1 Kings 14:25-31 – Be a genuine witness not a spurious one

First Kings 14:25 tells us that in the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign Shishak of Egypt invaded Jerusalem. He plundered both the temple as well as the King’s house and took away everything including all the golden shields that Solomon had made. And in place of these golden shields, Rehoboam made replica of those shields with bronze. When highly polished, bronze could glitter and shine like gold. Those bronze shields were then entrusted to the commanders of the guard who were on sentry duty at the king’s house. Whenever Rehoboam entered the house of the Lord, the guards would carry those shields and would return them to the guard’s room after the display.   

Verse 30 indicates that Rehoboam and Jeroboam were fighting continually. In other words, Rehoboam had no moment of rest. He only had rest when he died and slept with his fathers. Verse 31 said that he was buried with his fathers in the city of David. Verse 31 reiterates that his mother was Naamah.  He was succeeded by Abijam his son.

Why did Rehoboam have bronze shields made to replace those gold shields that Shishak had seized? Why did he even bother to do so? It appeared that he was trying to give the impression that everything was well. It was probably a face-saving exercise by Rehoboam. At its peak, Judah was not only strong but also wealthy. Sadly, under Rehoboam’s reign, Judah had lost their golden gloss. We are all called to glow for the Lord. Be sure to stay vibrant in the Lord. Let us not replace the genuine glow of a transformed life with some artificial gloss of a make-believe faith. Be a true witness of Christ.

 

1 Kings 14:21-24 –Don’t succumb to ungodly influence

First Kings 14:21-24 return to discuss the reign of Rehoboam who succeeded Solomon, his father. He became king at age 41 and reigned for 17 years in Jerusalem, the city that God had chosen to put His name. Jerusalem was specially mentioned as the city where God had placed His name. Perhaps this was to highlight that despite being the city of the great God, it was no better than Bethel and Dan where Jeroboam had placed the molten calves to replace God. In fact, the condition in Judah was worse.   

Why so? Firstly it was because of the impact Solomon’s spiritual deterioration had on the nation. He allowed his many foreign wives to influence him to turn his devotion from God to foreign gods. Secondly, as if to highlight the deteriorated state of affairs, verse 21 mentioned that Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah, the Ammonitess. As a princess from Ammon, she would be steeped in the idolatrous practices of the Canaanites. Being one of Solomon's wives, it is to be expected that she would have introduced the pagan practices of the Canaanites to him. And now being the mother of Rehoboam, we can expect her to be one of the greatest influences in her son’s life and reign, in a substantial way. No wonder verse 22, says that “Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with the sins which they committed.” 

The horrendous spiritual condition of Judah was being described in Verses 23-24. “They built for themselves high places and sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and beneath every luxuriant tree. There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.”

Rehoboam’s mother must have had a great influence on his life. It is true that we are most influenced by the person we hold in high regard.  Hence it is important that we chose who we will listen to. Take care to evaluate every piece of advice given to us. Chose only to follow advises that will help us to be godly. Emulate people, whose life inspires us to connect with God and to love Him more deeply. Do you have such friends in life? Talking about influence, Paul tells us not to be conformed to this world, but instead be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Here’s a sound counsel from Charles Spurgeon. He said, “Choose the best friend you can, then follow them no farther than they follow Christ.” Be wise, even in the choice of your friends!

1 Kings 14:15-20 – Begin with the end in mind

Apart from condemning Jeroboam for making molten images and pandering to idols, Ahijah also told the king’s wife of all the impending consequences the family would experience. All the males of the family would die miserably, and another king and his dynasty would be raised up to take Jeroboam's place. Besides, the sick son whom she came to consult him about would die. However, He would be the only one in the family to be given a proper funeral and burial.

In 1 Kings 14:15-16, Ahijah then went on to predict the downfall of the northern kingdom. This would take place some 200 plus years later when the Assyrians would come and bring about the fall of Israel. God made clear that the reason was because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he committed and with which he also made Israel sin. It was on the account of this that God gave up on Israel.

Verse 17 tells us that the minute the feet of Jeroboam’s wife touched the threshold of their home in Tirzah, the sick son died. God’s word through Ahijah concerning him happened as she was foretold. All Israel came and mourned for him and gave him a proper funeral and burial. Verse 19-20 tells us that the rest of all that Jeroboam had done was recorded in the books of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. In all, Jeroboam ruled Israel for 22 years and died, and was buried with his ancestors. His throne was succeeded by his son, Nadab.

