Samuel Thru Solomon Lesson 40-1 Kings 12:1-13:34 and 2 Chronicles 10:1-11:4 In the last lesson we saw the Bible's comment on most of the last half of Solomon's reign. It was a tragic, but inevitable end to David's badly misguided attempt to rush the LORD's plan. David had tried to make his son Solomon the King of God's promise, and the Temple he built, the Temple only God's son could build. Part of Solomon's tragic decline to the sin unto death was his marriage to a thousand women. Many, if not most, of the women were unbelievers and worshipped idols and foreign gods. Both the multiple marriages and the marriage to unbelievers were expressly forbidden by scripture. Among other things, these marriages led to Solomon himself worshipping other gods, and building temples to them. Because of this, the LORD pronounced that the Kingdom would be torn from Solomon's son. Only the territory of Judah would remain in his hands. The LORD also raised up enemies for Solomon on his southern border, in Edom, and on his northern border, in Aram (Syria). Besides that, he raised up unrest among the northern tribes, and a leader for that unrest in the person of Jeroboam. The LORD sent the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam and promised him the kingship of the northern tribes after Solomon was dead. Not long after the LORD had pronounced his judgment, Solomon's reign of forty years ended with his death at the comparatively young age of about fifty six. We begin this lesson with the crowning of Solomon's son, Rehoboam. 1 Kings 12:1 Rehoboam [a] went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 1 / 23
2 Chronicles 10:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. It should be kept in mind that Shechem was a Levitical town in the territory of Ephraim. [b] It was not in the territory of Judah, but was 31 miles north of Jerusalem and Rehoboam's royal guard. 1 Kings 12:2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. 2 Chronicles 10:2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. It should be remembered that Jeroboam had been promised that the kingship of the northern tribes would be given to him only after Solomon had died. [c] He had waited in Egypt for that event. 2 / 23
1 Kings 12:3-4 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 2 Chronicles 10:3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: As soon as the tribes of Israel heard Jeroboam was back, they made him their spokesman, as one who knew both them and the palace. 1 Kings 12:4 "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." 2 Chronicles 10:4 "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." 3 / 23
Here, we have a comment on how the rest of Israel had felt about the "prosperity of Solomon," which had made "silver as common as stones in Jerusalem", [d] but had laid the rest of the country under a heavy load of labor and taxation. All the rest of Israel requested in exchange for their loyalty was an adjustment of the inequity. 1 Kings 12:5-7 Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me." So the people went away. Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked. 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." 2 Chronicles 10:5-7 Rehoboam answered, "Come back to me in three days." So the people went away. Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked. They replied, "If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants." Rehoboam was not a young teenager like Solomon had been when he became King. Rehoboam was forty one. [e] However, he was inexperienced. In all the lists of the officials of Solomon, he is never mentioned. The experienced officials, who had served his father, were aware of the justness of the claims of the northern tribes, and the sincerity of their offer. They advised that he take it. 4 / 23
1 Kings 12:8-11 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?" The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who have said to you, Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'--tell them, My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'" 2 Chronicles 10:8-11 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?" The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell the people who have said to you, Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'--tell them, My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'" However, instead of listening to the men of experience, Rehoboam listened to the sycophants who had been his friends and associates throughout his life of privilege as crown prince. It seems clear that Solomon had been no wiser than his father when it came to raising children. With a thousand wives, he was probably little involved in the process. 5 / 23
1 Kings 12:12-14 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." 2 Chronicles 10:12-14 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." The king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." In this Rehoboam, showed sheer ignorance and inexperience. Even if it was his intention to do what he threatened, this was not the time to threaten it. All Israel was gathered together, with a leader and a consensus. Rehoboam was far from his troops, and in the territory of the tribes he was threatening. If he intended to do what he threatened, he would have agreed to what they demanded, dismissed the tribes, and started arresting the leadership of the opposition. 1 Kings 12:15-16 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: "What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!" So the Israelites went home. 6 / 23
2 Chronicles 10:15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: "What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!" So all the Israelites went home. But of course, Rehoboam's stupidity had been foreseen by God and was part of God's plan. The northern tribes were organized at a stroke, without a protracted civil war. 1 Kings 12:17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them. 2 Chronicles 10:17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them. Only the tribe of Judah remained to pledge loyalty to Rehoboam. Why not? They had been made wealthy by Solomon, and had been largely exempted from the taxes and labor. 7 / 23
1 Kings 12:18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. 2 Chronicles 10:18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. So, to talk to the rebellious Israelites, Rehoboam sent out Adoniram as his ambassador. He could hardly have made a worse choice. For one thing, Adoniram had been in charge of the slave labor force of the aliens in the land. This could easily be seen as his threat to make them all slaves. For another thing, Adoniram had to have been nearly eighty, since he had held his position from late in David's reign (2 Samuel 20:24). Finally, he sent him out without any military protection. What happened was predictable. 1 Kings 12:19 King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 8 / 23
