1 Kings 12-13: “Rehoboam’s Foolishness Splits Israel /
Jereboam Leads The Northern Kingdom Into Idolatry”
By
1.INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at chapter 11 and we observed the tragic
demise of Solomon which occurred near the end of his life when he was led astray
to worship the many gods of his wives.
1.1.1.
We observed what the scriptures tell us caused this demise of Solomon: the many wives that he took to himself.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at chapters 12-13.
1.2.1.
In chapter 12, we see that Solomon’s son Rehoboam is made king over
Israel however he makes a foolish and senseless decision that causes the
northern 10 tribes to split away from Judah.
1.2.2.
Then, we see the reign of Jereboam begin in the northern kingdom while
Rehoboam begins to reign in Judah, the southern kingdom.
1.2.3.
Finally, we will see a young prophet come and faithfully deliver a
prophetic word of impending judgment upon the altar of pagan worship which
Jereboam sets up in the northern kingdom.
However, this prophet is deceived by an old and foolish backslidden
prophet of the Lord, and this leads to the death of the young prophet.
2.VS 12:1-5 - “1 Then Rehoboam went
to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 Now
when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, he was living in Egypt (for
he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon). 3
Then they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of
Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father made our
yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy
yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5 Then he said to
them, “Depart for three days, then return to me.” So the people departed.” - The people of Israel, led by Jereboam, come to Rehoboam and tell
him that if he will lighten the burden that Solomon had place upon them that
they will unite together and serve Rehoboam as faithful subjects of his kingdom
2.1.
We have seen in our previous studies in this book that because Solomon
was so obsessed with his building projects that he made many of his people
conscripts, and the foreigners in Israel, slave laborers. He also had levied heavy taxes upon the
people. It also appears that as time
went on that Solomon began to exact more and more from the people in order to
pay off the huge debt of his projects, probably even making slave laborers of
many native Israelites. Thus, there was
much resentment against Solomon throughout Israel.
2.2.
The people of Israel didn’t mind serving a king and even providing well
for his upkeep, they just wanted to have their king turn down the heat on them
a little bit and deal kindly with them, for under Solomon they had been
hard-pressed to the point of breaking.
2.3.
We saw in our last study also that Jereboam was a man whom king Solomon
had placed in authority in the northern kingdom. However, when Solomon began to turn away from the Lord and serve
other gods, Jereboam had begun to rebel against Solomon and cause Solomon much
trouble. Jereboam had a following
however he had to flee for his life from king Solomon, and he found refuge in
Egypt. As soon as Jereboam heard that
Solomon had appointed his son Rehoboam to be king, he saw this as an
opportunity and when men came to him from Israel he relocated again to Israel,
and, he did so just in time for the Israelites to rally behind him as their
leader and spokesman to the new king, Rehoboam.
2.4.
Rehoboam had great opportunity here to unite the nation of Israel under
himself and also under the Lord. All he
had to do was promise to lighten up upon their taxes and the number of conscripts
and tell the people that he truly was their representative and looking out for
their best interests, and that he appreciated them.
3.VS 12:6-15 - “6 King Rehoboam
consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still
alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to answer this people?” 7 Then
they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to this people today, and
will serve them and grant them their petition, and speak good words to them,
then they will be your servants forever.” 8 But he forsook the counsel
of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who
grew up with him and served him. 9 So he said to them, “What counsel
do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying,
‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” 10 The young men
who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people
who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it
lighter for us!’ But you shall speak to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than
my father’s loins! 11 ‘Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy
yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will
discipline you with scorpions.’ ” 12 Then Jeroboam and all the
people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed, saying,
“Return to me on the third day.” 13 The king answered the people
harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had given him, 14
and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My
father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined
you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15 So the
king did not listen to the people; for it was a turn of events from the Lord, that He might establish His word,
which the Lord spoke through
Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” - Jereboam consulted with the elders of Israel and they counseled
him to grant the people’s request and lighten up on them, however he rejected
that good counsel and took the counsel of some of the younger men he grew up
with who counseled him to place his fist down even harder upon the people to
keep them in control
3.1.
The one thing that it does not mention that Rehoboam did here is pray
about this decision and consult the Lord.
If he had done that he would have gained true wisdom and his legacy in
life would not have been that of being the king who caused the split of Israel
into the northern and southern kingdoms.
3.2.
