Abijah, the son of Jeroboam became ill, and Jeroboam asked his wife to disguise herself and go to Ahijah, the prophet in Shiloh (v1-3). Where were his idols, couldn’t they help? Of course not, and he knew it. How foolish to have sinned so badly in creating them and even leading his nation into worshiping them. When in trouble they were useless.
Psalm 115:4-8 tells us clearly, “Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.”
We must learn that it is also foolish for us to trust in anyone but the Lord our God for all that we need. How often do we waste our time on things which are useless? It is not only useless but dangerous.
Jeroboam told his wife to go in disguise and to take a bribe, loaves, cakes and a jar of honey. Jeroboam often turned to God when he needed something, he used God merely as a convenience, and not to worship Him. He didn’t ask for Ahijah to pray but simply to tell him what was going to happen to his son. Very much like a fortune-teller.
His wife went to meet Ahijah in Shiloh. It seems that she didn’t need to disguise herself because Ahijah had lost his eyesight, but the LORD had told him that it was Jeroboam’s wife and why she had come (v4-6). The LORD also told him what to say. When he heard her footsteps as she came in the door, he said, ‘Come in wife of Jeroboam, I have been sent to you with bad news.’
It is amazing how blind people have great perception. I had friend, now in glory, who was blind, but he could ‘see’. He told me exactly how fast I was driving. Often, they have increased other faculties and abilities.
He told her the word of the LORD and held nothing back. “Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes; but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back—therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the LORD has spoken!”’ (v7-11)
The prophet told it like it is, ‘…. you have done more evil than all before you’, and we can see that he was responsible for all that came after him. He reminded him of his privileges and how he had thrown it back in the LORD’s face, or to use the words here, ‘…. cast God behind your back’. This was a very powerful description of contempt before God. He compared him to David, who whilst he had also done wrong, he repented of it and was forgiven. He reminded Jeroboam that God had given him the kingdom, but now God was going to take it from him and from his descendants and bring absolute disaster upon him.
What a lesson for us all! Our sin brings death on us, but it also has repercussions on those who follow us. Even David experienced that.
Ahijah told her to go home but when she set foot in the city, the child would die. She had a choice, to go home or not. She could have been in a dilemma, but the child was sick. She obviously chose to go home. She had a message from Ahijah which was probably the best of a bad lot. All Israel will mourn for him, and he will be buried. That was significant because he would be the only one of Jeroboam who would be buried in a grave (v12-16). This child was favoured because God saw something good in him in the whole house of Jeroboam. It was a blessing to be buried, the rest would be scattered like refuse, the dogs would eat those died in the city, and the birds eat those who died in the fields. The son would be honoured and properly mourned by being buried in a grave. The house of Jeroboam would be cut off and scattered beyond the river. This would be fulfilled some 300 years later when the whole of Israel would be torn from its roots and taken into exile. This was because Jeroboam had led them into idolatry which provoked the LORD to anger.
God is not pleased by idolatry. He is slow to anger but it is aroused by us having other gods. How we need to be careful that we worship the one and only true God. The consequences are disastrous and far reaching.
The prophecy was not immediately fulfilled as we noted above, but the death of the son was indicative of its truth. He died a soon as Jeroboam’s wife reached the outside of the door of the house to which she returned. Exactly as the prophet had said. They buried him and all Israel mourned for him (v17,18). A bit like a state funeral.
Jeroboam’s acts and wars during his reign are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel, he reigned 22 years and rested with his fathers and Nadab his son reigned in his place (v19,20). That is quite brief and so we would have to look at 2 Chronicles 13 to tell us how he died. It seems that he entered a battle with Abijah king of Judah, and he and 500,000 men died in one battle. It simply says, “The LORD struck him, and he died.”
Rehoboam was king of Judah before Abijah. Rehoboam was son of Solomon and was anointed king of the southern kingdom of Judah when Jeroboam became king of the northern kingdom of Israel. Thus, when Jeroboam went to war with Judah, Rehoboam had already died and Abijah had become king. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king and reigned 17 years in Jerusalem which the LORD had chosen to put His name there (v21-24). His mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess, who must have been one of Solomon’s wives or concubines.
Just as Israel had done, Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD. The LORD became angry with them because they too had gone over to idolatry. So much so that we read that they sinned more than all their fathers, had wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree, and there were perverted people in the land. They did exactly what the LORD had commanded them not to do before they entered Canaan in the first place, following and indulging in the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before them.
I don’t think that God was given over to exaggeration but the double use of the word ‘every’ is significant, as well as having sinned more than all their fathers, and the commands God gave them regarding the nations of Canaan who they were to drive out of the Promised Land because of their abominations. The situation was dire despite the privileges they had of the presence and leading of the LORD.
In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak King of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took the treasures of the LORD’s house and the king’s house taking everything including the shields of gold made by Solomon (v25,26). This event is confirmed by 2 Chronicles 12:2 which also tells us the reason which was that Rehoboam had forsaken God’s law and taken Israel with him. However, the Prophet Shemaiah (2 Chronicles 12:6) led the leaders of Judah in repentance. God heard their repentance and allowed the people of Jerusalem to remain but as servants (2 Chronicles 12:7,8) of Shishak.
What a comedown that all the treasures left by Solomon were taken within five years through the failure of his son. Shishak also took the all the gold shields, all 500 of them, which Solomon had made (see chapter 10). They were too heavy for battle and were ornamental only. Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, very inferior to the gold, and he put guards in place to protect them (v27,28). It seemed that they were kept in a strong room and only brought out on special occasions.
All this emphasised the come down in a very short period of Rehoboam’s reign.
The chapter ends with a kind of summary (v29-31) with a cross reference to 2 Chronicles 12. The rest of the acts of Rehoboam are written in the chronicles of the kings of Judah. It reads, “And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.” (v14) So sad! He had every opportunity but failed. There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
One of the reasons was probably connected to the phrase, “His mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess,” one of Solomon’s foreign wives. Maybe this was the slippery slope.
One commentator states that they were very different, in that – Rehoboam started badly but humbled himself before God towards the end of his life (2 Chronicles 12:6,7) whereas Jeroboam started reasonably well but ended badly.
