Front matter (continued, part 54)
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law as his wife, and Hadad had a son by her. This meant that Egypt and Edom were now in league against Israel.
covenant in Deuteronomy 28—30, for he referred to them in his prayer when he dedicated the temple.
We don't know how God delivered this warning to Solomon; perhaps it was through a prophet. But God warned Solomon that, after his death, the kingdom would be divided and his son would reign over only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The other ten tribes would become the northern kingdom of Israel. The verb "tear" in verse 11 is picked up in the "action sermon" of Ahijah the prophet when he tore Jeroboam's new robe into twelve parts (vv. 29ff.). This division of the kingdom wouldn't be the peaceful work of a diplomat but the painful work of an angry Lord.
The death of King David and his general Joab meant that it was safe for Hadad and his band to return to Edom. There Hadad planned to strengthen the nation and direct a series of attacks against the Israelites. Hadad knew he couldn't take over Solomon's kingdom, but the Lord used him to harass Solomon and his troops in a series of border attacks. This constant irritation from the south should have reminded Solomon that God was disciplining him and calling him back to a life of obedience.
Rezon of Damascus (vv. 23–25). When David defeated the Syrians at Zobah (2 Sam. 8:5–8), a young man named Rezon fled to Damascus with his band of soldiers and set himself up as king. David apparently recognized him as king, and Rezon must have been a capable man because the power of Syria increased under his leadership. But Rezon allied himself with Hadad, leader of Edom, and began to harass Solomon from the north. Rezon established a dynasty of strong rulers in the area (known as Aram), all of whom gave trouble to the kings of Judah (15:18–20; 20:1ff.; 2 Kings 8—13 and 15—16 passim.) Rezin was king of Aram (Syria) during the time of Isaiah the prophet (Isa. 7:1–8; 8:6; 9:11).
Were it not for God's covenant with David and His love for Jerusalem, the city where His temple stood, He would have taken the entire kingdom away from Solomon's descendants. God promised David a dynasty that would not end, and therefore He kept one of David's descendants on the throne in Jerusalem until the city was taken by the Babylonians and destroyed. Of course, the ultimate fulfillment of that covenant promise is in Jesus Christ (Luke 1:32–33, 69; Acts 2:29–36; Ps. 89:34–37). God's name was upon the temple (1 Kings 8:43), so He preserved Jerusalem, and God's covenant was with David, so He preserved David's dynasty. Such is the grace of God.
There is no evidence that Solomon took this warning to heart. Had he remembered his own dedication prayer, he could have looked toward the temple and confessed his sins to the Lord.
Solomon opposed God's servant (11:26–43; 2 Chron. 9:29–31) Hadad attacked Solomon from the south and Rezon from the north, but Jeroboam was one of Solomon's own leaders who threatened the king from within the official ranks. He was an Ephraimite who displayed excellent management qualities and caught the eye of the king. Since Jeroboam was from the tribe of Ephraim, Solomon put him in charge of the Jewish labor force from the house of Joseph, namely the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. By now, the nation had grown weary of Solomon's building projects and especially of the way he conscripted Jews to do the work (5:13–18), and young Jeroboam had his introduction to the undercurrents of opposition against the king. This knowledge, plus the fact that Solomon had put him over northern tribes, would assist him when the time came to establish the ten northern tribes in their own kingdom.
Solomon resisted God's discipline (11:14–25) Solomon's many marriages had been his guarantees of peace with the neighboring rulers, and Solomon's reign had been a peaceful one. But now his system would start to fall apart, for the Lord raised up "adversaries" against Solomon (vv. 14, 23, 25) and used them to discipline the rebellious king. That God would discipline David's disobedient heirs was a part of the covenant (2 Sam. 7:14–15) and was reaffirmed to Solomon when God spoke to him at Gibeon (3:14). It was repeated while Solomon was building the temple (6:11–13) and after the temple was dedicated (9:3–9). See also 1 Chronicles 22:10 and Psalm 89:30–37. The king certainly could not have been ignorant of the dangers of disobeying the Lord. Three of Solomon's opponents are mentioned specifically.
One day in the course of his own work, Jeroboam was stopped by Ahijah the prophet from Shiloh who had a message for him from God. During Solomon's reign, prophets didn't play a prominent role, but prophets will be very important from now until the end of the kingdom of Judah. Whenever the kings or the priests defied the Word of God, the Lord often sent a prophet to warn them. Prophets were "forth-tellers" more than "fore-tellers." They came with a message from God for that present day, and if they revealed anything about the future, it was to help them call people back to obedience to God's will.4
Hadad the Edomite (vv. 14–22). Solomon had women from Edom in his harem (v. 1), but this didn't stop Hadad from making trouble for Israel. David and Joab had won a great victory over Edom and wiped out the male population (2 Sam. 8:13–14; 1 Chron. 18:11–13; see Ps. 60 title), but Hadad, one of the princes, had fled with some of his father's leaders and found asylum with Pharaoh in Egypt. This must have been a new Pharaoh who didn't find it necessary to recognize Solomon's marriage treaty with the Egyptian princess. Even more, he not only gave Hadad food and a place to live, but he also gave him his own sister-in-
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accomplishments of his very full life were recorded not only in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, but also in some books that we don't possess, including the Acts of Solomon (possibly an official register), a book by Nathan the prophet, as well as records by Ahijah and Iddo. Solomon is the first Jewish king whose death was recorded in the "official words" of verses 41–43 and 2 Chron. 9:29–31. See also 2 Chronicles 9:29; 12:15; 26:22; and 32:32. Like King Saul, Solomon was handed great opportunities but didn't make the most of them. He knew a great deal about animals, plants, bringing wealth to the nation, and constructing buildings, but he was defective in sharing the knowledge of the Lord7 with the Gentiles who came to his throne room. Like his father, David, Solomon had a gift for enjoying women, but when Solomon sinned, he didn't have David's sincere heart and broken spirit of repentance. The grandeur of the kingdom and not the glory of the Lord was what motivated Solomon's life.
Ahijah dramatized his message by tearing Jeroboam's new garment into twelve parts and giving him ten of them. This was God's way of saying that Jeroboam would become king of the ten northern tribes of Israel.5 Ahijah explained why two tribes were still reserved for the house of David and also why Solomon's son was being given only those two tribes. Solomon had sinned greatly by introducing idolatry into the land, a sin that would eventually destroy the nation and lead them into captivity.
It was for David's sake that God protected Judah and Jerusalem. Solomon hadn't kept the terms of the covenant God made with his father (2 Sam. 7), but God would be faithful to His Word (2 Sam. 7:11–13). The lamp would burn for David until the end of the Jewish monarchy with the fall of Zedekiah (2 Kings 25; see 1 Kings 11:36; 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19; 21:7; Ps. 132:17).
Ahijah closed his message by warning Jeroboam that what happened to him was wholly of God's grace. He had better take his calling seriously and obey the Word of the Lord, or God would discipline him just as He had to discipline Solomon. God would give Jeroboam an enduring dynasty if he obeyed the law of God. However, that dynasty would not replace the dynasty of David in Judah, for from David's dynasty the Messiah would come and fulfill the covenant promises. God humbled David's successors by giving them only two tribes, but He wouldn't humble them forever. There would be a healing of the division of the nation when Messiah came (Jer. 30:9; Ezek. 34:23; 37:15–28; Hos. 3:5; Amos 9:11–12), and then the king would reign over the whole nation.6
He left behind the temple of God, his royal palace, a nation in bondage, an economy in trouble, as well as the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. The nation was united during his reign, but there was a hairline split in the nation that eventually revealed itself in open rebellion and division. Solomon's hunger for wealth and achievement put a heavy financial burden on the nation, and after his death, the people revolted.
