Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.
Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.
They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”
But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”
The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”
Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:
“What share do we have in David,
    what part in Jesse’s son?
To your tents, Israel!
    Look after your own house, David!”
So the Israelites went home. But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.
King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.
When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.
But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.
Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.
Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.
Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

• 1 Kings 12:1-33

To read 1 Kings 13, click the link HERE.

At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so you won’t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there—the one who told me I would be king over this people. Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” So Jeroboam’s wife did what he said and went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh.
Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age. But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else.”
So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense? I have been sent to you with bad news. Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me.
“‘Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free. I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone. Dogs will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country. The Lord has spoken!’
“As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die.  All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the Lord, the God of Israel, has found anything good.
“The Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. Even now this is beginning to happen. And the Lord will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused the Lord’s anger by making Asherah poles. And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”
Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the Lord had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.
The other events of Jeroboam’s reign, his wars and how he ruled, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. He reigned for twenty-two years and then rested with his ancestors. And Nadab his son succeeded him as king.
Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.
Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than those who were before them had done. They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.
In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.
As for the other events of Rehoboam’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. And Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.

• 1 Kings 14:1-31

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

1 Kings 12:3 ‘Jeroboam … spoke’: ” The 10 northern tribes summoned Jeroboam from Egypt to become their representative and spokesman in their dealings with Rehoboam.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 12:4 ‘yoke’: “The hardships that resulted from Solomon’s policy of compulsory labor service (cf. 5:13; 9:22; 11:28) and excessive taxes (cf. 4:7) came because the splendor of his courts, the magnitude of his wealth, and the profits of his enterprises were not enough to sustain his demands.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 12:6-7 ‘the elders’: ”These were older, experienced counselors and administrators who had served Solomon. They counseled Rehoboam to give concessions to the 10 tribes.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 12:8-10 ‘the young men’: “The contemporaries of Rehoboam, about forty years of age (cf. 14:21), who were acquainted only with the royal court life of Solomon, recommended that Rehoboam be even harsher on the 10 tribes than was Solomon.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 12:21 ‘the tribe of Benjamin’: “The tribe of Benjamin had split loyalty and land during the divided-kingdom era. According to v. 20, only the tribe of Judah remained completely loyal to the house of David, but in vv. 21, 23 it is said that Benjamin was associated with ‘all the house of Judah,’ the emphasis being on the tribe of Judah. Certain towns of northern Benjamin, most notably Bethel (v. 29), were included in the northern kingdom. Simeon, the tribe originally given land in the southern section of Judah’s territory (Josh. 19:1–9), had apparently migrated N and was counted with the 10 northern tribes (cf. 1 Chr. 12:23–25; 2 Chr. 15:9; 34:6). Thus, the 10 northern tribes were Reuben, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, and Ephraim. The southern kingdom was the tribe of Judah only. The 12th tribe, Benjamin, was split between the two kingdoms. The tribe of Levi, originally scattered throughout both kingdoms (Josh. 21:1–42), resided in Judah during the divided kingdom (see 2 Chr. 11:13–16).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 12:24 ‘God is sovereign, even when things go wrong’: “Here is one Shemaiah-many have never heard of him before-and perhaps not again. He appears once in this history and then he vanishes. But it would be a grand thing to preach only one sermon and to be as successful as Shemaiah was. It would be far better than to preach ten thousand and to accomplish nothing by them all. Let us therefore earnestly pray to God that we may preach as ‘a dying man to dying men’ (Richard Baxter) and deliver each discourse as if that one message was enough to serve for our whole lifework. We need not wish to preach another sermon provided we are enabled to so deliver that one that the purpose of God will be accomplished by us and the power of his Word will be seen in our hearers.
“This text also shows that God is in events that are produced by people’s sin and stupidity. This breaking up of the kingdom of Solomon into two parts was the result of Solomon’s sin and Rehoboam’s folly, yet God was in it. God had nothing to do with the sin or the folly, but in some way that we can never explain-in a mysterious way in which we are to believe without hesitation-God was in it all. The most notable instance of this truth of God is the death of our Lord Jesus Christ; that was the greatest of human crimes, yet it was foreordained and predetermined by the Most High to whom there can be no such thing as crime nor any sort of compact with sin. We know not how it is, but it is an undoubted fact that a thing may be from God and yet it may be worked, as we see in this case, by human folly and wickedness. “

