Introduction: A. In Our Last Lesson We Saw The Glory Of The Physical Temple That Solomon Built.

GREAT EVENTS OF THE BIBLE #39 -- THE SPLITTING OF ISRAEL INTO THE TWO KINGDOMS, ISRAEL AND JUDAH! Introduction: A. In Our Last Lesson We Saw The Glory Of The Physical Temple That Solomon Built. B. Tonight s Lesson Takes Us From Glory And Unity To Gravity (Somberness) And Division! C. This Evening s Lesson Will Focus Upon Three Foolish Men: Solomon, Rehoboam, And Jeroboam. I Kings 9-14 1. When I use the word fool or foolish in the lesson, I am using it as the Godhead uses it -- one who rejects HIS Will and turns to sin, disobedience, and rebellion. Examine the words that They used: a. a[frwn (afron) -- meaning not wise, foolish or ignorant Lk. 11:40; Lk. 1:20; Eph. 5:17 [one who does not understand the will of God} b. ajnovhto~ (anoatos) -- not understanding, not using your intellect. Lk. 24:25; Gal. 3:1,3 2. This is NOT the sense that Jesus addressed when He said, But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raca! shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, You fool! shall be in danger of hell fire. Mt. 5:22 a. Jesus condemned using the word mwrev (more) -- moron, dummy, stupid or idiot ; it is used in a derogatory, hateful, and judgmental way. b. Here one attacks another in anger calling him airhead or moron! I. (Slide #2) Solomon -- The Wise Man Who Became A Fool. A. (Slide #3) He Built Many Cities. I Ki. 9:19 1. Storage cities. 2. Cities for his chariots. 1

3. Cities for his cavalry. 4. He built anything that he desired in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the lands of his dominion! B. He Put The Remnant Of The Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites Into Forced Labor. I Ki. 9:20,21 C. The Children Of Israel Were Men of War And His Servants -- Officers, Captains, Commanders Of His Chariot, And His Cavalry. He Also Had 550 Chiefs Over His Work. I Ki. 9:22,23 D. He Also Built Pharaoh s Daughter A House. I Ki. 9:24 E. (Slide #4) He Built A Fleet Of Ships At Ezion Geber -- It Was On The Northern Tip Of The Eastern Prong Of The Red Sea. I Ki. 9:26. Hiram s Servants Manned Solomon s Ships. 1. They brought 420 talents of gold from Ophir (perhaps in east Africa; some identify it as present-day Somalia) to Solomon. 2. (A talent was about 80 pounds; today an ounce of gold is worth $1,321.61. 420 talents would be 33,600 pounds or 16.8 tons. The value of that gold today was over $700 million! $710,497,536 F. The Queen Of Sheba Came To Test Solomon And To Bring Many Gifts To Him. I Ki. 10 1. Her conclusion: It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 7 However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. 8 Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 9 Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness. I Ki. 10:6-9 2. She gave Solomon one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in a quantity that was never again seen in Israel, and precious stones. I Ki. 10:10 (A talent was about 80 pounds; today an ounce of gold is worth $1,321.61. 120 talents would be 9,600 pounds or 4.8 tons. The value of that gold today was over $200 million! $202,999,296 2

G. Ships Of Hiram Brought Gold, Almug Wood From Lebanon, II Chron. 9:10,11, And Precious Stones From Ophir. I Ki. 10:11-12 1. The almug wood was used to make steps for the Temple and the King s house. 2. Also it was used to make harps and stringed instruments. H. Solomon Gave The Queen Of Sheba All That She Requested! Then She Returned To Egypt. I Ki. 10:13 I. The Amount Of Gold In Solomon s Budget Yearly Was 666 Talents. I Ki. 10:14 (A talent was about 80 pounds; today an ounce of gold is worth $1,321.61. 66 talents would be 53,280 pounds or 26.64 tons. That is over $1.1 billion just in gold in his yearly spending! $1,126,646,092.80!) J. (Slide #5) Solomon s Wicked Sinfulness. I Ki. 11 1. He Married Foreign Wives Thereby Disobeying God s Commands! I Ki. 11:1,2 2. He Had 700 Wives And 300 Concubines; These Women Turned His Heart Away From God! I Ki. 11:3 a. He began to follow idols and rejected God! I Ki. 11: b. He served the gods Ashtoreth (goddess of the Sidonians) and Milcom, god of the Ammonites), Chemosh (the god of the Moabites), and Molech (the god of the Ammonites). I Ki. 11:4-7 c. And he not only made these idols for his wives and concubines; he also worshiped those idols himself! I Ki. 11:8 3. God pronounced judgment upon Solomon! I Ki. 11:11-13 a. I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 11 b. God promised to do it in the days of his son. 12 c. And God promised not to rend all of the tribes away from the kingdom. 13 4. (Slide #6) God brought adversaries from the Edomites, I Ki. 11:14-22, from Syria, I Ki. 11:23-25, from one of Solomon s servants, Jeroboam, who rebelled against him (Ahijah the prophet, ripping up his new garment, prophesied that Jeroboam would receive 10 of the 12 tribes), I Ki. 11:26- a. One of the two remaining tribes would be retained for David s sake, I Ki. 11:32, and the other for Solomon s son, I Ki. 11:36. b. This would be done because of Solomon s disobedience. I Ki. 11:33 c. The 10 tribes that Jeroboam would rule would be called Israel. I Ki. 11:37 3

