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; 1 Kings 14:8
Ahijah’s Prophecy against Jeroboam
Jeroboam I as King 14:1-20. Secular sources tell us that Jeroboam lost much territory during his 22 year reign. In Syria an Aramean state is established under Rezon; Moab is lost in the east, and Israel is invaded by Egypt under Shisha. But most serious is the fact that Jeroboam leads Israel into the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out of Palestine (9).
7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, 8 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; 9 but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back– 10 therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. 11 The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the Lord has spoken!” ‘ … And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin.”
1 Kings 14:21-31/2 Chronicles 11:5-12:16. Rehoboam of Judah (930-913 B.C.)
Rehoboam has border skirmishes with Jeroboam of Israel during his 17 year reign. But his nation grows stronger, as those who are faithful to the law and the Jerusalem temple migrate to the tribal areas of Judah and Benjamin. Rehoboam does not remain faithful (2 Chron. 12:1). Still, when Judah is threatened by Shisha of Egypt, Rehoboam and his officials repent and turn to God. Judah is not occupied but becomes a vassal state. The treasures of god that Solomon has gathered are surrendered to the Egyptians.
Other sources tell us about Shishak’s invasion. Egyptian records list some 150 cities in Palestine overrun in this campaign. Many of the cities listed are in Israel. But none of the cities of central Judah are included. God did provide the deliverance he promised (2 Chron. 12:7-8).
Rehoboam fortifies a number of Judah’s cities (2 Chron. 11:5-9). These are located in the south, and suggest his major enemies were the Philistines and Egyptians rather than Israel.
22 Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 And there were also perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 25 It happened 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 took away everything. He also took away all the gold shields which Solomon had made. 27 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. 28 And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards carried them, then brought them back into the guardroom. 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.
14:23 The high places were a problem throughout the history of Judah and Israel (Mic. 1:3). At times, the worship offered on them might have been done sincerely, in the worship of God. But these were also the places in which Canaanite worship rites were practiced in honor of Baal where other foreign gods were worshipped as well. Sacred pillars refers to standing pillars of stone wood. God had prohibited Israel from setting these up (Deuteronomy 23:18). Wooden images is literally Asherahs, and refers to obscene wooden symbols that were associated with the sexual worship of the Canaanite deity of that name.
14:24 perverted persons: Male prostitutes were part of the fertility rituals of ancient Canaan (Deuteronomy 23:18). abominations: This is an exceedingly strong term; it describes perverted activities that impelled God to dispossess the Canaanite peoples from their land (Deut. 18:9, 12).
14:26-18. The sacking of treasures of the house of the Lord is particularly shocking when we think of the long and detailed description of Solomon’s greater accomplishment, the building and furnishing of the holy temple in Jerusalem.
14:27 bronze shields: A compelling symbol of the ruin of the temple treasures is seen in the change from shields of gold to bronze.
