1 Kings 12-14
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
An inflection point in history is a critical moment where a decisive, often dramatic, change occurs that significantly alters the future trajectory of a society, nation, or the world.
We saw in Chapter 10 the product of 30+ years of Solomon’s reign as king and Yahweh making Israel the richest, most powerful nation on earth
Chapter 9 we read Solomon’s answered prayer and the covenant promise Yahweh had given
Then we saw in Chapter 11 the foundations begin to crumble as Solomon violated the covenant and 1 Kings 11:4 “4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.”
This morning we start to see the collapse that eventually leads to the fulfillment of Yahweh’s promises in Deuteronomy 28:
Deuteronomy 28:36 “36 The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.”
Deuteronomy 28:63 “63 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.”
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. 2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;) 3 That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, 4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. 5 And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, goes to Shechem, he thinks to be made king
Jeroboam who had lived in Egypt, hears it, and comes back to Israel as a representative of all the men of Israel and asks him to lighten their work
(1 Kings 5:13-18) Solomon had forced 30,000 men of Israel into labor in Lebanon; a further 70k we made “burden bearers” and another 80k were “stonehewers” for the building of the temple and the kings house
Rehoboam tells them to give him three days to think about it and come back the day after tomorrow
6 And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people? 7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever. 8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him: 9 And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter? 10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins. 11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
Rehoboam checks with the old men that had given his father counsel and they tell him, go ahead and lighten it and they will be his “servants forever”
But he rejects their advice (to put it the way the kids talk today when we try to pass on the hard lessons we’ve learned), “never mind the olds, what’s my friends say”.
His buddies tell him to tell them when they get back he’s tougher than Solomon;
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. 13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him; 14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
He tells them, “Solomon made it heavy but I’m making it heavier; and he beat you with whips, and I’ll beat you harder”
Jeroboam didn’t listen to his elders and God sovereignly uses his foolishness to fulfill Ahijah’s prophecy in 1 Kings 11:29-39 when Ahijah tore the cloak and gave Jeroboam 10 pieces for the 10 tribes Yahweh was giving him to rule
16 So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. 17 But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18 Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. 20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. 21 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, 24 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.
The ten northern tribes have had enough and said "We don't want anything to do with David's family anymore" and made Jeroboam their king instead.
When Rehoboam sent his tax collector Adoram to deal with them, the people stoned him to death, and Rehoboam had to jump in his chariot and escape back to Jerusalem.
Rehoboam wanted to fight a war to get the kingdom back together, but God sent the prophet Shemaiah to tell him not to fight because God had sovereignly decreed this as part of His judgement.
This is the official split of the kingdom into the northern of Israel and the southern of Judah
25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
Jeroboam fortifies Shechem and makes it his royal residence. Does the same to Penuel to show his king over all the Israelites east of the Jordan river.
God’s judgement was political not religious. Jeroboam gets scared that if his people go worship in the south at Jerusalem the way they were supposed to, they would defect to Rehoboam after killing him.
He was willing to trust God to become the ruler, but not to keep him ruler. So he sets up a false worship center up north.
28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. 31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. 32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
ʿāśāh: A verb meaning to do, to make, to accomplish, to complete. 9 times in 5 verses the write of 1 Kings repeats what Jeroboam did for them to worship
Compare that with what God did and told them to do for true worship:
Exodus 25:8–9 “8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”
Exodus 25:40 “40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.”
Leviticus 23:24 “24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.”
So here we go again, just like Aaron, he tells them “behold thy gods”.
Neither Aaron, Jeroboam, or some that come to church today fully understand it’s not the things of worship that matter, it’s the God of the bible we are to worship in spirit and truth and not a god of our own making in a way of our own choosing
Chapter 13
Chapter 13
A thesis statement is a short statement that summarizes the main point or claim of an the writer, and is developed, supported, and explained in the text by means of examples and evidence. That’s what Chapter 13 is.
The whole chapter is basically God using prophets and object lessons to show that Jeroboam's fake worship system is seriously wrong and will be judged (in this case immediately)
In 1 Kings 13, God sends a prophet to confront King Jeroboam at his false altar in Bethel, and the prophet's word comes true when the altar splits and the king's hand withers. The prophet obeys God perfectly at first by refusing the king's invitation to eat, but then gets tricked by an old prophet who lies and says an angel told him it was okay for the prophet to eat with him. Because the man of God disobeyed God's clear command, he gets killed by a lion on his way home, even though he was deceived into disobeying.
This story shows that God's word is powerful and will definitely happen, but also warns that we have to obey God completely and not listen to other people who might lead us away from what God really said.
Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Jeroboam’s son Abijah gets sick. Jeroboam tells his wife to dress up as another woman and go to the prophet Ahijah in Shiloh, who’s old and blind at this point, and ask him what’s gonna happen to the boy.
Blind or not, God had told Ahijah she was coming and told him to tell her “the minute she stepped foot back into Bethel, the boy will die”.
Then he tells her that him dying, is actually God’s mercy because at least he gets a proper burial:
1 Kings 14:11 “11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it.”
1 Kings 14:13 “13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.”
Ahijah goes on to tell her God told him that He will completely destroy Jeroboam's family line and that Israel will eventually be scattered beyond the Jordan River because of their sins, comparing them to a reed shaking in the water.
When Jeroboam's wife gets back home to Tirzah, her sick son Abijah dies the moment she walks through the door, just like the prophet said would happen.
After the kingdom had split, Jeroboam had ruled in the north in Israel and Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, is ruling in Judah in the south.
Jeroboam dies and his son, Nadab, takes over as king.
Rehoboam ruled the southern kingdom of Judah for seventeen years but led the people into idolatry by building high places and allowing pagan worship practices.
During his reign, Egypt's king Shishak invaded and plundered the temple and palace treasures, forcing Rehoboam to replace the golden shields with bronze ones as a sign of Judah's weakened condition.
Rehoboam dies and his son, Abijam, takes over as king.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Solomon’s idolatry and leaving the One, True God to follow his wives and their false god’s broke the covenant God made with him. The rest of Israel follows his lead into idolatry and that leads to Jeroboam ruling over them.
Then Jeroboam 1 Kings 14:9 “9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:” and his idolatry leads to even more idolatry.
Nowhere in scripture is America anywhere specifically mentioned and for that reason I am very careful to say what applies to us and this nation.
But I do feel comfortable making some application to America and especially the church in America based on these chapters:
America is every bit as divided politically now as Israel was then
We see Jeroboam compromise biblical worship practical reasons; and the Church today is tempted to compromise for a worship of convenience so we can be accepted by culture and not offend anybody
We see what happened when the prophet initially listened and partially performed and that shows us the danger of doing the same and being led astray rather than fully obeying the biblical directions God gives us in His Word
I pray we can see the warnings and direction given in the Bible and what i pray all the time is for God to grant us a reformation back to God’s word and away from the traditions of man, so we might repent of our sins in life and worship, and through that God might grant us revival in ourselves, the church, and our nation.
