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GROUP: 14 - 15 YEARS
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(GRADE): IX & X
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LESSON – 18
REHOBOAM & JEROBOAM
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The Divided Kingdom
In the previous lesson we learnt how the nation of Israel was divided because of the unwise decision of King Solomon’s son Rehoboam to follow the counsel of young men instead of the elders when people requested him to reduce their burden. Rehoboam was rejected as king by ten tribes and the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms – the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was also called as the Kingdom of Israel and it consisted of 10 tribes of Israel. The Southern Kingdom was also called the Kingdom of Judah and consisted of only two tribes, the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. The ten tribes of Israel made Jeroboam their king and Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon reigned in the Southern kingdom, the Kingdom of Judah.
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King Rehoboam of Judah
The tribes of Benjamin and Judah formed the Kingdom of Judah. The holy city of Jerusalem was made the capital of the Kingdom of Judah. Rehoboam, King Solomon’s son, became the first King of the Judah Kingdom. His mother was Naamah an Ammonite woman. Rehoboam ascended to the throne when he was forty-one years old and reigned for seventeen years.
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King Rehoboam Plans to Fight Israel
When the ten tribes gathered and made Jeroboam their king, Rehoboam was furious and gathered 180,000 men to fight against Jeroboam and the Israelites. But God spoke through prophet Shemaiah to tell Rehoboam to stand down, because it was the Lord who had made that to happen (I Kings 12:22 – 24). Rehoboam and the people made the right choice and listened to the voice of God. However, there was continued enmity between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their reigns.
Worship During King Rehoboam’s Reign
The holy city of Jerusalem with the beautiful Temple of God was the capital of the Kingdom of Judah. The king of Israel Jeroboam feared that if the people continued to worship the Lord at the Temple in Jerusalem (which was in Kingdom of Judah's territory), the people's hearts would turn back to Rehoboam, the king of Judah. So, Jeroboam made his own idols which were two golden calves and placed them in two cities called Dan and Bethel and invited the people to worship there. Jeroboam also removed the priests and Levites appointed by God to minister in the Tabernacle from serving the Lord. So, the priests and Levites, as well as all the people who did not want to worship the golden calves, left their land throughout Israel and came to Judah and settled there. The Levites and others faithful to the Lord strengthened Rehoboam's kingdom (2 Chronicles 11:17).
Shishak Attacks Judah
However, when the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he ignored the law of the Lord. The people of Judah began to practice idolatry and established high places, pillars, and Asherim throughout the country (1 Kings 14:22–24). High places were open- air shrines or worship places of the Canaanites usually set up on hills or an elevated ground. The Cannanite high places had worship items like altar, stone pillars and asherim. The pillars represented the presence of the deity and asherim were upright wooden poles symbolizing the female deities. The high places were usually found along with a grove of sacred trees. Because it was evil in the sight of the Lord, in the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Judah was attacked by Shishak, king of Egypt. Shishak took the treasures of the temple and the king's palace, including the shields of gold that Solomon had made. Rehoboam replaced them with shields of bronze.
Rehoboam Repents
Shemaiah the prophet stood before Rehoboam and the people and said to them that God had abandoned them and handed them over to Shishak, because they had abandoned God’s ways. When Rehoboam and the princes of Judah heard this, they repented and humbled themselves before God. God had mercy on them and did not let the Egyptians completely destroy them, but they were brought under submission to Shishak and became his servants.
Rehoboam Ignores God’s Laws
Rehoboam humbled himself before God when Judah was attacked by Egypt and God spared him from further attacks. However, he did not seek the Lord with full devotion and began to introduce evil practices into Judah. Rehoboam knew who God was and even sought Him sporadically, but he did not set his heart to seek God (2 Chronicles 12:14). Rehoboam repeated the mistake of his father Solomon. He ignored the laws that God had set for Israel's kings in Deuteronomy 17:14–20. Rehoboam had eighteen wives, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters (2 Chronicles 11:18 - 23). Rehoboam's lack of determination in seeking the Lord resulted in the decline of his kingdom, and a decline in the quality of kings following him.
