1 Kings 14

1 Kings 14:1

4. Death of Jeroboam’s Son (14:1-20)14:1-4 When Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick, the king sent his wife to the prophet . . . Ahijahthe man of God who had previously told Jeroboam that he would be king over the ten northern tribes. The queen disguised herself, perhaps for several reasons. First, to visit the man of God openly would betray a lack of faith in the idols at Dan and Bethel. Second, Jeroboam realized that Ahijah was opposed to idolatry and would not speak favorable things to her if he knew her identity. Third, perhaps the king thought that by fooling the prophet he might even fool the Lord. 14:5-13 The LORD forewarned the blind prophet of the queen’s approach. As soon as she arrived, the prophet exposed her disguise and then sent her back to Jeroboam with a message of doom. Because of the king’s disobedience and idolatry, the Lord would cut off from him every male in Israel, both bond and free, and would utterly consume his house. None of his family would have a decent burial, except the ailing son, Abijahwho would die as soon as the queen entered the city. 14:14-16 God would raise up another king (Baasha), who would destroy Jeroboam’s family. Eventually the nation of Israel would be led into captivity because Jeroboam had inaugurated the worship of Asherim. The Asherim were carved wooden images symbolizing fertility. 14:17, 18 It appears from verse 17 that Tirzah was now the capital of Israel. As soon as the queen returned there, her son died. Israel buried him and mourned, as predicted by the prophet. 14:19, 20 After reigning for twenty-two years, Jeroboam died and was succeeded by his son . . . Nadab. The book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel does not refer to the Book of Chronicles in the Bible but to the official record of the kings which was kept as a public national history. The scene now switches to the kingdom of Judah.

1 Kings 14:21

C. King Rehoboam of Judah (cont’d) (14:21-31)14:21-24 We have already studied the first part of Rehoboam’s reign in chapter 12. This section summarizes the significant features of his reign. The fact that the queen mother was an Ammonitess (vv. 21, 31) is mentioned twice may be designed to call the reader’s attention to an underlying reason for the failure of Rehoboam’s rulehis father, Solomon, had married foreign wives, who led him and his family into idolatry. Idolatry was prevalent in Judah, and male cult prostitutes (perverted persons) carried on their abominable practices at the shrines. 14:25-28 Jerusalem was attacked and plundered by Shishak, king of Egypt. Treasures were stolen from the temple and the royal palace. Rehoboam ordered bronze shields to be made in . . . place of the gold ones that were taken. Isn’t it ironic that Solomon had sought to protect himself from Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter, but within a short time after his death Shishak of Egypt walked off with much of the glitter of Solomon’s golden city! 14:29-31 This was a period of warfare between Judah and Israel. It continued for fifty-seven years, through the reign of Asa in Judah and Omri in Israel. The Lord prevented an all-out war between Judah and Israel (1Ki_12:24), but the sister kingdoms were constantly skirmishing with each other. Rehoboam died at the age of fifty-seven, and his son . . . Abijam became king in his place.