Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
1 Kings 14:1-18
Jeroboam's Wife Approaches Ahijah The Prophet Concerning The Sickness of Their Son (1 Kings 14:1).
The life story of Jeroboam concludes with a quite remarkable story. It would appear that there was one member of the house of Jeroboam who was still seeking to be faithful to YHWH, and that was Abijah, the son of Jeroboam. And because YHWH intended to bring shame and disgrace on the whole house of Jeroboam He chose to save Abijah from this disgrace by bringing him to a premature, but honourable, death, followed by full mourning and a respectable burial. Like the man of God in the previous story it is the true believer who comes to premature death, within God's purposes.
It is true that in neither case is there a hint of resurrection. Such a doctrine was unknown in Israel at that time. But resurrection is the only thing that makes ultimate sense in both these cases (and Elijah will also shortly be snatched away into ‘heaven' - 2 Kings 2:1; 2 Kings 2:11). And certainly David seems to have had a sense the death was not the end for the true believer (Psalms 16:11; Psalms 17:15; Psalms 23:6). What this story does therefore clearly teach is that it is better to die in a true relationship with God, than to live on without it.
In the story Jeroboam sends his wife in disguise to discover from Ahijah the prophet what will happen to his ailing son (of unknown age). But forewarned by YHWH Ahijah takes the opportunity to denounce Jeroboam for his failure to live by the covenant that YHWH had made with him and declares that the child, the only member of the house of Jeroboam who is pleasing to YHWH, will die. It should be noted that this demonstrates that in spite of his apostasy, Jeroboam recognised that truth could only be found with the true prophets of YHWH. He had also demonstrated that when he had called on the man of God to heal him. In other words in his heart he really knew where the truth lay, but he saw it as too costly to accept.
Analysis.
a At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, I pray you, and disguise yourself, that you be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and get yourself to Shiloh. Look, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spoke concerning me that I should be king over this people, and take with you ten loaves, and cakes, and a cruse of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the child” (1 Kings 14:1).
b And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were set by reason of his age' (1 Kings 14:4).
c And YHWH said to Ahijah, “See, the wife of Jeroboam comes to enquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her, for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend that she is another woman” (1 Kings 14:5).
d And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, “Come in, you wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend that you are another? For I am sent to you with heavy tidings” (1 Kings 14:6).
e “Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, ‘Forasmuch as I exalted you from among the people, and made you prince 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 have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back” (1 Kings 14:7).
d “Therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every man-child, him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung, until it is all gone. Him who dies of Jeroboam in the city will the dogs eat, and him who dies in the field will the birds of the heavens eat. For YHWH has spoken it” (1 Kings 14:10).
c “Arise you therefore, get you to your house, and when your feet enter the city, the child will die, and all Israel will mourn for him, and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam will come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing towards YHWH, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. Moreover YHWH will raise him up a king over Israel, who will cut off the house of Jeroboam that day. But what? even now. For YHWH will smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and He will root up Israel out of this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking YHWH to anger. And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin” (1 Kings 14:12).
b And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah, and as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died (1 Kings 14:17).
a And all Israel buried him, and mourned for him, according to the word of YHWH, which He spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet (1 Kings 14:18).
Note that in ‘a' Jeroboam sends his wife incognito to the prophet Ahijah in order to discover what will happen to his ailing son, and in the parallel the child was buried, and mourned by Israel as Ahijah had said. In ‘b' Jeroboam's wife arose and went to Shiloh, and in the parallel she arose and went to Tirzah. In ‘c' YHWH tells Ahijah what he must say to Jeroboam's wife, and in the parallel we learn what he was told to say. In ‘d' Ahijah tells her that he has heavy tidings for the house of Jeroboam, and in the parallel we learn what those heavy tidings were. Centrally in ‘e' Jeroboam is informed why he has been rejected.
‘ At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.'
Abijah the son of Jeroboam had become very ill. We know neither the nature of the sickness nor the age of Jeroboam's son, although the assumption from 1 Kings 14:13 must be that he had reached the age of accountability. We can recognise, however, that the sickness was a very serious one, leaving open the possibility of his death. That was why Jeroboam was so concerned.
‘ And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, I pray you, and disguise yourself, that you be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and get yourself to Shiloh. Look, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spoke concerning me that I should be king over this people”
So Jeroboam, aware that he was not looked on by the true prophets of YHWH as acceptable, but equally aware that they alone had the true ability to look behind events, urged his wife to go in disguise to Ahijah the prophet in Shiloh. Ahijah was the prophet who had initially declared that he would become king over Israel (1 Kings 11:37), which gave him a certain status in Jeroboam's eyes.