. He had set up false gods for the Northern Tribes to worship and had even stolen the glory of the God of the Temple in Jerusalem by declaring that these were the gods who had brought Israel out of Egypt (1 Kings 12:28). The prophet from Judah had come to proclaim the sin of Jeroboam. He needed to understand the nature of his error. Jeroboam’s sin was not that he had divided the nation of Israel, splitting into a Northern Israel and a Southern Judah, but rather that he had built false gods to be worshipped by the Northern Tribes. It was a sin from which the Northern Tribes would never recover. Jeroboam had then compounded his guilt by ordering the arrest of the prophet sent to declare the error of the King. At this point, his arm withered and became useless, until the prophet restored it.  

Jeroboam was thankful that his arm was restored, but did nothing to correct the original sin. And that was a problem. The prophet would rather that Jeroboam repents from the sin that got him in trouble in the first place than be thankful that the punishment had been removed. As far as the prophet was concerned, the moment of thanks was out of order. First the king needed to repent of his sin. And unless that moment of repentance happened, then the prophet could never accept any gesture of thanksgiving that Jeroboam might want to give to him.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 10