Achievements of Rehoboam
Rehoboam fortified the cities of Judah and Benjamin such as Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. He put army commanders in the cities he fortified and also built stores of food, oil, and wine in the cities he fortified. (2 Chronicles 11:5-12)
King Rehoboam’s Successor
King Rehoboam made Abijah, the oldest son of his wife Maakah, daughter of Absalom as the crown prince and heir to the throne. He made a wise decision to disperse his other sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities of his kingdom and he provided abundantly for them. His son Abijah became the king when he died.
King Jeroboam of Israel
The 10 northern tribes (Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim and Manasseh) rebelled against Rehoboam and formed the Kingdom of Israel. Jeroboam, son of Nebat became the first King of the divided Kingdom of Israel. The capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel was first established in Shechem (I Kings 12:25) and then in Samaria during King Omri’s rule (I Kings 16:24). Jeroboam ruled the Kingdom of Israel for 21 years.
Jeroboam-I & Jeroboam-II
The thirteenth King of the ancient Israel, who was the son of Jehoash, was also named Jeroboam (II Kings 14:23). So, the first king of Israel is referred to as Jeroboam I (Jeroboam the first) & the thirteenth king of Israel is referred to as Jeroboam II (Jeroboam the second). In this lesson we are going to learn only about Jeroboam I and all the incidents mentioned here occurred during the reign of Jeroboam I. Biblical archaeologist Edwin R. Thiele has dated Jeroboam-I’s reign between 931 B.C.E. - 910 B.C.E. Jeroboam-I is considered the founder of the northern Kingdom of Israel, which lasted until the Assyrian invasions and the exile of the Israelites in 722 B.C.E.
Jeroboam’s Humble Beginning
Jeroboam belonged to the tribe of Ephraim and was from a place called Zeredah. His father’s name was Nebat. His mother’s name was Zeruah and she was a widow (1 Kings 11:26). Jeroboam was a servant of King Solomon. King Solomon had drafted laborers from other tribes for his many building works. Jeroboam was a mighty man who had come to Solomon’s attention because he was industrious and zealous in his work. Jeroboam was put in charge of the laborers from the tribes of Joseph, which included his own tribe Ephraim and another tribe Manasseh.
Prophet Ahijah’s Prophecy
One day a prophet named Ahijah came to visit Jeroboam from Shiloh with a special message from God. Prophet Ahijah met Jeroboam on the way, wearing a new cloak. Suddenly, Prophet Ahijah took the new cloak he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces and asked Jeroboam to take ten pieces for himself. Prophet Ahijah, then gave him the message that God is going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give him ten tribes. God also made it clear to Jeroboam that the kingdom is being broken because of the sins of Solomon. God gave Jeroboam the same conditional promise he had given to the earlier kings, Saul, David and Solomon. Jeroboam must follow David’s footsteps in seeking God if he wanted to avoid being rejected like Saul and Solomon. If he wanted to prosper and establish his kingdom, he must be faithful to God’s commands. God promised to give Jeroboam a lasting dynasty like David, if he obeyed God’s commands. The house of David would retain a remnant of the kingdom, including Jerusalem, because of God’s covenant with David (I Kings 11: 32).
Jeroboam’s Revolt against King Solomon
When Jeroboam heard Prophet Ahijah’s prophecy, he tried to rebel against King Solomon (I Kings 11:26 – 40). Although the nature of his rebellion is not described in the Holy Bible, King Solomon tried to capture and kill him. Jeroboam fled to Egypt and remained there under the protection of Shishak, the King of Egypt (usually identified with Shoshenq I of Egypt).
