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Chapter 14: Summary of the Reigns of King Jeroboam of Israel and King Rehoboam of Judah
In the Old Testament, the Northern Kingdom of Israel is variously called "Ephraim" (after its dominant tribe), or "Samaria" (after its capital city), or Israel. Nineteen kings reigned over the Northern Kingdom of Israel from nine different families for a combined period of 208 years. In the Southern Kingdom of Judah, only one family reigned—the heirs of the House of David to whom God had promised an everlasting dynasty (2 Sam 7:16, 29; 23:5; 2 Chr 31:5; Ps 89:36-37; 132:11-12; Sir 45:25). Davidic kings ruled over Judah from c. 1010 until the Babylonian conquest in 587/6 BC.
1 Kings 14:1-3 ~ Jeroboam sends his wife to the prophet Abijah
Jeroboam is desperate. His son is ill and he knows that there is no legitimate prophet left in the Northern Kingdom, so he sends his wife to Ahijah of Shiloh, the prophet who foretold his rise to kingship (1 Kng 11:29-39). Shiloh was located about ten miles north of Bethel and was at one time the administrative and religious center for the Israelite tribes. The distribution of the land by lot to the twelve tribes took place there (Josh chp. 18-19), and the desert Tabernacle and the seat of the priesthood was at one time established there during Joshua's time under the leadership of the High Priest Eleazar, son and successor of Aaron (Josh 18:1). Shiloh continued to be the site of the Sanctuary in the era of the Judges of Israel and in the years just prior to the beginning of the monarchy when Eli, the adopted father of the prophet Samuel, was high priest (1 Sam 1:3, 9, 24). After Eli's death, Shiloh was destroyed by the Philistines in the 11th century BC and never returned to prominence as the center of worship.
Jeroboam tells his wife to disguise herself and to 3 "Go to him, and take ten loaves and some savory food and a jar of honey; he will tell you what will happen to the child."
It was the practice to take a gift to a prophet from whom one was seeking advice or intercession (c.f., Num 22:7; 1 Sam 9:7; 2 Kng 5:15). It was the way a prophet was able to meet his needs and to sustain his prophetic ministry.
1 Kings 14:4-16 ~ The prophecy of Ahijah the prophet
Question: The tragedy of his son's illness (who is probably his heir) should have elicited what kind of response in the king?
Answer: His misfortune was an opportunity for the king's repentance and conversion, but instead he chose to hide from God and to deceive His prophet.
Jeroboam sent his wife in disguise to seek the counsel of Ahijah the prophet, but Jeroboam should have known that a disguise cannot fool a true prophet of Yahweh. Despite his blindness, God's word of knowledge gave Abijah the ability to recognize the queen. She must have been shocked when he heard her footsteps and greeted her, not only knowing her true identity but her mission. The prophet not only gives the queen the verdict of her son's death but condemns Jeroboam for his apostasy, comparing him unfavorable with God's servant, King David, who will be the ideal model of a king to whom all the kings of Israel and Judah will be compared.
Question: In addition to the announcement of the death of the child, what is Yahweh's condemnation of Jeroboam and His judgments against him and the Northern Kingdom delivered by the prophet? See verses 9-16.
Answer:
- Jeroboam has done more evil than any other leader of Israel because they did not establish idol worship in Israel.
- Jeroboam's dynasty will die out and some of those who die will not receive a proper burial.
- For the people's participation in the apostasy and idol worship, the Northern Kingdom will be destroyed and its people sent into exile in lands beyond the Euphrates River.
The evil committed by Jeroboam in introducing idol worship into Israel is greater than any others who held positions of leadership in Israel before him and would include bad men during the era of the Judges (like Abimelech) and the failures of kings Saul and his son Ishbaal. The judgment of exile will be fulfilled by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC (2 Kng 17:5-6). The prophecy is a sharp contrast to the blessings God had promised Jeroboam in exchange for his obedience in 1 Kings 11:37-39.
1 Kings 14:17-20 ~ The prophecy is fulfilled and the summary statement of Jeroboam's reign
Jeroboam made Tirzah, a city about 7 miles northeast of Shechem, the capital city of his kingdom.
