Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Don't Take Mercy for Granted | Historical Books | 1 Kings 13:1-10

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

Are you taking God's mercy for granted? Do you seek relief or renewal? What are the sins you're ignoring? In today's episode, Keith shares how 1 Kings 13:1-10 reminds us that today is a great day to repent of our sins. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Kings 13:1-10

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. On the first day teaching his class of 250 college freshmen, Professor R.C. Sprole carefully explained the assignment of three-term papers. Each paper was due on the last day of the month, one in September, one in October, and the last one in November. Sprole clearly stated that there would be no exceptions, and at the end of September, some 225 students, dutifully turned in their papers, while 25 remorseful students quaked in fear. We are so sorry, they said to the professor.

We didn't make the proper adjustments from high school to college, but we promised to do better next time. Professor Spolle bowed to their pleas for mercy. He gave them an extension, but he warned them, don't be late the next month. At the end of October, about 175 students turned in their papers, while 50 students this time showed up empty-handed. Oh, please, they begged. it was homecoming weekend we ran out of time. Professor Sprole relented once more, but warned them, this is it, no excuses.

Next time, you will get an F. The end of November it came, and this time only 100 students turned in their papers on time. The rest told Professor Sprole, we'll get to it soon. Sorry, Sprole replied. It's too late now you get an F. The students howled in protest. This is not fair.

Okay, Sprole replied, you want justice? Here's what's just. You'll get an F for all three papers that were late. That was the rule, right? Sprole later reflected that the students had quickly taken his mercy for granted. They just assumed it. So when justice suddenly felled, they were unprepared for it. It came as a shock and they were outraged. I think that story parallels our relationship with God. God is merciful with us. God is patient with us. But we take it for granted. We begin to presume upon it. And then when judgment comes, we're shocked. I think when God is

patient with us, we begin to wonder whether he's really just. Are all the warnings in scripture a bit exaggerated? Maybe there's not really any big consequences for our sin. Paul writes in Romans 2.4, don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? See, God's kindness shouldn't lead us to tolerate sin, but to reject it and to from it. Before we dive in, let's pray. Father, I pray that we would never take your patience, your mercy, and your grace for granted. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, this morning, we're in 1st Kings chapter 13, a brief reminder of what's happening in the book. Solomon has

died, and because of his sin, the kingdom has been divided. Ten tribes are part of the northern kingdoms, and two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, are part of the southern kingdom. Now, there's a guy named Jeroboam, who's the king of the northern ten tribes, and the first thing he does is establish a new capital called Shechem. Jeroboam was trying to replace Jerusalem and the hearts of the people. Jeroboam was dividing the people spiritually, not just geographically. From this point on, there wouldn't just be two nations, but also two religions, two faiths. King Jeroboam set up two golden calves for the people to worship. One of the golden calves was in the north of the kingdom. It was in a city called Dan. The other was in the south of the kingdom in a city called Bethel, and the new altars

with the new idols were there so that the people wouldn't return to worship God at the temple in Jerusalem. If you wonder why Jeroboam chose idols that look like calves, well, know this. He was copying the false gods of the nations surrounding Israel. Like us, the Israelites were drawn to worship the culture's gods instead of the true God, instead of Yahweh. And everything he's doing, Jeroboam was violating God's commands. And God confronts Jeroboam through an unnamed prophet. Here we pick up the story in 1st Kings chapter 13 verse 1. At the Lord's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel arriving there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to burn incense. The man of God caught Jeroboam in the very act of idolatry. The king was making an offering to the false gods. By God's order,

the man of God pronounces judgment, saying the altar would be destroyed by a coming king from the house of David in the south. Pick up the story in verse two. Then at the Lord's command, the man of God shouted, Alter, altar, this is what the Lord says. A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you, he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you.

That same day, the man of God gave a sign to prove his message. He said the Lord has promised to give this sign. The altar will split, and its ashes will be poured out on the ground. Because Jeroboam didn't like what the man of God said, because he didn't like to be confronted on his sin, he tried to have the man of God arrested, but it didn't exactly work out the way he expected. Verse 4. When King Jeroboam heard the man of God speaking against the altar at Bethel, he pointed at him and shouted, seized that man. But instantly, the king's hand became paralyzed in that position, and he couldn't pull it back. At the same time, a wide crack appeared in the altar and

the ashes poured out, just as the man of God had predicted in his message from the Lord. So the king's hand shrivels and is paralyzed. Doctors have speculated what the medical reason was, but the author of First Kings wants us to know that it was God's divine judgment against Jeroboam's sin. At the same time, the hand is paralyzed, the altar is split. This was a sign of God's judgment, not just on Jeroboam, but also on the nation's idolatist practices. So what should Jeroboam do now?

He's been confronted in his idolatry. God has made his opinion clear. King Jeroboam could have and should have repented of his sin. Let's see if he does it. Verse 6. The king cried out to the man of God, please ask the Lord your God to restore my hand again. So the man prayed to the Lord and the king's hand was restored and he could move it again.

So did you hear that the king asked for mercy and received it? The hand is healed and he can move it. Did that lead him to repent of his sin? No. I want to think about this together. Notice how the king said, please ask the Lord your God. In other words, King Jeroboam didn't have a relationship with God himself. He didn't feel like he could talk directly to God. But even in that case, why didn't he repent when his paralyzed hand was healed? Why did he ask for physical healing, but not spiritual healing? Didn't he know that his heart was more important than his hand? When we face the consequences of our sin, one of the temptations is to want relief, not renewal, like relief from the pain instead of

spiritual renewal. Let me try to be concrete by using a specific situation, although this could play out in so many different circumstances. Let's just say a married couple comes to seek help from me as a pastor because the man has committed adultery. I used to see more men commit adultery, but in the last few years, it's been pretty equal between husbands and wives. But for our conversation now, it's the man who had the affair. There are many devastating consequences, including emotional pain and a complete breakdown in trust.

Sometimes this includes the man moving out of the house or not being able to see his kids or his wife treating him completely differently. Sin, whatever it is, always has consequences. Paul says in Galatian 6 that you reap what you sow. One of the signs that the adulterous husband

is not repentant is if he wants relief instead of renewal, if he wants to know what he has to do to get his marriage back to normal. If he keeps asking, when can I move back in? When can I get back to a normal relationship with my wife and my kids? That is not a good sign. That is not the sign of a repentant person. Did you hear the similarities between that response and Jeroboam's request for his hand to be healed?

Neither the king nor the husband is really repenting of their sin. They're just trying to escape the consequences of their sin. If you're caught in sin right now, if you're convicted of some sin, if God is working in your conscience to make you aware of sin, I plead with you to deal with that sin. Take it to God, confess your sin, repent, ask God to change you. Share your struggle with a trusted friend. Maybe someone in your small group, get counseling if that's appropriate. We know that Jeroboam never did that. He never did get right with God. The chapter ends. with Jeroboam not turning from his evil ways.

It says that Jeroboam continued to choose priests from the common people. He appointed anyone who wanted to become a priest for the pagan shrines. This became a great sin and resulted in the utter destruction of Jeroboam's dynasty from the face of the earth. Don't take God's kindness and patience as a sign that your sin doesn't have consequences. Today is a great day to get right with God. Today is a great day to confess and repent. of your sin. Father, I pray that you would make us aware of the sin that you want us to deal with. And I pray that we would learn to hate sin, that we would learn to turn from sin, that we would turn

to the grace that you offer us in Jesus. Make us the people that you want us to be. It's in your name we pray. Amen.