For 100 years the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery near Washington D.C. has memorialized all the unidentified soldiers who died fighting for our nation’s freedom.
For 300 years, another tomb in ancient Israel memorialized an unnamed prophet’s last prophetic message.
The nameless prophet arrived in Bethel one day with a message for King Jeroboam and died that same day. The books of I Kings 13 and 2 Kings 23 record his prophecy and its fulfillment.
I Kings 13 simply says, “a man of God from Judah.” He entered the town of Bethel, marched up to King Jeroboam who was standing before an idol’s altar. Prophet No-Name says, “A child king called Josiah will burn the bones of the priests who offered sacrifices to these idols. Just so you know that I speak the truth, this altar will split and the ashes will pour out on the ground.”
Enraged, Jeroboam pointed at No Name and commanded, “Grab that man.”
As he spoke, the altar split, the ashes fell out and Jeroboam’s hand shriveled and froze in position.
That scared the king into believing in God – at least he believed long enough to ask No Name to pray for his arm to be restored.
He prayed. It was restored.
Rubbing his restored arm, Jeroboam said, “come home for supper. I will give you a present.”
No Name refused, “God told me not to eat or drink anything here, nor to go home the way I came.” He climbed on his donkey and rode out of town on another route than the way he entered
Two sons of an old prophet saw all this. They went home and told their old man everything.
“Get my donkey. Which way did he go?” the old prophet demanded. He chased after No Name and found him resting under a tree.
“Are you the one who came to Judah?” Old Prophet asked.
“Yes.”
“Come back home and eat with me.”
“God told me not to do that.” No Name said.
“Well, I’m a prophet, too. An angel of God, told me to invite you,” the old prophet lied.
No Name shrugged, mounted his donkey and traced his path back to Bethel. About the time they finish eating, the Old Prophet really received a message from God, “You disobeyed. Your body will not be buried with your fathers.”
No Name leaves. Down the road a lion came out roaring and killed him. Then, rather than mauling and eating the prophet, the lion just stood by the body and the donkey. Some passersby saw the trio and reported the sight to the Old Prophet.
“Get my donkey ready again,” Old Prophet said. He carried the body home and buried it in his family plot. He told his sons, “When I die, bury me next to him. He was a man of God.”
King Jeroboam ignored No Name’s warning and established a national religion of idol worship.
Three centuries later, the country crowned King Josiah. He began a campaign to rid the land of everything related to the idol worship Jeroboam initiated. He tore down altars, destroyed idols, dug up the bones of their priests and burnt them on the altars they once used. Josiah obsessively pursued obliterating idol worship until he reached the grave of No Name and Old Prophet.
“What is this grave all about?” Josiah asked.
The folks from Bethel told him the 300 year old story. “This is the man who prophesied you would be born and do exactly what you have done.”
“Leave this grave alone,” Josiah said. It stayed as a reminder that when God says something, people better listen. Hopefully 200 years from now the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier likewise will still exist to memorialize the sacrifice of the soldiers who fought for our freedom.