The Rise, Reign and Ruin of Jeroboam

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1 The Rise, Reign and Ruin of Jeroboam By Mark Mayberry 6/12/2016 PROMISING START 1 Kings 11:26 28 (NASB95) 26 Then Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon s servant, whose mother s name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king. 27 Now this was the reason why he rebelled against the king: Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David. 28 Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. PROPHETIC SYMBOLISM 1 Kings 11:29 30 (NASB95) 29 It came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. 30 Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces. STATED SIGNIFICANCE 1 Kings 11:31 39 (NASB95) 31 He said to Jeroboam, Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes 32 (but he will have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and observing My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did. 34 Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who observed My commandments and My statutes; 35 but I will take the kingdom from his son s hand and give it to you, even ten tribes. 36 But to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name. 37 I will take you, and you shall reign over whatever you desire, and you shall be king over Israel. 38 Then it will be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, as

2 My servant David did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 Thus I will afflict the descendants of David for this, but not always. SAD CONCLUSION 1 Kings 11:40 43 (NASB95) 40 Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. 41 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? 42 Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place. REASONABLE OFFER FROM A BELEAGUERED NATION 1 Kings 12:1 5 (NASB95) 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. UNREASONABLE RESPONSE FROM A BELLIGERENT NOVICE 1 Kings 12:6 15 (NASB95) 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 2

3 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. REBELLION IN THE RANKS 1 Kings 12:16 19 (NASB95) 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. 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. RETRIBUTION OR RESTRAINT? 1 Kings 12:20 24 (NASB95) 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. 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. FAITHLESS ALTERATIONS OF THE DIVINE PATTERN 1 Kings 12:25 33 (NASB95) 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, 3

4 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. 4

5 Articles from Nelson s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary JEROBOAM JEROBOAM [jehr uh BOE ahm] (let the kinsman plead) the name of two kings of the northern kingdom of Israel: 1. Jeroboam I, the first king of Israel (the ten northern tribes, or the Northern Kingdom), a state established after the death of Solomon (1 Kin. 11:26 14:20). The son of Nebat and Zeruah, Jeroboam reigned over Israel for 22 years (1 Kin. 14:20), from 931/30 to 910/09 B.C. Jeroboam I first appears in the biblical record as Solomon s servant: the officer over all the labor force of the house of Joseph (1 Kin. 11:28). One day as Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road and confronted him with an enacted parable. Ahijah, who was wearing a new garment, took hold of the garment and tore it into 12 pieces. He then said to Jeroboam, Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you (1 Kin. 11:31). When Solomon learned of Ahijah s words, he sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam fled to Egypt, where he was granted political asylum by Shishak I, the king of Egypt. Only after the death of Solomon did Jeroboam risk returning to his native Palestine (1 Kin. 11:40; 12:2 3). Solomon s kingdom was outwardly rich, prosperous, and thriving. But the great building projects he undertook were accomplished by forced labor, high taxes, and other oppressive measures. Discontent and unrest existed throughout Solomon s kingdom. When the great king died, the kingdom was like a powder keg awaiting a spark. The occasion for the explosion, the tearing of the ten northern tribes from Solomon s successor, came because of the foolish insensitivity of Solomon s son Rehoboam. Rehoboam had gone to Shechem to be anointed as the new king. A delegation led by Jeroboam, who had returned from Egypt following Solomon s death, said 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 (1 Kin. 12:4). But Rehoboam followed the advice of his inexperienced companions and replied, Whereas my father laid a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges! (1 Kin. 12:11). After this show of Rehoboam s foolishness, the ten northern tribes revolted against Rehoboam and appointed Jeroboam as their king (1 Kin. 12:16 20). 5

