Dear Friends,

I Kings is written by a Jewish person in exile in Babylon who is asking, “How on earth did we end up here?” It is a great book to warn you so you can avoid having to ask that question about your own life. Read the chapters and then with your Bible open read the notes comparing them with the Scripture. God bless you.

Because of Calvary,

John Janney

Adult SS Elective: I Kings 12:1-13:34                                                                                                                        April 24, 2016

II. The Divided Kingdoms (12:1-22:53)

“After the death of Solomon the Israelitish kingdom of God was rent asunder, through the renunciation of the Davidic sovereignty by the ten tribes, into the two kingdoms of Israel (the ten tribes) and Judah; and through this division not only was the external political power of the Israelitish state weakened, but the internal spiritual power of the covenant nation was deeply shaken. And whilst the division itself gave rise to two small and weak kingdoms in the place of one strong nation, the power of both was still further shaken by their attitude towards each other.” [Keil p. 128]

“The Solomonic glory at its culmination carried in itself the germs of decay. The consequences which the Mosaic law was designed to preclude by shutting off Israel from the nations, and prohibiting the king from the luxury of Oriental rulers (Deut. xvii.14 sqq.; compare 1 Sam. x.25), were not prevented…. Solomon not only did nothing to hinder the danger of a division of the kingdom, he even brought it on, since he cultivated a feeling which was favorable to desires for a false freedom, and at the same time he increased to the utmost the dissatisfaction with the burden of work and taxation occasioned through boundless luxury in the maintenance of his court.” {Keil, Old Testament History of Redemption, p. 100-101]

“If Solomon signifies the apex of the kingdom (although he himself was by no means the perfect king see 1 Kings 11:7-13), beginning with Solomon and those kings following in his path a slippery slope spirals downward with only a few exceptions.” [Bryan D. Estelle, Salvation Through Judgment and Mercy: The Gospel According to Jonah, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing Company, 2005), p. 23-24]

A. The Period of Enmity (12:1-16:28)

1. The Breakup of the United Kingdom (12:1-24)

“…This miserable story of imbecility and arrogance…” [Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture II, p. 220]

“No natural advantage can atone for the natural disadvantage of not having any sense.” [Joseph Pulitzer in W. A. Swanberg, Pulitzer, (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1967), p. 57]

   a. The Request of the People (12:1-4)

“Rehoboam went to Shechem: as a matter of routine…. Rehoboam was aware of the old tradition, but clearly underestimated its significance. Already accepted by Judah, he presents himself to all Israel for their acknowledgement at the ancient covenant center (Josh. 24).” [Martin, p. 355]

“The choice of the place is suspicious; for it was in the tribe of Ephraim, and had been for a time the center of national life; and its selection at once indicated discontent with the preponderance of Jerusalem, and a wish to assert the importance of the central tribes….

“We see another suspicious sign in the recall of Jeroboam, and his selection as spokesman; for he had been in rebellion against Solomon (1 Kings xi.26)…” [Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture II, p. 217]

“It was a sure sign of great discontent when the people sent for a rebel to be their spokesman.” [Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit XLII, (1896), p. 369]

“Had not Israel been somewhat predisposed to a mutiny, they had never sent into Egypt for such a spokesman as Jeroboam, a fugitive, a traitor to Solomon…. That Israel would entertain a rebel, it was an ill sign…. Jeroboam’s head had been a fit present to have been tendered unto their new king: and now, instead thereof, they tender themselves to Jeroboam, as the head of their faction.” [Hall, Contemplations II, p. 139-140]

“Doubtless the crafty head of Jeroboam was in this suit which his mouth uttered in the name of Israel: nothing could have been more subtle: it seemed a promise, it was a threat; that which seemed a supplication was a complaint: humility was but a veil of discontent: one hand held a paper, the other a sword. …They say, ‘Ease us,’ they profess his power to impose and their willingness to yield; only craving favor in the weight of the imposition…. Jeroboam had secretly troubled these waters, that he might fish more gainfully. One malcontent is enough to embroil a whole kingdom.” [Hall, Contemplations II, p. 140]

“In their address, 1. They complain of the last reign: Thy father made our yoke grievous, v. 4. They complain not of his father’s idolatry and revolt from God; that which was the greatest grievance of all was none to them, so careless and indifferent were they in the matters of religion, as if God or Moloch were all one, so they might but live at ease and pay no taxes…. Suppose there was some hardship put upon them, were they not told before that this would be the manner of the king and yet they would have one?… Factious spirits will never want something to complain of…. 2. They demand relief from him, and on this condition will continue in their allegiance to the house of David.” [Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 497-498]