Solomon, when he began his reign as king, prayed for wisdom from the
Lord to be able to properly carry out his responsibilities. However, when Rehoboam became king what a
foolish and far-reaching decision he made.
If only he had sought the counsel of the Lord!
3.3.
This story is also a lesson about who to go to for counsel. I have often been amazed at the people that
some will go to in order to get counsel.
People sometimes go to people for counsel whose lives are all
upside-down and in hideous shape. What
kind of counsel do you think you are going to get from someone who can’t even
wisely control their own life? If you
need counsel go to the most godly and wise people in your life.
3.4.
We see here that Rehoboam had not received the wisdom that his father
had received for administering the kingdom, plus he was not the diplomat that
Solomon was. Rehoboam rejects the
counsel of the elders to instead receive the counsel of a bunch of young
mavericks. He tells the people of
Israel that whereas his father disciplined them with whips that he will
discipline them with ‘scorpions,’ a device very similar to that
cat-of-9-tails that was used to whip Jesus.
These whips had leather straps with pieces of bone or metal tied to
them.
3.5.
But notice here that Rehoboam’s reply on this day was from the Lord
because it fulfilled the prophetic word that the prophet Ahijah had spoken to
Jereboam telling him that the northern 10 tribes would be given to him to reign
over. The Lord allowed Rehoboam to make
a foolish decision, one which Rehoboam lived the rest of his life to regret, so
that He could fulfill His word.
3.5.1.
The Lord sometimes allows His people to fall flat on their faces in
order to teach them many lessons. He
always does this in love, but many times it is very difficult to have to go
through.
4.VS 12:16-17 - “16 When all Israel saw
that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying,
“What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of
Jesse; To your tents, O Israel! Now look after your own house, David!” So
Israel departed to their tents. 17 But as for the sons of Israel who
lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.” - The 10 northern tribes of Israel break away
4.1.
The prophet Ahijah had announced to Jereboam that because of the Lord’s
promise to King David of an heir upon the throne that Rehoboam would reign over
1 tribe while the rest would break away.
Now, this promise is fulfilled in Rehoboam.
5.VS 12:18-20 - “18 Then King
Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him
to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to
Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of
David to this day. 20 It
came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and
called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None but the
tribe of Judah followed the house of David.” -
Rehoboam sends an arbiter in Adoram to try to win the northern tribes
back, however they kill him, and then Rehoboam realizes that he must flee back
to Jerusalem if he wants to stay alive
5.1.
It was very unwise for Rehoboam to send Adoram as an ambassador to the
northern tribes for Adoram was the man who had been over all of the forced
labor in Israel. There was already so
much resentment towards Adoram that the people ‘stoned him to death’ on
the spot.
5.2.
This split of the northern tribes of Israel from Judah was never
mended. The northern kingdom, starting
with Jereboam who led the people into idolatry, had one king after another who
were evil, and in 722 BC, about 220 years from the events in our story, the
judgment of the Lord fell upon the northern kingdom and they were taken into
captivity to Assyria never to reappear.
6.VS 12:21-24 - “21 Now when Rehoboam
had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of
Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of
Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But
the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 “Speak
to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah
and Benjamin and to the rest of the people, saying, 24 ‘Thus says
the Lord, “You must not go up and
fight against your relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house,
for this thing has come from Me.” ’ ” So they listened to the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way
according to the word of the Lord.” - Rehoboam gathers an army together to go to war against the
northern kingdom and force them to come back, however he finally repents of
doing this when a prophet of the Lord tells him that he must not go ahead with
this plan
6.1.
Rehoboam was humbled at this time before the Lord, and for the next
three years he serves the Lord as a faithful king over the southern kingdom (2
Chron. 11:17). However, in the fourth
year he rebelled against the Lord and led Judah to worship pagan idols (2
Chron. 12:1-2). In the fifth year, the
Lord’s judgment fell upon Judah as Shishak king of Egypt began a campaign of
conquering city after city in Judah (2
Chron. 12:1-16). Rehoboam and his
counselors at that time got right with the Lord again and shishak decided not
to conquer Jerusalem. However, Judah
had to pay the king of Egypt a huge amount in tribute, and to pay this debt
they gave to the king Solomon’s 500 gold covered shields that he had made for
his palace. Rehoboam could only afford
to replace them with bronze shields after this.
6.2.
Rehoboam reigned 12 more years after this.