God’s goal for enlisting Jeroboam to be the first king of Israel was to course correct the effect of Solomon’s waywardness. If he had applied himself faithfully to his calling, he would have been God’s instrument to lead His people back to Him. God would have raised him a dynasty as effective and as enduring as David’s. Unfortunately, he started on the wrong footing and ended up miserably. He set us an example of how not to spurn God and break our trust with Him. Instead, we should adopt the example of Paul. Like him, we must set our eyes on the high calling of God and make up our minds not to allow our ministry to be waylaid by our personal lack of fortitude or resilience. It is always important to start well, but it is even more important to finish strong. Don’t start with a lion’s roar, only to end with a mouse’s squeal. Stay true and strong to the end and finish the course!

       

       

 

 

1 Kings 14:6-14 – Treasuring our God-given privilege

Disguised as another person, Mrs. Jeroboam arrived at the doorstep of Ahijah. Unknown to her the Lord had told the prophet in advance concerning her coming. We are not told how she reacted, but we know that Ahijah did not speak kindly to her. His words to her were  “Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why do you pretend to be another woman?” We can sense the seriousness of Ahijah’s words. We can almost imagine him saying to her, “Stop pretending anymore, I know who you are, and I have bad news for you.”

The first thing the prophet did was to condemn the evil deeds of Jeroboam. What he did was wickedness at its worst. He spurned the privilege God had granted him. He did nothing to merit it when God chose to exalt him and took a large share of the Kingdom of Israel and made him king over it. God had specifically urged him to follow in the footsteps of David and be devoted to God wholeheartedly. Yet he chose to act wickedly by making gods of molten images, thus provoking God to anger. The evil Jeroboam had committed was more and worse than all who had lived before him. How could a person be so ungrateful to squander God’s magnanimity?

The second thing Ahijah did was to make known that every male in his family would die. Calamity would come upon his house and destroy all the males in his family. Those who died in the city would be eaten by dogs and those who died in the field would be devoured by the birds. Thirdly, she was told that as soon as she returned to the city, her sick child would die. He would be the only son of Jeroboam who would be given a proper funeral and burial by all of Israel, for the Lord had found something good in him. Fourthly, God told her that He would raise up a king over Israel to start a new dynasty.   

Jeroboam did not treasure the privilege given to him. Instead of cherishing it, he wasted it and had to pay dearly. This tells us that great prospects will be squandered if we don’t set our hearts to doing it well. We must make the most of every God-given opportunity. One other lesson from Jeroboam’s experience is this: It is one thing to hear from God but quite another to obey it. Knowing what God wants would mean nothing if we don’t get down to doing it. Obedience in critical in our journey walk God!

1 Kings 14:4-5 – Develop a keen spiritual perception

At Jeroboam's instruction, his wife disguised herself and went to Shiloh looking for Ahijah. By this time, the prophet's eyesight was dim for he was advanced in years.  However, his spiritual perception was sharper than his physical sight. He was very attuned to the Lord, who alerted him even as Jeroboam’s wife was approaching his house, disguised as another woman. He said to him, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick.” He even revealed that she would be pretending to be another woman before instructing Ahijah on what he was to say to her.

It seemed obvious that Jeroboam had lost all sense of spirituality. He viewed Ahijah’s ministry only from the human perspective, without realizing that God was the source of the prophet’s insight. Hebrews 4:13 made a very poignant and important point that we need to know. It says, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” None of us should be tempted to think that God cannot see through our disguise. He can see through all our camouflages in life. There is a song that Sunday school children are taught. The lyrics underscore the importance of acting uprightly in life because we have a God who can see through everything. The song tells us that God is looking at us all the time. One stanza of the song says, “Oh, be careful little hands what you do. For there’s a Father up above, looking down in tender love. Oh, be careful little hands what you do.” We serve an all-seeing God, so be circumspect in all that we do.  

One more lesson to take note of. Spiritual perception plays a very critical role in discerning spiritual truth. It is good to have great functional physical sight, but spiritual sight is more needful to know the will and critical plan of God. The Bible tells us that spiritual truths are spiritually discerned. This being the case, it is foolish of us to do God’s work only with our natural minds. We need to hone the skill of discernment to increase our spiritual perception. Here are some steps to help us do that. Firstly, we need to stay constantly connected with God. Secondly, we must study the Word of God and seek to know it well. For the will of God is revealed through His Word. Thirdly, we learn to exercise the consciousness of God’s presence in every moment of our lives. Finally, we depend on the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Never leave Him out of our life’s equation even for a moment!     

