In this episode, the first kings of the divided kingdom, Jeroboam and Rehoboam, meet their demises amidst conflict and divine reprimand. Experience the rise of Asa, a king with a heart true to the Lord, who leads Judah through an era of reform and resilience. Dive into the lessons of obedience, consequences, and hope that resonate through these biblical narratives, encouraging us to reflect on our own spiritual journeys.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Alan J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 01 :
Today we are in 1 Kings chapters 14 and 15. We’re going to see the ends of the reigns of Jeroboam and Rehoboam, the first kings under the divided kingdoms of Israel. So let’s listen to Faith Comes By Hearing’s reading of 1 Kings chapters 14 and 15. 1 Kings 14
SPEAKER 03 :
At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick, and Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise and disguise yourself that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh.
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Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.”
SPEAKER 03 :
Jeroboam’s wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.
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And the Lord said to Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.
SPEAKER 03 :
When she came, she pretended to be another woman. But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, Come in, wife of Jeroboam.
SPEAKER 04 :
Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. Go tell Jeroboam, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader 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 like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes. But you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger and have cast me behind your back. Therefore, behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung, until it is all gone. Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, the dogs shall eat.” And anyone who dies in the open country, the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the Lord has spoken it. Arise, therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die, 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 something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. Moreover, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers, and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger.” and he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.
SPEAKER 03 :
Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. And as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. And all Israel buried him and mourned for him according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.” Now 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. And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place. Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and a shirim on every high hill and under every green tree. And there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made. and king rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard who kept the door of the king’s house and as often as the king went into the house of the lord the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom 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? And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite, and Abijam his son reigned in his place. 1 Kings 15 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalam. And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless, for David’s sake, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him and establishing Jerusalem, because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the manner of Uriah the Hittite. Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done. He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. He also removed Maacah, his mother, from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days. And he brought into the house of the Lord the sacred gifts of his father, and his own sacred gifts, silver and gold and vessels. And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house and gave them into the hands of his servants. And king Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad, the son of Tabriman, the son of Hesion, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, Let there be a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father.” Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me. And Ben-Hadad listened to king Asa, and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Meachah, and all Kinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and he lived in Tirzah. Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah. None was exempt. And they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building. And with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?” but in his old age he was diseased in his feet. And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father. And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place. Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin. Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha struck him down at Gibethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibethon. So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned, and that he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.
SPEAKER 01 :
The nation of Israel is now a divided kingdom. One tribe, Judah, and the other ten tribes for Israel. The remaining twelfth tribe is the tribe of Levi. The succession of the kings of Judah so far are Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, Abijah, the son of Rehoboam, and Asa, the son of Abijah. For the ten tribes of Israel, the line of kings so far is Jeroboam, Nadah, his son, and Bashar, his son. So far, the only one who did right in the sight of the Lord is Esau, the king of Judah. Chapter 15, verse 14 says, The heart of Esau was wholly true to the Lord all his days. These are very sad days for the nation of Israel. The kingdom is divided and actually warring against each other. Certainly, this is not what God wanted. Even Judah, the tribe that God wanted to preserve, and the tribe that God wanted the line of David to continue through, fails God. Chapter 14, verse 22, And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and ashram, on every high hill and under every green tree, and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. Because Israel did not obey the Lord when they conquered the promised land, they did not destroy everybody, they left remnants in the land. Now those remnants are causing Israel to honor and worship false gods. The lessons from chapters 14 and 15 are clear. First, when we disobey God, evil is at the door. The tribes of Israel did not obey the Lord in driving out the inhabitants of the land. Now, years later, it comes back to haunt them. They are getting sucked into the abominations of the nations they did not drive out. Secondly, God punishes those he raises up who do not follow him. I refer to chapter 14, verse 7. remember god is the one who raised up jeroboam to be king over the ten tribes of israel but according to verse nine the scripture says but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images provoking me to anger and have cast me behind your back therefore behold i will bring harm upon the house of jeroboam and will cut off from jeroboam every male both bond and free in israel and will burn up the house of jeroboam as a man burns up dung until it is all gone god had given jeroboam a chance but jeroboam misused the opportunity the penalty is severe none of jeroboam’s offspring will survive But lastly, there’s hope. There’s the Esau’s of the world. According to chapter 15, verse 14, the heart of Esau was wholly true to the Lord all his days. God gives us all choices. We can be Jeroboams or we can be Esau’s. Where is your heart? And where will your heart be all of your days? Father, check our hearts. And may you find our hearts wholly true to you today and all of our days. Holy Spirit, protect us. Keep us in the palm of your hand. Guard our hearts all the days of our lives. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen. I know you’re going to enjoy it.
