1 Kings - Chapters 12-14

I am Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at vab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today with our story found in chapters 12-14 of 1 Kings, Solomon is now dead and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king. Before we begin looking at Rehoboam, let's review a bit about Solomon's reign. He had expanded the territory of Israel on all sides, 1 Kings 4 verse 21 says, And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the river to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought tribute and were Solomon's subjects all his life. He also had great building projects, like the temple, his palace, a palace for his wife, the Egyptian princess, as well as a colonnade, a throne hall, and the hall of justice. In chapter 9 verse 15 we find that he also fortified the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer, and he did it by forced labor. Verse 22 tells us that he did not make slaves of any of the Israelites, but they did have to work for the king. Chapter 10 verse 23 says, King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. This is the height of Israel's history and the United Kingdom. But then we have chapter 11, which shows us the decline which started under Solomon. Verse 1, He loved many foreign women, which included Egyptians, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonites, and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods. They did. Solomon built high places for their detestable gods on a hill east of Jerusalem. The Lord told him that because his heart had turned from the Lord, the kingdom would be torn from his hand, except for two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, and he would have the city of Jerusalem, which the Lord has chosen. Then the rest of chapter 11 covered Solomon's adversaries from all sides, Edom and Egypt from the south, and Aram from the north, and then we find Jeroboam from within. In chapter 11 verses 26 through 40, we found that Jeroboam was one of King Solomon's officers in charge of the forced labor, and one day Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh came to him with a new cloak, ripped it in twelve pieces, and told Jeroboam to take ten, because he would tear ten tribes out of Solomon's hand and give it to him. The Lord explained the reason was because Solomon and the people had forsaken the Lord and worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molech the god of the Ammonites. The only reason Jeroboam would not get all of Israel was because of the faithfulness of King David. Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, so he fled to Egypt until he died. Now that Solomon is dead, in chapter 12, Jeroboam came back from Egypt, and he went with the people of Israel to Shechem, where they went there to make Jeroboam king. The people cried out to Solomon's son Jeroboam, and said, 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. Verse 4. Jeroboam said, Give me three days, and I'll get back with you. So he went and inquired of Solomon's advisors, the old dudes first. They said, 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. Did you notice the word serve and servant? That was one thing that King David understood. He was to shepherd the people that God placed in his care, because David was a servant of the Lord. 2 Samuel chapter 7. Solomon understood that too, at least at the beginning. First Kings chapter 3 verses 7 through 9. He says, Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, but I am only a little child, and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people, and to distinguish between right and wrong, for who is able to govern this great people of yours? Well, Rehoboam then went to the young dudes that he grew up with and got their opinion, and they said, Tell those people who have said to you, Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter. 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. He chose the young dudes advice, and the people responded harshly. They rebelled and made Rehoboam their king. Rehoboam first sent out Adoniram, his chief, for forced labor to the people, but they stoned him, and Rehoboam fled. He then tried to attack the northern ten tribes, but the Lord intervened through Shemaiah, the man of God, and told them not to, verse 24b, so they obeyed the word of the Lord, and went home again, as the Lord had ordered. This was approximately 930 B.C. Jeroboam then fortified the cities of Shechem and Peniel, and he realized that he needed to do something about their worship, because Jerusalem was not just the old capital city, but it was their worship center. But he didn't want his people to go back to Jerusalem to worship, which was where they were supposed to go three times a year. So verse 28 says, After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. We don't know whom he sought advice from, but it was not good advice. And he told his people, It is too much for you to go to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of Egypt. Just a reminder that this is what Aaron told the Israelites when he had made a golden calf while Moses was up on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 32, verses 4 and 8. Jeroboam placed one golden calf at the most northern tip of Israel in Dan, and then the other he placed at Bethel, which was the place where Jacob had his dream of the stairway to heaven in Genesis chapter 28, verse 18. It means the