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

1 Kings 12:26 ‘the return to the House of David’: “The Lord had ordained a political, not a religious, division of Solomon’s kingdom. The Lord had promised Jeroboam political control of the 10 northern tribes (11:31, 35, 37). However, Jeroboam was to religiously follow the Mosaic law, which demanded that he follow the Lord’s sacrificial system at the temple in Jerusalem (11:38). Having received the kingdom from God, he should have relied on divine protection, but he did not. Seeking to keep his subjects from being influenced by Rehoboam when they went to Jerusalem to worship, he set up worship in the north (vv. 27, 28).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 12 ‘Summary’: “Chapter 12 begins the second movement in this book: the breakup and decline of the nation of Israel. Disaster overtakes the kingdom as Solomon’s son Rehoboam takes the reigns of government. Jeroboam splits the kingdom, taking the ten tribes of Israel in the north to begin the northern kingdom of Israel, while Rehoboam is left to rule the remaining southern tribes in the south, which became known as Judah. During Jeroboam’s reign over Israel in the north he reintroduced the worship of golden calves-a sin God had judged during Israel’s trek in the desert (see Ex. 32).”

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring Through the Bible

1 Kings 13:1-3 ‘Bodies of the False Priests to be Burned’: “During Jeroboam’s reign, a prophet declares that a future Davidic king, Josiah, would one day burn on an altar the bones of the priests who officiated at the idolatrous high places in Israel. This prophecy is immediately confirmed through a miraculous sign when, as the prophet had predicted, the altar splits (13:5). Some three centuries later, the prophecy was fulfilled by King Josiah (2 Kings 23:15-17).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

1 Kings 13:2 ‘sacrifice the priests to the high places’: “He ruled Judah about 300 years later ca. 640–60 B.C. (cf. 2 Kin. 22:1–23:30). sacrifice the priests of the high places. The prophet predicted that Josiah would slaughter the illegitimate priests of the high places of his day who made offerings on the altar at Bethel. This prophecy was realized in 2 Kin. 23:15–20, executing the divine judgment on the non-Levitical priesthood established by Jeroboam (12:31, 32).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 13:8 ‘sign’: “An immediate ‘wonder’ that served to authenticate the reliability of the long-term prediction (cf. Deut. 18:21, 22), this sign came to pass in v. 5. the ashes on it shall be poured out. Proper ritual required the disposal of sacrificial ashes in a special ‘clean’ place (Lev. 4:12; 6:10, 11). Contact with the ground would render the ashes ‘unclean’ and nullify the procedure.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 13:20-26 ‘A Disobedient Prophet to Die’: “The prophet who had proclaimed the Josiah prophecy (13:1-3) had been divinely instructed not to eat. However, another prophet meets him and falsely relays instruction for the first prophet to eat. The first prophet mistakenly believes the second prophet’s message, learning too late, after having eaten, that the second prophet has misrepresented himself as having received the Lord’s instruction (13:14-19). Strangely, the second prophet, who had purposely misrepresented himself, now receives a divine message directed to the first prophet. This message, one of judgment, reveals that the first prophet would die because he had taken the unconfirmed word of the second prophet, contrary to the previous instruction he had personally received from the Lord (13:20-22). A lion kills the first prophet later that same evening (13:23-26).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

1 Kings 13:32 ‘will surely come to pass’: “The old prophet instructed his sons to bury him beside the Judean prophet (v. 31). The old prophet was finally willing to identify himself with the message that the man of God from Judah had given against worship at Bethel.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 14:1-16 ‘Jeroboam Warned of Impending Disaster’: “ In 1 Kings 14:1-16, Ahijah, the prophet who had revealed to Jeroboam that he would be king (11:31-39), delivers a harsh message of divine judgment to Jeroboam. As recompense for Jeroboam’s unprecedented extravagance of idolatry, the royal dynasty of Jeroboam would be cut off-not only from the rule of Israel, but from life itself, beginning with the immediate death of Jeroboam’s own son. This judgment would not be limited to Jeroboam’s dynasty, but would eventually extend to the entire northern kingdom of Israel, who would be dispossessed from the land of promise (14:15-16).
“The death of Jeroboam’s son is recounted in the subsequent passage (14:17-20), and the annihilation of Jeroboam’s dynasty in 15:29-30.”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