But the people did worse than that: they followed Solomon's bad example and began to worship the gods of their neighbors. It was this sin more than any other that brought about the downfall of the Jewish nation. "Solomon imported the wives," wrote William Sanford LaSor, "the wives imported the gods; Solomon tolerated it, encouraged it, built places of worship for these idolaters. What can you expect the people to do but follow along?"
Since Ahijah and Jeroboam were alone in the field when the message was delivered (v. 29), we don't know how the word of Jeroboam's special call reached Solomon's ears. Jeroboam may have told some of his close associates who were distressed by the way the king was treating the people, or perhaps God gave Ahijah permission to send the message to Solomon. This message was God's last word of discipline and rebuke for the wayward king, for what more could He do to awaken the king than to take most of the kingdom away from his successor? Solomon should have fallen on his face in repentance and contrition and sought the face of the Lord, but instead he tried to kill his rival. Jeroboam fled to Egypt for safety. The new Pharaoh was Shishak, a man who had no obligations to the house of David.
May our allegiance always be sincere and loyal to Jesus Christ, the one "greater than Solomon," who died for us, who lives for us, and one day will come for us!
Notes 1 Expositions of Holy Scripture, by Alexander Maclaren, on 1 Kings 11:4–13. 2 I like F. W. Robertson's definition of "the world." You find it in volume 4 of his collected sermons, 165. "The world is that collection of men in every age who live only according to the maxims of their time." In amassing wealth and multiplying wives, and in his desire to live in splendor, Solomon was imitating the eastern potentates and not following the Word of God or the example of his father, David. 3 In spite of what songwriters say, crossing the Jordan and entering the land of Canaan is not a picture of going to heaven. We certainly won't have to fight our way into heaven! It's a picture of turning our back on the past and entering by faith into our present inheritance in Christ, the blessings He wants us to enjoy, and the work He wants us to do. All of this is explained in the book of Hebrews.
Solomon had forsaken the Lord (v. 33; see 9:9), and this would be the recurring sin of many kings of Israel and Judah (18:18; 19:10, 14; 2 Kings 17:16; 21:22; 22:17). The sin of idolatry cut at the very heart of Israel's faith, Jehovah was the only true and living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Solomon reigned from 971 to 931. Did he return to the Lord before he died? Bible students don't agree in their interpretations and answers. Certainly his admonition in Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 points in the direction of repentance and restoration, and we trust this was so. The
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An arrogant king (12:1–17; 2 Chron. 10:1–19) Alexander Maclaren called this account "a miserable story of imbecility and arrogance," and he was right. The story reveals that, whatever gifts Rehoboam may have possessed, he didn't have the gift of relating to people and understanding their needs. David was a king who loved his people and risked his life for their welfare. Solomon was a king who didn't serve the people but used the people to satisfy his own desires. Reheboam was a king who ignored the lessons of the past and turned his ears away from the voices of the suffering people. He was unfit to rule.
4 For instances of prophets courageously confronting kings, see 13:1–10; 14:1–18; 16:1–4; 20:22ff.; 22:1ff.; 2 Kings 1. 5 Samuel had ripped Saul's garment and used the event to preach a message (1 Sam. 15:27), and David had cut a piece from Saul's garment (1 Sam. 24:4–6). The image is an obvious one. 6 Students of Old Testament history have noted that early in the nation's history, there was rivalry between the ten northern tribes and the two southern tribes, so it wasn't easy to divide the nation. See Judges 5:14–16; 2 Samuel 19:41–43; 20:2; 1 Kings 1:35; 4:20, 25. This rivalry will be healed when Messiah reigns (Isa. 11:13). 7 William Sanford LaSor, Great Personalities of the Old Testament (Revell, 1959), 125.
The assembly at Shechem (vv. 1–3; 2 Chron. 10:1–3). Solomon must have made it clear that Rehoboam was to be the next king, but it was still necessary for the people to affirm the choice and enter into covenant with God and the king. This had been done when Saul became king (1 Sam. 10:17) and also when David and Solomon were each crowned (2 Sam. 2:4; 5:1ff.; 1 Kings 1:28ff.). Rehoboam and his officers appointed Shechem as the meeting place, and Jeroboam and the men of the northern kingdom attended.3 Jeroboam had returned from his asylum in Egypt and was the acknowledged leader of the northern ten tribes. Rehoboam knew this man was his enemy, but he didn't dare openly oppose him lest he alienate the people. Surely Rehoboam also knew the prophecy given by Ahijah that Jeroboam would become ruler of the northern kingdom, but perhaps he didn't think it would really occur. No doubt he thought that the Davidic dynasty and the Solomonic prosperity would carry the day. He forgot 2 Samuel 7:12–14.
CHAPTER SEVEN 1 Kings 12:1–24; 14:21–31 (2 Chronicles 10:1—12:16) HE WOULD NOT LISTEN T
B.Rehoboam's folly—12:1–24;
hen I hated all my labor in which I toiled under the sun," Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, "because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?" (Eccl. 2:18–19 nkjv).
His successor was his son Rehoboam, who occasionally made a shrewd decision but for the most part was a foolish ruler. At the beginning of Rehoboam's reign, a selfish decision on his part divided the nation, and during his fourth year, Rehoboam decided to turn from the Lord and worship idols, and that brought the judgment of the Lord. His reign could hardly be called successful.
If Rehoboam selected Shechem for this important meeting, it was one of the smartest things he ever did. Shechem was located about forty miles north of Jerusalem, a good central city for such an important meeting. It was situated in the tribe of Manasseh, and this would please the people in the northern ten tribes. Joseph's tomb was at Shechem (Josh. 24:32), the tabernacle had been in Shiloh in Ephraim, and Samuel the prophet was from the hill country of Ephraim (1 Sam. 1:1). Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, had been in Shechem (Gen. 12:6) and so had Jacob (Gen. 33:18). Joshua had confirmed the covenant with Israel at Shechem (Josh. 24), so Shechem was a place of great historical and spiritual significance to the Jewish people.
According to 1 Kings 14:21, Rehoboam was fortyone years old when he began to reign.1 Since Solomon reigned for forty years (11:42), this means that Rehoboam was born before Solomon became king. But the same text informs us that Rehoboam's mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah,2 which means that the Egyptian princess Solomon married was not his first wife (3:1). His father David had married a princess from Geshur, a nation in Syria, and she became the mother of Absalom (2 Sam. 3:3). This was undoubtedly a political move on David's part, so perhaps Solomon's marriage to an Ammonite woman didn't upset David in his latter years. The Hebrew text of 14:21 reads "Naamah the Ammonite" (italics mine), suggesting that she was distinguished above the other Ammonite women in the court. This would include Solomon's Ammonite wives and concubines, which Rehoboam inherited when he became king.