“…I do not find them sensible of aught, save their own profit; they do not say, religion was corrupted in the shutting up of thy father’s days; idolatry found the free favor of priests, and temples, and sacrifices. Begin thy reign with God; purge the church, demolish those piled of abomination, abandon those idol-mongers, restore devotion to her purity. They are all for their penny, for their ease.” [Hall, Contemplations II, p. 143]

“There is a tendency to take the northern tribes’ words here as gospel truth…. Seldom does anyone stop to consider the source. Verse 4 is not necessarily the narrator’s view. It is the view of Jeroboam and the northern tribes.” [Davis, p. 128]

“If people are made to do what they dislike, you must allow for a little ill-humor.” [Lord Melbourne in The Book of Unusual Quotations edited by Rudolf Flesch, (New York: Harper & Bros., 1957), p. 63]

“This was a very natural request; these Oriental monarchs took their thrones as by a kind of divine right, and there was a tendency among the people to demand something like a constitution, some regulations by which they should not be so heavily oppressed. I do not know whether they had been oppressed by Solomon or not; certainly, the realm as a whole was greatly enriched under his government; but the wisest ruler must not expect that he will have the uniform love of the people, there will be come discontented ones in every community.” [Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit XLII, (1896), p. 369]

b. The Request of the Ruler (12:5)

“The one sensible thing that he did was to take three days to think.” [Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture II, p. 218]

     c. The Advice of the Counselors (12:6-11)

“Rehoboam did not seek God’s wisdom, as had his father before him (1 Kings 3). Instead, he turned to men for guidance and even then did not heed the right advice. Like some people who seek counsel today, he wanted somebody to tell him to do what he already decided to do.” [Wiersbe, With the Word, p. 203]

i. The older counselors (12:6-7)

“…If these old men ever had possessed wisdom, it had long since degenerated into cunning political expediency. …These worldly-wise veterans suggested that Rehoboam at first flatter the complainers with gentle words. He should offer them promises he did not mean to keep, and then, after a while, when his power was firmly entrenched, when he was seated securely in the saddle, he could let them feel the bit and spur of increased oppression. By first pretending to be their servant, he could win their confidence and later make them his slaves.” [Dilday, p. 153]

ii. The younger counselors (12:8-11)

“It is of great consequence to young people, that are setting out in the world, whom they associate with, accommodate themselves to, and depend upon for advice. If they reckon those that feed their pride, gratify their vanity, and further them in their pleasures, their best friends, they are already marked for ruin.” [Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 498]

“Younger leaders are readier to venture in the dark. They have not had their teeth knocked out as yet, and they are ready to take chances.” [Harvard historian Frank Friedel in Time, (November 8, 1976), p. 32]

“Do not put the saddle on the wrong horse.” [English proverb in Safire and Safir, Leadership, p. 111]

“The young counselors differ only in the means of gaining the object.” [Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture II, p. 219]

“As a rule, young men are more severe and more intolerant than the old, that is, in dealing with others; it takes years of experience to bring tolerance and charity.” [Phelps, Human Nature in the Bible, p. 159]

“Among Rehoboam’s counselors, the old men had no real principle to guide them, they said to the king, in effect, ‘Just butter these people with soft words, delude and deceive them with the idea that you are going to yield to them, and then, when you once get the reins into your own hands, you can govern the nation as you like.’ This was a wicked policy; but the young men said to the king, ‘No, no, no; do not pretend that you will listen to the people. There is nothing like putting a bold face on it, and just letting the people know that you will not yield to them. They will be startled by what you say; have you not the authority and example of your father Solomon? Nobody ever dared speak a word of this kind to him, so do you put it down at once, and be bold.’ There is no principle, you see, about the advice in either case; it is all policy, but the latter policy is sure not to succeed.” {Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit XLII, (1896), p. 370]

  d. The Folly of the King (12:12-14)

“Rehoboam, like the fool he was, followed the advice of fools…” [Phelps, Human Nature in the Bible, p. 159]

“Now, what was it but pride, boldness, and folly, that made this silly man thus to vaunt himself…” [Trapp I, p. 566]

“There never was a saint yet that grew proud of his fine feathers, but what the Lord plucked them out by and by. There never was an angel that had pride in his heart, but he lost his wings.’ [Spurgeon in Gray & Adams Bible Commentary I, p. 879]

