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Now all these things happened unto them for examples and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1 Corinthians 10:11
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Jeroboam, Son of Nebat
I Kings 11:26-40
Jeroboam is chosen to be king of Israel by Ahijah, the prophet.
Who was Jeroboam, son of Nebat? This phrase is repeated 25 times in the Old testament from 1 Kings 11 to 2 Chronicles 13. Eight times it refers to the man, seventeen times it refers to his evil influence. More than any other king, more than Manasseh, more than Ahab, this king, the very first King of Israel, was the cause of the steady decline of that nation into the depths of sin that resulted in their conquest by Assyria and their deportation that resulted in the Diaspora. How did this man come to be in such a position of power?
Jeroboam had been noticed by King Solomon as a man of great industry, a man who could get things done, so Solomon put him over the house of Joseph. Being from the tribe of Ephraim, he was a natural choice. But things were not to remain peaceful between them. One day, while passing through a field, Jeroboam was approached by a prophet, Ahijah by name, and the prophet removed a new garment that Jeroboam was wearing, and tore it into twelve pieces. He told Jeroboam to take ten pieces to symbolize his rule over ten tribes that would be taken away from Solomon’s successor. The reason for the removal of the ten tribes from the son of Solomon was that Judah had forsaken the worship of God for the worship of other gods due to the marriages of Solomon to pagan women.
This is going on today in America. The ACLU, the Federal Government and several other organizations actively endeavor to remove any reference to God from the public eye. This is Satan’s attempt to remove any awareness of God from the attention of the people, leaving a void to be filled with other gods of worship. Women’s right to kill the unborn, tolerance of perversion, benevolence to aliens while punishing American citizens for what they have, these all are today’s false gods, violating the basic precepts of God to give to His faithful a more abundant life. Bringing down the wrath of God upon mankind is one of Satan’s biggest thrills, but he needs the cooperation of his victims to accomplish this. More and more, America is doing just that. It’s just a matter of time.
Jeroboam was promised by God, through Ahijah, that he would reign over these ten tribes and enjoy success and have all that he desired, all he had to do was to perform all that God commanded and walk in His ways, to do what was right in God’s sight as David had done. If Jeroboam obeyed God in every way, his dynasty was assured to last. Somebody leaked this information to the king, because Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, so Jeroboam fled into Egypt and was there until the death of Solomon.
I Kings 12:1-18
Rehoboam becomes king of Judah. The people petition for tax relief.
After the death of Solomon, his son, Rehoboam, went to Shechem for his royal coronation. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who was still in Egypt, heard of it, and the people sent for him. Jeroboam and the people of Israel traveled to Shechem, and addressed Rehoboam, asking that the heavy tax burden Solomon had required in order to maintain the army and grandeur of Judah be reduced, and if he would do so, they would remain loyal. The new king asked for three days to consider the request, and the people agreed.
Rehoboam consulted with the old men who had served Solomon and they advised him to agree to the people’s request, and seek to serve them. This would insure their loyalty. But, alas, youth is so much wiser than the old gray heads. Rehoboam had another meeting, this time with his young peers who had grown up with him. These young men advised him to increase the taxes to demonstrate that he was king, and was in full control. The result was that the members of those ten tribes of Israel went back home angry, Rehoboam’s tax collector was stoned to death when he tried to collect taxes, and the ten northern tribes rebelled. This was all in God’s plan. He had anointed Jeroboam king over these ten tribes. So far, everything was going according to plan.
I Kings 12:19-24
Israel rebels, Jeroboam made king of Israel. Judah is stopped by the prophet Shemaiah from invading Israel to put down the revolt.
Revolting against the high taxes of Rehoboam, the northern tribes sent for Jeroboam and anointed him king of Israel. Only the tribe of Judah stayed faithful to the son of Solomon. Rehoboam assembled an invasion force of 180 thousand men from the tribe of Judah with some from the tribe of Benjamin, to attack Israel to bring them back into his kingdom. The word of God came to Shemaiah, a man of God, instructing him to tell Rehoboam, king of Judah, not to fight against Israel, but to return to Judah. The king was informed that this thing was from God. The Spirit of God must have been heavy upon this king, because he obeyed the word of the LORD and returned to Jerusalem.