Ephraim, and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph, considered themselves the leading tribes in Israel and openly expressed their resentment of the leadership of Judah (Ps. 78:60, 67). David had welcomed volunteers from Ephraim and Manasseh into his warrior band (1 Chron. 12:30–31), but for years, Ephraim and Manasseh had sown seeds of division and dissension in the land (see Judg. 8:1; 12:1). Perhaps Rehoboam thought that being crowned at Shechem would be a step toward peace and unity between the north and the south, but it turned out to be just the opposite.
What life does to us depends on what life finds in us. During Rehoboam's reign of seventeen years, the way he responded to situations revealed what kind of a person he really was. At least four characteristics stand out in his short reign.
The appeal of the ten tribes (vv. 4–5; 2 Chron. 10:4–5). Led by Jeroboam, the leaders of the northern
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In making important decisions, we should seek sound spiritual counsel (Prov. 11:14; 15:22; 24:6), but let's be sure the counselors we talk to are mature saints who are able to guide us aright. The British writer Frank W. Boreham said, "We make our decisions, and then our decisions turn around and make us." Sometimes we forget our decisions, but our decision can never forget us, because we reap what we sow. If the path we choose turns out to be a detour, then let's admit it, confess our sin, and ask the Lord to lead us back to the right road.
tribes protested the heavy yoke that Rehoboam's father had laid on them, including high taxes and forced labor. When Solomon reorganized the land into twelve districts (4:7–19), it appears that Judah wasn't included, and this policy may have been followed when he conscripted laborers (5:13–18). We can easily understand how the other tribes would respond to such blatant favoritism. Why should these hardworking people sacrifice just so the king could live in a magnificent house, be pampered by servants, and eat daily at a festive table? The people were wearing a galling yoke, and they were tired of it.
The elders gave Rehoboam the best advice: be a servant of the people and the people will serve you. However, Rehoboam had already made up his mind, so he immediately rejected that answer and turned to his contemporaries whom he knew would give him the answer that he wanted. He had no intention of weighing the facts, seeking God's will, and making the wisest choice. In more than fifty years of ministry, I've seen so-called Christian leaders take the Rehoboam approach, do terrible damage to the work of the Lord, and then walk away from the mess, leaving behind poison and debris that will take years to remove.
Back in the days of the judges, when Israel had asked for a king, Samuel warned them that having a king would be a very costly luxury (1 Sam. 8:10–22). The very things Samuel warned about were done by Solomon and would be continued by Rehoboam unless he altered his policies. It must have irritated Rehoboam that Jeroboam was the spokesman for the ten northern tribes, for surely he knew about the prophecy of Ahijah and that his father Solomon had tried to kill Jeroboam (11:29–40). Furthermore, Jeroboam was a favorite in Egypt and Rehoboam didn't know what plans he and Pharaoh had made together. The kingdom was not in good shape and only Rehoboam could make things better. Visitors to Israel were awestruck by what they saw, but they couldn't detect the moral and spiritual decay that was creeping through the foundations of the kingdom, beginning in the throne room.
The ancient world honored age and maturity, but our modern society worships youth. In our churches and parachurch ministries, there's a desperate need for generational balance, with the older and younger generations communicating with each other and learning from each other, just like a family (Titus 2:1–8; 1 Tim. 5:1–2). A friend told me he wanted to start a church only for people fifty and older, and I suggested he put an undertaker on the staff. God meant for His church to include male and female, old and young, and those in between, and that all of them should learn from one another. There are old fools as well as young fools, and age is no guarantee of wisdom or even useful experience. The young people in my life help me catch up with the present, and I help them to catch up on the past, and so we all stay balanced and love one another.
The people were willing to serve Rehoboam if only he would serve them and make life a bit easier for them. All of God's truly great leaders had been servants to the people—Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and especially David—but Solomon had chosen to be a celebrity and not a servant, and Rehoboam was following his bad example. When the Son of God came to earth, He came as a servant (Luke 22:24–27; Phil. 2:1–13), and He taught His disciples to lead by serving. Jesus washed His disciples' feet as an example of humble service (John 13:1–17), and He wants us to follow His example, not the examples of the "great leaders" in the secular world (Matt. 20:25–28).
The young counselors were interested primarily in being important and magnifying themselves and the authority of the new king. They thought the best way to do that was to make a show of force. Youth, in general, seek to have authority and freedom, until they make the painful discovery that they may not be ready to use these precious gifts wisely. After admonishing both the elder saints and the younger ones, Peter wrote, "Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'" (1 Peter 5:5 nkjv).
The advice of the counselors (vv. 6–11; 2 Chron. 10:6–11). Let's give Rehoboam credit for asking for a delay to give him time to think and seek counsel. However, time solves no problems; it's what leaders do with time that really counts. There's no evidence that the king sought the Lord in prayer or that he consulted with the high priest or with a prophet. We get the impression that his mind was already made up but that he was willing to go through the motions in order to please the people. One of the marks of David's leadership was that he was willing to humble himself and seek the mind of God, and then pray for God's blessing on his decisions. Leaders who try to impress people with their skills, but take no time to seek God, only prove that they don't know the most important thing in spiritual leadership: they are second in command. (See Josh. 5:13–15.)
The announcement of the king (vv. 12–17; 2 Chron. 10:12–17). A man forty-one years old who had grown up in the palace, who had been given three days to consider a matter, and who even had access to those who could determine the will of God, should never have made this kind of a decision. His father had even written a book of practical proverbs about wisdom, one of which said, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (Prov. 15:1
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nkjv). However, Rehoboam's leadership was motivated by pride, not humility, and pride knows nothing of gentleness and kindness. "There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health" (Prov. 12:18 nkjv). Apparently Rehoboam hadn't taken time to read and copy Deuteronomy 17:18–20.
officers to the assembled ten tribes to try to bring peace or at least keep the discussion going. His choice of mediators was unwise because Adoram was in charge of the forced labor, and forced labor was one of the irritating areas in the dispute.5 Perhaps Adoram was authorized to negotiate easier labor arrangements or even lower taxes, but if he was, he failed miserably. The people stoned him and the frightened king took off for Jerusalem as soon as he heard the news. Rehoboam had followed the wrong counsel, used the wrong approach, and chosen the wrong mediator. What else wrong could he do?
The king answered the people roughly, which is the same Hebrew word that is translated "grievous" in verse 4. The way he spoke was rough and the words he used were harsh. Instead of lightening the yoke, Rehoboam announced that he would make it heavier and more cutting. His little finger was bigger than his father's waist, and if his father used whips, he would use scourges. ("Scorpions" was the name for a whip with metal pieces in it, similar to the Roman scourge.) Both in his words and his manner, the new king made it clear to the people that he was important and powerful and they were unimportant and weak, a dangerous message indeed.
He could declare war! After all, he was the king, and by declaring war he could assert his authority and demonstrate his military strength, and perhaps Jeroboam his rival might be one of the casualties. Didn't Solomon, his father, want to have Jeroboam killed (11:40), and wasn't his father the wisest man in the world? Didn't the ten northern tribes rebel against the king and even kill an innocent man whose only task was to encourage peace? The beloved King David declared war on the Ammonites for only embarrassing his envoys (2 Sam. 10), while Rehoboam's envoy was murdered. The ten northern tribes were dividing what the Lord had put together and they deserved to be chastised. They had even called an assembly and appointed Jeroboam as their king! To defy the covenants of God and desert the Davidic line was wicked. It seemed that every consideration pointed logically to one conclusion—war.
