Saturday, July 8, 2023

Chapter Fourteen

 1Ki 14:1  At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam was sick. 

1Ki 14:2  And Jeroboam said to his wife, Please rise up and disguise yourself, that you may not be known to be the wife of Jeroboam. And you shall go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there. He spoke to me of being king over this people. 

1Ki 14:3  And you shall take ten loaves in your hand, and biscuits, and a flask of honey, and come to him. He will tell you what shall become of the boy. 

1Ki 14:4  And Jeroboam's wife did so, and rose up and went to Shiloh and entered the house of Ahijah. And Ahijah was not able to see, for his eyes were set because of his age. 

1Ki 14:5  And Jehovah said to Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ask a thing of you for her son, for he is sick. You shall say this and this to her, and it shall be when she comes in, she will act as a foreigner. 

1Ki 14:6  And it happened when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in the door, he said, Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why are you acting as a foreigner? And I am sent to you with a hard thing. 

1Ki 14:7  Go, say to Jeroboam, So says Jehovah, God of Israel, Because I have exalted you from among the people, and have appointed you leader over My people Israel; 

1Ki 14:8  and have torn the kingdom from the house of David, and have given it to you, and you have not been as My servant David who kept My commandments, and who walked after Me with all his heart, to do only that which is right in My eyes; 

1Ki 14:9  and you did evil above all who have been before you, and went and made for yourself other gods and casted images to provoke Me to anger; and you have cast Me behind your back 

1Ki 14:10  therefore, behold, I am bringing evil to the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him who urinates against the wall, bound and free in Israel; and will sweep away the rest of the house of Jeroboam as a man sweeps away the dung, until it is all gone. 

1Ki 14:11 The dogs shall eat those of Jeroboam who die in the city. And the birds of the heavens shall eat those who die in a field; for Jehovah has spoken. 

1Ki 14:12  And you, rise up, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the boy shall die. 

1Ki 14:13  And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him, for only this one of Jeroboam shall come to the grave because there has been found in him a good thing toward Jehovah, God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. 

1Ki 14:14  And Jehovah shall raise up a king over Israel for Himself, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam this day. And what? Even now! 

1Ki 14:15  And Jehovah shall strike Israel as the reed waves in the water, and shall pluck up Israel from off this good land that He gave to their fathers. And He shall scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherahs, provoking Jehovah to anger. 

1Ki 14:16  And He shall give up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned, and that he caused Israel to sin. 

1Ki 14:17  And Jeroboam's wife rose up and left, and came to Tirzah. She came in to the threshold of the house, and the boy died. 

1Ki 14:18  And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, according to the Word of Jehovah that He spoke by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet. 

1Ki 14:19  And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel. 

1Ki 14:20  And the days that Jeroboam reigned were twenty two years. And he lay with his fathers, and his son Nadab reigned in his place. 

1Ki 14:21  And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty one years old when he began to reign. And he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Jehovah chose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess

1Ki 14:22  And Judah did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and they provoked Him to jealousy above all their fathers did by their sins that they had sinned. 

1Ki 14:23  And they built, they also, high places for themselves, and standing pillars, and Asherahs on every high hill, and under every green tree. 

1Ki 14:24  And also the sodomite was in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that Jehovah dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 

1Ki 14:25  And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak the king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem. 

1Ki 14:26  And he took the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house; yea, he took all. And he took all the golden shields that Solomon had made. 

1Ki 14:27  And King Rehoboam made in their place bronze shields. And he gave them into the hand of the commander of the runners, who kept the door of the king's house. 

1Ki 14:28  And it happened, when the king went to the house of Jehovah, the runners bore them, and brought them back to the room of the runners. 

1Ki 14:29  And the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah? 

1Ki 14:30  And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 

1Ki 14:31  And Rehoboam lay with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And his son Abijam reigned in his place. 

Verses 1-20 Summary: Jeroboam's son becomes ill. He sends his wife to inquire of his son (of a man of God). God curses Jeroboam and his family for his/their idolatry and leading the nation away from God. 

9. Even though God did not let the son of Jeroboam survive, notice what he says about him in verse 13. What thoughts do you have about this?
There is much to speculate on this comment. The likely (for me) reason for this statement is: First we must consider the curse on Jeroboam's family "The dogs shall eat those of Jeroboam who die in the city. And the birds of the heavens shall eat those who die in a field; for Jehovah has spoken."
Then, what is the subject of the sentence? -"there has been found in him a good thing toward Jehovah"
and "only this one of Jeroboam shall come to the grave." The thought of dying without a proper burial was an abomination. In the case of Jehovah and the house of Jeroboam, the only good thing was Abijah dying and being buried properly.
It might be that Abijah was faithful to Jehovah, but there is no way to know for certain.

Abijah meaning: father (that is worshipper) of Jah
Nadab meaning: liberal

NOTE: Why did Abijah's mother need to disguise herself?! What does that say about Jeroboam's family? What human characteristics did they employ to live this way?

Verses 21-31 Summary:
Rehoboam/Judah is an idolatrous king/country. Egypt sacks Jerusalem and steals the gold shields built under Solomon's reign.  (See 2 Chronicles 12 for an in depth review of the war with Shishak)

Note: It is always interesting to notice who the king's mothe4r was. At times this gives us a clue as to the reasons for his goodness or wickedness. Compare 2 Chronicles 12:14 for the reason Rehoboam did evil.
Naamah: pleasantness (root means pleasure) -
Gods of Ammon included Molech
God denies Ammonites from the "assembly" in Deut 23.

Note: Shishak was named for harboring Jeroboam after he fled Solomon. It only took five years for the alliance to crumble. Likely, Shishak just saw his chance since Israel was divided.

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