1 Kings 14:1-31
1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.
3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.
4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
5 And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.
6 And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavya tidings.
7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,
8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;
9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:
10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.
11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it.
12 Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into 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 some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
14 Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
15 For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.
16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
17 And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;
18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.
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.
20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he sleptb with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.
21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.
23 For they also built them high places, and images,c and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
24 And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:
26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard,d which kept the door of the king's house.
28 And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.
29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijame his son reigned in his stead.
1 Kings 14:2. Ahijah the prophet; an illustrious man of God, now full of days, and full of grace.
1 Kings 14:3. Ten loaves. A rustic present, that it might not excite suspicion of a royal visit. It is usual in all Asia and Africa to approach illustrious men with a present as a mark of respect, and not as a bribe. 1 Samuel 9:7.
1 Kings 14:6. I am sent with heavy tidings. The whole speech which follows, assumes the highest character of judicial eloquence, and a majesty becoming the dignity of the oracle.
1 Kings 14:17. Tirzah, Latin “Thersa,” a most beautiful city, situate on a hill, about three hours northeast of Samaria. Song of Solomon, Song of Solomon 6:4. It was the seat of government till Omri built the latter city.
1 Kings 14:21. Rehoboam was forty and one years old. This is supposed to be a mistake, and that he was only twenty one, when he began to reign. But we know the particular time of his birth, from the forty years which Solomon reigned; the Hebrew may therefore be correct.
1 Kings 14:25. Shishak king of Egypt. See 2 Chronicles 12:2, where this invasion is more fully related.
REFLECTIONS.
Having in the preseding chapter seen the triumph, the error, the punishment of the man of God, and the impenitence of Jeroboam, notwithstanding all the prodigies which the Lord had granted, we come now to trace his punishment. The first stroke fell on Abijah, his less offending son, and the heir apparent; and it is very mysterious that the Lord should smite the son for the instruction of the father. If this hard stroke failed to bring the king to his right mind, it was a signal happiness for the child, as it delivered him out of the miseries of this sinful world, and concealed him from the total extirpation of his father's house. We should never murmur at the death of children, because we do not know the evils which might befal them in future life.
Jeroboam, smitten in his son, was embarrassed what to do. He had no faith in Bethel, nor in Dan; and to go and entreat the Lord would expose both his calves and his priests to utter disgrace. He therefore resolved to send his wife to do it in disguise: but how preposterous was the plan. If the prophet, now blind and retired, God often heavily afflicting his most favoured servants, was to receive a revelation concerning the issue of this prince's sickness, why did it not enter the king's mind, that God would at the same time discover the disguised inquirer. Oh what straits, what shame and difficulties do the wicked often reduce themselves to by their sins. And how could he expect that God would grant him an answer of peace in his sins? Learn then, oh my soul, never to approach the Lord in disguise, but with the simplicity of a child; and never in thy sins, for the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord.
We learn farther, that the answer which God grants to wicked men, accords with their conscience and moral state. The king in his trouble sought to Ahijah for comfort, because this prophet had foretold his elevation to the throne; and comfort he would have received, had he served the Lord as David, whose throne he shared; but being an apostate, he is reproached with his sin; he is apprized that every male of his house should die an unnatural death, and their carcases be exposed to the dogs and the fowls. That the prince now sick, should alone die in his bed, and even as soon as the mother's feet entered the city, and that the Lord would raise up another king to execute all his vengeance on Jeroboam. What a mirror for the great, the proud, and all who set themselves above the law of the Lord!
From the imprudent and unsanctified manner in which Jeroboam sent to enquire of God, during the sickness of his son, let us learn, under the like afflictions, not to pry with unhallowed freedom into the secrets of providence. What would our weakness and fond affection say? Our children are dearer to God than to us: if it be his sovereign pleasure to take our Abijahs from the evil to come, let us adore and weep in silence. So did the Psalmist: “I held my tongue and kept silence, for it was thy doing.”
And why wish to know the issue of a mortal sickness before the time? If a man or an angel was commissioned to tell it, he would be an Ahijah with heavy tidings. And is there any consideration more sanctifying than the suspense of providence? A whole family in tears, a whole family purging itself from sin, and renewing its covenant with God, is a sight the most lovely under heaven. But woe to the families who seek the Lord in their sins: other strokes of the ax yet remain, till they are rooted out of the earth. Oh Jeroboam, Jeroboam! wounded and weeping under the arrows of Omnipotence, thou knowest the truth; why wilt thou pervert the worship of the Lord? Why wilt thou, and against miracles, plead the example of Jacob, and call the kneeling to thy calves the worship of JEHOVAH? Jacob had no idols around his altars. Why should thy crown be dearer to thee than salvation? Why shouldest thou forfeit thy covenant, destroy thyself, thy family, and thy people? Oh Jeroboam, Jeroboam, that thou hadst hearkened to Ahijah when he rent thy garment. Oh that thou hadst hearkened also to the man of God when he rent thy altar; then had thy people been happy under the wings of JEHOVAH, and he would have built thee a sure house. But now there is no more remedy.
In Judah we have here a farther subject of lamentation. Corrupted by high example, and by bad neighbours, he also did evil in the sight of the Lord. He continued to profane his country with the worship of many idols. In morals he resembled the Canaanites whom the Lord destroyed. Therefore Shishak king of Egypt was commissioned to humble him in his pride. He stripped the temple of all the golden shields, and all the cups which Solomon had prepared. Thus the Lord from the first to the last, dealt with his people according to his covenant. When obedient he caused them to inherit its blessing; and when disobedient all its curses assuredly pursued them; and thus the Lord will ever deal with his church and people.