Up to this point, all events had occurred in concert with God’s plan. Judah had been punished for the straying of Solomon from the worship of God to the worship of false idols. Tolerance by man for those things unworthy of worship as gods is not tolerated by God. Sooner or later, He makes a move and dispenses justice. Jeroboam had been given rule over ten tribes as promised. His future was bright, with the prospect of a long line of successors bearing his name. All he had to do was obey God and keep His commandments and statutes.
I Kings 12:25-33
Jeroboam builds a new worship location and changes the date of the feast of Tabernacles. He makes idols for worship.
A man’s faith must be strong enough to withstand the assaults of doubt. Within the framework of this frail human state, it is natural to wonder about those things unseen and to experience the grip of the tentacles of fear as they slither in and close about the heart. Such was the case with Jeroboam. After establishing his base of leadership at Shechem in Ephraim, this king began to fear that he might lose his kingdom and the people would return to the house of David. He reasoned within himself that if the people traveled to Jerusalem for the annual Holy Days, their heart would yearn to return again to their brothers in Judah, and he feared being assassinated. In spite of the delivered promise from God, he just didn’t have the faith needed to step out and rely on God’s grace. After some consideration, the king made two calves of gold and told the people of Israel that it was too much for them to go to Jerusalem. Jeroboam introduced the golden calves as the god that brought them out of Egypt and he set one in Bethel and the other one in Dan. He set up places for the worship of idols and made priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the tribe of Levi. This caused the people to sin greatly.
Taking upon himself the role of God, Jeroboam changed the date of the Feast of Tabernacles from the seventh month to the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, to be like the feast in Judah. Taking upon himself the role of priest, he made offerings upon the altar. He did so in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made and placing the priests of the high places in Bethel. Jeroboam, son of Nebat, performed all the rites of the Lord’s Feasts in Bethel before the golden calf, acting as high priest with the authority to ordain the setting of the dates for holy days. For this great sin, not only assuming the authority to commit all this blasphemy but also because he made the people of Israel sin, his days were numbered. In our culture today we have those who have taken it upon themselves to change days of worship (Sunday instead of God’s Sabbath), ignore the Holy Days (they’re Jewish), and change laws (pork is the other white meat), making the people sin. These sins of today are no less wicked than those of Jeroboam. Our days, too, are numbered.
I Kings 13:1-6, 33-34
The prophecy concerning Josiah.
During one of his illegitimate rituals, Jeroboam was approached by a man of God from Judah. As Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense, the man cried out against that altar, delivering the word of the LORD, and said, “O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.” (1 Kings 13:2-3) When king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, he put forth his hand and gave orders to lay hold on him. When he put forth his arm, his hand dried up and he could not pull it back in. Upon seeing this, the king begged the man to ask the LORD to restore his hand. The man did so, and the king's hand was restored and became as it was before. As gracious as this miracle was, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but continued in the vile practices of appointing the lowly to the priesthood. That was the final straw. This sin became the sin that condemned the house of Jeroboam, resulting in the pronouncement to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.
I Kings 14:7-16
The curse upon Jeroboam announced by the prophet Ahijah.
The son of Jeroboam was sick, and the king’s wife went to Ahijah to ask for a healing. Instead, she received a message of judgment to deliver to Jeroboam. Ahijah told her to tell the king that because of his sins, even though God had taken the kingdom from the house of David and made him king of Israel, he had not kept His commandments nor followed with all of his heart to do that which was right. Instead, Jeroboam had done more evil than all of those who had been before him. He had introduced other gods and made molten images, casting God aside. Therefore, the prophet told her, evil will fall upon the house of Jeroboam, and the remnant of the house of Jeroboam will all be gone, disposed of as dung. This meant that his remaining offspring and descendants would not even be given a funeral. The curse continued: He that dies in the city the dogs will eat and he that dies in the field the fowls of the air will eat. The LORD shall raise up a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam. The LORD shall punish Israel and shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves for the worship of idols, because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and made Israel to sin. The LORD has spoken it.
