1 Kings 14:1-20 English Standard Version Prophecy Against Jeroboam 14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. 2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. 3 Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.” 4 Jeroboam's wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. 5 And the LORD said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.” When she came, she pretended to be another woman. 6 But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader 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 like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, 9 but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back, 10 therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. 11 Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the LORD has spoken it.”’ 12 Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. 13 And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the LORD, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. 14 Moreover, the LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth, 15 the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the LORD to anger. 16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.” 17 Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. And as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet. The Death of Jeroboam 19 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 20 And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place. After Jeroboam rebelled and built more high places and commissioned more priests to the false gods he led the people to worship, his son Abijah became sick. Jeroboam sends his wife to disguise herself and sends her to Shiloh where the prophet of God who prophesied that he would be king over Israel lived (Jeroboam was trying to seek out a prophet who he thought would give him a favorable prophecy for he shows once again that he does not understand true prophecy that they only speak the words that the LORD puts in their mouths). It was common at that time to take a gift for the prophet, though knowing the heart of Jeroboam, he probably intended this gift to be a bribe or payment for a blessing and not a curse. When she got to the house of the old prophet, the LORD told her exactly who she was, even though she had disguised herself. He did not need to be able to see with his eyes to be able to know the truth, because the LORD sees and knows all things. Then the LORD gave His message to His prophet to tell to her.
When she arrived at the house of the prophet pretending to be another woman, he called her by name and asked her why she would pretend to be someone she was not. Then he told her that he had not just bad news, but unbearable news for her. Because Jeroboam had rejected the covenant that the LORD had made with him and the ten tribes of Israel that made the Northern Kingdom, and had worshiped idols and let the Israelites into idolatry, the LORD was going to cut off (kill) ever male in his household both slave and free so that there would be no one left to inherit his family's land and no one that would assume they were the heir to his throne. This includes the son that they were inquiring about and it meant that Jeroboam himself was destined for destruction. The prophet says that the any of his relatives that die in the city will be eaten by the dogs (there were only wild dogs that ran in packs back then and they were unclean animals that were only slightly better than pigs to the Jews--they were full of disease because they were scavengers that ate garbage and dead things), Those that died in the open country would be eaten by the birds that were designed to eat carrion like the vultures. They would have their bodies eaten by these unclean animals before anyone could bury them. The LORD tells her to go home and when she does that her child will die. This will be a sign that everything else the LORD has said will come to pass and the LORD promises that very day will be the day that Jeroboam takes his last breath. The LORD would raise up another in his place, and the LORD promises that he will deal more severely with the northern ten tribes from that day forward. He promises to uproot them and shake them like a reed that grows by the water that you have to shake all the water out of. The LORD will will scatter them beyond the Euphrates (to the kingdom of Assyria, which is correctly states as being "Beyond the Euphrates" in every direction from Israel). The LORD explains this would all happen because the people followed Jeroboam as he made false gods for them to worship and that sin would be something that would stick with the people even after the death of Jeroboam. This will be why the LORD will have to punish them so severely and try to "shake" the idolatry out of them by sending them into Exile. The word of the LORD came true exactly as he had spokes as the moment that the wife of Jeroboam crossed the threshold of the door to their house, the son she was sent to inquire about died. Not everything about Jeroboam was written in the Book of the Kings, and the author lets us know there's additional information written in the Book of the Chronicles (we'll be studying this book next after 1 and 2 Kings). It seems that the author if this book expects the readers to cross-reference and see that there is more to the story, but for now, that is as much as important to tell in this book of the history of the kings of Israel. The story of Jeroboam has come to an end with his reign lasting only 22 years. His son Nadab ascended to the throne after his father's death, though we know that eventually the LORD would judge Nadab and all the other males in line of Jeroboam. We just don't know exactly when that's going to happen (the rest of the book of Kings will tell us about that as well as the other kings that come after him). Comments are closed.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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