2 Chronicles 10:19 King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. Rehoboam just managed to escape by fleeing in his chariot. 1 Kings 12:20 When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David. Having killed Adoniram, and sent Rehoboam fleeing for his life, the Israelites knew they needed a leader and King to present a unified front against the inevitable response of Judah. Fortunately, Jeroboam was at hand. This fulfilled the prophecy of the LORD, of course, but the fulfillment was brought to pass by the resentment of Solomon's policy and the stupidity of Rehoboam. 1 Kings 12:21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin--a hundred and eighty thousand fighting men--to make war against the house of Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon. 9 / 23
2 Chronicles 11:1 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered the house of Judah and Benjamin--a hundred and eighty thousand fighting men--to make war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam. Predictably, when Rehoboam got back to Jerusalem, he made plans to make war on all the northern tribes. 1 Kings 12:22 But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 2 Chronicles 11:2 But this word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God: This Shemaiah also spoke for the LORD to Israel later in Rehoboam's reign (1 Chronicles 12:5), and wrote down a history of Rehoboam's reign (2 Chronicles 12:15). His name in Hebrew is Ö žö Ö Ö {shem ä yä'} which means "heard by Jehovah." 10 / 23
1 Kings 12:23-24 "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.'" So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had ordered. 2 Chronicles 11:3-4 "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin, This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.'" So they obeyed the words of the LORD and turned back from marching against Jeroboam. At this time the chastened Rehoboam listened to some good advice. Perhaps he knew that his troops were unwilling to follow his untested leadership against the direct command of the word of the LORD. Later, both he and Jeroboam would fight and skirmish continually (1 Kings 14:30). 1 Kings 12:25 through 1 Kings 13:34, which appears below is unique to 1 Kings. It should always be remembered that 1 and 2 Kings is the history of both the Northern Kingdom (often called "Israel" after this time) and the Southern Kingdom (usually called "Judah" after this time). However, 2 Chronicles is just the history of the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom only appears in 2 Chronicles when it interacts with the southern Kingdom. Since the passage below refers to the history of the Northern Kingdom, it does not appear in 2 Chronicles. 11 / 23
1 Kings 12:25 Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel. Jeroboam made first made Shechem his capital. It was where he had been made King by the northern tribes. He later decided to establish Peniel, across the Jordan in the highlands of Gilead as his capital. He may have thought it was more secure from attack. Both Shechem and Peniel had been famous in the story of Jacob. 1 Kings 12:26-33 Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam." After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. [f] Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." One he set up in Bethel, [g] and the other in Dan. [h] And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there. Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings. 12 / 23
This records the beginning of what was known as the "great sin of Jeroboam" which plagued the northern kingdom for the rest of its existence. They abandoned the worship of the LORD as set up by the Law of Moses. They abandoned the priesthood, the feasts, the Ark, and the furniture of the Tabernacle that the LORD had directed that the people of Israel utilize in worship. Instead they replaced them with their own inventions. It is hardly any wonder that the worship of the LORD was easily replaced by the worship of false gods in the Northern Kingdom. It is not unlike those Christian Churches today, who have denied the Bible's complete truth, but have tried to hang on to just the part of it that they like. It doesn't work! 1 Kings 13:1 By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. The LORD sent a warning and a prophecy by an unnamed prophet who was a man of obviously great courage and faith. 1 Kings 13:2-3 He cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD: "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.'" 13 / 23
This was fulfilled three hundred years later by King Josiah of Judah, [i] a hundred years after the Northern Kingdom had been destroyed by the Assyrians because of their continual practice of "the great sin of Jeroboam." 1 Kings 13:3 That same day the man of God gave a sign: "This is the sign the LORD has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out." He also gave a sign that the LORD would shortly send to confirm the truth of the prophecy. 1 Kings 13:4-5 When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, "Seize him!" But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD. The LORD fulfilled the sign and also sent the means by which He protected his prophet. 14 / 23
1 Kings 13:6 Then the king said to the man of God, "Intercede with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored." So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king's hand was restored and became as it was before. Jeroboam recognized that for at least at that moment the LORD was speaking through the prophet. 1 Kings 13:7-9 The king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift." But the man of God answered the king, "Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. For I was commanded by the word of the LORD: You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.'" The prophet was given explicit instructions for his journey. Much as Israel had been given explicit instructions of how to worship the LORD. 15 / 23
1 Kings 13:10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel. The prophet was determined to follow his instructions, and was careful to return another way. So far, the story is very straight forward. 1 Kings 13:11-14a Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. Their father asked them, "Which way did he go?" And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. So he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it and rode after the man of God. Another old prophet heard about what had happened and went after the LORD's prophet. 1 Kings 13:14b-18 He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" "I am," he replied. So the prophet said to him, "Come home with me and eat." The man of God said, "I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. I have been told by the word of the LORD: You must not eat bread or drink water there or 16 / 23