6.3.
J. Vernon McGee’s commentary has the following chart describing all of
the kings of the divided kingdom that began at this time, as well as whether or
not they were a good king, and the prophets who served during their reign:
7.VS 12:25-33 - “25 Then Jeroboam
built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. And he went out
from there and built Penuel. 26 Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the
kingdom will return to the house of David. 27 “If this people go up
to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord
at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to
Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of
Judah.” 28 So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he
said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods,
O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 He set one
in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Now this thing became a
sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31
And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the
people who were not of the sons of Levi. 32 Jeroboam instituted a
feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast
which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel,
sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the
priests of the high places which he had made. 33 Then he went up to
the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month,
even in the month which he had devised in his own heart; and he instituted a
feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.” - Jereboam schemed how that he might keep the people of the
northern kingdom from reuniting their kinsman in the southern kingdom
7.1.
Jereboam had been promised by the prophet Ahijah that the Lord would
make his house an enduring house if he would be diligent to keep the Lord’s
commandments (1 Kings 11:28-39).
However, Jereboam did not keep this charge and revealed his own folly by
trying in his own power to keep his kingdom.
He was afraid that since Jerusalem was the place that the Jews were to
come seven times a year for feasts (Lev. 23) that the people in time might long
to again be part of the Davidic regime and try to return to serve the king of
Judah. Therefore, Jereboam decided that
he would establish his own religion in the northern kingdom and thereby provide
what the people wanted. He would build
his own idols and establish his own feasts and even make himself a priest to
offer sacrifices. The people wouldn’t
worship the idols that he made, they would worship the Lord through those
manmade idols. Jereboam knew that deep
down the people just wanted to be religious, they didn’t want to know and serve
the Lord with all of their hearts.
7.2.
Warren Wiersbe writes, “Jereboam’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.”
7.3.
Jereboam’s plan worked just as he had hoped, however the one thing that
is most important in religion was missing from his plan, The Lord Himself. The Lord never recognizes the religions of
the world which men create. The Lord
establishes the way that man can come into relationship with Himself and all
other ways to Him are futile.
7.4.
Jereboam was thinking about Aaron and the calf that he made when he was
waiting for Moses to come down from Mount Sinai when Moses had delayed in
returning with the 10 commandments.
Aaron had made one golden calf whereby the people might worship the
Lord, and so Jereboam thought he would have two made for this purpose.
7.5.
These calves were located in Bethel and Dan, near the southern border
of the northern kingdom. These calves
made religion convenient for the people of the northern kingdom. If they didn’t want to travel the great
distance down to Jerusalem for their worship they could stop off at Bethel and
Dan and have everything taken care of.
Most were content to do just that.
Some truly revered the Lord however and either relocated to Judah or
traveled to Judah for the feasts.
7.6.
Jereboam’s religious establishment caused the Jews in the northern
kingdom to make a choice in whether or not they were going to serve the Lord in
righteousness the way that He has proscribed that men must worship Him or just
do what is right in their own eyes and think good themselves for being
religious.
7.6.1.
Today in our nation and world there are many churches that cater to
people’s whims, and religion has been made so convenient for people. People can go to churches where the service
is guaranteed to last no more than 40 minutes, with a sermon that has a
positive message and does not talk about sin or hell, and, is guaranteed to
last no more than 20 minutes. The music
is appealing the building is big and beautiful inside and out, and the pastor
is eloquent, however the Lord does not dwell there and genuine conversions for
Christ do not occur there.
8.VS 13:1-5 - “1 Now behold, there
came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, while Jeroboam was standing by the
altar to burn incense. 2 He cried against the altar by the word of
the Lord, and said, “O altar,
altar, thus says the Lord,
‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you
he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and
human bones shall be burned on you.’ ” 3 Then he gave a sign the
same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord
has spoken, ‘Behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ashes which are on
it shall be poured out.’ ” 4 Now when the king heard the saying of
the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched
out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” But his hand which he
stretched out against him dried up, so that he could not draw it back to
himself. 5 The altar also was split apart and the ashes were poured
out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the
word of the Lord.” - A man of God came from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord
and spoke a prophetic word of judgment against the pagan altar
8.1.
This is a very interesting story.
This man of God, a true prophet, comes to Bethel being led of the Lord
to pronounce an impending judgment upon the altar of pagan worship, and he even
promises a confirming sign of ‘the altar shall be split apart and the ashes
which are on it shall be poured out.’