Only the dying child was given a funeral and burial, because in him there was found some good. Jeroboam was the first king of Israel. He was the author of the great sins committed by the people of Israel. He changed the dates of the Holy Days, he built idols and placed them in Israel to prevent the people from going to Jerusalem, thereby severing them from fellowship with God. This is the greatest sin of all, because without God’s fellowship in your life, you don’t have a path back when you stray. You just keep going farther and farther away, until you are so far off track, return is impossible. At this point, a power symbolized by the Assyrians carries the people away. How close is America to that point?
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Nadab, Son of Jeroboam
I Kings 14:20-15:6
Nadab, son of Jeroboam, assumes the throne during the reign of Asa, King of Judah.
Jeroboam reigned as king of Israel for twenty two years. During this time, Judah was ruled by Rehoboam for seventeen years, by Abijam his son for three years, and by Asa the son of Abijam. Asa reigned for the last two years of Jeroboam’s reign, and was king of Judah for a total of forty one years, being king of Judah when Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, became king upon the death of his father. All during their joint reigns, Jeroboam was at war with Rehoboam and Abijam.
I Kings 15:25-26
Nadab continues the same evil instituted by Jeroboam.
Nadab began to reign in Israel in the second year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned for two years. He committed the same evils his father Jeroboam had done, continuing in the practice of substituting worship in Bethel and Dan for worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, observing the Holy Days at times not of God’s choosing, and allowing unqualified individuals not of the tribe of Levi to perform the duties of the priesthood. With the passage of time, the perversion of the dates and observances as ordained by God became more and more out of step with His original plan. Worship of God was replaced with worship of idols, the performance of the priestly duties resembled less and less the original intent of their responsibilities, and the real times of true observance were lost to memory. Much like in America today, the Sabbath and Holy Days are not observed, they have been replaced with holidays that bear no resemblance to the original, unqualified preachers are declaring false doctrines that cannot be found in the Scriptures, and God has been removed from public life and replaced with hero worship in sports and movies. Acts of an undeniably sinful nature as defined by the Bible are blatantly flaunted in public, even to the point of admiration. Any dissent to these acts is vigorously shouted down and in some cases the Christians opposing these sins are called names and branded haters. Isn’t it rather strange that the Christian Way is accused of being intolerant by those who refuse to allow Christians to practice their faith in public? That’s intolerance, but as long as the one exercising intolerance is not a Christian, it’s OK.
I Kings 15:27-31
The assassination of Nadab and the fulfillment of the prophecy of Ahijah.
During the reign of Nadab, Israel was at war with the Philistines and they had laid siege to the city of Gibbethon, which had been one of the cities of the Levites out of the territory of Dan. The Philistines had taken this city at some time in the past, and Nadab was trying to get it back. No details are given, but Baasha, the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar (not the prophet), conceived the idea of killing the king, probably during the heat and confusion of battle or perhaps at night in his tent. Whatever the timing of the assassination, Baasha killed Nadab at the battle of Gibbethon and took the throne. This occurred in the third year of Asa. Baasha did not end his killing with Nadab. While he was king, and he reigned for twenty four years, he killed all of the family of Jeroboam, totally destroying the lineage, according to the prophecy of the LORD spoken by the prophet Ahijah, He that dies in the city the dogs will eat and he that dies in the field the fowls of the air will eat. The LORD shall raise up a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam. This was the judgment levied against the house of Jeroboam because of the sins which he had made Israel commit.
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Baasha, the son of Ahijah
I Kings 15:16, 27-30, 34
Baasha begins his reign of twenty four years.