“The fool always thinks himself wiser than the wise dead; the ‘living dog’ fancies that his yelp is louder than the roar of ‘the dead lion.’ What can be done with a Rehoboam who brags that he is better than Solomon?” [Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture II, p. 220]

“The very words have stings: how must Israel need think, How cruel will this man’s hands be, when he thus draws blood with his tongue! …Who can endure the hopes of him that promiseth tyranny?” [Hall, Contemplations II, p. 143]

“Jeroboam could hardly have hoped the king would play so directly into his hands.” [Martin, p. 355]

“If Rehoboam had wished to split the kingdom, he could have found no better wedge than this blustering promise of tyranny…. A dozen rash words brought about four hundred years of strife, weakness, and final destruction.” [Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture II, p. 220]

“Pig-headedness split a kingdom.” [Davis, p. 127]

   e. The Sovereignty of the Lord (12:15)

“Human passions, anger, pride, and insolence, worked out the accomplishment of the Divine designs. Without interfering with man’s free will, God guides the course of events and accomplishes His purposes.” [Rawlinson, p. 556]

“…Rehoboam contributed to the fulfillment of the counsel of God through his own folly, and brought about the accomplishment of the sentence pronounced upon Solomon.” [Keil, p. 137]

“But Rehoboam and Jeroboam, as well as the people, are responsible for their decisions and deeds.” [Van Groingen, p 243]

f. The Division of the Kingdom (12:16-20)

“The British writer Frank W. Boreham said, ‘We make our decisions, and then our decisions turn around and make us.” [Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 447]

“He that speaks roughly must expect to be answered roughly. Let us learn from this incident as one might who sees the warning light of a beacon, and tacks his ship to avoid the rock on which it is placed.” [Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit XLII, (1896), p. 370]

“For centuries, the Jews considered the division of the nation the greatest tragedy in their history and measured every other calamity by it (Isa. 7:17).” [Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 448-449]

“Having foolishly thrown himself into a quicksand, he sunk the further in with plunging to get out. 1. He was very unadvised in sending Adoram, who was over the tribute, to treat with them, v. 18. The tribute was the thing, and, for the sake of that, Adoram was the person, they most complained of. The very sight of him, whose name was odious among them, exasperated them, and made them outrageous. He was one to whom they could not so much as give a patient hearing, but stoned him to death in a popular tumult. Rehoboam was now as unhappy in the choice of his ambassador as before of his counselors. 2. Some think he was also unadvised in quitting his ground, and making so much haste to Jerusalem, for thereby he deserted his friends and gave advantage to his enemies, who had gone to their tents indeed (v. 16) in disgust, but did not offer to make Jeroboam king till Rehoboam had gone, v. 20. See how soon this foolish prince went from one extreme to the other. He hectored and talked big when he thought all was his own, but sneaked and looked very mean when he saw himself in danger.” [Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 499]

“Rehoboam had followed the wrong counsel, used the wrong approach, and chosen the wrong mediator.” [Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 449]

“So Israel has been in rebellion (pāša‘ ― a political use of a word usually meaning sin, rebellion against God).” [Martin, p. 355]

“Did the people know what they were saying and doing? They knew about the promise which had been given to David’s house. Willfully they rejected that promise and ― with it ― the Lord’s covenant.

“Shouldn’t the Lord have responded by rejecting Israel? The Lord refused to abandon Israel at that point. First sin would have to run its full course ― until Israel was ripe for judgment…. But for a long time to come, the Lord would wrestle with the sin of His unfaithful people Israel.” [De Graff, Promise and Deliverance II, p. 225]

  g. The Word of the Lord (12:21-24)

“…He lost those ten tribes with a churlish breath, whom he would, and might not, recover with blood…” [Trapp I, p. 566]

“Yahweh intervenes with the word to cut off Rehoboam’s further folly.” [Davis, p. 134]

“…’And they listened to the word of Yahweh, and they turned to go away, according to the word of Yahweh’ (v. 24b). It was Rehoboam’s first wise move in the whole chapter.” [Davis, p. 134]

2. The Foundation of the Northern Kingdom (12:25-14:20)

“The spotlight is now turned on the newly formed kingdom of Israel and its first king, Jeroboam.” [Dilday, p. 161]

a. Wrath Risked (12:25-33)

“A new king, an old sin.” [Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 453]

i.  Unbelief (12:25-27)

“What life does to us depends on what life finds in us.” [Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 445]

ii. Disobedience (12:28-33)