d. Solomon, hearing about the prophecy for Jeroboam, tried to kill him; Jeroboam fled to Egypt until after Solomon died. I Ki. 11:40 K. Solomon Reigned For 40 Years Over Israel; Then He Died. I Ki. 11:42 L. Studying Ecclesiastes, We Hope That He Repented And Returned To Go As An Old Man. M. Rehoboam, His Son, Reigned In His Stead! I Ki. 11:43 II. (Slide #7) Rehoboam -- The Foolish Young Man! A. He Was Solomon s Son. I Ki. 11:43 B. As Soon As News Spread About Solomon s Death, The Nation Called Jeroboam To Return From Egypt; They Met With Rehoboam At Schechem (Not In Jerusalem -- This Shows His Disregard For God) And Asked For Leniency. C. Their Plea: 1. 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. I Ki. 12:4; II Chron. 10:2-4 2. As Solomon Lavished Wealth Upon Israel, The People Were Taxed To Death; They Begged For Relief From The Taxation That Enable Him To Build His Mighty Magnificent Empire! D. Rehoboam Told The People To Leave For Three Days; Then He Would Give Them An Answer. I Ki. 12:5; II Chron. 10:5 E. (Slide #8) Rehoboam Sought Counsel: 1. First he sought the counsel of the older men -- their advice was, Become a servant to the people and be good to them! I Ki. 12:6,7; II Chron. 10:6,7 2. Then he sought the advice of the younger men -- their advice was, Tell the people your yoke will be so much heavier than your father s yoke; Say, My little finger will be thicker than my father s waist! and My father chastised you with whips; I will beat you with scorpions! I Ki. 12:10,11; II Chron. 10:8-11 4

F. (Slide #9) The Nation Had Been Comprised Of 12 Tribes. When Rehoboam Responded With Disregard For The People, (Slide #10) 10 Tribes Left The Nation And Became The Nation Of Israel! I Ki. 12:16; II Chron. 10:12-15,16. Rehoboam Ruled Over The Tribes Of Judah And Benjamin; They Were Called Judah! II Chron. 10:1-3, 10, 12; 11:23 G. Shemaiah, A Prophet Of God, Warned Rehoboam Not To Attack The 10 Tribes. I Ki. 12:22-24 H. He Was So Much More Evil Than Those Before Him; He Allowed Idolatry. They Practiced The Abominations Of The Nations That Israel Had Driven Out Of Canaan! I Ki. 14:22-24 1. Why did he practice such evil? 2. II Chron. 12:14 And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD. I. He Had Eighteen Wives And Sixty Concubines; He Had Twenty-Eight Sons And Sixty Daughters (WONDER WHERE HE LEARNED THAT LIFESTYLE??????) See I Ki. 11:3 Describing His Father, Solomon s Life: And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. J. In The Fifth Year Of His Reign, Shishak, King Of Egypt, Attacked Jerusalem And Took All Of The Gold Out Of The Temple And Out Of The King s House! Rehoboam Replace All Of them With Bronze. I Ki. 14:25-28; II Chron. 12:1-12 K. He Reigned 17 Years In Jerusalem; I Ki. 14:21 III. (Slide #11) Jeroboam -- The Presumptuous [Arrogant] Fool! A. As Soon As The 10 Tribes Withdrew From The Nation, They Called Jeroboam And Installed Him As The King Over The 10 Tribes; The Named The Nation Israel. I Ki. 12:20 B. Jeroboam Established Shechem As His Capital. I Ki. 12:25 5

C. (Slide #12) Fearful That The 10 Tribes Might Be Drawn Back To Rehoboam And Jerusalem, This Wicked Man Immediately Led Israel Away From God! I Ki. 12:26-33 1. He changed the place of worship -- instead of going to Jerusalem, he set up places of worship in the north and in the south of Israel. a. Dan in the north -- it was the northernmost city in Israel. 1. Israel is described as from Dan to Beerhseba! Ju. 20:1; I Sa. 3:20; II Sa. 3:10; II Sa. 17:11; II Sa. 24:2; II Sa. 24:15; I Ki. 4:25; II Chr. 30:5 2. It was about 150 miles north of Jerusalem. b. Bethel in the south -- it was about 12 miles from Jerusalem! c. This opposed God s call for His people to worship in Jerusalem. Dt. 12:5-7, 11, 14 2. He set up golden calves in both cities. I Ki. 12:28,29 a. This was in direct violation of God s commands to His people in the 10 Commandments! b. Ex. 20:3-5 You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. 3. He installed idolatrous worship. I Ki. 12:31 4. He set up a priesthood that were not Levites. I Ki. 12;31 5. He set up a day of worship that was one month later than God s ordained day of worship! [God ordained the Feast Of Tabernacles to be on the seventh month and the fifteenth day of the month, Lev. 23:33-43; Jeroboam made his feast one month later!] I Ki. 12:32,33 D. God Sent A Prophet From Judah To Bethel To Condemn Jeroboam s Rebellion As He Burnt Incense At The Altar! I Ki. 13:1-32 1. Jeroboam stretched out his hand against that young prophet; Jeroboam s hand was withered! I Ki. 13:4 2. The altar was split apart! I Ki. 13:5 3. The young prophet prayed and the king s hand was restored. I Ki. 13:6 4. The king invited the prophet to his house; he refused. God had told him to go to Bethel and then to return home by a different way. Sadly, an old lying prophet told the young prophet that God told him to come to his house; the young prophet heeded the lie; he was killed by a lion on his way back to Judah! I Ki. 13:7-32 6