house of God. He instituted his own festivals like the ones they celebrated in Jerusalem, and whoever wanted to be priests, he would let them. He also set up other high places too. Now chapter 13 is an interesting chapter. If you remember, before the nation of Israel had kings, they had prophets, elders and judges to lead them. Once the kings rose to leadership, the prophets, elders and judges were not as prominent, at least in the storytelling. As long as the kings were obediently serving the Lord and the people, we do not hear much about the prophets. But it was when they sinned that the Lord would bring one forth, like when Nathan confronted King David about his affair of Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. Well now that the kings are no longer following the Lord, the Lord raised up the prophets to be his spokespersons to the king. Chapter 13, verse 1 says, By the word of the Lord, a man of God came from Judah to Bethel as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. We do not know his name, but the Lord does. He confronted Jeroboam of his sin and brought the Lord's judgment upon him and his family line. Jeroboam stretched out his hand and told his men, Seize him! And when he did, his hand shriveled up. He pleaded for intercession and he received it and was healed. The king tried to bribe the prophet, but he refused and said he was commanded by the Lord to not eat or drink with them and to go home a different way. The prophet left. Now there was an old prophet who found him, lied to him, and said, An angel said to me, By the word of the Lord, to bring you back to eat and drink. So the unnamed prophet went home with him. While they were eating, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet and told him that the unnamed man of God would die on the way home and he would not be buried in the tomb of his fathers. The unnamed prophet left, was killed by a lion, and verse 25b said the lion stood beside the body. When the lying prophet heard the news, he said in verse 26, It is the man of God who defied the word of the Lord. When the lying prophet arrived, verse 28 says, Then he went out and found the body thrown down on the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. M. Pierce Smithinney Jr. said, The peculiar behavior of the lion and the ass are regarded as a sign that they were under the Lord's control. And let me add that it shows the animals obeyed the Lord completely while neither of these prophets did. It also reminds us to not trust quote religious leaders but test the spirits. The lying prophet took the body of the unfaithful prophet and buried him in his own grave and gave word that when he died, he too was to be buried there next to the prophet. Even though confronted by the prophet, King Jeroboam did not change his ways. Jeroboam's son became ill and he sent his wife in disguise to the prophet that had called him to be king, Ahijah. He was now blind, but the Lord told him she was coming. He told her once she got home, her son would die. And it was because Jeroboam has done more evil than all who lived before him by worshiping other gods. And he quote thrust the Lord behind his back. Verse 9, not only would their son die, but Jeroboam's line would be cut off as well. And the Lord will raise up another to be king. When she got home, her son died as the prophet said. Jeroboam reigned for 22 years and rested with his father's. Nadab, his son, succeeded him as king. With verse 21 of chapter 14, the story switched back to Rehoboam, king of Judah, Solomon's son. He was 41 years old when he became king and reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which he put his name. His mother's name was Naima. She was an Ammonite. These were the people group that had hired Balaam to curse the Israelites. Well through Rehoboam, it seems he added to the shrines that his father Solomon had set up. Because verse 24 says, there were even male shrine prostitutes in the land, the people engaged in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. Due to their sin, the Lord raised up Shishak, king of Egypt, and he attacked Jerusalem. He allowed it to stand in exchange for all the treasury in the temple, which included Solomon's massive gold shield in 1 Kings chapter 10 verses 16 and 17. So Rehoboam made them again, this time out of bronze, and his men protected him when he would go to the Lord's temple. Verses 30 and 31, there was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam and Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of David. His mother's name was Naima. She was an Ammonite, and Abijah, his son, succeeded him as king. Did you notice the repetition that Naima was an Ammonite? Whenever a writer repeats information, he is making a point. Hebrew doesn't have exclamation points. In these three chapters, with all the characters mentioned, there were four that were obedient to the Lord in all that they did. Shemaiah, the man of God, Ahijah, the Shilonite, the prophet who had told Jeroboam that he would be king and it would be taken away from him, plus the lion and the donkey. We also see the consequences of disobedience. As Dr. Bett said, wherever there is sin, there is loss. So ladies, let me ask you, how are you doing with obedience? Have you heard the Lord's voice today? Let's not turn from His way like the unnamed prophet did. Instead, let's be women who hear and obey the Lord until the end. Until next time, and thanks so much for listening.