1 Kings 14:1 ‘At that time’: ” Probably indicating a time shortly after the incident recorded in chap. 13. Abijah. Meaning ‘my father is the Lord,’ Jeroboam’s son’s name implies that his father desired to be regarded as a worshiper of the Lord at the time of his son’s birth. Abijah was referred to as a ‘child’ (vv. 3, 12, 17), a term which can be used from childhood through young adulthood. Of all of Jeroboam’s family, Abijah was the most responsive to the Lord (v. 13). Jeroboam’s son, Abijah, should not be confused with Rehoboam’s son of the same name (see … 15:1-8).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 14:4-5 ‘Ahijah beholding what he could not see’: “Ahijah the prophet was blind. Blind, but yet in the highest sense a seer, looking into the invisible, and by faith beholding things we who have our sight can never see. Ahijah beheld what eye has not seen and heard what ear has never heard. This then may furnish a word of comfort at the outset to any who are suffering under infirmity: Jesus can mend us. We are not the only persons who have been called to suffer; many of the blind have been gifted with spiritual sight. If we have lost hearing, or the use of any of the members of our bodies, we should remember that no strange thing has happened to us ‘except what is common to humanity’ (1Co 10:13). There is a way by which our consolations may abound through Jesus Christ. These losses that we feel so sadly, which so loudly demand our sympathy, may, by God’s love, be transmuted into mercies by a holy alchemy, which really turns iron into gold. He can turn our losses into gains and our curses into blessings. We may imagine the venerable prophet thinking that his usefulness was at an end, that it was time for the Master to call him away. But no, he does not. Ahijah must not die; he has another message to deliver, and he is immortal till his work is done. I have no doubt he slept sweetly after he had delivered his last message but not till then.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

1 Kings 14:9 ‘more evil’: “Jeroboam had not only failed to live up to the standard of David, but his wickedness had surpassed even that of Saul and Solomon. He had installed a paganized system of worship for the entire population of the northern kingdom (cf. 16:25, 30; 2 Kin. 21:11).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 14:13 ‘even the godly child must die’: “In the wicked house and family of Jeroboam, there was one godly child­ and death, which often mysteriously cuts down the green wheat, while it leaves the hemlock to ripen-seized this one and laid him low. Yet though he must die, there was this consolatory thought about his death, that he was the only one of the family that would ever have an honored burial, for all the others were to be slain by a death so sudden and violent that they were to be eaten by the fowls of the air or devoured by the dogs. This child was to be the only one who should have a funeral attended by mourners because he was the only child of the whole family in whose heart there was found ‘something favorable to the LORD God of Israel.’ Of all the houses of Israel, the palace of Tirzah was surely the last place one would think in which to look for a worshiper of the true God. The father of the family was a great sinner. He had set up gods of gold for Israel to worship. And yet God’s sovereign, electing love was bestowed on a child of this wicked and rebellious Jeroboam. God’s everlasting mercy had designed that there should be a break in the line of sin and that at least one should be found among the choir singers of glory who had been nursed and nurtured among the degraded worship of calves. Never despair for the church. Out of the house of Jeroboam, God will bring his Ahijahs; and out of the worst and most unpromising of places-where God is most forgotten and his truth least known and despised-the Lord will bring testifiers to the truth of God as it is in Jesus.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