Rehoboam represented the third generation of the Davidic dynasty, and so often it's the third generation that starts to tear down what the previous generations have built up. The people of Israel served the Lord during Joshua's days and during the days of the elders he had trained, but when the third generation came along, they turned to idols, and the nation fell apart (Judg. 2:7–10). I've seen this same phenomenon in businesses and local churches. The founders worked hard and sacrificed much to start the business or the church, and the second generation was faithful to the examples and beliefs of the founders. But when the third generation arrived, they inherited everything without working for it or paying for it, and they tore down what others had worked so hard to build up. Of course, if the second generation doesn't teach the third generation the ways of the Lord, or if they won't receive the teaching, it's no wonder the new generation goes astray (Deut. 11:18–21; 32:46; Eph. 6:4). The consequences of Rehoboam's speech were predictable: "all Israel" (meaning the ten northern tribes)4 announced their decision to leave the other two tribes and establish their own kingdom. They shouted the words of Sheba, a troublemaker in David's day (2 Sam. 20:1), left the assembly, and made Jeroboam their king. The only exceptions were the citizens of the ten tribes who had settled in Judah for one reason or another. They remained faithful to the throne of David.
Every consideration except one: was this war the will of God? After Rehoboam had assembled an army of 180,000 men,6 he discovered that he had wasted his time. The Lord sent the prophet Shemaiah7 to tell the king to call off the fight and send the men home. Though what happened was the consequence of Rehoboam's foolishness and Jeroboam's aggressiveness, it was God who had ruled and overruled to bring about the division, thus fulfilling Ahijah's prophecy. Each man had acted freely and so had their counselors, yet the Lord's will was done. (See Acts 2:23.) Our sovereign God is so great that He lets people make their own decisions and yet accomplishes His purposes.
The plan of God was only one factor; a second factor was that it was wrong for Judah and Benjamin to fight against their brothers (v. 24). It seems strange, yet family and national conflict appears repeatedly in the history of Israel. Abraham and Lot disagreed (Gen. 13), and Abraham reminded his nephew that they shouldn't fight because they were brothers (13:8). Jacob and Esau had a lifelong battle that their descendants continued for centuries (Gen. 27:41–46; Ps. 137:7; Obad. 10–13). Joseph's brothers hated him (Gen. 37), and Aaron and Miriam criticized their brother Moses (Num. 12). Saul was David's enemy and on many occasions tried to kill him. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity" (Ps. 133:1 nkjv).8
Solomon's first official decision brought him the reputation for great wisdom (3:16–28), but his son's first official decision told the nation that he was foolish and unwise. For centuries, the Jews considered the division of the nation the greatest tragedy in their history and measured every other calamity by it (Isa. 7:17).
An angry king (12:18–24; 2 Chron. 10:18–19; 11:1–4) While Rehoboam was still in Shechem, he attempted some belated diplomacy and sent one of his trusted
Frequently in Old Testament history we find a
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group stayed in Israel but traveled to Jerusalem three times a year for the annual feasts (v. 16). (To some extent, we have these same three groups in the churches today.) The addition of these godly priests and Levites and their families to the population of Judah strengthened the kingdom and brought the blessing of the Lord. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen as his own inheritance" (Ps. 33:12).
prophet confronting a king with "Thus says the Lord." Whenever a king, a priest, or even another prophet stepped out of line, a prophet would step forward and rebuke him, and if the prophet's message was ignored, God's hand of judgment would fall. (See 1 Kings 13:21–22; 14:6–11; 16:1–4; 20:28ff.; 2 Kings 1:16; 22:14–15.) Israel was to be a people of God's Word, and God's Word must be held higher than even the word of the king.
God blessed his family (vv. 18–23). Like both David and Solomon, Rehoboam disobeyed the Word and took many wives (Deut. 17:17). Only two of his wives are named in the record: Mahalath, a granddaughter of David through both her father and mother, and Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. Since David's son Absalom had only one daughter, Tamar (2 Sam. 14:27), Maacah could have been his granddaughter. Maacah's father's name is given as Abishalom in 1 Kings 15:2, and in 2 Chronicles 13:2, Maacha is called the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. If this Uriel was indeed the husband of Tamar, the only daughter of Absalom, then Maacah was the granddaughter of Absalom and the great-granddaughter of King David. At least two of Rehoboam's eighteen wives were from solid Davidic stock.
To Rehoboam's credit, he called off the attack, although in the years that followed, there were repeated border skirmishes and other irritating conflicts between Rehoboam and Jeroboam (14:20; and see 15:6, 16, 32; 2 Chron. 11:1). However, it's possible that Rehoboam was grateful that his plans never succeeded. Like his father, he wasn't a military man and he couldn't be sure of winning. It was God's plan there be two kingdoms, and that settled the matter. At least he submitted to the Word of God.
At this point in the record, the writer interrupted the Rehoboam story to tell us about Jeroboam. The Rehoboam account is amplified in 2 Chronicles 11:5–22 and then picked up and concluded in 1 Kings 14:21–36 (2 Chron. 12:1–16).
An astute king (2 Chron. 11:5–22) Rehoboam heard and obeyed God's message from Shemaiah, and the Lord began to give him wisdom and bless his life and his work. Had he stayed on that course, he would have led Judah into godliness and true greatness, but he turned from the Lord and lost the blessings he and his people could have enjoyed.9
It was important that kings and queens have large families so that there would be an heir to the throne and replacements if anything should happen to the crown prince. King Rehoboam was blessed with many children—twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. The king did a very wise thing when he appointed his grown sons to royal offices and distributed them throughout Judah and Benjamin. This accomplished several things that made for peace and efficiency in the palace. To begin with, the princes weren't engaged in their own pursuits and getting involved in palace intrigues, as some of David's sons had done to the sorrow of their father. Rehoboam had grown up in the lap of luxury, but he was smart enough to put his sons to work.
God blessed his building projects (vv. 5–12). His father, Solomon, had strengthened the borders of the kingdom by putting up fortress cities for his soldiers, horses, and chariots (1 Kings 9:15–19; 2 Chron. 8:1–6), and Rehoboam followed his good example. The cities he selected formed a wall of protection for Jerusalem on the east and west and across the south. The king knew that Jeroboam was a favorite in Egypt, so perhaps he had Pharaoh in mind when he set up this line of defense. It's interesting that he didn't put defense cities across the northern border. After Shemaiah's warning, perhaps the king hesitated to provoke the northern tribes or to give the suggestion that Judah was preparing for war. He may have hoped that an "open door policy" would ease the tension and make it easier for the people in the ten tribes to come to Jerusalem.
The second benefit was that Rehoboam could assess their character and skills and decide which son would succeed him. God called David to be king and later told him that Solomon would be his successor. There's no evidence that God named Solomon's successor, so Solomon must have appointed Rehoboam to take the throne. After watching his sons, Rehoboam selected Abijah, son of Maacah,10 to be his heir, even though Jeush, his son by Mahalath, was the firstborn (vv. 18–19). First, Rehoboam made Abijah "ruler among his brethren" (v. 22; "chief prince" niv), which suggests that Abijah was his father's right-hand man, perhaps even coregent. Rehoboam recognized in this son the ability that was needed for a successful reign. Unfortunately, Abijah didn't live up to his name, "Jehovah is father."