As was stated in the closing of the last lesson, Baasha killed Nadab at the battle of Gibbethon and took the throne during the third year of the reign of Asa, King of Judah. During his reign, Baasha killed the entire family and totally destroyed the lineage of Jeroboam according to the prophecy spoken by the prophet Ahijah. This was the judgment levied against the house of Jeroboam because of the sins he had caused Israel to commit. Asa, King of Judah, and Baasha, king of Israel, were at war with each other for the entire twenty four years of Baasha’s reign. This arrogant murderer carried on the same practices of Jeroboam, even to the extent of severing Israel from God even more effectively than had his sinful predecessors. This is how he tried to do it:
I Kings 15:17-22; see also 2 Chronicles 16:1-6
Baasha attempts to blockade Judah.
In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha attempted to build a fortress at Ramah. There are about six places in the territory occupied by Judah and Israel at this time called Ramah, but the one that Baasha invaded is located just inside the boundaries of Judah, a few miles north of Jerusalem. This town was a resting place on the northern route into Jerusalem, a place where travelers would stop to rest after a long trip from the northern areas of Israel. Located between two mountain ranges, bringing a halt to traffic through Ramah would put a stranglehold on commerce between Jerusalem and the cities to the north, among them Tyre and Sidon, but the most troublesome effect would be the prevention of worshippers getting to the temple at Jerusalem.
This old practice of separating God from the people and trying to push false ideas onto them still goes on today. The kings of Israel isolated their people from the true worship of God at the temple and substituted idols and false prophets in place of it. The agenda to remove any acknowledgment of God is quite prevalent in America. The Bible is not allowed in school, the Ten Commandments have been removed from public buildings, and prayer, although in direct violation of the First Amendment, has been prohibited.
Just as Baasha and his evil predecessors oppressed the people of that time and would not allow them to worship freely, the same type of tyrant exercises the same type of restraint to forbid the American Christian to freely exercise their freedom of worship. The greater violation is that which directly contravenes the prohibition in the Constitution to interfere with religious worship. The Founders promised us the liberty to exercise our religious beliefs freely, and, without due process of amendment, that worship is prohibited. When the Supreme Law of the Land is ignored and its tenets violated, tyrants reign. Their end will be the same as the end of the tyrants of Israel, brought about by the same God that they so vigorously try to remove from the public eye.
Evidently the military strength of Asa was not sufficient to put a stop to the actions of Baasha at Ramah, so he gathered all the silver and gold in the temple treasury and in the king's house and had it delivered to Benhadad, the king of Syria, in Damascus. Asa reminded the Syrian king that there had been agreements between their two nations since the time of their fathers. Benhadad agreed and sent troops to attack the cities of Israel. When Baasha heard about it, he abandoned building the fortifications at Ramah, and retreated to Tirzah. When informed that Baasha had left Ramah, King Asa drafted all the people throughout all of Judah and they dismantled the stones and timbers that Baasha had used in the building of that fortress, and used them for structures in Geba and Mizpah.
Again, we have a parallel in history with today. The American churches, through dereliction of their duty and the misconception that “Christians should not become involved in politics”, (Read about John the Baptist.) have allowed the state to dominate those areas where the church should have influence. Today, they do not have the strength to ward off the attack of the Anti-Christ crowd. Just as Asa had to employ outside help, so will American Christians, only this time it will be a returning Christ wearing a crown and a frown. Woe to the ones who fight against Him today!
I Kings 16:1-7
The prophecy against Baasha.
God spoke through the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha. I raised you up out of nothing and made you the leader of my people, Israel. You have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and made my people of Israel to sin. Their sins provoke me to anger. So now, I will destroy the posterity of Baasha, and all of his house and will make his house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. The kin of Baasha that dies in the city the dogs shall eat and he that dies in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat. This word came to Baasha by the prophet Jehu, against his house for all the evil that he had committed which had provoked God and angered Him with his actions, doing the things that Jeroboam had done. A similar fate awaits those today who try to smother the Word of Christ, only the banishment will be, not from this world, but the next. After this, Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah. The next king discussed will be Elah, his son.
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