Week 25
1 Kings 12 and 2 Chronicles 10:1-11:17
With the death of king Solomon, his son Rehoboam becomes the default
successor to the throne in Israel, however he seems to have not learned or
inherited any of his father’s wisdom. He does nothing to appease the people’s
requests for relief, and the norther tribes in Israel make Jeroboam their king.
From this point forward Israel is divided into two kingdoms, with all of the tribes
except Judah, Benjamin, and the levitical priests following Jeroboam, just as God
had promised (1 Kings 11:29-39).
In 2 Chronicles 11:16-17 we are also told that there were some from the 10
northern tribes who also moved south into Judah, who were faithful to Yahweh,
and they supported Rehoboam as their king. So, even though the northern tribes
would eventually be taken into captivity by the Assyrians, and never return to
Israel, there was a remnant of northern tribes that were preserved with Judah
and Benjamin. There is no truth to the myth that 10 tribes were completely lost to
history.
1 Kings 13-14 and 2 Chronicles 11:18-12:16
Jeroboam reigns 22 years in Israel, and is an evil king who led his people in
idol worship, and in forsaking God. God determines that Jeroboam’s
descendants will not remain as kings in Israel, and the prophet tells Jeroboam’s
wife all that will happen.
Rehoboam reigns for 17 years in Judah, and his heart is evil, and God allows
the Egyptians to ransack Jerusalem and the temple, but they do not overthrow
the city, or the southern kingdom of Judah.
In 1 Kings 13 a prophet is sent to Jeroboam, who prophesies regarding the
idolatrous alter in Bethel. That prophet ended up dying needlessly because he
failed to follow the instructions God gave him, and he ended up believing a lying
prophet, who said “an angel told me”. We should remember the warning of Paul
to the Galatians…
Galatians 1:8-9 NKJV - But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we
have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you
than what you have received, let him be accursed.
1 Kings 15:1-24 and 2 Chronicles 13-16
After Rehoboam died, his son Abijah reigned in Judah for 3 years, and under
his leadership Judah won a great victory over the army of Jeroboam because
they called upon the Lord to save them. Unfortunately, Abijah was wicked and
ungodly like his father, and he died, so that his son Asa reigned in his place.
Asa was a man who followed God, and who led Judah for 41 years in a
mostly godly way. When the Ethiopian army of 1 million came against Judah,
who fielded an army of 580,000, king Asa called upon the Lord to save them, and
they won a great victory, and to huge amounts of spoil. There was a national
revival in Judah, with all peoples turning to God, and destroying the places and
idols used for worshipping false gods. The Lord gave Judah and Asa peace until
the 36 th year of his reign.
In the 36 th year of Asa’s reign Baasha, king of Israel in the north, came against
Judah to lay siege against Jerusalem. However, rather than call upon God for
help, Asa hired the army of Syria (to the north of Israel) to come and fight against
Baasha. God was displeased with Asa, and his prophet Hanani told the king this,
but Asa got mad and put the prophet in prison. In the last few years of Asa’s life,
he was afflicted with disease in his feet, but he only sought the help of
physicians, and not the Lord. The words of God to Asa are important for us to
remember…
2 Chronicles 16:9 NKJV - For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the
whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to
Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.
In the case of king Asa, he was faithful to God for most of his life, but then he
drifted away, and did not finish well.
1 Kings 15:25-17:24 and 2 Chronicles 17
In the northern kingdom Nadab reigned as king for 2 years in the place of his
father Jeroboam, but Baasha conspired against him, and took the throne to be
king in Israel for 24 years. Baasha was just as evil as Jeroboam, and God spoke
through the prophet Jehu, saying that his sons would likewise die like those he
killed of Jeroboam’s descendants. The son of Baasha (Elah) reigned for 2 years
in Israel after his father died, but one of his army’s commanders (Zimri) killed
him, however the people in Israel chose Omri to be their king (because Zimri
murdered the king). Omri was likewise evil, and reigned for 12 years. Ahab, the
son of Omri became king, and reigned with his wife Jezebel for 22 years in Israel,
and proved to be more wicked than all the kings in Israel before him, including
Jeroboam.
It was in the days of king Ahab that the prophet Elijah spoke the words of God
to the king, and he prayed that it wouldn’t rain in Israel for 3 years, and it didn’t
rain. Elijah was protected by God during the next 3 years of drought, and he
ended up living with widow in Zarephath, which was a city in the country of
Sidon, to the north of Israel. Through Elijah, God multiples the widow’s store of
oil and flour during the years of the drought, and he raises her son from the dead.
In Judah, Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa became king, and he was a godly
leader like David. There was a revival in the land for God, and the king even
sent priests throughout the land to teach the people about God’s laws.
1 Kings 18-19
These two chapters represent a significant contrast in the heart of the prophet
Elijah. In the first he boldly challenges king Ahab, all the false prophets of baal,
and the people in Israel, demonstrating Who is God with fire from heaven. In the
next chapter Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah, and he is terrified, and flees for his
life. He runs 100 miles to the southern extreme of Israel, and the angel of the
Lord provides him with food and drink, and then he goes deep into the Arabian
desert, to the mountain of God at Horeb, where God spoke to Moses.
Elijah is complaining and whining to God about how much he has served Him,
and how he is the only prophet of God who is left in the land. Yet, twice the Lord
asks him “what are you doing here?”. God simply tells Elijah that there are 7,000
others in Israel who are faithful to Him, and then gives him instructions to go back
and finish the work He had for him to do.
God was gracious and merciful to Elijah and his self-pity, but He essentially
said “get over yourself, and go back to work for Me.”
1 Kings 20-21
20 - In spite of wicked Ahab, the Lord brings about multiple victories over Ben-
Hadad, and the Syrian armies who attempted to sack and enslave Israel. Yet, in
his pride Ahab lets Ben-Hadad go free, and makes a peace treaty with Syria, so
God declares a future judgement upon Ahab.
21 - Ahab and Jezebel conspire to murder Naboth, to steal his small plot of
land that the king wanted, demonstrating again how completely twisted and
wicked they both were. God sends the prophet to Ahab, telling him how He and
Jezebel will die, and how his heritage will be completely wiped out. Yet, when
Ahab humbles himself before God, the Lord shows him some mercy.
1 Kings 22:1-40 and 2 Chronicles 18
This is the story of the death of wicked king Ahab, who enlisted Jehoshaphat
(king of Judah) to join him against the Syrians in battle. Jehoshaphat was a
godly man, and he asked that they inquire of the Lord regarding this plan. All the
false prophets in Israel encouraged Ahab to go, but the one prophet of God said
that Ahab would die in the battle, and that it was from an evil and lying spirit that
Ahab’s prophets spoke. All that the Lord’s prophet came to pass, and Ahab died,
thus ending the reign of one of the most wicked kings in the history of Israel.