God blessed his people (vv. 13–17). King Jeroboam ordained his own priests and turned the ten northern tribes into a center for worshipping idols, but for three years Rehoboam kept the people of Judah true to the law of Moses. As a result, the priests and Levites in Israel who were devoted to the Lord came into Judah and enriched the nation greatly. Some priests and Levites merely "sided with Rehoboam" (v. 13) and remained in Israel, but others gave up their property in Israel and moved permanently to Judah (v. 14). A third
The "many wives" that Rehoboam secured for his sons may have been "treaty wives" to guarantee peace between Judah and her neighbors. This was the plan his father, Solomon, followed.
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14:21–31 An apostate king (14:21–31; 2 Chron. 12:1–16) Rehoboam walked with the Lord for three years after becoming king (2 Chron. 11:17), but in the fourth year of his reign, when his throne was secure, he and all Judah turned away from Jehovah to worship idols (2 Chron. 12:1–2). "And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord" (2 Chron. 12:14 nkjv). The phrase "forsaken [abandoned] the commandment of the Lord" occurs frequently in the record of the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel (1 Kings 18:18; 19:10, 14; 2 Kings 17:16; 21:22; 22:17; 2 Chron. 12:1, 5; 13:10–11; 15:2; 21:10; 24:18, 20, 24; 26:6; 29:6; 34:25). David had warned Solomon about this sin (1 Chron. 28:9, 20) and so had the Lord Himself (1 Kings 3:14; 9:4–9; 11:9–13), but Solomon in his latter years worshipped both the Lord and the abominable idols of the heathen. Solomon was influenced by his pagan wives to worship idols; perhaps Rehoboam was influenced by his Ammonite mother. Whatever the influence, the king knew that he was breaking the covenant and sinning against the Lord.
people outside the church. The materialistic and humanistic idols of the unsaved world have made their way into the church and are both tolerated and promoted. The Lord punished Rehoboam for his sins. How long will it be before the Lord punishes His church?
God's loving discipline (vv. 25–31; 2 Chron. 12:1–16). For a year, the Lord was patient with Rehoboam and the people of Judah, but by the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, the longsuffering of the Lord had come to an end. God directed Shishak, king of Egypt, to invade Judah with a huge army and, in spite of Rehoboam's new defenses, he defeated town after town.12 (One Egyptian inscription states that Shishak took 156 cities in Israel and Judah.) When the Egyptians got as far as Jerusalem, the prophet Shemaiah once again appeared on the scene with a message from God, short and to the point: "This is what the Lord says, 'You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak'" (12:5).
Whenever God's people experience discipline because of their sins, they can make a new beginning by hearing the Word of God and humbling themselves before the God of the Word. This was the promise God gave His people when Solomon dedicated the temple (2 Chron. 7:13–14). Rehoboam and his officers humbled themselves before the Lord and He stopped Shishak from attacking Jerusalem. However, Judah was now subject to Shishak and had to pay him tribute. God's people discovered that their "freedom to sin" brought them into painful and costly bondage to Egypt, for the consequences of sin are always costly.
God's holy jealousy (vv. 21–24). When the Bible speaks of the Lord being "a jealous God" (14:22), it refers to His jealous love over His people, a love that will not tolerate rivals. Israel was "married" to the Lord at Mount Sinai when they entered into the covenant, and the worship of idols was a terrible breach of that covenant, like a wife committing adultery.11 Surely Rehoboam knew what God said to the nation at Mount Sinai: "For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" (Ex. 20:5 nkjv). This same truth is included in the Song of Moses as well: "They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols" (Deut. 32:21 nkjv; see also Ps. 78:58; Jer. 44:3). Paul used the marriage picture when he warned the church to avoid pagan idolatry (1 Cor. 10:22), and James called worldly believers "adulterers and adulteresses" (James 4:4). The king allowed and encouraged the building of idolatrous shrines in the land ("high places"), the erecting of sacred stones ("images") and phallic images and Asherah poles ("groves"). He also permitted the shrine prostitutes, male ("sodomites") and female, to serve the people at these shrines, a detestable practice expressly forbidden by the law of Moses (Deut. 23:17–18). Idolatry and immorality go together (Rom. 1:21–27), and it wasn't long before the pagan sins condemned by the law became commonly accepted practices in Judah (Lev. 18, 20; Deut. 18:9–12). The Jewish people were no longer a light to the Gentiles; instead, the darkness of the Gentiles had invaded the land and was putting out the light.
To satisfy Shishak's demands, Rehoboam gave him gold from the temple and from the king's palace. This included the five hundred gold shields that Solomon had made for the palace (1 Kings 10:16–17). Rehoboam was too poor to make duplicate shields, so he replaced them with shields made of bronze, and the royal ceremonies went on as if nothing had happened. How often the precious treasures of former generations are lost because of sin and then replaced by cheap substitutes. Life goes on and nobody seems to know the difference. That's what happened to the church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:17–19).
After the invasion of Shishak in 925 BC, Rehoboam reigned for twelve more years and died in 913 BC. Had he continued to walk with the Lord and to lead his people to be faithful to God's covenant, the Lord would have done great things for him. As it was, his sins and the sins of the people who followed him left the nation weaker, poorer, and in bondage. As Charles Spurgeon said, "God does not allow His people to sin successfully."
Before we pass judgment on the king and people of Judah, perhaps we had better examine our own lives and churches. Surveys indicate that, when it comes to sexual morality, the "born-again" people in the churches don't live much differently than the unsaved
Rehoboam went the way of all flesh and died at the age of fifty-eight. We trust that the humbling that he and his leaders experienced lasted for the rest of their lives and that they walked with the Lord.
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Notes 1 Some question that a man forty-one years old could be called "young and indecisive" (2 Chron. 13:7), but age and maturity are two different things. During the latter part of Solomon's reign, Rehoboam took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and his family consisted of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters (2 Chron. 11:18–21). 2 With two exceptions, when information is given about a king of Judah, the name of his mother is included. It was important that David's line be identified accurately. The exceptions are Jehoram (2 Kings 8:17) and Ahaz (2 Kings 16:2). 3 Some students think that Jeroboam was holding a meeting for the northern kingdom and Rehoboam saw this as an opportunity to get a hearing and build some bridges into the northern kingdom. If so, Rehoboam certainly turned a good opportunity into a terrible calamity. 4 The phrase "all Israel" can mean both kingdoms (9:30; 12:1) or only the northern ten tribes (10:16; 11:13). The reader must consider the context and be discerning. 5 Did this man have several names or were there three different men with similar names, each of whom served a different king? Adoram was over the forced labor when David was king (2 Sam. 20:24) and Adoniram when Solomon reigned (4:6). The man Rehoboam sent was named both Adoram and Hadoram (2 Chron. 10:18). It's difficult to believe that one man could serve so many years, but perhaps he did. Some students believe that three men are involved: Adoram served David, Adoniram served Solomon, and the first Adoram's son or grandson (Adoram/Hadoram) served Rehoboam. But would Rehoboam send an untried and relatively unknown officer on such an important diplomatic mission? It's more likely that Adoram is another form of Adoniram, the man who served Solomon, because it was Solomon's yoke that the people were opposing, not David's. 6 In David's last census, Joab reported 500,000 able-bodied men in Judah available to bear arms (2 Sam. 24:9), while there were 800,000 men available in the northern tribes. Those numbers were over forty years old, but perhaps the population hadn't changed that much. 7 In 1 Kings 12:22, Shemiah is called "a man of God," a title often used for prophets, especially in 1 and 2 Kings (1 Kings 12:22; 13:1, 26; 17:18, 24; 20:28; 2 Kings 1:9, 11; 4:7, 9, 16, 22, 25, 27, 40, 42; 5:14). Moses bore this title (Deut. 33:1; Josh. 14:6) and Paul applied it to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11, and to all dedicated believers in 3:17. 8 The Jewish people should be recognized and applauded for being the only nation in history that has left an accurate portrait of their leaders and a factual report of their history. The Bible is a Jewish book, yet it doesn't always show Israel in a good light. Of course, the Scriptures are inspired by God, but it still took a good deal of honesty and humility to write the record and admit that it is true. 9 In both Kings and Chronicles, the message of obedience and blessing comes through loud and clear. However, we must not conclude that everybody who obeys God will escape suffering and trial, for more than one good king had personal troubles, and some were assassinated. No king was perfect, but God's covenant with Israel assured them that He would bless the nation if they obeyed His will.