1 Kings 14:27 ‘bronze shields’: “These bronze shields replaced Solomon’s gold shields, which were used as a ransom paid to Shishak. The bronze shields illustrate the sharp decline from the reign of Solomon to Rehoboam.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 14 ‘Reflections’: “The history of Israel and Judah points up a truth taught clearly enough by all history-that the masses are or soon will be what their leaders are. The kings set the moral pace for the people …
“Whatever sort of man the king turned out to be, the people were soon following his leadership. They followed David in the worship of Jehovah, Solomon in the building of the Temple, Jeroboam in the making of a calf, and Hezekiah in the restoration of the temple worship.
“It is not complimentary to the masses that they are so easily led, but we are not interested in praising or blaming; we are concerned for truth, and the truth is that for better or for worse religious people follow leaders. A good man may change the moral complexion of a whole nation, or a corrupt and worldly clergy may lead a nation into bondage. …
“Today Christianity in the Western world is what its leaders were in the recent past and is becoming what its present leaders are. The local church soon becomes like its pastor. …”

• A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

1 Kings 14 ‘Summary’: ”Chapter 14 presents the story of Egypt’s invasion and defeat of Rehoboam and the southern kingdom of Judah-the very nation out of which God delivered Israel under Moses (14:25-26). Again, Egypt is a picture of the world and its ways-its wickedness, its folly, and its futility.  Most of the treasures Solomon amassed during his reign were plundered and carried off.“

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring Through the Bible

My Thoughts

Jeroboam heard that Rehoboam was now king of all Israel.  He returned home from his exile in Egypt when Solomon wanted him killed.  Ahijah had already said he would be king of the northern tribes.  The tribes called Jeroboam to confront Rehoboam at Shechem.

Jeroboam made a reasonable request.  The taxation by Solomon was harsh, but the temple was built.  The royal palace was already built.  While Rev. MacArthur also mentioned the forced labor, that was only the foreigners that lived among them.  Jeroboam might use that as an arguing point, but he did not care about those people either.  Back off the tax rate just a little and ease our burden, the yoke placed upon us.

Rehoboam went to two groups for advice.  The first group were the elders who had been Solomon’s advisors.  They told Rehoboam to be a servant to the northern tribes.  The wording here is similar to Jesus telling His disciples that to be the master you must become their servant.

Then Rehoboam went to the young men he had grown up with.  In other words, his cronies, his buddies, and they had probably played these games, knowing that he would one day become king.  They said to increase the burden upon the people.  Rehoboam accepted the advice from his friends instead of the advice from old folks.  In so doing, he rejected wisdom and accepted the accolades of his friends above all else.

Jeroboam repeated what Sheba, son of Bikri, from the tribe of Benjamin had said to David when he returned after his short exile during the Absalom revolt.  What share do the northern tribes have in a son of Jesse?  Jeroboam rebelled, taking the ten northern tribes with him.

But now, Jeroboam had a problem.  God had prophesied through Ahijah that he would be king, but where do they worship?  God had given him the northern tribes to rule politically, but he still expected them to worship at the temple.  This could not be done without losing face and eventually his kingdom.  He had two golden calves constructed on high places.  One was at Bethel, very close to Jerusalem.  The other golden calf was placed in Dan.  These two worship locations were near the northern and southern points of the northern kingdom.  To compound doubling down on the sin of the people while Moses was atop Mount Sinai with two calves, instead of just one as Aaron had done.  He made no effort to only appoint Levites.  He appointed men of his choosing to be the priests.  He set up other shrines on high places.  And one month after the Feast of the Tabernacles, he established his own religious feast.  All these things angered God.

A man from Judah was sent to prophesy against Jeroboam.  He went to the altar and spoke of how Josiah would become king and the priests would be burned on the altar.  Josiah was a good king, the great-grandson of Hezekiah.  He was the last good king of Judah before the exile.  He fulfilled this prophecy, but this would not save Judah for long.

Jeroboam wanted this prophet seized but as he pointed, his hand withered.  Also, the altar split in half.  He begged the man to intercede with God so that his hand would be restored.  The man did so, and Jeroboam’s hand was restored.  Jeroboam asked the man to dine with him, but the man went home by a different route, refusing any gift.

