Day 174—We are in the 6th month of Bible reading.

 Day 174 – 1 Kings 12-14. (Rehoboam, the Royal vs. Jeroboam, the Jerk)

2 Kings 11:41-43 describes the last days of Solomon, claiming that even more about him and his wisdom are written in an unknown book, The Acts of Solomon.  King Solomon reigned for 40 years, as did his father, David.

Then, as all kings and paupers do, the king died. He was buried in “the City of David.”  And his son Rehoboam began his reign, heralding the beginning of the downfall of mighty and glorious Israel. 

1 Kings 12 tells of Rehoboam’s “folly.”

Obviously, he inherited NONE of his father’s wisdom and did not ask God for any.  At least he inquired of his father’s experienced advisors about how to rule the people. But he also asked the young men who’d been raised in the palace with him and who knew nothing about living as a common person in the labor force. Basically, it was either ‘be kind to the people and serve them’ or ‘be nasty to them, like a tyrant.’ 

Rehoboam chose tyranny, and the people rebelled.

Waiting in the wings was Jeroboam (the man about whom the prophet Ahijah said would rip ten of the tribes away from the kingdom and rule them).  He easily led the discontented ten northern tribes away from Rehoboam.  Rip-p-p-p-p!  Rehoboam immediately assembled 180K soldiers together to fight the departing tribes, but God said through the prophet Shemaiah. “NO! You shall NOT fight your relatives.”  And (incredibly) they listened to the words of God.

So the kingdom of Israel is now two parts, “Israel” (ten tribes in the north) ruled by Jeroboam, the Jerk, and “Judah” (two tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the south) ruled by Rehoboam, the Royal.  The northern tribes are also sometimes called “Ephraim.”

Here’s why I call Jeroboam “the Jerk.”  God had given him (and his offspring) the northern part of Israel to reign. He set up his capital in Shechem (about the middle of the northern tribes).  BUT he did not trust God and feared that the people – when they went to Jerusalem to worship three times per year – would want to go back to Rehoboam. He didn’t like that possibility, so he built TWO places for Israel to worship; one in Bethel and the other way at the northern tip of the land, in Dan. 

These were not approved worship places for the LORD. No, Jeroboam the Jerk followed the example of ole Aaron and made two calves of gold for the people, saying THESE were what brought you out of slavery in Egypt. WHAT????  He also made priests of anyone who wanted to be one. AND… chose another Feast Day from his own heart to sacrifice to these two idols.   JERK!

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1 Kings 13 is kind of a weird chapter about some prophets of God. 

One (Prophet A) appeared and cried out against Jeroboam at the altar in Bethel while the Jerk was making sacrifices. This prophet said that a future Southern king named Josiah would tear the altar down after sacrificing the false priests upon it!  Whoa!

Jeroboam did NOT like this and tried to waylay the prophet.  But God had told him that under no circumstances was he to stop there, so he slipped away. 

Then another old prophet (Prophet B) stopped the first one who was heading back to Judah. And with a false prophecy, tempted Prophet A to come in for a snack. He did, but God was angry about his disobedience, and when he was finally on his way again, a lion killed him. (Didn’t eat him, just killed him and stood there along with the prophet’s donkey in the middle of the road!)

Well, Prophet B now got an actual word from God: “Prophet A died because he disobeyed Me and listened to you!” Well this prophet went, brought back the dead one and buried him. The town mourned him too. THEN, Prophet B made his sons promise to bury him when he died, in the grave with Prophet A, saying he was a true prophet.) I told you chapter 13 was weird.

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Chapter 14 describes a young son of King Jeroboam the Jerk getting sick.

The king told his wife to disguise herself and go to another prophet, Ahijah, to learn what would happen to the boy. The disguise did not fool Abijah, even though he was nearly blind, and he immediately told the Jerk’s wife that the boy was going to die.

But there was WORSE news. God (through Abijah) told the woman a message to tell her husband. It was also the end of the house of Jeroboam – all the males would be cut off and his house burned up as a man burns up a dung pile. Why?

Because when God “exalted him from among the people and made him leader over His people, Israel, and tore it from the house of David (who kept God’s commandments and followed Him with all his heart) ….. he did evil and made for himself other gods and metal images, provoking God to anger, and he cast God behind his back.”

And, as the woman came to the threshold of her house… the boy died “because in him there was found something pleasing to the LORD, the God of Israel.” (He would not suffer his father’s judgment.)

Eventually, the Jerk died after a 22-year reign.

Rehoboam the Royal reigned for 17 years, and in his fifth year, the king of Egypt came up and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the king’s house.

Eventually, the Royal died too, and was buried in the City of David. His mother was an Ammonite, and during Rehoboam’s reign, high places and pillars and Asherim were built on every high hill and under every green tree. And there were male cult prostitutes in the land, and they did all the abominations of the nations living there before Israel.