The reaction of the old prophet indicated that he did not treat his son’s report as a casual recital of the day’s events in Bethel. It motivated him to ask a specific question. He asked, Which way did he go?
Evidently, multiple routes existed to travel from Bethel to Judah. This prophet was interested in knowing the route chosen by the man of God. This was not a demonstration of idle curiosity, but a practical question, so that the old prophet of Bethel could pursue the man of God. For that is the reason that he wanted his donkey saddled for him.
Why did the prophet do what he did? Once again, the writer does not inform us. Did he, as a false prophet, want to corrupt a man who was a true prophet of God? Was he prompted by feelings of hospitality, believing that it would be safe for the man of God in his home in a manner that was not the case in the house of King Jeroboam? Was he acting on behalf of Jeroboam to deceptively lure him to the prophet's house so that he could turn him over to the king? If this last suggestion is the answer, did he think that the king would reward him for his dishonesty?
Any of these or none of them could be the reason. Nonetheless, a more profound question is, Why did the Lord allow him to do it? God may have been testing his servant. You might reply that he had already passed one test, so why test him again? Yet there is no guarantee that the world, the flesh, and the devil will stop at one temptation. Jesus was tempted by Satan three times in the wilderness.
The old prophet on his donkey caught up with the man of God, who was sitting under an oak. Why was the Judean sitting under the oak? The obvious answer is that he was taking a rest from his journey. But wait a minute. Was he not under instruction to spend as little time as possible in Israel? The journey from Bethel to the southern kingdom was not a particularly long one. Bethel was almost on the border between them, since the territory of Benjamin was part of the kingdom of Judah. It was approximately 18 kilometres between Bethel and Jerusalem. This was well within a day’s journey, and the border between Ephraim and Benjamin was much closer. It would have been much safer for the man of God to delay his rest until he had crossed the border.
There is another matter that we might think ought to have raised suspicions in the mind of the man of God, and that was the old prophet’s question as to his identity. Given the Lord’s will that he should stay in the northern kingdom a minimal amount of time, was it wise to let a stranger in Israel know who he was? Not everyone’s questions deserve an answer. We might believe that simple politeness required an answer from him, but his life might have been at stake. There was no guarantee that the old prophet was not an agent of Jeroboam.
Regardless of what he should have done, the man of God answered the inquiry in the positive. That response opened the door for further conversation that, as we shall see, led to the prophet from Judah’s disobedience. It was unwise at the very least because it delayed his exit from the northern kingdom. It is noteworthy to remember that when Jesus sent out the seventy to their ministries in Luke 10:4, he instructed them to greet no one on the road. Obeying the Lord’s instructions overrules cultural norms of politeness.
12 il leur dit: Par quel chemin s'en est-il allé? Ses fils avaient vu par quel chemin s'en était allé l'homme de Dieu qui était venu de Juda.