The new king! There are always consequences... PDF
Preview The new king! There are always consequences...
A Walk Through the Bible 5.1 YOU ARE HERE S D S The new king! Last week, we learned about Solomon’s foolishness in his later years. Solo- mon ruled over Israel for 40 years. In today’s lesson, from I Kings 11-13, we will learn what happened immediately before and after he died. There are always consequences... You remember that Solomon had begun worshiping idols in his later years. God had warned him, and God even sent enemies to attack Solomon, proba- bly in an attempt to get his attention. One enemy he chose was a man from Ephraim, named Jeroboam. He was the son of one of Solomon’s servants. Jeroboam became a very important servant in the kingdom: he was placed over the forced labor. Solomon made use of a LOT of forced la- ple and to build his own palace. He im- bor. He used forced labor to build the Tem- proved the nation of Israel this way. One day, Jeroboam had an unusual meeting with a prophet from God. His name was Ahijah. They were alone together in an open field. Ahijah was wearing a new piece of clothing. He tore his new clothes into twelve pieces! He told Jeroboam to take ten of the pieces. He said he had a message from God for him: “Behold, I am about to tear the king- dom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes (but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusa- lem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), because they have forsaken me and wor- shiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god 1 A Walk Through the Bible 5.1 of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did” (I Kings 11:31b-33 ESV). He went on to say, “And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you” (I Kings 11:37-38 ESV). Somehow, Solomon learned about this meeting and tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam went to Egypt to hide. Change in leadership Solomon died after having ruled for 40 years. He was buried, and his son Rehoboam, who was 41 years old, be- gan ruling. Rehoboam went to Shechem to be officially crowned king. Jeroboam, in Egypt, heard what had happened, so he traveled to Shechem as well. A challenge! A group of people met with Jeroboam, and together they went to the new king, Rehoboam. They said, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now there- fore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you” (I Kings 12:4 ESV). You remember the 30,000 men who built workers were tired and wanted some rest. the Temple? They were slave laborers. The Rehoboam asked the people to return in three days, and he would give them his answer. Rehoboam then did a wise thing: he asked for advice. First, he met with Solomon’s advisors: older men who were wise, who told him to agree to lighten the workers’ loads because they would be loyal to him if he did this. Then he met with his friends, who told him to deny the request and make their lives harder — just to show them who’s boss. 2 A Walk Through the Bible 5.1 Who gave the better advice here? Usually, better able to give advice. What do you older people who have life experience are think Rehoboam should do? Rehoboam thought about it for three days. Jero- boam and the people came to him to hear his deci- sion. Rehoboam decided to follow the advice of his friends, and he said to the crowd: “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My fa- ther disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions” (I Kings 12:14 ESV). Consequences — always consequences When the country saw that the king did not listen to them and seemed to have no interest in their problems, they rejected him as king! They decided that Jeroboam should be their king! The prophet’s words came true. All of Is- rael, except the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, followed Jeroboam. The kingdom, which had been united all this time, now split into what’s called the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah). This is why you often hear Israelites called the tribe of Judah. “Jews” or “Jewish people.” They are from Rehoboam, of course, tried to stop this from happening. He gathered 180,000 warriors to go to war against Israel. God sent a prophet, Shemaiah, to Rehoboam and told him to send everyone home. He told Rehoboam that this was from God. Okay, but so what? This seems like a very bad situation. A country that once was united and strong was now two countries, both with new and inexperienced leaders. This must have been a very scary time for the people in the nation. But God had a plan, and He was working it out. God had promised to David that there would always be a king from his family ruling on the throne, and He is keep- ing that promise here. David’s grandson was ruling over the land of Judah. Sometimes God works out His plans in ways that we don’t understand. He 3 A Walk Through the Bible 5.1 is always in control, though, and we must remain faithful in our obedience and trust in Him. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23 ESV). The end of the matter Let’s review what we’ve studied today. God raised up enemies against Solomon because of his disobedi- ence. The prophet Ahijah met privately with Jeroboam, one of Solo- mon’s enemies. Ahijah told Jeroboam that God was giving him ten tribes of Israel. Solomon died, and his son, Rehoboam, began ruling. Jeroboam and a large group met with Rehoboam and asked him to ease their work load. Rehoboam met with his father’s advisors, who told him to agree to ease the work load; then they’d be loyal to him. Rehoboam then met with his friends, who told him to show Israel who’s boss. When they gathered together three days later, Rehoboam gave his decision: he would make their lives harder. Israel rebelled against Rehoboam and chose Jeroboam to be their leader. The country split into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. If you learn nothing else, get this! God kept His promise to David, and He continues to keep His promises today! 