6 Jeroboam was concerned that the people of Israel might return to the house of David if they continued to journey to Jerusalem for the festivals and observances at the Temple of Solomon. So he proposed an alternative form of worship that was idolatrous. He made two calves of gold that bore a close resemblance to the mounts of the Canaanite pagan god BAAL. The king told his countrymen: It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt! (1 Kin. 12:28). One calf was erected in Bethel and one in Dan. Once committed to this sinful direction, Jeroboam s progress was downhill. He next appointed priests from tribes other than Levi. He offered sacrifices to these images and gradually polluted the worship of Israel. The Lord confronted Jeroboam by sending him an unnamed prophet who predicted God s judgment on the king and the nation. Although outwardly he appeared to be repentant, Jeroboam would not change his disastrous idolatry. His rebellious, arrogant attitude set the pattern for rulers of Israel for generations to come. Eighteen kings sat on the throne of Israel after his death, but not one of them gave up his pagan worship. AHIJAH AHIJAH [a HIGH juh] (my brother is the Lord) the name of nine men in the Old Testament: 3. The prophet from Shiloh who prophesied Israel s division into two kingdoms because of its idolatries (1 Kin. 11:29 39). While Solomon was king, Jeroboam rebelled against him. Ahijah tore his own garment into 12 pieces and instructed Jeroboam to take ten of them. This symbolic action indicated that Jeroboam would be king over the ten tribes which would be known as the northern kingdom of Israel. Ahijah stood up for the people in the face of their oppression under Solomon and Rehoboam. Later, King Jeroboam disguised his queen and sent her to the aging and nearly blind prophet to ask whether their sick child would recover. Ahijah prophesied that because of Jeroboam s wickedness the child would die (1 Kin. 14:1 18). His prophecies were also put into writing (2 Chr. 9:29). SHISHAK SHISHAK [SHIGH shak] a Libyan war chieftain who became pharaoh of Egypt (reigned from about 940 B.C. to about 915 B.C.). Shishak (Sheshonk in Egyptian) is known for his expedition against the southern kingdom of Judah after the United Kingdom split into two nations following Solomon s death about 920 B.C. 6

7 In about 926 B.C., in the fifth year of the reign of King Rehoboam (reigned about B.C.), Shishak invaded Judah and captured many of its fortified cities (1 Kin. 14:25). He then marched against Jerusalem, Rehoboam s capital city, forcing Rehoboam to pay tribute and plundering the treasures of the Temple and Rehoboam s palace (1 Kin. 14:25 26). The Egyptian account of Shishak s invasion of Judah was recorded on the wall of the temple of the Egyptian god Amon at Karnak (ancient Thebes), in southern Egypt. More than 100 cities captured or destroyed by Shishak are listed, including Adoraim, Aijalon, and Socoh. Cities from the northern kingdom of Israel, such as Shechem, Beth Shean, and Megiddo, are also listed on this monument as being captured by Shishak. REHOBOAM REHOBOAM [ree uh BOE uhm] (the people is enlarged) the son and successor of Solomon and the last king of the united monarchy and first king of the southern kingdom, Judah (reigned about B.C.). His mother was Naamah, a woman of Ammon (1 Kin. 14:31). Rehoboam became king at age 41 (1 Kin. 14:21) at a time when the northern tribes were discontented with the monarchy. They were weary of Solomon s heavy taxation and labor conscription. To promote unity, Rehoboam went to Shechem center of much of the discontent among the northern tribes to be made king officially and to meet with their leaders. They in turn demanded relief from the taxes and conscription. Rehoboam first sought advice from older men who were of mature judgment and who had lived through Solomon s harsh years. They assured him that if he would be the people s servant, he would enjoy popular support. When he also sought the counsel of younger men, his arrogant contemporaries, he received foolish advice that he should rule by sternness rather than kindness. Misjudging the situation, he followed the foolish advice. The northern tribes immediately seceded from the kingdom and made JEROBOAM king. When Rehoboam attempted to continue his control over the northern tribes by sending Adoram to collect a tax from the people (1 Kin. 12:18), Adoram was stoned to death. Rehoboam fled in his chariot to Jerusalem. The prophet Shemaiah prevented Rehoboam from retaliating and engaging in civil war (1 Kin. 12:22 24). To strengthen Judah, Rehoboam fortified 15 cities (2 Chr. 11:5 12) to the west and south of Jerusalem, undoubtedly as a defensive measure against Egypt. The spiritual life of Judah was strengthened, too, by the immigration of northern priests and Levites to Judah and Jerusalem because of the idolatrous worship instituted at Bethel and Dan by Jeroboam (2 Chr. 11:13 17). 7

8 Rehoboam s military encounters were primarily with Jeroboam and Egypt. No specific battles with Jeroboam are described in the Bible, but there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days (1 Kin. 14:30). This warring probably involved border disputes over the territory of Benjamin, the buffer zone between the two kingdoms. In Rehoboam s fifth year Judah was invaded by Shishak (Sheshonk I), king of Egypt, who came against Jerusalem and carried away treasures from the Temple and from Solomon s house. When Shemaiah told him that this invasion was God s judgment for Judah s sin, Rehoboam humbled himself before God and was granted deliverance from further troubles (2 Chr. 12:1 12). Rehoboam did not follow the pattern of David. Instead, he was an evil king (2 Chr. 12:14). During his 17 year reign, the people of Judah built high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images (1 Kin. 1:23) and permitted perverted persons to prosper in the land (1 Kin. 14:24). When he died, he was buried in the City of David (1 Kin. 14:31). Source: Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., & Harrison, R. K., Thomas Nelson Publishers (Eds.). Nelson s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.,

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