1 Kings 13:3

3 He gave a sign that day. He said, "This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: 'The altar will now be ripped apart, and the ashes that are on it will be spilled out.' "

1 Kings 13:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 13:3

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, this is the sign
which the Lord hath spoken
As a confirmation of the truth of what the prophet had said, and for the proof of his being a true prophet of the Lord:

behold, the altar shall be rent;
of itself, by an invisible hand, by the power of God:

and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out;
signifying it should be entirely demolished, not only shaken but destroyed, so as not to be capable of retaining the ashes on it; this was an emblem of the utter abolition of idolatry here in future times.

1 Kings 13:3 In-Context

1 A man of God came from Judah to Bethel by a revelation from the Lord while Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense.

2 The man of God cried out against the altar by a revelation from the Lord: "Altar, altar, this is what the Lord says, 'A son will be born to the house of David, named Josiah, and he will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who are burning incense on you. Human bones will be burned on you.' "

3 He gave a sign that day. He said, "This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: 'The altar will now be ripped apart, and the ashes that are on it will be spilled out.' "

4 When the king heard the word that the man of God had cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar and said, "Arrest him!" But the hand he stretched out against him withered, and he could not pull it back to himself.

5 The altar was ripped apart, and the ashes spilled off the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.