1 Kings 14:15 "And the LORD will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their forefathers and scatter them beyond the River, because they provoked the LORD to anger by making Asherah poles."
So both Jeroboam and Rehoboam turn out to be losers. They both led Israel into idolatry and polytheism. I probably shouldn't say "led." Probably reignited the polytheism in Israel. And how does God bring Jeroboam to the knowledge that his kingdom will be torn away, and his son will be the last in his line to be buried? Jeroboam's son falls ill, and he has his wife disguise herself to visit the prophet Ahijah. Why the disguise? Probably everyone knew the queen. Anyway, the LORD tells Ahijah she's coming, and gives him the words to say. Horrible, horrible words. Jeroboam's son is going to die as soon his wife gets home. Jeroboam knew what he was commanded to do. He didn't do it. And it cost him the kingdom. And it wasn't just not doing what he was told. The prophet tells him that he did more evil than any of his predecessors.
And the punishment isn't limited to just Jeroboam, all of Israel will be uprooted and scattered. This isn't God breaking a promise. It's God keeping a promise. It was the "Conditionally Promised Land." After 22 years of Jeroboam's reign, his son Nadab assumed the throne. Nadab...I've heard that name before. Ah yes, uh-oh.
Rehoboam's story isn't much better. Idolatry, Asherah poles, etc. Invasion by the Egyptians, who came in and took all the stuff out of the temple. They stole all the holy things. Even Solomon's gold shields from the Forest of Lebanon. To see how far Israel fell, the shields were replaced by bronze. Remember when silver was of no use to Solomon? Well now bronze is the replacement. And it wasn't even allowed to be decoration only. They were forced to be functional for the guards. Amazing. After Rehoboam's 17 year reign in Judah, his son Abijah takes over. Yes, I know Jeroboam's son was named Abijah, too. Different guys, apparently. Hopefully.
Showing posts with label Jeroboam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeroboam. Show all posts
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
1 Ki. 12: Traps, Ensnares
1 Kings 12:24 "'This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.' " So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had ordered."
This chapter is a political cluster-fooey, and it took like six times to read it. Ridiculous. Rehoboam is the king, but the nation of Israel appears to prefer Jeroboam, who had fled to Egypt. Rehoboam sought advice from the elders to decide what to do with the people of Israel, who requested that he not be as hard on them as Solomon apparently was. After a three day thought vacay, Rehoboam rejects the advice of the elders to give the people what they want, and for some reason threatens to crack down on them even harder. What a jerk.
Israel heard about this, and was like, "Well forget this guy, we'll rule ourselves." They even stoned the guy who came out to force labor on them. And they would have killed that snaked Rehoboam, too, but he got away in the chariot.
Jeroboam was back in town, so Israel was like, "He's gotta be a better option." So they made him the king instead. Redividing the kingdom. Only one tribe, Judah, was loyal to Rehoboam and the Davidic line. They were able to get Benjamin on their side, too. Benjamin's loyalties, throughout history, appear to be very flexible. They are like Julian Sark if the Bible were a really long episode of Alias. Which makes sense, considering Joseph's blessing on their patriarch. Rehoboam takes Judah and Benjamin to fight, but God tells them to cool their jets, man, so they obey and go back home. They obeyed the direct word of the LORD. Which is good. Finally. Why did God not want them to fight against Jeroboam? Especially considering what happened next.
Jeroboam turned out to be a mess as well, installing golden calves for worship in Bethel and Dan. These gods were probably more installed to divert travel to the temple to keep the wrong people out of Jerusalem. The wrong people who would maybe kill him and turn for Rehoboam. He even installed priests for these ridiculous idols, completely flying in the face of what God commanded, claiming that it was these gods who brought Israel out of Egypt. Their leader set the traps for them.
This chapter is a political cluster-fooey, and it took like six times to read it. Ridiculous. Rehoboam is the king, but the nation of Israel appears to prefer Jeroboam, who had fled to Egypt. Rehoboam sought advice from the elders to decide what to do with the people of Israel, who requested that he not be as hard on them as Solomon apparently was. After a three day thought vacay, Rehoboam rejects the advice of the elders to give the people what they want, and for some reason threatens to crack down on them even harder. What a jerk.
Israel heard about this, and was like, "Well forget this guy, we'll rule ourselves." They even stoned the guy who came out to force labor on them. And they would have killed that snaked Rehoboam, too, but he got away in the chariot.
Jeroboam was back in town, so Israel was like, "He's gotta be a better option." So they made him the king instead. Redividing the kingdom. Only one tribe, Judah, was loyal to Rehoboam and the Davidic line. They were able to get Benjamin on their side, too. Benjamin's loyalties, throughout history, appear to be very flexible. They are like Julian Sark if the Bible were a really long episode of Alias. Which makes sense, considering Joseph's blessing on their patriarch. Rehoboam takes Judah and Benjamin to fight, but God tells them to cool their jets, man, so they obey and go back home. They obeyed the direct word of the LORD. Which is good. Finally. Why did God not want them to fight against Jeroboam? Especially considering what happened next.
Jeroboam turned out to be a mess as well, installing golden calves for worship in Bethel and Dan. These gods were probably more installed to divert travel to the temple to keep the wrong people out of Jerusalem. The wrong people who would maybe kill him and turn for Rehoboam. He even installed priests for these ridiculous idols, completely flying in the face of what God commanded, claiming that it was these gods who brought Israel out of Egypt. Their leader set the traps for them.
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