1 Kings 13:3

3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured 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 And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel; and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

2 And this man cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD: `Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places who burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burned upon thee.'"

3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out."

4 And it came to pass, when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God who had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, "Lay hold on him!" And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in back to him.

5 The altar also was rent and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.