5. Jeroboam s response to the prophet s message -- he continued his rebellion! I Ki. 13:33,34 E. (Slide #13) When Jeroboam s Son Became Ill, He Sent His Wife Incognito To Ahijah The Prophet. As Soon As She Arrived, Ahijah Said, Come In, Wife Of Jeroboam! He Gave Her Bad News -- He Prophesied That The Son Would Die When She Returned Home; He Condemned Jeroboam For His Vile Sins; Jeroboam Will Not Have A Dynasty; God Will Cast Off Israel Because Of Jeroboam s Sins! I Ki. 14:20 1. Baasha killed Nadab, Jeroboam s son and destroyed everyone in Jeroboam s house! I Ki. 15:29 2. I Ki. 15:29,30 And it was so, when he became king, that he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30 because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he had provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger. F. This Vile Man Set The Tone For All Of The 18 Kings Of Israel Who Followed Him [Counting Jeroboam There Were 19 Kings Over Israel]! 1. Nadab. I Ki. 15:26 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin. 2. Baasha. a. I Ki. 15:34 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin. b. The prophet Jehu told Baasha Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins, 3 surely I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4 The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields. I Ki. 16:2-4 3. Elah. I Ki. 16:7 And also the word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed them. 4. Zimri. I Ki. 16:19 because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin. 7

5. Omri. I Ki. 16:25,26 Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all who were before him. 26 For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols. 6. Ahab: a. I Ki. 16:30,31 Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31 And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. b. He married the vile woman, Jezebel. 7. Ahaziah. I Ki. 22:52,53 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; 53 for he served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done. 8. Jehoram. II Ki. 3:3 Nevertheless he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them. 9. Jehu. a. II Ki. 10;29 However Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin, that is, from the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan. b. II Ki. 10:31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin. 10. Jehoahaz. a. II Ki. 13:2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not depart from them. b. II Ki. 13:6 Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin, but walked in them; and the wooden image also remained in Samaria. 11 Jehoash. II Ki. 13:11 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them. 8

12. Jeroboam II. II Ki. 14:24 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 13. Zechariah. II Ki. 15:9 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 14. Shallum murdered Zechariah; he reigned for one month; then he was killed by Menahem. [The phrase about Jeroboam is not mentioned about Shallum but his actions certainly suggest he followed his wicked ways!] 15. Menahem. II Ki. 15:18 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 16. Pekahiah. II Ki. 15:24 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 17. Pekah. II Ki. 15:28 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 18. Hoshea was the last king; he was taken into Assyrian Captivity. a. II Ki. 17:2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him. b. Why did Israel fall? For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, 23 until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day. II Ki. 17:22,23 IV. (Slide #14) Observations From This Lesson. A. ( ) HOW Sad It Is When A Godly Person Leaves God And His Faith! 1. Wealth CAN certainly lead one away from God! [It does not have to! Remember Abraham, Job, or Joseph Of Arimathea!] 2. Relationships with ungodly people and marriages to ungodly mates can take you further than you can imagine in apostasy! B. ( ) Godly Parents Who Leave God Have Great Impact Negatively Upon Their Children! 9

C. ( ) After Being A Prodigal For Years, Thankfully One Can Repent And Return To God; However, The Consequences Can Be Devastating To Children And Acquaintances! They May Never Leave The Web Of Sin! D. (Slide #15) Be Careful When You Seek Advice -- There Is GREAT WISDOM In Respecting The Advice Of Mature People Who Have Great Insights. 1. Wise men seek counsel! Pr. 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, 2. Getting a broad range of advice is very astute! Pr. 11:14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety. 3. Listen and make sure you take wise advice! Pr. 19:20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction, That you may be wise in your latter days. 4. Always follow advice that is consistent with God s guidance! Ps. 1:1,2 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. E. ( ) Following Foolish Advice Can Be SO Devastating -- Rehoboam Following Foolish Advice Destroyed The Nation Of Israel! F. ( ) Leaders Who Disrespect God Can Lead People Away From God Like Sheep To The Slaughter!!! G. ( ) One Man s Influence Can Affect Many Future Generations! 1. Jeroboam s disobedience negatively influenced every king of Israel. 2. Almost 250 years later it is being said of the kings of Israel, He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin! 3. What will be YOUR influence? Will people say about future generations in your family, They walked in your godly ways? Or will they say, They walked in your wicked ways? 10