1 Kings 14:21-24 ~ Sins during the reign of Rehoboam
Solomon reigned for forty years and Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king. This means that he was born the year before Solomon was anointed king when, according to Jewish tradition, Solomon was still in his teen years and before his marriage to the pharaoh's daughter (Antiquities of the Jews, 7.14.1-2; 8.1.1).
The name of Rehoboam's mother was Naamah. As the list of the kings continues, notice that only the names of the mothers of the kings of Judah will be recorded. See the chart in handout 1 or the Chart of the Kings of Judah. The name of the mother of the kings of the Davidic kings is not just to provide information concerning her identity, but the inspired writer includes those names to stress the importance and dignity of the mother in the dynasty of the House of David into which the Messiah will be born. In the Davidic Kingdom of Judah, the mothers of the kings filled the office of the Queen Mother, called the Gebirah in Hebrew. The Gebirah heard the petitions of the people and carried worthy petitions to the attention of her son, asking for his intervention, as in the case of Solomon's mother Bathsheba (1 Kng 2:13-20).
1 Kings 14:25-28 ~ Invasion by the Egyptians
In the fifth year of King Rehoboam (c. 926 BC with year 930 BC counting as the first year of his reign), Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt invaded Judah and Israel. Shishak is the Hebrew name for this pharaoh, but he is listed as Pharaoh Shoshenq I in Egyptian documents. He was the first pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty and what is recorded in the Bible concerning him is confirmed in Egyptian inscriptions. According to the list of cities Pharaoh Shishak sacked that are inscribed on walls of the Temple of Amon-Ra at Karnak in Egypt, the Egyptians only attacked cities in Israel. Jerusalem and other Judean cities are not listed as conquered cities. It is presumed that Jerusalem and Judah were spared because Rehoboam paid the Egyptians tribute which included gold vessels from the Temple and the palace, including Solomon's golden shields from the magnificent reception hall known as the House of Lebanon (1 Kng 10:16). See the description of the Egyptian invasion in 2 Chronicles 12:2-11.
1 Kings 14:29-31 ~ Summary statement of Rehoboam's reign
Rehoboam was the first king of the divided Southern Kingdom of Judah. Rehoboam's reign lasted seventeen years from c. 930-913 BC (1 Kng 14:21- 2 Chr 12:13). When he died, his favorite son Abijam/Abijah, the fourth son in birth order but the son of his favorite wife (2 Chr 11:18-21), succeeded him: Rehoboam named Abijah son of Maacah as head, hence leader, of his brothers, with a view to making him king, and acted wisely by distributing his sons throughout the territories of Judah and Benjamin, some in each fortified town, where he provided plenty of food for them and found them wives (2 Chr 11:22-23).
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A Daily Defense
DAY 164 Evidence and Belief
CHALLENGE: “Even if a person only has the burden of proof when trying to convince someone else of a belief (see Day 86), he still should have evidence for his own beliefs. We shouldn’t adopt beliefs for no reason.”
DEFENSE: We should have reasons for our beliefs, but this does not allow us to dismiss religious beliefs.
First, we sometimes have practical reasons to make decisions on religious matters, even when we do not have evidential reasons (see Day 336).
Second, though it is not ideal, we must sometimes make decisions regarding beliefs using partial, inconclusive evidence. As long as the matter isn’t urgent, we may have the luxury of not deciding, but sometimes we must, and the rational thing to do is to make the best choice one can, given the evidence available. For example, a dying person may be unsure whether the Christian faith is true and may not have time left to research the question thoroughly. Consequently, he may have to make the best decision he can with the evidence at hand.
Third, it would be false to characterize religious faith, and the Christian faith in particular, as beliefs adopted without reason. Faith and reason work together (see Day 118), and Christianity in particular has developed a robust study of apologetics to offer evidence for the Faith. Christian thinkers have developed multiple lines of argument for the existence of God, the Resurrection of Jesus, the immortality of the soul, and so on. Consequently, it would be a caricature to claim that Christian faith is meant to be held without any reasons being offered for it.
Fourth, although the ideal is for a person to study and be personally familiar with the evidence for a position, this is not necessary, and often it is not possible, for we cannot personally verify all the things we know. The sociology of knowledge is such that we all know many things we have not verified for ourselves but have learned from someone we trust (see Day 78). Thus a person may rationally believe in the existence of electrons or extrasolar planets or God without personally having gone through the details of the proofs. In many situations, it can be enough to know that trustworthy experts have.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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