return by the way you came.'" The old prophet answered, "I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD: Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.'" (But he was lying to him.) When the old prophet found the LORD's prophet, he lied to him, and contradicted what the LORD had said to him. 1 Kings 13:19-20 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house. While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back. Now the word of LORD came to the old prophet. 1 Kings 13:21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, "This is what the LORD says: You have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. 17 / 23
God's word is inviolable and does not change. The prophet should have known that. 1 Kings 13:22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.'" He would not die close to home. As it turned out, he would die on this journey. However, his tomb would be honored and preserved by Josiah (2 Kings 23:17). 1 Kings 13:23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. I guess he figured that he might as well finish. I have to wonder about the rest of their conversation. 18 / 23
1 Kings 13:24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was thrown down on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The visual image presented here includes two images closely related to Christ's coming. In 30 A.D. he would enter Jerusalem on a donkey, the sign of the humility of His first coming. The lion stands for the power and wrath at his second coming (Revelation 5:5, 10:3). That the image is important is emphasized by the fact that after the man was killed, but not eaten, the lion and the donkey stood there over the body. That in itself speaks of the supernatural. 1 Kings 13:25-28 Some people who passed by saw the body thrown down there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived. When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, "It is the man of God who defied the word of the LORD. The LORD has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the LORD had warned him." The prophet said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me," and they did so. Then he went out and found the body thrown down on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. After a passage of enough time for word to have gotten back to the old prophet, and for him to have gotten out to where the body was, the lion and the donkey were still standing there. It is also no wonder that no one had taken his body before. 19 / 23
1 Kings 13:29-32 So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, "Oh, my brother!" After burying him, he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the message he declared by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true." They shared the same tomb, and the tombs of both of them were later preserved. 2 Kings 23:17-18 "The king (Josiah) asked, "What is that tombstone I see?" The men of the city said, "It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it." "Leave it alone," he said. "Don't let anyone disturb his bones." So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria. This can seem to be a difficult story. However, I think we can understand it if we answer several questions. First, what kind of prophet was the old prophet? The only thing in the story that would make us think that this was other than a prophet of the LORD was that he lied to the prophet from Judah. He was not called a "false" prophet. He believed the prophecy of the prophet from Judah. He called the other prophet "my brother." The word of the LORD also came to him. He is later called "the prophet from Samaria" (2 Kings 23:18). I believe that we have to conclude the old prophet was also one of the LORD's prophets. 20 / 23
Second, why did the old prophet originally send for the prophet from Judah? We aren't told. Perhaps he was feeling isolated and desperately wanted to speak to another strong believer. He may have believed that the prophet from Judah had just said that to Jeroboam to have an irrefutable excuse to get out of eating with him. It is also possible that the LORD moved him to tempt the other prophet. My best conclusion is that the old prophet had no real idea of what he was doing to the other prophet. Third, why is this story in scripture? I believe that this account is here to make a point. It is like the story of Nadab and Abihu, who the LORD killed to make the point at the beginning of the Tabernacle worship that His word was to be obeyed. [j] It is like the story of Uzzah who was struck dead when he tried to steady the Ark being brought up by David's command in an irreverent way. [k] It was the LORD making a point that you do not ignore the instructions of the LORD, no matter what anyone else says. Of course, the LORD has not killed everyone who has ignored the LORD's word. But this stands as fair warning. Fourth, was the LORD fair to the prophet from Judah? The LORD is always fair, but lest we forget, the moment after the lion killed him, the prophet was in Abraham's bosom, or paradise, a place of great comfort and happiness, even before Jesus Christ led all of those there to the third heaven at the time of His ascension. 2 Kings 13:33-34 Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth. 21 / 23
In spite of the warning of the prophet from Judah, the earthquake that followed, and his hand being stricken with paralysis and then being healed, Jeroboam found a way to excuse his replacement of the worship of the Law of Moses. It eventually resulted in the short term fall of his family from the throne and their eradication, and the long term destruction of the whole Northern Kingdom. [a] The Hebrew is Ö Ö Ö Ö {rekh av äm'} which means "a people has enlarged." [b] Joshua 21:21. [c] 1 Kings 11:34-35 [d] 1 King 10:27 [e] 1 Kings 14:21, 2 Chronicles 12:13 [f] This was in direct violation of Deuteronomy 12:13-14 "Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please. Offer them only at the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you." [g] Genesis 28:22 was undoubtedly claimed as authority to set up the Temple at Bethel. [h] A Temple at Dan had existed since the time of the Judges and had only discontinued use after the Kingship of Saul (Judges 18:30-31). [i] 2 Kings 23:15-16. 2 Chronicles 34:5 22 / 23
[j] Deuteronomy 10:1 [k] 2 Samuel 6:6-7 23 / 23