Day 100: 1 Kings 13-15

(The previous post covered Solomon's apostasy, his death, and his kingdom being split between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.)

1 Kings 13
¹ And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of Jehovah unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.

(Jeroboam was the king of Israel.)

² And he cried against the altar by the word of Jehovah, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith Jehovah: Behold, a son shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall they burn upon thee.

(A "man of God" prophesied Josiah's birth and what he would do to the priests of the high places. 2 Kings 21:24 documented Josiah becoming king. Josiah was the king that took down the high places of Chemosh and Molech put up by Solomon. Realize Josiah was thirteenth from David in the lineage of Christ. Solomon was first from David.)

³ And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which Jehovah hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
⁴ And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Beth-el, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him.
⁵ The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of Jehovah.

(The sign happened immediately.)

⁶ And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the favor of Jehovah thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God entreated Jehovah, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
⁷ And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

(Jeroboam did not like the prophecy and was cursed when he tried to restrain the man of God. Jeroboam confessed and the "man of God" healed him. Jeroboam offered the "man of God" food and a reward...)

⁸ And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thy house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place;
⁹ for so was it charged me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water, neither return by the way that thou camest.

(The "man of God" refused because God told him to fast and not return the same way he had arrived.)

¹⁰ So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el.
¹¹ Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them also they told unto their father.
¹² And their father said unto them, What way went he? Now his sons had seen what way the man of God went, that came from Judah.
¹³ And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass; and he rode thereon.
¹⁴ And he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak; and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
¹⁵ Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.

(An "old prophet" went after the "man of God" and offered him food. He knew the "man of God" was fasting. What was the "old prophet's" intentions?)

¹⁶ And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
¹⁷ for it was said to me by the word of Jehovah, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.

(The "man of God" refused again.)

¹⁸ And he said unto him, I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.

(The "old prophet" exalted himself as a prophet. The "old prophet" lied about the angel talking to him. True prophets do not call themselves "prophet" for their own benefit.)

¹⁹ So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

(The "man of God" did go back the way he arrived which contradicted the Word he got from God.)

²⁰ And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of Jehovah came unto the prophet that brought him back;

(The gifts were without repentance: Romans 11:29. Even though the "old prophet" lied, the gift of God still worked through him. If we had to wait until people were sinless so we could benefit from their gift, we would never get the benefit.)

²¹ and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Forasmuch as thou hast been disobedient unto the mouth of Jehovah, and hast not kept the commandment which Jehovah thy God commanded thee,
²² but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy body shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
²³ And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
²⁴ And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his body was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it; the lion also stood by the body.

(A lion killed the "man of God" because of his disobedience. Notice, the lion and the ass stood by the body of the "man of God"...in reverance?)

²⁵ And, behold, men passed by, and saw the body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
²⁶ And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the mouth of Jehovah: therefore Jehovah hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spake unto him.

(The "old prophet" referenced Justice.)

²⁷ And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled it.
²⁸ And he went and found his body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the body: the lion had not eaten the body, nor torn the ass.

(The lion not only stood by the body, the lion did not hurt the ass. Clearly, the animals' actions were being directed by God. What were the actions God wanted? Reverance for the body of the man of God.)

²⁹ And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back; and he came to the city of the old prophet, to mourn, and to bury him.
³⁰ And he laid his body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

(The "old prophet" even referred to him as, "my brother." Clearly, the "old prophet" knew the "man of God" was a prophet. What was the "old prophet’s" objective through this all? First, he lied to the "man of God" to get him to eat, then he mourned the man’s death.)

³¹ And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.
³² For the saying which he cried by the word of Jehovah against the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

(Was this the "old prophet's" way of repenting? He would be buried with the "man of God" as a sign that he had taken the "man of God" off course and that the "man of God's" prophecy would come to pass. Perhaps God had a greater purpose for the "man of God" if he had enough faith to ignore the "old prophet" and follow God's Words. He may have become a prophet that would have rivaled Elisha. We will never know, and the "man of God's" name was never mentioned. Even though the "man of God" was a prophet, it only took one act of disobedience, one act of operating in his own strength, for God to end the "man of God's" ministry.)

³³ After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places.

(After the "man of God" was killed, Jeroboam did evil and made anyone who was willing a priest of the high places. Were the Levites unwilling?)

³⁴ And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.

(Jeroboam became an example of an evil king that many other kings were compared to. The phrase, "he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of Jeroboam" was used of many subsequent kings of Israel.)




1 Kings 14
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, who spake concerning me that I should be king over this people.

(Remember, the story in Judges 18 stated the Levite serving over the graven images for the Danites did so all the time the house of God remained in Shiloh. Then we saw in 1 Samuel 1:3 Eli and Samuel were in Shiloh.)

(Although Jeroboam was consistently committing idolatry and setting up priests over the high places, when real affliction came his way he turned to a prophet of God. However, he sent his wife in a disguise. Clearly he wasn't repentant and was trying to avoid anymore affliction from the people, and especially a prophet, that may have been frustrated with how he was ruling the kingdom.)

³ And take with thee ten loaves, and cakes, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he will 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. Now Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
⁵ And Jehovah said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to inquire of thee concerning her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her; for it will be, when she cometh in, that she will feign herself to be another woman.

