1 Kings 14:19,20

Summary of The Acts Of Jeroboam, And Of His Reign And Death (1 Kings 14:19).

We have here the usual stereotyped summary which, with variations, will sum up of the reign of each king, as it did the reign of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41). Jeroboam's reign could be summed up in the fact that ‘he warred and reigned'. But the sad thing was that his ‘warring' was mainly against his brothers in Judah (1 Kings 14:30; compare 1 Kings 15:6). If only he had sought YHWH and the way of peace all this might have been avoided. As it was it would bring Israel to its knees.

Analysis.

And 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 (1 Kings 14:19).

And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years (1 Kings 14:20 a).

And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead (1 Kings 14:20 b).

1 Kings 14:19

‘ And 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.'

Jeroboam's reign was taken up with ‘warring and reigning', typical of a petty king of the day. The warring would appear to have been mainly against Israel, a situation which continued both throughout the reign of Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:30; 1 Kings 15:6), and that of Abiyah and Asa. The only hope of peace between them had ceased with Jeroboam's apostasy. There was now no covenant tie which might have united them, and YHWH was for the present at odds with Israel. Thus YHWH had no more interest in Jeroboam. He had written him off. The recording of the details of his life was left in the hands of secular historians, in a history that is unknown to us but was clearly known to the author.

1 Kings 14:20

‘ And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years, and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned instead of him.'

His reign lasted twenty two years, after which he died and ‘slept with his fathers'. No information is given about his burial, something normally mentioned. It may indicate that he was seen as in disgrace (compare the emphasis on his ‘good' son's burial in 1 Kings 14:18). And he was followed by his son Nadab whose reign would soon come abruptly to an end.

Nadab was probably an abbreviation for Nabadiah, meaning ‘YHWH has freely given'. It appeared in one of the Lachish letters.

At the commencement of his reign Jeroboam had been presented with a huge opportunity. God had been willing to make with him a covenant similar to His covenant with David. Had he walked rightly with the Lord his future, and that of Israel, would have been bright. But instead he replaced God in his life with a religion of his own inventing. He ignored the Scriptures. That is why both he and his kingdom were lost.