Jun 24 (2 Chronicles 10-12) Yesterday, we saw the case of Judah, led by Rehoboam. Today, the spotlight is on Israel, led by Jeroboam. While Solomon was still king, one of his trusted officials, Jeroboam, rebelled and tried to take over the kingdom, but he ended up fleeing to Egypt. When Solomon died and the people were ready to make his son Rehoboam king, Jeroboam returned from Egypt. After Rehoboam had dealt harshly with the people, they responded: “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse” (10:16). 1 Kings 12:20 tells us that the people made Jeroboam king over all Israel.
The kingdom had fallen far from the glory days of David and Solomon, as God’s warnings about what would happen to them came to pass. Solomon himself had noted that “He who digs a pit may fall into it” (Eccl. 10:8). Rehoboam in Judah had done his share of digging that pit, as “Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord” (1 Kgs. 14:22). Now, Jeroboam dug the pit even deeper! He made two golden calves for the people to worship and did many other things in defiance of the Lord’s commands. In fact, fifteen future kingdoms, led by bad kings, would be associated with Jeroboam, son of Nebat. The name of Jeroboam would become synonymous with evil, and these kings would be described as walking “in the way of Jeroboam,” or “in the sin of Jeroboam,” or following “the house of Jeroboam.” A summary statement is made in 2 Kings 17:22-23 after the last king of Israel was put in prison by the king of Assyria: “The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam … So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.” What God had promised Solomon in 1 Kings 9:7 had come to pass!
– Al Gary
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