4 A Walk Through the Bible 5.1 Let’s learn it! 1. Which man, who was the son of one of Solomon’s servants, became Solo- mon’s enemy? _________________________________________________________________ 2. What unusual thing did Ahijah do when he met with Jeroboam? _________ _________________________________________________________________ 3. What did this mean? _____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 4. Why did this happen? ____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 5. Where did Jeroboam go to hide from Solomon? _______________________ 6. When Solomon died, which son began ruling? ________________________ 7. What did the people ask him to do? _________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 8. What did Rehoboam do while deciding? _____________________________ 9. List the two groups of people he met with and what they said: A. ____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ B. _____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 5 A Walk Through the Bible 5.1 For deeper thought... Think about the two groups of people Rehoboam met with. First, write your thoughts about the advice of the older men (Solomon’s advisors). __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Now, write your thoughts about the advice of Rehoboam’s friends. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ How do you usually make difficult decisions? Do you talk to people, or pray? Who do you tend to go to for advice? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ If you were an Israelite at this time, what would your feelings be? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 6 A Walk Through the Bible 5.1 Write down something that has happened that makes you question God’s leadership. It could be something from your life or something from the news. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ What do you think God might be working out in the situation you wrote down above? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Write your memory verse here: _______________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ What does this verse mean to you? ____________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 7 A Walk Through the Bible 5.2 YOU ARE HERE S D S Overview of the Northern Kingdom Last week, we watched the United Kingdom divide into two kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. In today’s lesson, we’ll do an overview of the Northern Kingdom. Our lesson will come from I Kings 12-II Kings 17. That’s a lot of scripture! You remember that the prophet, Ahijah, speaking for God, told Jeroboam, “And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my command- ments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you” (I Kings 11:38 ESV). “I will be with you” is one of God’s great it: “If you will listen to do all I command....” promises. This time He puts a condition on When God is with us, we cannot fail! Off to a bad start Jeroboam, the new king of Israel, built several cities. He began worrying about losing control of his people. He knew that God had commanded the people to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. He was afraid that if they went there to worship, they might decide to stay there. He decided to make sure that they wouldn’t leave. He made two golden calves, and set one up in Bethel (on the southern border) and one in Dan (on the northern border). He appointed priests and built temples on high places. He named feast dates and offered sacrifices. He an- nounced to Israel, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up 1 A Walk Through the Bible 5.2 out of the land of Egypt” (I Kings 12:28b ESV). Isn’t this sad? God had fought so hard for favor of idols that have to be made and His people, and He gave Jeroboam so carried. much — and now Jeroboam rejects God in List of Israel’s kings Here is a list of the kings of Israel and how long each one ruled. Then we will discuss them in more detail. Jeroboam 22 years I Kings 12-14 Nadab 2 years I Kings 15 Baasha 24 years I Kings 15-16 Elah 2 years I Kings 16 Zimri 7 days I Kings 16 Omri 12 years I Kings 16 Ahab 22 years I Kings 16-22 Ahaziah 2 years I Kings 22–II Kings 2 Jehoram (Joram) 12 years II Kings 2-9 Jehu 28 years II Kings 9-10 Jehoahaz 17 years II Kings 10-13 Jehoash (Joash) 16 years II Kings 13 Jeroboam (II) 41 years II Kings 14 Zechariah 6 months II Kings 15 Shallum 1 month II Kings 15 Menahem 10 years II Kings 15 Pekahiah 2 years II Kings 15 Pekah 20 years II Kings 15 Hoshea 9 years II Kings 17 A sad thing is that each of these kings worshiped idols and refused to wor- ship God. God never gave up on them, and He sent prophets to the kings to try to get them to return to Him. Every time something new happens, there Israel’s history because they wasted all is much hope because there is so much that potential for good. potential for good. This is a sad chapter in 2 A Walk Through the Bible 5.2 More about the kings Jeroboam ruled for 22 years. As we’ve mentioned, he led the nation into idol worship and away from God. God sent a prophet to him to try to get him to do what was right, but Jeroboam refused to listen. Then Jeroboam’s son got very sick. Jeroboam sent his wife to Ahijah, the prophet who told him that he would be king. She went to him, and Ahijah told her all that Jeroboam had done to hurt God and that only bad things would happen to them and their family. He also told her that this son would die, and that’s exactly what hap- pened. After Jeroboam died, his son Nadab began ruling. He only ruled for two years, and he continued doing the bad things his father had done. An enemy, Baasha, killed him and took over the throne. He also killed all of Jeroboam’s family. Baasha also was an evil king. God sent him a message through his prophet, Jehu, and warned him that since he was doing evil that God would ruin his family; and that’s exactly what happened. When Baasha died, his son Elah took over. One day, he got drunk, and his servant, Zimri, plotted against him and killed him. Then he killed the rest of Baasha’s family and began ruling over Israel. His rule was only seven days long because the leader of the army, Omri, came and waged war against the city where Zimri was staying. When Zimri saw that he was losing, he went into the king’s house and burned it down around him. He died in the fire. There are seven suicides recorded in the are tragic and unnecessary. Suicide is a Bible, and this is one of them. All of them sin against God. The nation was divided for a time. Part of the country wanted Omri as king, and the other part wanted Tibni as king. Eventually, Omri be- came king and ruled for 12 years. Omri bought a hill and built a city which he called Samaria. It became the new capital for Israel. He was a very evil king. When Omri died, his son, Ahab, began ruling. Ahab was even more evil than his father, and he married a very wicked woman named Jezebel. We will learn more about Ahab in a future lesson. He was eventually killed in bat- tle. 3
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