(God told Ahijah about Jeroboam's wife.)

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 heavy tidings.

(Ahijah didn't wait for Jeroboam's wife to say anything. He immediately spoke God's Word to her...)

⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith Jehovah, the 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, and hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:

(Notice, although God "rent the kingdom" from the house of David, David was still God's standard for how a king ought to rule. God, through Ahijah, told Jeroboam's wife that Jeroboam had done more evil than all that were before him.)

¹⁰ therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every man-child, him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweepeth 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 birds of the heavens eat: for Jehovah hath spoken it.
¹² Arise thou therefore, get thee to thy house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

(God would bring evil upon Jeroboam's house: his child would die as well as every male that could carry on his household.)

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 Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

(All Israel mourned for the child because in him was some good.)

¹⁴ Moreover Jehovah will raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
¹⁵ For Jehovah 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 Jehovah to anger.
¹⁶ And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he hath sinned, and wherewith he hath made Israel to sin.
¹⁷ And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.

(Jeroboam would lose the kingdom. When she went through the door, the child died.)

¹⁸ And all Israel buried him, and mourned for him, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spake by 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 slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

(Nadab took over for Jeroboam. How long would Nadab reign considering God's judgment on Jeroboam's house?)

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 Jehovah had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

(Rehoboam was king of Judah.)

²² And Judah did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done.
²³ For they also built them high places, and pillars, and Asherim, on every high hill, and under every green tree;

(While Rehoboam reigned in Judah, his people did evil for they built high places, groves, and images on all the high hills and under every green tree.)

²⁴ and there were also sodomites in the land: they did according to all the abominations of the nations which Jehovah drove 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 Jehovah, 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.

(Shishak, King of Egypt, took away the treasures from the temple and the king's house, the house Solomon built and Rehoboam now lived in.)

²⁷ And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.
²⁸ And it was so, that, as oft as the king went into the house of Jehovah, 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 continually.
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 the Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

(Abijam ruled Judah and Benjamin. Abijam was third from David in the lineage of Christ.)




1 Kings 15
¹ Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat began Abijam to reign over Judah.

(During Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Abijam began to reign over Judah.)

² Three years reigned he in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
³ And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as the heart of David his father.

(Abijam's heart was not perfect like David's. Here God made it clear that the definition for the word perfect was not "without flaw." God's definition for the word perfect was "maximum profitability." David's heart was "perfect" not because he didn't sin (we know he did!) but because he always responded to his sin with repentance.)

⁴ Nevertheless for David's sake did Jehovah his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem;
⁵ because David did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
⁶ Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
⁷ And 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.
⁸ And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
⁹ And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Asa to reign over Judah.

(Asa, Abijam’s son, reigned over Judah. At this point, Jeroboam was still king of Israel.)

¹⁰ And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
¹¹ And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, as did David his father.
¹² And he put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
¹³ And also Maacah his mother he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

(Asa was the first king that did right before God since David. Asa was fourth from David in the lineage of Christ. He put away the sodomites, removed the idols, and even removed his own mother from being queen because she made an idol.)

¹⁴ But the high places were not taken away: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with Jehovah all his days.

(Asa did not remove the high places, but his heart was perfect with God all his days. The high places of Solomon were still not taken down...)

¹⁵ And he brought into the house of Jehovah the things that his father had dedicated, and the things that himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.
¹⁶ And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
¹⁷ And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

(Here we see that Baasha was king of Israel at this time of learning about king Asa of Judah. The author of this book told the stories based on the lives of the kings. We will see that often times, those lives overlapped one another since the kings of Israel and Judah all had different time periods in which they reigned.)

¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants; and king Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
¹⁹ There is a league between me and thee, between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

(Asa brought gifts to Ben-hadad, King of Syria, and asked him to help him against Baasha. So far, all that was recorded about Israel was that Jeroboam was succeeded by Nadab...)

²⁰ And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
²¹ And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.
²² Then king Asa made a proclamation unto all Judah; none was exempted: and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built therewith Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
²³ Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
²⁴ 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 stead.

(Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah after Asa was dead.)

²⁵ And 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.

(While Asa was still alive and King of Judah, Nadab began to reign over Israel.)

²⁶ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.

(Not only did Nadab sin, he also caused Israel to sin.)

²⁷ And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.
²⁸ Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead.

(Baasha murdered Nadab and reigned over Israel while Asa was still king of Judah. This was the end of any possible dynasty of the house of Jeroboam.)

²⁹ And it came to pass that, as soon as he was king, he smote all the house of Jeroboam: he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him; according unto the saying of Jehovah, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite;
³⁰ for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and wherewith he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation wherewith he provoked Jehovah, the God of Israel, to anger.

(Baasha made sure no one from the house of Jeroboam was alive to reclaim the kingdom, which fulfilled the prophecy of Ahijah as well as the prophecy from the "man of God" from 1 Kings 13.)

³¹ 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?
³² And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty and four years.

(Baasha was the son of Ahijah...the prophet?)

³⁴ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.

(Baasha did evil. So far, Asa (king of Judah) was the only king with a good heart since David.)

(This post covered the kings that immediately followed Rehoboam and Jeroboam.)

Day 101