However, king Jereboam heard this prophetic word and instead of
receiving it from the Lord and repenting of his sins, he instead seeks to kill
the messenger. However, when he sticks
out his hand saying, “Seize him!”, his hand freezes up and he cannot move
it. In other words his hand either
became immediately crippled or just frozen in space. Then, at that very moment the altar split as the prophet had
foretold would occur, and the ashes poured out from the altar.
8.2.
God warns Jereboam through this prophet. The Lord is good to people giving them every chance to repent
that they could ever need, as is done here with Jereboam. However, Jereboam’s heart is hardened to the
Lord and he refuses to heed the word and commandment of the Lord.
8.3.
The Lord’s grace is amazing here for the Lord did not have to heal
Jereboam’s hand, yet He did, and, Jereboam certainly did not deserve the Lord’s
healing of him.
8.4.
We must not forget that this is one of the amazing prophecies found in
our Bibles. Three hundred years before
this man Josiah was anointed as king over Judah the prophet Ahijah prophesied
of how when this man, whom he names specifically as being ‘Josiah,’
became king that he would sacrifice the priests on the high places and burn
their bones on the places. The
fulfillment of this prophesy is described in 2 Kings 23:15-18, “15 Furthermore,
the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high
place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and
burned the Asherah. 16 Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves
that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the
graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word
of the Lord which the man of God
proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 17 Then he said, “What is
this monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the grave
of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you
have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18 He said, “Let him alone;
let no one disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed with the
bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.”
9.VS 13:6 - “6 The king said to the
man of God, “Please entreat the Lord
your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of
God entreated the Lord, and the
king’s hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before.” - King Jereboam requests the prophet to pray for the healing of his
frozen hand and the prophet prays and Jereboam’s hand is restored to him as it
had been before
9.1.
Jereboam has now seen three miracles in a short period of time:
9.1.1.
His hand was frozen.
9.1.2.
The altar was split and the ashes were poured out just as had been
prophesied.
9.1.3.
His hand was healed by the Lord.
9.2.
In spite of seeing these three miracles in rapid succession and even
experiencing the grace of God in the healing he received, Jereboam just
hardened his heart harder towards the Lord.
9.3.
These altars built by Jereboam in Bethel and Dan caused Israel to
stumble for the next 300 years.
10.VS 13:7-10 - “7 Then the king said
to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you
a reward.” 8 But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to
give me half your house I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink
water in this place. 9 “For so it was commanded me by the word of
the Lord, saying, ‘You shall eat
no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came.’ ” 10 So
he went another way and did not return by the way which he came to Bethel.” - Jereboam tries to get the prophet to come to his house so that he
can reward him for performing this healing however the prophet is faithful to
the Lord’s command that he not eat bread, drink water, or return the same way
that he came, and thus he refuses the king’s offer
10.1.
Many have questioned Jereboam’s motives for wanting the prophet to come
to his house at this time. Some have
said that failing to have the prophet killed he next tries to get him to come
to his house so that he can somehow get the prophet to recant the prophetic
word of judgment spoken against him.
10.2.
The prophet is obedient to the Lord’s command concerning his mission on
this day. He does not stop to eat or
drink but heads immediately out of town by a different way than that which he came.
11.VS 13:11-24 - “11 Now an old
prophet was living in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the deeds
which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken
to the king, these also they related to their father. 12 Their father
said to them, “Which way did he go?” Now his sons had seen the way which the
man of God who came from Judah had gone. 13 Then he said to his
sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he
rode away on it. 14 So he went after the man of God and found him
sitting under an oak; and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from
Judah?” And he said, “I am.” 15 Then he said to him, “Come home with
me and eat bread.” 16 He said, “I cannot return with you, nor go
with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 “For
a command came to me by the word of the Lord,
‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way
which you came.’ ” 18 He said to him, “I also am a prophet like you,
and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord,
saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink
water.’ ” But he lied to him. 19 So he went back with him,
and ate bread in his house and drank water. 20 Now it came about, as
they were sitting down at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought
him back; 21 and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah,
saying, “Thus says the Lord,
‘Because you have disobeyed the command of the Lord,
and have not observed the commandment which the Lord
your God commanded you, 22 but have returned and eaten bread and
drunk water in the place of which He said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no
water”; your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers.’ ” 23 It
came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the
donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 Now
when he had gone, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was
thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was
standing beside the body.” - An old prophet hears about
Ahijah and finds him on the road returning to Judah and lies to Ahijah telling
him that he is a prophet also and that the Lord told him that Ahijah was to
come back to his house and eat bread and water
11.1.
