1 Kings 13:23-25

The Voice

To be buried away from one’s family is the ultimate curse. In ancient Israel, a connection is retained between the living and the dead. The ancestors are to be buried somewhere on the family land, legally securing forever the land for the living family members. The living family members, by taking care of that land, care for their ancestors in the afterlife. If someone is buried away from his ancestral home, then the quality of his afterlife is in question.

²³After having a sobering meal and some water, the prophet prepared his donkey for the man of God. ²⁴While the man of God was traveling on the donkey, he was killed by a lion and his body fell to the ground, right in the middle of the road. ²⁵It was the strangest sight, for the donkey and the lion both remained standing beside the man’s body. People walked by on the road and saw the body of the man of God with the lion standing beside it. The people brought word of this strange sight to the city of the old prophet.