The True & Living God

1/21/26 Bible Thought (1 Kings 13)

Photo by javad asadi on Unsplash

The living God is not one to be trifled with.

A Look at 1 Kings 13

In today’s text, we see a picture of coming judgment, specifically against idolaters. We left off in yesterday’s chapter with Jeroboam, the king of Israel, instituting idolatrous worship for the northern tribes in the cities of Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:25-30).

What is important for us to note is that it was all man-made religion.

He took counsel and made golden calves (1 Kings 12:28). He put them in Dan and Bethel (1 Kings 12:29). He appointed the fifteenth day of the eighth month as something special, and he instituted a feast for the people (1 Kings 12:33). The consistent pattern is that he did it. There was no real deity involved—it was merely the work of men’s imaginations and hands.

God gave the northern tribes to Jeroboam as a gift (1 Kings 11:35). Yet, Jeroboam was fearful. He believed there would be no national security without a centralized religious system. Without the temple, the people would long to go back to Jerusalem. So, he responded by inventing his own system, effectively spitting in the face of Yahweh.

To this, God sent a prophet with a message of judgment upon the priests who sacrificed upon Jeroboam’s altars. One day, they themselves would be cast upon the altar by a coming king, Josiah (1 Kings 13:2). As a sign to prove the truth of the prophet’s words, the altar at Bethel would be torn down, and its ashes poured out, which promptly happened (1 Kings 13:3,5).

Bringing it Home

Let us remember that a god that needs to be set up on its own pedestal is no god at all.

To this, we see the picture of the true and living God. A God who doesn’t need anything from human hands—yet He still delights to involve us in His plans. Biblical religion isn’t man-made, for it is the product of divine revelation from the God who really exists and who really works in this world.

This is proven again and again as He both predicts the future and executes His plans.

In today’s text alone, we see this in the throwing down of an altar and the judgment upon a disobedient prophet. God is God. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. He has plans for the future, and He “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11). What He has promised He will do, for nothing is too hard for Him. As such, He is worthy of our worship and devotion.

A god crafted by man’s hands has no value, but the infinite, eternal God who alone has created all things and showers us with mercy is worthy of our whole lives (see Rom. 12:1).

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Challenge for Today: It can be easy to judge sinful people in the Old Testament who followed after literal idols, but how quickly can our hearts be turned towards serving things before God?

Let us remember that nothing man-made is worthy of our devotion like the living God is.