This is an odd story here. This
old prophet is a very unusual man? It
appears first of all that he is backslidden and not really fulfilling his own
calling. Plus, why does this old
prophet lie to Ahijah and attempt to get Ahijah to disobey the Lord’s command
concerning his mission?
11.2.
Ahijah was naďve or foolish in not seeking the Lord after the old
prophet told him that he had received a word from the Lord that contradicted
the word that Ahijah had received, he should have prayed about following this
counsel.
11.2.1.
The moral to this story is be careful of having others tell you what
God’s will is for your life. If someone
tells you what God’s will is for you, you better check it out and make sure
that the Lord speaks the same word to your heart before you follow that
counsel. God will also speak to you and
confirm a word that someone else has for you if it truly is the Lord’s will for
you.
11.2.2.
I remember one time when I was a young believer that a young guy told
this girl that the Lord had told him that he was to marry her. She told him, “Humm, that’s funny He
didn’t say anything to me about it?!”
11.3.
But also, why if this old man is backslidden and doing foolish things,
such as lying to Ahijah, does the Lord give him a prophetic word? I guess we could ask the same question of
Balaam’s donkey. The Lord can use
anyone for His purposes if He so chooses.
11.4.
This story reminds us of the fact that we have an adversary in the
Devil, and he is insidious in the manner in which he constantly attempts to
devour us. He can be such a subtle
deceiver of men and thus we must be always on guard for the snares he may lay
for us.
12.VS 13:25-32 - “25 And behold, men
passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the
body; so they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived. 26
Now when the prophet who brought him back from the way heard it, he
said, “It is the man of God, who disobeyed the command of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which
has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” 27 Then
he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it.
28 He went and found his body thrown on the road with the donkey and
the lion standing beside the body; the lion had not eaten the body nor torn the
donkey. 29 So the prophet took up the body of the man of God and
laid it on the donkey and brought it back, and he came to the city of the old
prophet to mourn and to bury him. 30 He laid his body in his own
grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” 31 After
he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I die, bury me in the
grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32
“For the thing shall surely come to pass which he cried by the word of the
Lord against the altar in Bethel
and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of
Samaria.””
- The old prophet went and retrieved
the body of Ahijah and had it placed in his own grave and gave instructions
that when he died that he was also to be buried in the same grave
12.1.
Its miraculous that the donkey and lion stayed by the body of this man
for these days after the lion had killed the man, and also that the lion did
not eat the man.
12.2.
It seems that this old prophet felt remorse for causing Ahijah to
stumble and sin, rebelling against the Lord’s command concerning his mission,
and thus he retrieves the man’s body and places it in his own tomb with the
instructions he had given.
12.3.
God used the death of this prophet to confirm to Jereboam the
importance of obeying the Lord above all else.
13.VS 13:33-34 - “33 After this event
Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but again he made priests of the
high places from among all the people; any who would, he ordained, to be
priests of the high places. 34 This event became sin to the house of
Jeroboam, even to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of
the earth.”
- Jereboam did not turn from his evil
ways after this time
13.1.
We see here that the sin which Jereboam led the northern kingdom in of
worshipping these golden calves in Bethel and Dan plagued the people and
brought about the Lord’s judgment such that the very house of Jereboam was
destroyed from off of the face of the earth.
13.2.
Jereboam would hire anyone who cared to be a priest in Israel. However, the Lord commanded Israel that
their priests must only be descendants of Aaron.
14.CONCLUSIONS:
15.This study is really about
the importance of being cautious about the counsel you receive. Rehoboam made a senseless and foolish
decision because he followed the wrong counsel (that of the young mavericks instead
of the wise elders) and didn’t seek the Lord’s will in prayer. As a result of taking this counsel God’s
people split up into two nations. Likewise,
the prophet Ahijah from Judah was killed by a lion because he took the counsel
of an old prophet who deceived him, and Ahijah also failed to pray about
receiving the old prophet’s counsel. Be
careful of the counsel you receive!