1 Kings 13 – 14 part 9

 

Last week we looked at chapter 12 and we learned how Jeroboam took the 10 tribes of Israel form the northern kingdom and how he choose to rebel against God by setting up idols and making up his own religion. Tonight as we as examine chapters 13 and 14 we learn more about Jeroboam and his fate and also we will learn about Reheboam and what the southern kingdom called Judah are doing during this time as well.

 

1 Kings 13:1 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.  2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar! Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burned on you.' "  3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the LORD has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out."

 

Here we have a very brave prophet who was dedicated to serving God as he stood before King Jeroboam without fear and pronounced God’s judgment upon him and his newly formed kingdom. To prove that his words were from God he was going to show sign by splitting open the alter and ashes being poured out. Also this unnamed man of God makes a prophecy that will happen to Jeroboam by a man named Josiah and some 350 to 360 years later this prophecy comes true as it is recorded for us in 2 Kings 23:16.

 

1 Kings 13:4 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, "Arrest him!" Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself.  5 The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.  6 Then the king answered and said to the man of God, "Please entreat the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me." So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him, and became as before.

 

Could the be a more a powerful sign that demonstrated that God was the one behind this mans words. Not only did he make the alter split and spill ashes as soon as Jeroboam stuck at his had toward this man to have him arrested his hand withered right before his eyes. There was no denying that what just took place happened because of God and Jeroboam understood this and this is why he ask the prophet to ask God to restore his hand. But, interesting to note that Jeroboam said ask the favor our your lord God. This to me indicates that he no longer considered our Lord his God. Then sure enough God heals his hand.

 

1 Kings 13:7 Then the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward."  8 But the man of God said to the king, "If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place.  9 "For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.' "  10 So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.  

 

Here Jeroboam seems to want to show his gratitude but the prophet cannot indulge in his offer because he must follow God’s instructions and so he leaves another way.

 

1 Kings 13:11 Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.  12 And their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah.  13 Then he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it,  14 and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" And he said, "I am."  15 Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread."  16 And he said, "I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place.  17 "For I have been told by the word of the LORD, 'You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.' "  18 He said to him, "I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.' " (He was lying to him.)  19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

 

Now we are not told who this prophet is but one thing we can know is that he was a lying prophet and since he was living in the northern kingdom he was most likely was involved with the idolatry and was separated from God. The saddest thing about what we just read is that the man of God who had just showed great courage to face the king and then  turn him down for food and water to then allow himself to put his trust in another mans words which obviously contradicted what God had told him earlier. Now he should had questioned the man more and he certainly should have asked God in prayer if this was true or not but he did not and goes and eats with this lying prophet. Now watch what happens next.

 

1 Kings 13:20 Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back;  21 and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus says the LORD: 'Because you have disobeyed the word of the LORD, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you,  22 'but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, "Eat no bread and drink no water," your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.' "

 

 

 

 

Probably for the first time in a while this old prophet received a message from God and he spoke this message to this foolish man of God who had broken the commands of God because he believed a lie was stuffing his face with food and water. Now this man of God would lose his life for what he had done. We will not see this come to pass as we continue on in

 

  23 So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back.  24 When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse.  25 And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.  26 Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, "It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the LORD. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke to him."  27 And he spoke to his sons, saying, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled it.  28 Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey.  29 And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him.  30 Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!"  31 So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.  32 "For the saying which he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass."

 

When I read this I can see the guilt that the Old prophet was experiencing as he knew that his lie caused this man to sin against God and lose his life and there was no doubt that God made this happen to this man of God just as he spoke through the Old prophet because the lion that struck him dead did not eat him nor did he kill the donkey he just stood there which proves that was not some coincidence because nature will show you that a lion would not do this normally because normally he would have eaten the man and also killed the donkey to kill him as well. So this event convinced the Old prophet that the words the man of God spoke would come to pass and as part of his guilt that he was facing he did what he could to bring honor to this man of God by putting him in his own tomb and mourning for him.

 

There is certainly great lesson for you and I to learn from this event and that is we should never takes a man or woman’s word at face value when it comes to the Word of God. Now I will tell you I do my best to always present the truth from the word of God but I certainly am not perfect and I can make mistakes just as much as the next person and so that is why you should compare what I say or what anyone else says with what the Bible says. The Bible is our authority and it has the last word. If more people in religious world would understand this concept then we would less people who are blindly following the teaching of their preacher or denomination. When you get to the point where take the word of a human over that of the word of God then you are setting yourself up of being a follower of a man instead a follower of God.

 

1 Kings 13:33 After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.  34 And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.

 

All I can say is Jeroboam has got some nerve. He saw first hand that God was alive and well and that he was going to take down his kingdom and I have no doubt that if Jeroboam would have changed his ways and repented to God he would have had mercy on him but Jeroboam didn’t do this instead he turned right back to what he was doing which would led to his destruction and to his northern kingdom. Not lets continue on to chapter 14.

