1 Kings 14:19 – 31 “As for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he waged war and how he reigned, they are indeed written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. And the length of Jeroboam’s reign was twenty-two years, and he rested with his fathers, and his son Nadab reigned in his place.
Meanwhile, Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.
And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and by the sins they committed they provoked Him to jealous anger more than all their fathers had done. They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak king of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem. He seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields that Solomon had made.
Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. And whenever the king entered the house of the LORD, the guards would bear the shields, and later they would return them to the guardroom.
As for the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, along with all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their days. And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David; his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And his son Abijam reigned in his place.”
Twenty – two years! That was the length of Jeroboam’s reign. All during that time, Jeroboam could have repented, turned away from his fake religion, and could have served the Living God. Instead, Jeroboam just became worse and worse, finally dying. Meanwhile, the nation of Judah under Rehoboam experienced a very brief revival and then plunged into idolatry.
Solomon’s first wife was Pharaoh’s daughter, and she may have converted to worship the God of Israel. In the normal scheme of things, this woman’s son should have succeeded Solomon. But somehow it was Rehoboam, the son of an Ammonite woman, who became king after Solomon. (Perhaps Solomon’s first wife tried to gently correct him and he became offended – who knows?) Although God had permanently barred the Ammonites from entering the temple and had forbidden the kings of Israel to marry such people, Solomon married this woman anyway. Lacking any teaching from his father, Rehoboam soon began following his mother’s religion, worshiping Molech. Left unrestrained the people of Judah went crazy, setting up Asherah poles for fertility rites all over the place and even establishing male temple prostitutes. No abomination was left untasted.
When a nation sins, its spiritual protection disappears. Now Pharaoh Shishak attacked Jerusalem, carrying off all the treasures of the temple and the palace, particularly the gold shields Solomon had made. Rehoboam instituted bronze shields in place of the gold ones. This gesture was not only practical but also symbolic. By this action, Rehoboam was demonstrating that his kingdom was far less glorious than his father’s kingdom had been. The substitution of bronze for gold also indicated the general spiritual deterioration of the populace.
Rehoboam reigned seventeen years, five years less than Jeroboam. Both men were morally and spiritually corrupt; both led their respective nations deep into idolatry. Both had the potential to turn to God and repent, but neither did so. The wheels were definitely coming off the bus in both Israel, the Northern Kingdom, and Judah, the southern kingdom.
APPLICATION: What do you do if you find yourself in a country that appears to be deteriorating morally and spiritually?
- First and foremost, don’t give up and don’t give in! The One True Living God is still worthy of all honor, all praise, and all worship. Continue to worship God in the beauty of His Holiness.
- Keep praying and keep being faithful! As the story unfolds, we will see that the northern kingdom goes into exile well before the southern kingdom does. Even though every pagan religion ever practiced appeared to be flourishing in Judah, there was still a remnant who were serving God faithfully. There were far fewer believers in the northern kingdom; that’s why they went into exile early on. Be part of that remnant, wherever you find yourself.
- Continue to intercede for your nation and encourage others to do so as well.
- TEACH YOUR CHILDREN THE WAYS OF THE LORD!!! The whole mess in both Judah and Israel came about in the first place because David, although faithful, never studied the Law of Moses as he was supposed to. Lacking the knowledge that intensive study of the Law would have given, David did a poor job of discipling Solomon. Solomon in turn completely failed to teach his children anything. Solomon was obsessed with work, obsessed with power, obsessed with wealth, and obsessed with sex. Despite Solomon’s vaunted wisdom, he never made his own copy of the Law of Moses nor did he ever study it. There is no indication that Jeroboam was ever a believer in the first place, so he had no knowledge of the Law of Moses, nor did he worship God. Jeroboam probably went up to Jerusalem for the feasts and considered himself a believer as a result; meanwhile, he was just going along with the crowd.
The whole universe tilts on the axis of free will. God has given each of us the ability to choose to serve Him or to serve Satan. If we are not serving God, we are serving Satan, whether or not we realize it. Each of us has the same choices that these men faced. What choice will we make? Will we choose light or darkness? Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit or gloom and despair? Choose wisely, for your eternal destiny and that of your descendants depends on it!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow You and no other god. Help us to choose Your ways and no other. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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