In 1 Kings 13:7 there is another occasion for us to be tempted to see a spark of repentance in King Jeroboam’s actions. He invited the man of God to come with him for refreshment, probably some sort of meal together with the promise of a present, but why should this prophet put any trust in this idolatrous king?
Many commentators believe that we have here an attempt upon Jeroboam’s part to bribe the prophet into a change of sides. Iain Provan takes this approach and adds the possibility that the king was trying to make it seem that the healing of his withered hand, looked at as a reversal of God’s immediate judgment, was a sign that the future judgment would also be reversed1
Other commentators see this occurrence as the Lord’s providential testing of the prophet’s obedience by Jeroboam’s offer no matter what the motivation of the king might have been. We use the word providential
because we do not have any biblical data that gives us certain knowledge that Jeroboam was intentionally attempting to cause the prophet to disobey the Lord's commands to him. There is no evidence that Jeroboam knew what restrictions God had placed upon his servant until the man of God informs the king (in the following verses).
The prophet from Judah refuses the offer of the king in a manner that leaves little room for further discussion. The response indeed appears somewhat impolite. But instead, the man of God responds that he would not agree to accept the offer, even if the present were half of Jeroboam’s kingdom.
There is a reason that the refusal is so forceful. Yahweh told him, he says, not to eat bread or to drink water in Israel but to return to Judah by another way. The king’s offer, indeed his own bodily comforts and necessities, must submit to the command of the God whom he serves. The divine will is always to take precedence over human desires, however attractive they may be. It may be true that the prophet did not trust the courteous-sounding words of a man who had just a little while previously sought to arrest him, but that is not his motivation. He must obey God!
The man of God, therefore, set out upon his return trip to Judah by another way than the way he had come to Bethel to give his prophetic utterance. Up to this point, the prophet from Judah showed himself to be a true man of God.
Yet, from the high point of faith and obedience, he was about to descend into faithlessness and disobedience that would bring him to death and permanent separation from his homeland.
7 And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”