10 Abijah was also known as Abijam (1 Kings 14:31; 15:1, 7–8 kjv). This change in spelling may reflect a desire to eliminate from the name of an ungodly man (1 Kings 15:3) the syllable "Jah," which refers to Jehovah. 11 This theme is expanded and illustrated in the book of Hosea. The prophet Hosea's wife became a prostitute and he had to buy her back out of the slave market. 12 This is not the Pharaoh who made a treaty with Solomon and gave him a daughter to be his wife. The new Pharaoh was not friendly toward Judah.
CHAPTER EIGHT 1 Kings 12:25—14:20 A NEW KING, AN OLD SIN K
C.Jeroboam's folly—12:25—14:20
ing Jeroboam I1 was a doer, not a philosopher; he was a man who first caught Solomon's attention because he was busy, efficient, dependable, and productive (11:26–28). He was the ideal popular leader who knew how to fight the people's battles and champion their causes. Ask him about his personal faith in the Lord and his answers might be a bit foggy. He had lived in Egypt long enough to develop a tolerance toward idolatry as well as an understanding of how religion can be used to control the people. In this skill, Jeroboam was one with Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 3), Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:19–25), and the Antichrist (Rev. 13, 17), and today's latest demagogue. But Jeroboam made three serious mistakes during his twenty-two-year reign.
He didn't believe God's promises (12:25–33) Success in life depends on doing God's will and trusting God's promises, but Jeroboam failed in both. When Ahijah gave Jeroboam God's message that guaranteed him the throne of the kingdom of Israel (11:28–39), the prophet made it clear that political division did not permit religious departure. God would have given Jeroboam the entire kingdom except that He had made an everlasting covenant with David to keep one of his descendants on the throne (2 Sam. 7:1–17). This protected the Messianic line so that the Savior could come into the world. The Lord tore the ten tribes away from Rehoboam because Rehoboam had followed Solomon's bad example and turned the people to idols. This should have been a warning to Jeroboam to be faithful to the Lord and stay away from false gods. The Lord also promised to build Jeroboam a "sure house" (a continued dynasty) if he obeyed the Lord and walked in His ways (v. 38). What a promise, yet Jeroboam couldn't believe it.
Fear (vv. 25–28). One of the first evidences of unbelief is fear. We get our eyes off the Lord and start looking at the circumstances. "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Jesus asked His disciples (Matt. 8:23–27 nkjv), reminding them that faith and fear can't coexist in the same heart for very long. Jeroboam's
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fear was that the southern kingdom would attack him and his own people desert him and go back to Jerusalem to worship. The law not only appointed the temple in Jerusalem as the only place of sacrifice (Deut. 12), but it also commanded all Jewish men to go to Jerusalem three times a year to observe the appointed feasts (Ex. 23:14–17). What if the people decided to remain in Judah and not return to Israel? Even if they returned north after worshipping, how long could they live with divided loyalties? Perhaps Jeroboam recalled the plight of Saul's successor, Ish-Bosheth, who tried to rule over the ten northern tribes but failed and was slain (2 Sam. 4). If there was ever a popular movement in Israel toward uniting the two kingdoms, Jeroboam would be a dead man.
calves and put one at Bethel, on the farthest southern border of the kingdom, just a short distance from Jerusalem, and the other at Dan, on the farthest northern border (see Hos. 8:5–6; 13:2–3). Worshipping the Lord couldn't be more convenient! "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem," the king told the people (v. 28), and they were more than willing to believe him. The king built shrines at Bethel and Dan and allowed the people to make their own high places closer to home. By royal fiat, he instituted a "do-it-yourself religion" and, as in the book of Judges, everybody did what was right in his own eyes (Judg. 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). If the Canaanites and Egyptians could worship calves, so could the Hebrews! He forgot about Exodus 20:1–3 and 22–23—but the Lord didn't forget! A religion needs ministers, so Jeroboam appointed all kinds of people to serve as "priests" at the altars in Dan and Bethel (13:33–34; 2 Chron. 11:13–17). The only requirement was that each candidate bring with him a young bull and seven rams (2 Chron. 13:9).3 God had made it clear when He gave Moses the law that only the sons of Aaron could serve as priests at the altar (Ex. 28:1–5; 29:1–9; 40:12–16) and that if anybody from another tribe tried to serve, he would be put to death (Num. 3:5–10). Even the Levites, who were from the tribe of Levi, were not allowed to serve at the altar on penalty of death (Num. 3:5–10, 38; 4:17–20; 18:1–7). Unauthorized priests at unauthorized temples could never have access to God or present sacrifices acceptable to God. It was a man-made religion that pleased the people, protected the king, and unified the nation—except for the faithful Levites who abandoned the northern kingdom and moved to Judah to worship God according to the teaching of the Scriptures (2 Chron. 11:13–17). The law of Moses required the Jews to celebrate seven divinely appointed feasts each year (Lev. 23), so Jeroboam instituted a feast for the people of the northern kingdom. The Feast of Tabernacles was scheduled for the seventh month for one full week. This was a joyous festival when the people recalled their wilderness years by living in booths and celebrating the goodness of the Lord in giving the harvest. Jeroboam's feast was set for the eighth month so that the people had to choose which one they would attend, and this separated the loyal Jews from the counterfeit worshippers in Israel. But why travel all the way to Jerusalem when Bethel and Dan were much easier to reach?
Security (v. 25). Like both Solomon (9:15–19; 11:27) and Rehoboam (2 Chron. 11:5–12), King Jeroboam fortified his capital city (Shechem) and strengthened other key cities against any invaders. Penuel (Peniel) was east of the Jordan and was famous as the place where Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord (Gen. 32). It appears that Jeroboam later moved his capital from Shechem to Tirzah (14:17), or perhaps he had a second palace there. Instead of trusting the Lord to be his shield and defender, Jeroboam trusted his own defenses and strategy.
