STORY OF JEROBOAM

JEROBOAM   1 Kings 11-14

“The man Jeroboam was strong and valiant; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph…Thus sayeth Jehovah the God of Israel…I will take thee, that thou mayest reign over all that thy soul desireth, and thou shalt be king over Israel.” 1 Kings 11:28,31,37




  NEBAT, THE FATHER OF jEROBOAM SERVED kING sOLOMON DURING HIS REIGN


Jeroboam was from the tribe of Ephraim, a servant of King Solomon’s, and the son of a widow. He later became the first king of the divided northern kingdom of Israel. He is first mentioned in 1 Kings 11:26: “Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king.”

After this, “Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt . . . and stayed there until Solomon’s death” (1 Kings 11:40). Following Solomon’s death, Solomon’s son Rehoboam became king and foolishly threatened to make life more difficult for the people of the land (1 Kings 12:14). This led to a rebellion against Rehoboam, and the ten northern tribes crowned Jeroboam as their king (1 Kings 12:20). The division predicted by Ahijah came to pass (1 Kings 12:15).






                     PROPHET AHIJAH

God sent the prophet Ahijah to announce to Jeroboam that because of His people’s unfaithfulness under Solomon, He would rend the kingdom out of Solomon’s son’s hand and make Jeroboam king over ten tribes. Yet because of His promises to David He would not entirely take the kingdom from David’s family nor do this during Solomon’s lifetime. While God is ever faithful to His word, He is never in a hurry to execute His righteous judgments.


Jeroboam’s industriousness was commendable, but God looks for more than merely commendable human character traits. He looks at the heart and wants hearts wholly committed to Him. Thus He told Jeroboam, “If thou wilt hearken unto all  that I command thee, and wilt walk in My ways, and do that which is right in My sight, in keeping My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, that I will be with thee, and build thee a lasting house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee” (v. 38).



The divided kingdom: Israel and Judah

 At the end of the reign of Solomon, his son Rehoboam succeeded to the throne of Israel. The heavy taxation levied during the reign of Solomon led to civil unrest in Israel, leading to a division in the nation of Israel. The ten tribes of the north separated to form the kingdom of Israel, and the two southern tribes remaining loyal to Rehoboam, formed the kingdom of Judah

The people of the northern kingdom proclaimed Jeroboam to be their king. Jeroboam was determined to consolidate his position of power, and actively sought to widen the gap between the northern and southern kingdoms. The city of Jerusalem was still the centre of worship for all the land, and Jeroboam saw this as a danger. His solution was to set up his own form of worship, and he had idols placed in the cities of Dan and Bethel in the northern kingdom. These, he said would be worshipped by the kingdom of Israel, removing the need for them to travel to Jerusalem.

the ways of Jeroboam, and ignored the ways of their God. Eight of these monarchs were assassinated during their reign, and finally the destruction God had warned them of became a reality

Threatened by Assyria, Israel’s last king, Hoshea, tried to form an alliance with Egypt. In 722 B.C., the Assyrians invaded the land of Israel and the northern kingdom came to an end.

The practice of marrying princesses from foreign nations began as political expedient for Solomon. Jeroboam felt that this was the way to consolidate his kingdom and protect himself. But it was in conflict with the word of God to him. God had promised that he would consolidate Solomon's kingdom. But Solomon felt that he had to form these alliances by way of marriage with ruling families in order to secure his kingdom. 

 It was Jeroboam whom God raised up, the son of one of the court servants. First, he was an Ephraimite. The Ephraimites were descendants of Joseph. Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. And their descendants had become the leading tribes of the northern portion of the kingdom. The Ephraimites were a very proud and jealous tribe. Many of the leaders of the Israel had come from that tribe -- Joshua and Samuel and others - and they were exceedingly ambitious to maintain their positions. So when Jeroboam was introduced into Solomon's court he evidently already had in the back of his mind the feeling that someone from his kingly tribe ought to reign.

BACKGROUND OF REBELLION AGAINST SOLOMON:


THE  MILLO
But the issue which really triggered his rebellion was that Solomon built the Millo. The Millo was the old Jebusite citadel located in the city of David. It is clear from other parts of Scripture that Solomon restored the Millo at great cost to the nation, both of money and time, and he did this for his Egyptian wife. This simply enraged the Israelites! And further, he built a wall around the city which isolated him from the rest of the nation.