Jeroboam Crowned as King
Upon the death of Solomon, Jeroboam returned to Israel around the time that Solomon's son, Rehoboam, was crowned as the next king. Jeroboam and the people of Israel went to Rehoboam and told him that they would serve him if he lightened the burden his father Solomon had placed on them. Rehoboam sought the advice of some older men, who were his father Solomon’s advisers. The elders advised Rehoboam that he should listen to the people’s request and lighten their burden. Next Rehoboam went to a group of young men who had grown up with him who guided him to exercise authority over the people and not to give in to their demands. When Jeroboam and the people assembled to hear Rehoboam’s response, they were disappointed when Rehoboam chose to listen to his inexperienced and immature friends and refused to reduce their burden. Jeroboam and the people rebelled against him and told him that they wouldn’t co-operate with him. The ten northern tribes chose to break away and form their own kingdom and made Jeroboam their king.
Worship During King Jeroboam’s Reign
As soon as Jeroboam became king, he focussed his efforts on stabilizing his kingdom. The Holy Temple of God was located at Jerusalem in the Kingdom of Judah. Jeroboam felt very insecure. He thought, if his subjects travelled to the Kingdom of Judah to worship at the Temple of Jerusalem, gradually people’s heart might turn towards Rehoboam, his rival king and the Kingdom of Judah. So he thought of a wicked plan. He established two golden calves, one in Bethel and the other one in Dan. Without revealing his true intention, Jeroboam introduced the golden calves as the gods that brought the Israelites out of Egypt and he also told the Israelites that he had established these two altars to prevent them from taking an unnecessary and difficult journey to Jerusalem Temple to offer sacrifices. He called these golden calves as God (Elohim), the name almost exclusively reserved in the Holy Bible to refer to the one true God of Israel.
Moses’ brother Aaron had also made golden calves in the desert, when the Israelites came out of Egyptian slavery. These golden calves may be related to the Egyptian cow goddess Hathor. Both Aaron and Jeroboam had just spent time in Egypt, and both identified the calves as the god of Israel who brought them out of Egypt. So instead of going to Jerusalem, the Israelites travelled all the way to Bethel and Dan to bow before these golden calves.
Jeroboam’s Hand Becomes Stiff
King Jeroboam inaugurated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival celebrated in Judah. One day, as King Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to make an offering, a “man of God” arrived there from Judah. He was sent by God to prophesy against the false altar at Bethel. The man of God cried out against the altar saying, "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: 'Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices here and human bones will be burned on you.' The man of God also gave a sign saying that the altar would split open and the ashes would be poured out.
Jeroboam stretched out his hand and angrily commanded that the man of God be seized. Suddenly something happened! His stretched-out hand was paralyzed and he was not able to pull it back. At that time the altar split open and the ashes poured out, fulfilling the sign from the Lord. The king pleaded with the man of God to intercede with God and pray for his hand to be restored. The man of God did so and Jeroboam’s hand was immediately restored. Even after all these things happened, King Jeroboam did not change his ways and continued his wicked deeds.
Prophet Ahijah’s Final Message to Jeroboam
Not long after Jeroboam made his final decision to remain in sin and refused to repent, his son Abijah, who was to be his heir (the next king), fell seriously ill. King Jeroboam asked his wife to disguise herself and hide that she was Jeroboam’s wife and go to Judah to prophet Ahijah and inquire whether his son Abijah would live. Instead of all the priests and teachers whom he appointed himself according to his own wish, he sent for a true prophet for his own problem. Jeroboam may have wanted his wife to disguise herself because he may not have wanted his own people to know that he took help not from his own prophets or priests, but from a true prophet of the God of Israel.
The Lord revealed the deception to Prophet Ahijah who was almost blind. As soon as Jeroboam’s wife entered the door, only her footsteps being heard, Prophet Ahijah addressed her as Jeroboam’s wife and revealed her disguise and the reason she had come. Prophet Ahijah also had to give her a distressing message that her son would not survive. King Jeroboam was unbothered.
The Detestable Sin of Jeroboam
One of King Jeroboam’s wicked acts was to appoint inferior people of his own choice to be priests instead of the sons of Levi. In Jeroboam’s kingdom priesthood was determined by one’s own preference and by king than by God. According to the Holy Bible this was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to his downfall and its destruction from the face of the earth. Jeroboam’s name became associated with idolatry and wickedness. Jeroboam’s wickedness did not end with his generation and influenced the subsequent kings and the Kingdom of Israel for generations to come which subsequently led to the exile and disappearance of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (II Chronicles 11: 14; I Kings 13:33, 34; II Kings 17:21 - 23).
