KINGS 5A Read 1st Kings 12:1 through 16:8; 2nd Chronicles 10:1 through 15:19; and answer the following questions.

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1 KINGS 5A Read 1st Kings 12:1 through 16:8; 2nd Chronicles 10:1 through 15:19; and answer the following questions. 1. Where did Rehoboam assemble the Israelites for his coronation ceremony following Solomon's death? Shechem (Where Abraham first entered the Promised Land and where Jacob first settled upon returning from Mesopotamia with his family). 2. Where was Jeroboam at the time of Solomon's death; why did he return? He was in Egypt. Many of the Israelites from the northern ten tribes sent word to him that Solomon was dead, and they asked him to come and speak for them. 3. What message did Jeroboam deliver to Rehoboam? "your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you." 4. What in the world is Jeroboam complaining about? Solomon, as his reign progressed, became more and more enamored with the world and drifted away from God as we saw in Ecclesiastes; and as a consequence, he became more insensitive to the needs of the people he ruled. Conscript labor and higher taxes became the norm, and he tended to let his designated appointees (bureaucrats) handle the main decisions of business while he enjoyed being king (even David had some of this problem). The focal point of the Israelites anger was Adoniram (in charge of all labor) because he was a harsh taskmaster and had been around through, both, David's and Solomon's reign. He was the visible instrument enforcing the king's will. 5. How did Rehoboam respond to Jeroboam's request, at first? He asked for three days to consider the request. 6. What counsel did Rehoboam receive from his advisors regarding Jeroboam's request? The advisors that still remained from Solomon's "cabinet" advised him to heed the request, give the people some relief, and they would serve him well; but the young men (those advisors Rehoboam had selected from his own age group) advised him, "You are the king. Tell these upstarts that you will show them what tough is. Solomon chastised you with whips; I will use scourges" (whips with flesh rending attachments to draw blood). 1

2 7. When the three days were up, the people were reassembled to hear Rehoboam's response to Jeroboam. What did Rehoboam tell the assembly, and what events took place almost immediately: Rehoboam gave the assembly the advice, word for word, that his young advisors had recommended (the rashness of youth!). When the 10 Northern tribes realized that their request had been rejected they shouted, "Down with David's dynasty; let's go home, and they did. King Rehoboam sent Adoniram (The Adoniram!) to enforce his requirement for taxes and labor. They stoned him to death. Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem and continued to rule over Judah and the area of Benjamin from there. 8. What was Rehoboam's first response to the Israelite's revolt once he had arrived back in Jerusalem? He assembled an army of 180,000 select troops to attack the rebels. 9. What was the result of this action? Shemaiah, described as the man of God, came to Rehoboam and warned him that God said not to fight with his brethren, the children of Israel. The attack was called off; and as long as they existed, the 10 northern tribes were known as Israel, and the 2 southern tribes were known as Judah. However, all of the 12 tribes were still collectively referred to as Israelites. 10. Where did Jeroboam set up his capital once he was enthroned as king of Israel (10 tribes)? Shechem, but the capital was later moved to Tirzah. 11. What did Jereboam do to prevent the Israelites of the 10 northern tribes from returning to the temple in Jerusalem to worship? He had two golden calves made (are you there, Aaron!). He had one placed at Bethel (God's House - Jacob's ladder) and the other at Dan (fartherest north city in Israel, not even in the original Promised Land). He told the people to worship at one of these two places, not Jerusalem. (Seems like his stay in Egypt corrupted Jeroboam, too.) 12. How did Jeroboam retain a semblance of worship regarding Israel's history? He assigned high priests (His appointees) at Bethel and decreed a sacrificial service and festival to be held on the 15th day of the eighth month to coincide with the festival of shelters held in Jerusalem. 13. What event took place when Jeroboam attempted to sacrifice using the altar he had built at Bethel? A man of God, from Judah, appeared and prophesied (As Jeroboam stood by the altar he had built to perform the sacrifice) "Behold, a child by the name of Josiah shall be born to the House of David and shall sacrifice the priests of the high places on you and men's bones shall be burned on you. And, this is the sign that the Lord has spoken, this altar shall split apart and the ashes shall be poured out." 2

