1 Kings 13:23
And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
This verse belongs to one of the messages God sent to backslidden Israel during Jeroboam's reign to lead them back to allegiance to Him, to stay the tide of apostasy and return them from deepening idolatry. After the man of God had eaten bread and drunk in Bethel at the old prophet's house, the old prophet who had brought him back saddled the ass for him to leave and travel home. The meal violated the Lord's express command. He disobeyed by returning to Bethel, obeying the old prophet's lie rather than God's direct command, and God had declared that he would die away from his fathers' burial place.
The sentence and prophecy of his death was soon fulfilled on the way when a lion met him and killed him, costing him his life. His death confirmed the truth of the warning and showed God's swift displeasure and swift judgment against disobedience to an express command. His death was a further sign and confirmation of the prophecy against Jeroboam that God's words were true, and it should have led the king to turn from evil and serve the Lord. If the prophet had continued safely after disobeying, Jeroboam could have used that outcome to defend his own disobedience; the prophet's fate was meant to warn Jeroboam against persisting in wrongdoing.