An old prophet from Bethel heard of this and chased the man down and invited him to his home in Bethel.  The man from Judah again refused, but the old prophet mentioned that he was also a prophet and he lied that God had changed that rule.  While the man of Judah dined with the prophet, God used the old prophet to tell the man that he had failed in following all the instructions.  The man died.  The sons of the old prophet buried the man from Judah.  And then, feeling remorse, the old prophet requested to be buried next to the man, since he had tricked him – that is, bury him when he eventually died.

First Kings 14 begins with intrigue, as if there was not enough already.  Jeroboam is disturbed.  His son Abijah was ill, and Jeroboam wanted to know if he would be well.  He asked his wife to disguise herself and go to Ahijah, who is in Shiloh.  At about that time, God tells Ahijah that Jeroboam’s wife is coming disguised as someone else.  Ahijah was to tell Jeroboam that God had raised him up and God would put him down.

Ahijah tells her that the family of Jeroboam who dies in the fields will be eaten by birds and those who die in the city will be eaten by dogs.  And when she returns, as she steps over the threshold, Abijah will die.  And Abijah died as she stepped across the threshold upon her return.  God rose up people to oppose Jeroboam.  When Jeroboam died, Nadab became king.  Nadab was Jeroboam’s son.

Meanwhile, Rehoboam was king over Judah.  Even with the temple, Rehoboam set up high places, sacred stones, and Asherah poles, and Judah did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord also.

Shishak, king of Egypt rose up and attacked Judah, taking much of the treasures that Solomon had built back to Egypt.  Rehoboam made bronze shields similar to the golden shields Solomon had made to cover up for the loss of Solomon’s treasures.

Rehoboam was the son of a woman from Ammon.  When he died, Abijah, his son, (a different Abijah than the son of Jeroboam) was made king.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

1 Kings 12:1-24 Israel Rebels against Rehoboam 1. What justification is there for violence, assassination or civil war? Does justice sometimes require that some people die?
“2. Who really listens to your side of the story: Parents? A friend? Boss? Pastor? Who seems to always ignore your feelings and needs?
“3. Do you take advice well? Do you go it alone? What piece of your own advice do you never seem to follow? How can the group help?
“4. How well do you listen? (Are you usually thinking about what you’ll say next? Appearing knowledgeable or trendy?) Pair off in your group and try listening to someone without attempting to approve, disapprove, analyze, fix, heal, convert or condemn him or her. Does it help them open up? Will they talk to you again?
1 Kings 12:25-33 Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan 1. Who are your spiritual authorities? Is the church a democracy?
“2. Have you seen. religion used for political ends? Financial gain? How do you tell true from false religion?
1 Kings 13 1. Are you being tempted in any way right now to step off the straight and narrow path? Where might you want to deviate? Is someone else urging you to do so? What rationalizations have arisen in your mind for doing what you know deep down is not right?
“2. How can you tell the difference between a genuine ‘prophecy’ and a lie?
“3. Are any mistakes too severe for God to forgive? What kind? Where does God’s love stop and sure judgment begin?
“4. Can ‘anyone who wants to be’ qualify as a preacher or teacher? Who qualifies as spiritual authority?
“5. Where do you plan to be buried? Does it make any difference? What would you like inscribed on your tombstone?
1 Kings 14:1-20 Ahijah’s Prophecy against Jeroboam 1. What feelings do conflict stories, especially your own, bring out in you? Do you tend to avoid or create conflict? Why?
“2. Like Jeroboam, most people sense great potential as they start their lives, marriages, careers, but gradually the glitter fades. Why? How do old feelings of potential and promise stay fresh? Get refreshed?
“3. Do you plan to be buried or cremated? No plan? Is this something you’d prefer to leave to your family? Why?
1 Kings 14:21-31 Rehoboam King of Judah 1. Were both your parents believers? One of them? Neither? Among your circle of friends, is it harder to come to true faith from a churched, unchurched or mixed-faith family? Why is that?
“2. What are the modern Asherah poles? What pagan rites today, overt or subtle, lead people away from the true God?
“3. How does God warn his people today about sinful practices to be avoided? Been warned lately?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There are two sets of questions each for 1 Kings 12 and 14 as noted. First Kings 13 has one set of questions.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.