 

 

 

1 Kings 14:1-3 – Our lives will affect those dear to us too

Jeroboam was a character chosen for greatness but failed to realize God’s intended dream for him. First Kings 11:26 tells us that he was a valiant warrior and an industrious man. When Solomon saw his potential, he appointed him as the supervisor of the forced labor he had enlisted from the tribe of Joseph. And Jeroboam’s meeting with the prophet Ahijah was not by chance. It was God's plan for his life. From the dramatic prophecy Ahijah gave to him in 1 Kings 11:31-39, we could see that God was giving him an opportunity to be the first great king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Unfortunately, he failed miserably. The first thing he did was to build two golden calves, placed one at Bethel and the other at Dan, to prevent his people from migrating southward to join their brethren in Jerusalem in worship. He effectively cut short his own path to greatness from the start of his career.

The effect of Jeroboam’s sin was not confined to just himself, it affected his family too. In 1 Kings 14:1, we are told that he had a son named Abijah. Interestingly the name means God is my father. Perhaps this was Jeroboam’s wish for his son though he himself had failed God. But sadly, his son did not live to experience the full potential of his life with God as his father. His life was cut short because of the sin of his earthly father.

First King 14:1-3 tell us that Abijah became sick. It was probably quite critical. Although Jeroboam could guess what the outcome would be, he sent his wife to Ahijah to confirm what he thought. Wreaked with a guilty conscience, he assumed that Ahijah would not grant his wife an audience because of him. So he told her to disguise herself and to bring along ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey to the prophet. This also suggests that he knew what he had done was not acceptable to the prophet and much less to God.

These three verses tell us that the effect of a person’s sin has a very far-reaching consequence. It does not just affect the person per se, it often also affects those near and dear to him. We must be careful to live in such a way that we impact our loved ones for good and not for evil. We can also see in these short three verses a call and a challenge to be good and exemplary earthly fathers and mothers. By all means, have a godly desire for our children, but be sure to live our lives in such a way that we help them to realize the potential of having God as their gracious heavenly Father. How we live will always affect our loved ones too. So live well!       

 

1 Kings 13:33-34 – Be unquestionably obedient to God

The last two verses of 1 Kings 13 allude to the terrible wickedness of Jeroboam and the eventual outcome. Despite what happened to him at the altar at Bethel, and the restoration of his withered hand, his evil heart was not changed. He persisted in the wicked way and continued to break God's instructions given through Moses. He continued to ordain non-Levitical priests indiscriminately. Anyone who wished to be a priest was ordained as a priest to the high places, even if he did not have the qualification for the priesthood. This was a total disregard for God and a blatant violation of His word to him through the prophet Ahijah. Verse 34 did not mince words, and Jeroboam’s whole clan was led to act sinfully and they were eventually purged and eliminated from the face of the earth.    

God knows our proclivity, so He often speaks to alert us in advance. And His word will always come to pass. Both the nameless prophet from Judah as well as Jeroboam learned it the hard way. For the prophet from Judah, he was given a personal word saying, “You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came.” He did right by turning down Jeroboam’s invitation to a meal. But in a moment of unguardedness, he allowed someone from out of the blue to deceive him into turning his back on God’s word. We learn from this incident to stay alert in our walk. It’s often not the obvious but the insidious that will do us in. Hence, 1 Peter 5:8 urged us to “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  

Similarly, God also gave an advance word to Jeroboam through Ahijah. Though the king did not take heed to this prophet’s word, God gave him another chance. He sent the unnamed prophet from Judah to dramatically alert him to his sin again. In this second encounter, God even restored his withered hand which he rudely pointed at the messenger of God. Despite God’s kind gesture, he was obviously unreceptive to the mercy of God. He was so incorrigibly dense and would not take God seriously. Hence verse 34 came upon his house and they were eliminated from the face of the earth.       

God’s word to us will come to pass. Obeying it is imperative to avert the troubles of life. Furthermore, obedience proves our trust and faith in Him and demonstrates our love for Him. Obedience to God is a sure way of being progressively transformed. Always remember that partial obedience is a euphemism for disobedience. So obey God wholeheartedly!