The Story Ch14: A Kingdom Torn in Two

Cold Open

Hey Dublin Powell youth thanks for joining me for another time of study together. Last week we saw how the Kingdom of Israel reached unprecedented prosperity and peace that the Lord blessed King Solomon with, and we read about how Solomon’s indulgence led to God promising to tear the kingdom apart. This week we watch the consequences of Solomon’s actions start another cycle of sin, idolotry, and hardship for God’s chosen people. Today is Sunday, June 21st and we are studying The Story Chapter 14, A Kingdom Torn in Two, let’s get into it.

Intro Videos

Introduction

Solomon, who ruled Israel at the height of its prosperity, blessed with peace by God, who received wisdom and built the temple of the Lord, failed as a king. He allowed idol worship to thrive in Israel, serving many foreign gods. Because God so loved David, He did not remove Solomon from the throne, but promised that the kingdom would be torn away from his son.

Solomon’s Death

Jeroboam was a capable servant of Solomon, who was appointed by Solomon over the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph. However, one day Jeroboam came across the prophet Ahijah and here’s what happened

1 Kings 11:29–33 NIV

About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.

So Solomon, of course, tries to kill Jeroboam, who fleas to Egypt to wait out the old king. Solomon died after ruling Israel for 40 years.

A New King

After Solomon’s death, the throne passed to his son Rehoboam, who just immediately completely choked as a leader. When Jeroboam comes to Shechem to be made king, Jeroboam is sent to him with a request for the new king.

1 Kings 12:4 NIV

“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.”

This request hints at the idea that while Solomon’s reign was peaceful and prosperous for the nation, the opulence of the wise king’s life was built on the backs of his people. Rehoboam speaks to the elders who advised his father, who encouraged him to grant his peoples request, and then he turned to his friends, the young men who had grown up with him, who encouraged him to bring the hammer down on the people! Proving himself to be stronger and tougher than his father so that the people would submit.

Wise Council

Let’s take a moment here and dig a little deeper into this. Rehoboam goes to the wise elders, who served the wisest king Israel had ever had. They probably weren’t the greatest people, I mean, Solomon’s rebellious rule brought God’s judgement on his kingdom after all, but they were at the very least not total idiots, and they suggested that Rehoboam

1 Kings 12:7 NIV

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.”

And rather than take this council, Rehoboam turned to his childhood friends, who gave him such horrible advice that it wound up in him losing about 2/3 of his kingdom!

Hear me when I say this, seek the council of older Christians, at the very least people old enough that they’ve gotten through the stage of life that you’re in currently, and preferably many stages after that. Now, will they always be right? Absolutely not, which is why you weigh their advice against what we know to be God’s will, revealed in His word.

And yes, seek the advice of friends too. Perspective from your peers can be invaluable! But be aware that you and your friends often share very similar perspectives, which means they’re likely to be wrong when you’re wrong! It’s the elders, who have already lived through what you’re going through, who truly have wisdom to offer.

It’s father’s day today, after all, and for those of you so blessed as to have godly fathers who seek God’s will and try to live out Jesus’s mission on earth, I promise you there is no better father’s day gift you could give than to bring your struggles to dad and take seriously the wisdom he has to share.

Split

Okay, I’m stepping back off my soapbox. So Rehoboam asks wise, experienced officials what he should do and they say “oh yes be a servant to your people and they will be your servants in return” but then he asks his old frat buddies who are like “LOL! What if you beat the peasants HARDER!” and Rehoboam, wise ruler and son of the wisest king who ever lived carefully weighed his options and said “Oh yeah totally let’s bring the hammer down!!” And well… Israel rejected him.

And from now on Israel is split into two kingdoms, there’s Israel, the northern kingdom, starts around Jericho and goes all the way up to Phoenicia, it also includes all of the land east of the Jordan River/Dead Sea. This kingdom was ruled by Jeroboam, who was chosen by the Lord to take the kingdom from Solomon’s son.

Then, there’s the southern Kingdom of Judah, which includes everything south of Jericho, including Jerusalem. This kingdom included only the tribe of Judah, and was ruled by Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

Cycle

Remember when we studied the book of judges? How there was a cycle that Israel was trapped in where they’d rebel against God, be conquered, repent, and be rescued by a judge appointed by the Lord? Well, the book of Kings is a lot like that. King after king comes to rule each kingdom and all are basically evaluated as either doing right in the eyes of the Lord, or doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.

Spoiler alert, most of them choose evil. The difference between the book of Kings and the book of Judges is that we go through several cycles of bad, bad, decent, worse, worst before people in Israel and Judah before God raises up someone to set things right. During the reign of Ahab, perhaps the most evil ruler that Israel ever had, along with his wife Jezebel, whose name is now basically synonymous with an evil woman, Elijah was chief among the Lord’s prophets, and he had a strong message for the immoral ruler. Which is where we will pick it up next week!

Conclusion

So that’s our chapter of the story this week, Israel is in trouble, their rulers are almost always worthless, but the righteous prophets of God are on the way to bring a message of judgement to those who led God’s people to worship other gods.

Pretty straightforward story this week, but besides the value of wise council there’s one other thing I really want to make sure we take away from this: the rulers in Kings were not rated on a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being Ahab and 10 being David. They were each evaluated, and they either did right in the Lord’s eyes, or they did wrong. We are either seeking FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, or we are not. We are either saved in baptism by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, or we are not. So if you’re struggling with any of those things this week, if you’re on the wrong side of any of those equations please shoot me a text this week and we can talk about it. Let me pray for us before we go

Lord thank you for the opportunity to study your word together again. Thank you for the story of your redemptive plan for humanity. Thank you Lord that by being in Christ we know that we have done right in your eyes, not by any of our own good works but by Christ’s perfect life. Thank you for calling us your children. Please be with each and every person joining this study Lord and remind them how much you love them. Keep us all from doing what is evil in your eyes. May everything we do be for your glory. In Jesus’s name I pray, Amen.