Substitutes (vv. 26–33). The easiest solution to Jeroboam's problem of holding the loyalty of his people was to establish a worship center for them in the territory of Israel. But what authority did he have to devise a rival religion when the Jews had received their form of worship from the very hand of God? He certainly couldn't build a temple to compete with Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, or write a law that matched what Moses received from Jehovah, or set up a sacrificial system that would guarantee the forgiveness of sins. He was no Moses and he certainly couldn't claim to be God!
What Jeroboam did was to take advantage of the tendency of the Jewish people to turn to idols, and the desire of most people for a religion that is convenient, not too costly, and close enough to the authorized faith to be comfortable for the conscience. Jeroboam didn't tell the people to forget Jehovah but to worship Him in the form of a golden calf. In both Egypt and the land of Canaan, the king had seen statues of calves and bulls that were supposed to be "holding up" the invisible forms of the gods. In the pagan religions that Jeroboam was copying, calves and bulls symbolized fertility. Jeroboam turned his back on the most important message given at Mount Sinai: Israel's Lord Jehovah is a God who would be heard but not seen or touched. Hearing His Word is what generates faith (Rom. 10:17), and faith enables us to obey. But most people don't want to live by faith; they want to walk by sight and gratify their senses.
Along with setting up his own religious calendar, temples, altars, and priesthood, Jeroboam made himself a priest (vv. 32–33)! He offered incense and blood sacrifices just as the authorized priests did at the temple, except that the Lord never acknowledged his sacrifices. The sacrifice on the fifteenth day of the eighth month was in connection with the feast that he had ordained, and this sacrifice may have been in imitation of the annual day of Atonement. He had all the ingredients needed for a "religion" but lacked the most necessary one—the Lord God Jehovah!
Jeroboam's words in verse 28 suggest that Aaron's golden calf (Ex. 32:1–8, especially v. 4) was also in his mind.2 But the king went one better: he made two
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became "the king's sanctuary" (Amos 10–12). When you devise your own religion, as Jeroboam did, you can do whatever you please, and Jeroboam chose to be a priest as well as a king. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were priests who were called to be prophets, but the Mosaic law didn't permit kings to serve as priests (2 Chron. 26:16–23). Jesus Christ is the only King who is also Priest (Heb. 7—8), and all who believe in Christ are "kings and priests" (Rev. 1:6) and "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9). Jeroboam's "priesthood" was spurious and rejected by the Lord. That may be why the anonymous prophet from Judah delivered his message while the king was at the altar.
Apostasy. We live today in an age when "manufactured religion" is popular, approved, and accepted. The blind leaders of the blind assert that we live in a "pluralistic society" and that nobody has the right to claim that only revelation is true and only one way of salvation is correct. Self-appointed "prophets" and ministers put together their own theology and pass it off as the truth. They aren't the least bit interested in what Scripture has to say; instead, they substitute their "feigned [plastic] words" (2 Peter 2:3) for God's unchanging and inspired Word, and many gullible people will fall for their lies and be condemned (2 Peter 2:1–2). Jeroboam's "religion" incorporated elements from the law of Moses and from the pagan nations that the Jews had conquered. His system was what is today called "eclectic" (selective) or "syncretic" (combining many parts), but God called it heresy and apostasy. When the prophet Isaiah confronted the new religions in his day, he cried out, "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isa. 8:20 nkjv).
The prophet spoke to the altar, not to the king, as though God no longer wanted to address Jeroboam, a man so filled with himself and his plans that he had no time to listen to God. The message declared that the future lay with the house of David, not with the house of Jeroboam. Because of Jeroboam's evil ways, the kingdom of Israel would become so polluted with idolatry and its accompanying sins that the kingdom would be wiped out within two centuries. In 722, the Assyrians captured Israel and the ten northern tribes moved off the scene.4 David's dynasty continued until the reign of Zedekiah (597–586). He was Judah's last king before the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586.
Because Jeroboam didn't believe God's promise given by the prophet Ahijah, he began to walk in unbelief and to lead the people into false religion. The religion he invented was comfortable, convenient, and not costly, but it wasn't authorized by the Lord. It was contrary to the revealed will of God in Scripture and it had as its purpose the unification of his kingdom, not the salvation of the people and the glory of God. It was man-made religion and God totally rejected it. Centuries later, Jesus told the woman of Samaria (the former kingdom of Israel), "You worship what you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22 nasb). When He made that statement, He instantly wiped out every other religion and affirmed that the only way of salvation is from the Jews. Jesus was a Jew and the Christian faith was born out of the Jewish religion. Our modern "pluralistic society" notwithstanding, the apostle Peter was right: "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved''(Acts 4:12 nasb).
The prophet's message looked ahead three hundred years to the reign of godly King Josiah (640–609) who rooted out the idolatry in the land, including the king's shrine at Bethel (2 Kings 23:15–16). Josiah desecrated the altar by burning human bones on it, and then he tore down the altar and let the ashes spill out. The prophecy was fulfilled just as the prophet announced. So sure was this promise that the prophet even named the king! (See also Isa. 44:28; 45:1, 13.)
The miracles (vv. 4–6). The king paid no attention to the message from God; all he wanted to do was punish the messenger. He was infuriated to hear that a king from Judah would one day desecrate and destroy his successful religious system. When Jeroboam stretched out his hand and pointed to the prophet, the Lord touched his arm and it suffered a stroke. What a humiliating experience for such a powerful king and priest! At that moment, the pagan altar split and the ashes came pouring out. Often the Lord authenticated His Word by giving miraculous signs (Heb. 2:1–4) but only to give emphasis to the message. In spite of Jeroboam's stubborn pride and willful disobedience, the Lord graciously healed his arm. (See Ex. 8:8; Acts 8:24.) It's too bad that the king was more concerned about physical healing for his body than moral and spiritual healing for his soul.
He didn't heed God's warnings (13:1–34) This long chapter is not about young and old prophets; it's about King Jeroboam and his sins. The young prophet's ministry is very important in this account, for all that he said and experienced, including his death, were a part of God's warning to King Jeroboam. According to verse 33, the king didn't turn back to God: "After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil ways" (nasb). In this chapter, a prophet died, but in the next chapter, the crown prince died! Obviously, God was trying to get Jeroboam's attention.
The king witnessed three miracles in just a few minutes, yet there's no evidence that he was convicted of his sins. Of themselves, miracles don't bring conviction or produce saving faith, but they do call attention to the Word. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, some of the witnesses believed in Jesus while others went straight to the Jewish religious leaders and stirred
The message (vv. 1–2). The anonymous prophet came from Judah because there were still faithful servants of God there whom the Lord could use. He met Jeroboam at the shrine in Bethel, which eventually
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king and about his commission from the Lord (vv. 8–10). When the old prophet caught up with the messenger of the Lord, he deliberately tempted him to disobey the Lord's commission, and the younger man fell into the trap! The older prophet should not have tempted a fellow servant to disobey, but the younger man shouldn't have hastened to accept the older man's words. If God gave the man from Judah the message and the instructions for delivering it, then God could also give him the changes in the plan.
up trouble (John 11:45–54). Miracles aren't necessary for evangelism (John 10:40–42), and those who claimed to believe on Christ only because of His miracles were really "unsaved believers" (John 2:23–25).
