1 Kings 13:20

THE MESSAGE TO THE MAN OF GOD THROUGH THE FALSE PROPHET

"And it came to pass as they sat at the table, that the word of Jehovah came to the prophet that brought him back; and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Forasmuch as thou hast been disobedient unto the mouth of Jehovah, and hast not kept the commandment which Jehovah thy God commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water: thy body shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his body was cast in the way; and the ass stood by it; the lion also stood by the body. And, behold, men passed by, and saw the body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt."

That the Word of God actually came to this evil old prophet should not surprise us. God also spoke to Balaam by the speech of a donkey. And there was apparently no appropriate medium in all of Bethel who could have served the purpose of God any better than this lying old prophet. When God actually spoke through him, he not only learned that the man of God was indeed an authentic spokesman from Jehovah, but he also came to believe all of the words which the man of God had spoken.

That the lion neither tore the donkey, nor ate the body of the slain prophet, nor fled from any of the passers-by, affirmed the presence of an element of the supernatural in the death of the man of God.