The lying prophet was in the service of Jeroboam, King of Israel; but the man of God, who came to cry against the altar, belonged to the kingdom of Judah. The man of God, who understood that his first orders were countermanded, went home with the lying prophet, and did eat and drink. The reader will now notice the following three verses in 1 Kings xiii., 20, 21, 22:—“And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and host not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but earnest back, and hast eaten bread and drank water in the place of which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.” If men would but exercise their reason, is it possible for them to believe that the Sovereign Ruler of all had any concern in so paltry a transaction as this? The sum of the whole account may be expressed in a few words. The first prophet came to Jeroboam, by order of the Lord, to curse the altar. He then and there performed two miracles, as proof that his commission was Divine. He then departed. All was so far right; but, on meeting another prophet, he was told, in so many words, that things were changed, and that he might do now that which he was ordered not to do when he first set out. But the old prophet of Jeroboam, we are told, was a liar; and when they sat at meat, the word of the Lord came to the lying prophet and gave him orders to condemn the first. So that the Lord first employed an honest servant, who performed his errand faithfully, and then took into his service a false prophet and a liar! Believe this who can! It is possible that Jeroboam may have been King over Israel: this is not the point in dispute; but that Infinite Wisdom appointed him, cannot possibly be true, because he was made King in consequence of Solomon’s idolatry. Solomon did not, by sinning himself, corrupt the whole nation; but Jeroboam set up false gods, and the people followed his example, so that the worship of Jehovah, by the ten tribes, was entirely abandoned. Such blundering cannot be admitted, if the true and living God is to be considered as the projector. Besides, Jeroboam was not cured of his error by reformation, although he had been an eye-witness of the miracles performed on his own person. Enough, then, has been said to prove, that the whole account of God’s making Jeroboam King over Israel, is without any solid foundation.