The maneuver (vv. 7–10). Jeroboam was a clever man and tried to trap the prophet by inviting him to the palace for a meal. Satan comes as the lion to devour us (1 Peter 5:8), and when that fails, he comes as a serpent to deceive us (2 Cor. 11:3; Gen. 3:1ff.). The king's "Lay hold of him!" became "Come home with me!" But the prophet refused, for he knew his commission from the Lord compelled him to leave Bethel and not tarry. Had the prophet eaten a meal with the king, that one simple act would have wiped out the effectiveness of his witness and ministry. In the east, sharing a meal is a sign of friendship and endorsement. The prophet certainly didn't want to be a friend to such an evil man or give others the impression that he endorsed his wicked works. "Like a trampled spring and a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked" (Prov. 25:26 nasb). A compromising servant of God muddies the waters and confuses the saints. The prophet refused the king's friendship, food, and gifts. Like Daniel, he said, "Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another" (Dan. 5:17 nkjv).
When an emotionally disturbed man told Charles Spurgeon that God had told him to preach for Spurgeon the next Sunday at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Spurgeon replied, "When the Lord tells me, I'll let you know." Other believers can use the Word to encourage us, warn us, and correct us, but beware of letting other believers tell you God's will for your life. The Father loves each of His children personally and wants to convey His will to each personally (Ps. 33:11). Yes, there's safety in a multitude of counselors, provided they're walking with the Lord, but there's no certainty that you have the will of God just because a committee approved it.
Since he knew what the prophet from Judah was supposed to do, why did the old man deliberately lie to the young man and encourage him to disobey the Lord? Was the old man worried that the visiting prophet might stir things up in comfortable Bethel and create problems for him and other satisfied compromisers? Perhaps the young prophet was feeling proud of what he had done—preaching a powerful message and performing three miracles—and the Lord used the old man to test him and bring him back to essentials. By telling the lie, the old prophet tempted the young man, but by going back to Bethel, the young prophet tempted himself (he was out of God's will) and tempted the Lord. Why didn't the young visitor seek the face of the Lord and find out His will? The text tells us only the events, not the motives in the hearts of the participants, so we can't answer any of these questions with finality.
The mistake (vv. 11–34). The faithful man from Judah couldn't be deceived by a wicked king but he could be fooled by an old retired prophet!5 This narrative presents some things to puzzle over, but we must not forget the main message: if the Lord punished a deceived prophet for his disobedience, how much more would he punish a wicked king who was sinning with his eyes wide open? If a true prophet disobeyed and was disciplined, what will happen to the false prophets? The prophet from Judah didn't compromise in his message, but he did compromise in his conduct, and he paid for his disobedience with his life. The Lord was saying to King Jeroboam, "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1 Peter 4:18 nkjv; see also Prov. 11:31).
There are some characteristics of the old prophet that bother me. First of all, what was he doing living in Bethel when by traveling just a few miles he could be in Judah? We get the impression that the prophet wasn't exactly a spiritual giant, otherwise the Lord would have called him to rebuke the king. The fact that he lied to a fellow prophet raises some questions about his character. It's also disturbing that he wept over the younger man's death when he helped to cause it, and then buried the man he helped to kill. Was he trying to atone for his own sins against the prophet?
One of the strangest events of all is that the Lord sent His word to the old prophet who was out of His will! But God spoke to Balaam, who was not necessarily a separated and dedicated man, as well as to Elijah (1 Kings 18) and Jonah (Jonah 3–4). After the meal, the younger prophet started back home and the lion met him and killed him. But even this event had miracle aspects to it, because the lion didn't maul the body or attack the mule, and the mule didn't run away. The animals must have remained there a long time because witnesses told the tale in Bethel and people came out to see the sight, including the old prophet who carried the body away and buried it. Surely the news arrived at the palace, and perhaps the king rejoiced that his enemy was dead. But the prophet's words were not dead! And the very death of the prophet was another warning to Jeroboam that he had better start to obey the Word of God.
The younger prophet did his work well and got out of town. Had he kept going and not lingered under the tree he would have escaped the tempting offer of the old prophet. God's servants often face great temptations after times of great success and excitement. (See 1 Kings 18 and 19.) The old man's sons witnessed the confrontation with Jeroboam at the altar and told their father what the prophet from Judah had said about the
1 Kings 12—14
prophet reminded Jeroboam of God's grace in the past (vv. 7–8a). The Lord had chosen Jeroboam and raised him from being a district leader to ruling over the northern kingdom.7 God had torn ten tribes away from the house of David and had given them to Jeroboam. But then Ahijah revealed Jeroboam's sins in the present (vv. 8b-9). Unlike David, who had a heart wholly dedicated to the Lord, Jeroboam did more evil than Saul, David, and Solomon put together. He turned from the true God of Israel and made false gods, and then allowed the people of the ten tribes to worship them. He organized a counterfeit religion, provoked the Lord to anger, and refused to listen to the prophets who were sent to warn him.
The old prophet must have recovered his courage, for he publicly declared that the prophecy given at the Bethel altar would be fulfilled (vv. 31–32), and it was (2 Kings 23:15–18). Three hundred years later, King Josiah saw the old prophet's tomb and took courage that the Lord does fulfill His Word. But did any of these unusual events convict the heart of King Jeroboam and bring him to a place of repentance? "But even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways" (v. 33 nlt). However, God's next warning would come closer to home.
He didn't receive God's help (14:1–20) We don't read in Scripture that Jeroboam sought the Lord's will, prayed for spiritual discernment, or asked the Lord to make him a godly man. He prayed for healing for his arm, and now he asked the prophet Ahijah to heal his son, the crown prince and heir to the throne. It's obvious that physical blessings were more important to him than spiritual blessings. Like many nominal believers and careless church members today, the only time Jeroboam wanted help from God's servant was when he was in trouble.
This led to Ahijah's revelation of Jeroboam's future (vv. 10–16). To begin with, unlike King David, Jeroboam would not establish a dynasty, even though God had promised to bless him with a "sure house" if he obeyed the Lord (11:38). All of Jeroboam's male descendants would be cut off; the Lord would make a "clean sweep" of Jeroboam's family and take away every potential heir, just the way servants remove dung from a house. (God didn't think much of the king's children!) But even worse, none of them except Abijah, the ailing crown prince, would have a decent, dignified burial. Between the scavenger dogs in the city and the carrion birds in the fields, the children's corpses would be devoured and never buried, a terrible humiliation for any Jew.
The pretending wife (vv. 1–3). Abijah wasn't a little child at this time. He was old enough to be approved by the Lord (v. 13) and appreciated by the people, for they mourned over him when he died (v. 18). No doubt the godly remnant in Israel pinned their hopes on the young prince, but God judged the royal family and the apostate citizens by calling the boy away from the cesspool of iniquity that was called Israel. "The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart; and devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from evil" (Isa. 57:1 nasb).
Then Ahijah got to the matter at hand, the future of the sick heir to the throne. Abijah would die, have a dignified burial, and be mourned by the people. The one son of wicked Jeroboam who could have ruled justly would be taken from them, not because he was wicked but because he was good and God wanted to spare him the suffering that lay ahead of the kingdom (Isa. 57:1). As he looked ahead (v. 14), Ahijah then saw Nadab, Jeroboam's son and heir, reign for two years and then be assassinated by Baasha, a man from the tribe of Issachar (15:25–31). Baasha would not only kill Nadab, but he would exterminate the family of Jeroboam, in fulfillment of Ahijah's prophecy (15:29).