1 Kings 13:3

3 He gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: "The altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on 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 While Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer incense, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel

2 and proclaimed against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: "A son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.' "

3 He gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: "The altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.' "

4 When the king heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, "Seize him!" But the hand that he stretched out against him withered so that he could not draw it back to himself.

5 The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.