3 14. What was Jeroboam's initial response to this event? He ordered the Man of God arrested; and immediately, his own outstretched hand withered. He entreated the Man of God to restore his hand, which he did; but the altar, immediately, split apart and the ashes spilled out. 15. Jereboam, then, offered the Man of God a reward and the privilege to dine with him. What did the Man of God do? He declined the offer saying, "Even if you offered me half of your kingdom I would not accept for the Lord has commanded me not to eat bread here, nor drink, or return by the way which I came. 16. What was the final outcome for the Man of God regarding this visit? An old prophet of God dwelt in Bethel; he lied to the Man of God and caused him to eat a meal at the prophet's home. As a result, the Man of God was killed by a lion on his way home. The Man of God and the old prophet was eventually buried side by side in Bethel. 17. Did this event turn Jeroboam to God? No! He continued to do evil in the site of God, appointing priests from anyone who wanted to hold the office; he, even, appointed himself as a priest (Reminds me of Saul). 18. What did Rehoboam accomplish during the early years of his reign? He remained in Jerusalem and fortified various cities for defense of Judah. He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijhalon, and Hebron. There was enmity and war between the two nations all the days of the lives of Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 19. Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh, who had originally given Jeroboam the 10 strips of cloth and prophesied that he would rule the 10 northern tribes reappears to prophesy one more time. What was the Prophecy? God says, "Behold, I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from him every male in Israel! I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field. The child that is now sick will die and will be the only member to be buried in a grave. 20. How old was Rehoboam when he began his reign in Judah, and how long did he reign? He was 41 when he began, and he ruled for 17 years. 21. Who replaced Rehoboam as king of Judah when he died? Abijam, Rehoboam's son by Maacah (granddaughter of Absalom, David's son). 22. Was Abijam a good king? No! He walked in all the sins of his father, and he was not loyal to the Lord his God as his forefather, David, was. There was enmity between Jeroboam and Abijam. 3

4 23. How long did Abijam Reign? 3 Years! 24. What happened to the gold shields that Solomon had made for the palace of the Forest of Lebanon? In the 5th year of Rehoboam's reign, Shishak, King of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem and took all of the treasures of the king's house and the gold shields back to Egypt with him. Rehoboam replaced the gold shields with shields of bronze. 25. Who replaced Abijam as king of Judah, and how long had Jeroboam ruled in Judah at that time? Asa, Abijam's son, grandson of Maacah (granddaughter of Absalom) ruled in his stead. Jeroboam had been king of Israel for 20 years at that time. 26. When Asa had been king in Judah for 2 years Jeroboam king of Israel died. How long had his rule lasted, and who succeeded him? Jeroboam had ruled Israel for 22 years; Nadab, his son, was named king to succeed his father. 27. Was Nadab considered a "good" king? No! He was like his father. 28. How long was Nadab king of Israel? 2 Years! 29. Did Nadab's son succeed him as king? No! Jeroboam and his family had been of the tribe of Ephraim, Nadab was killed by Baasha, the son of Ahijah of the tribe of Issachar, and he became king replacing Nadab. 30. What was Baasha's first act as king? He executed the entire house of Jeroboam; he did not leave anyone that breathed according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken by His servant Ahijah, the Shilonite. 31. How well was Asa rated as king of Judah? He was rated as a "good" king (first good king of the divided nation). Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his forefather, David. 32. What were some of Asa's "good" actions? He banished perverted persons from the kingdom (prostitutes and homosexuals), removed all the idols his father had made, and removed Maacah (his grandmother) from her position as queen mother because she had commissioned an obscene image of the goddess Asherah, which Asa personally destroyed. He did not eliminate the high places of worship, nevertheless Asa's heart was loyal to the Lord all of his days. 33. What was Asa's relationship with Israel under Baasha? There was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days. 34. How does Ramah (Samuel's old home town) come into play in the history of these two nations? Baasha began fortifying Ramah to insure that people from Israel could not cross into Judah to worship and vice versa. 35. Why did Baasha want to accomplish this? He did not want persons in Israel to be influenced by worshiping at the temple in Jerusalem. 4

5 36. How did Asa respond to the fortifying of Ramah? He took all the gold and silver of the king's house and sent it to Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, to get him to attack Israel in the north to cause Baasha to withdraw from Ramah to defend his northern border. Asa, then, had the fortification of Ramah torn down and used the timbers to rebuild his own cities of Geba and Mizpah. 37. How long did Baasha reign in Israel, and what was his rating as king? He lasted 24 years and did evil in the sight of the Lord as had Jeroboam son of Nebat (Israel's first king). 38. Who prophesied against Baasha and what was his prophecy? Jehu, the son of Hanani, prophesied against the house of Baasha vowing to take away his posterity in the same manner that he had eliminated Jeroboam's family. 39. Who replaced Baasha as king of Israel? Elah, his son. 40. How long did Baasha's successor last, and who replaced him? 2 Years! He was replaced by Zimri, commander of half of the chariots in Israel. 41. Under Jeroboam's concerted effort to wipe out any temple worship to the Living God, what happened to the Priests and Levites who were located throughout the territories of the northern tribes in Levitical cities which were established during the time of Joshua? There was a mass migration of Priests and Levites from Israel to Judah because Jeroboam and his sons rejected them from serving as priests and servants to the Lord. (2nd Chronicles 11:13-17) 5

Nathan E. Brown June 22 Chronological Synopsis of the Bible NASB Version comeafterme.com

Nathan E. Brown June 22 Chronological Synopsis of the Bible NASB Version comeafterme.com The Division of the Kingdom (931n BC) 1 Kings 12:1 24 2 Chronicles 10:1 11:4 Rehoboam is Confronted by Jeroboam 1 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 Now