 

1 Kings 14:1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick.  2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, "Please arise, and disguise yourself, that they may not recognize you as the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Indeed, Ahijah the prophet is there, who told me that I would be king over this people.  3 "Also take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he will tell you what will become of the child."  4 And Jeroboam's wife did so; she arose and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were glazed by reason of his age.  5 Now the LORD had said to Ahijah, "Here is the wife of Jeroboam, coming to ask you something about her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say to her; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman."  6 And so it was, when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another person? For I have been sent to you with bad news.

 

So we can see that Jeroboam’s son gets sick and he knows that Ahijah is prophet of God so he makes his wife dress up to try an fool the prophet in telling her the fate of their sick son. Now if Jeroboam had gave it much though surely he should of have known that Ahijah would know who the women was and who the child was and as we read God reveals this information to Ahijah. So, Ahijah welcomes Jeroboam’s wife in and tells her that he has bad news for her.

 

1 Kings 14:7 "Go, tell Jeroboam, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel,  8 "and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes;  9 "but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back --  10 "therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone.  11 "The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the LORD has spoken!" '  12 "Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die.  13 "And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something good toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

 

This certainly was bad news as it shows the complete downfall of Jeroboam’s household. I just wonder if Jeroboam’s wife thought for a minute about not going back to her city because as soon as her feet entered the city the child would die. Notice what else Ahijah has to say as we continue in,

 

1 Kings 14:14 "Moreover the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam; this is the day. What? Even now!  15 "For the LORD will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their wooden images, provoking the LORD to anger.  16 "And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin." 

 

When we get into chapter 15: 27-30 next week we will see this king that will cut off the house of Jeroboam name is Baasha and the second part of this prophecy deals with the northern kingdom being scattered and we see this happening almost 200 years later in 2 Kings 17:6. God wants him to know that all these are going to transpire because of sins and how he rebelled against God and lead his people to do the same.

 

1 Kings 14:17 Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah. When she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.  18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.  19 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.  20 The period that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. So he rested with his fathers. Then Nadab his son reigned in his place.

 

Just as Ahijah said the child died as she entered the city and great mourning took place and we learn that Jeroboam reigned for 22 years when his son Nadab took his place. Now when see various books named in the OT saying the record this event or that event these are books that have been lost through time or have not yet been discovered. In the remainder of the chapter we learn about what happens to Rehoboam but we are given even more details of what happens during this time in 2 Chronicles 11:5- 12:16. To give us more a complete story I want use 2 Chronicles account. In verse 5 -12 we learn that after Rehoboam is not allowed to attack the northern kingdom he focus in on fortifying his cities so that he could protect himself from outside forces. Now lets take a look at,

 

2 Chronicles 11:13 And from all their territories the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him.  14 For the Levites left their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the LORD.  15 Then he appointed for himself priests for the high places, for the demons, and the calf idols which he had made.  16 And after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the LORD God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers.  17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

 

Since Jeroboam had made his own religion there was no purpose for the Levites or priest to remain there so they came back to Judah and for 3 years Rehoboam and his people walked in the way of David and Solomon. However that would not last long as we will find out in a minute. In verse 18 – 23 we find out more about Rehoboam’s family life and how he followed in his farthers footsteps when came to wives and concubines. He 18 wives 60 concubines 28 sons and 60 daughters. Now let pick back up in chapter 12

 

2 Chronicles 12:1 Now it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel along with him.  2 And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD,  3 with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt -- the Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians.  4 And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.  5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, "Thus says the LORD: 'You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.' "  6 So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, "The LORD is righteous."  7 Now when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, "They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.  8 "Nevertheless they will be his servants, that they may distinguish My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations."  9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house; he took everything. He also carried away the gold shields which Solomon had made.

 

As we just read by the 5th year of his reign he already turned from God and had turned to idols. More is said about this in,

 

1 Kings 14:22 Now Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done.  23 For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree.  24 And there were also perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

 

For 3 years he did good but it didn’t take long for him and his people to be guilty of the same thing that Jeroboam was doing. Let us now finish up the chapter which brings to the end of Rehoboam’s life.

 

2 Chronicles 12:10 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king's house.  11 And whenever the king entered the house of the LORD, the guard would go and bring them out; then they would take them back into the guardroom.  12 When he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and things also went well in Judah.  13 Thus Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.  14 And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.  15 The acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.  16 So Rehoboam rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. Then Abijah his son reigned in his place.

 

This brings us to the end of the Rehoboam’s reign as we read he began it at age 41 and he died at age of 58 or 59. He and Jeroboam fought against each other through out their reigns but interesting to note that Rehoboham and Jeroboam both had son named Abijah of course Jeroboams son died but Rehoboam’s son became the next king of Judah.