Old Testament Priesthood & New Testament Ministry
Both in the Old Testament and New Testament anyone who wants to minister to a congregation, or a Church must be specifically called by God. In the Old Testament it was called as “Priesthood” and was specifically allotted to the tribe of Levi and the descendants of Aaron. Old Testament priesthood and New Testament Christian ministry differ in many aspects. New Testament christian ministers are not the equivalent of Old Testament priests. In New Testament, all believers in Jesus Christ are addressed as saints and priests, who are partakers of a royal priesthood (Ephesians 1:1; I Peter 2: 4,5,9). In the Old Testament the High Priest acted as a mediator between God and man (Hebrews 5:1). In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. Hence, Christian ministers are not mediators, and every Christian believer can communicate directly with God and approach the throne of grace with confidence and present his prayers and petitions before God (Hebrews 4: 14-16).
In the New Testament period, there are two important Christian ministries
(1) Ministry aimed at unbelievers for the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19,20)
(2) Ministry that is done for the spiritual growth and edification of Christian believers (Ephesians 4:11 – 13).
The charge for the first ministry done towards the unbelievers is given to all Christian believers. However, for the second ministry, to serve the Christian believers for the spiritual growth and edification, the individual has to be specifically called by God (Hebrews 5:4).
The call of God for ministry upon a man or woman’s life need not be advertised and it can be easily identified through
(i) Burden for souls with genuine agape love for people without differentiation or discrimination
(ii) Anointing and Spiritual strength upon that person’s life to take responsibility and accountability for the spiritual life of others
(iii) Presence of Grace, talents & ability, the gifts and fruit of the Spirit needed to fulfill the ministry.
Being well-versed in Scriptures and being
spiritually and emotionally mature as explained in I Timothy 3rd chapter, Hebrews
5:12 – 14, II Corinthians 6:3 - 10 through spiritual experiences and life
lessons are some of the basic qualifications for engaging in Christian
ministry. Just like the Old Testament days, when the inferior priests appointed
by Jeroboam became one of the main reasons for the downfall of the Kingdom of
Israel, any ministry that is done by a man or woman without the call of God and
not according to the will of God can end up being a hindrance to the work of
the Kingdom of God. Such individuals may be punished instead of being rewarded
(Matthew 7:21 – 23; I Corinthians 3:9- 15). (Click this link to learn more about New Testament Christian ministry)
The End of Jeroboam’s House
Jeroboam reigned for twenty-two years. Then his son Nadab became the king of Israel. Only two years after Jeroboam’s death, all that Prophet Ahijah had revealed came to pass and Jeroboam’s posterity was removed forever. Nadab, Jeroboam’s son was killed in a coup by a man named Baasha of the tribe of Issachar. Like several of the other kings of Israel would later do to their predecessors' descendants, Baasha killed Jeroboam's whole family after taking power, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Prophet Ahijah years earlier.
Bible Reference: I Kings 11:26 – 14th Chapter, II Chronicles 10 - 12
Memory Verse: O Israel, return to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; Take words with you, And return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. (Hosea 14:1,2 NKJV)
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ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES
Fill in the blanks:
1. ……………. were open- air shrines or worship places of the Canaanites usually set up on hills or an elevated ground.
2. In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Judah was attacked by ……………..., king of Egypt.
3. Jeroboam established two golden calves, one in ……………….. and the other one in ………………
4. Jeroboam’s son ………………. became the king of Israel after him.
Give short answers:
1. How was Rehoboam’s kingdom strengthened?
2. How did Jeroboam come to King Solomon’s attention?
3. What was the sign given by the man of God related to the altar?
4. To which prophet did Jeroboam send his wife and why?
Answer in brief:
1. What was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to his downfall and its destruction from the face of the earth? Write the differences between Old Testament Priesthood & New Testament Ministry.
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