“Israel had always been in danger from the gradual assimilation of Canaanite religious influence into the worship of Yahweh. Canaanite sanctuaries had proliferated in the land before the Israelite conquest, and the religious practices of the Canaanites continually threatened to infiltrate and adulterate the proper worship of God in spite of the strong warnings of the Law and from the Prophets…. Shortly after the break-up of the united kingdom under David and Solomon, the first king of the north, Jeroboam, rehabilitated the Canaanite shrines and introduced the worship of Yahweh under the symbol of a bull… The God who called Israel into existence demanded the exclusive allegiance of the nation…. Israel was always in danger of losing this antithesis between her God and all the pretenders.” [Dillard, Faith in the Face of Apostasy, p. 4]

“Hosea (ca. 740 BC) didn’t seem to treat the calves as liturgical aids; otherwise why did he insist ‘a craftsman made it — it’s not a God’ (Hos. 8:6; cf. 10:5-6; 13:2)?… The word through Ahijah (14:9) labeled it ‘other gods’ not ‘enriched Yahwism.’” [Davis, p. 138-140]

“What Jeroboam did was to take advantage of the tendency of the Jewish people to turn to idols, and the desire of most people for a religion that is convenient and not too costly, and close enough to the authorized faith to be comfortable for the conscience.” [Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 454]

“He chose Dan and Bethel for reasons of tradition. In earlier years there had been a temple with an idol at Dan. At Bethel the Lord had appeared to Jacob.” [De Graff, Promise and Deliverance II, p. 228]

“Verse 33 points to one of many clues to the king’s failure. ‘He had devised in his own heart.’ He was guilty of redesigning the faith for his own personal ends…. A religion of convenience, devised in one’s own heart, is an abomination to God… Jeroboam….was branded forever as, ‘Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin’ (2 Kings 23:15).” [Dilday, p. 164]

“From here on the prophets had nothing but judgment to say to the northern kingdom until its end 200 years later.” [Martin, p. 356]

b. Warnings Ignored (13:1-14:18)

i. The First Warning (13:1-3)

“Here is…a messenger sent to Jeroboam, to signify to him God’s displeasure against his idolatry… The army of Judah that aimed to ruin him was countermanded, and might not draw a sword against him (ch. 12:24); but a prophet of Judah is, instead thereof, sent to reclaim him from his evil way, and is sent in time, while he is but dedicating his altar, before his heart is hardened by the deceitfulness of his sin; for God delights not in the death of sinners, but would rather they would turn and live.” [Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 502]

“Jeroboam, preparing to make an offering on the altar at Bethel, hears two dire prophecies against that altar: (1) Josiah, who is to ascend Judah’s throne in 641 B.C., approximately 280 years later, is to burn the bones of Jeroboam’s illicit priests on it; and (2) the altar is to be split apart and its ashes poured on the ground as a sign of the Lord’s repudiation of Jeroboam’s sinful worship.” [Van Groingen, p. 244] Cf. 2 Kings 23:15-20

ii. The Second Warning (13:4)

“Instead of trembling at the message, as he might well have done, he assaulted him that brought it, in defiance of the wrath of which he was warned and contempt of that grace which sent him the warning…yet God’s prophets must rather expose themselves than betray their trust: he that employs them will protect them, and restrain the wrath of man, as he did Jeroboam’s here by withering his hand, so that he could neither hurt the prophet nor draw it in to help himself. When his hand was stretched out to burn incense to his calves it was not withered; but, when it is stretched out against a prophet, he shall have no use of it till he humble himself. As this was a punishment of Jeroboam, and answering to the sin, so it was the deliverance of the prophet.” [Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 502]

“Thus Jeroboam experienced in the limbs of his own body the severity of the threatened judgment of God.” [Keil, p. 143]

iii. The Third Warning (13:5)

“The double sign of palsy (4) and the collapsing altar deterred the king’s arrogance and produced the pitiable plea Intercede with the Lord your (not ‘my’) God.” [Martin, p. 356]

iv. The Fourth Warning (13:6)

“That word of God which should have touched his conscience humbled him not, but this which touched his bone and his flesh brings down his proud spirit. He looks for help now, 1. Not from his calves, but from God only, from his power and his favor. He wounded, and no hand but his can make whole. 2. Not by his own sacrifice or incense, but by the prayer and intercession of the prophet, whom he had just now threatened and aimed to destroy…. But observe, He did not desire the prophet to pray that his sin might be pardoned, and his heart changed, only that his hand might be restored… The prophet…renders good for evil…. When the prophet thus honored God, by showing himself of a forgiving spirit, God put this further honor upon him, that at his word he recalled the judgment and by another miracle healed the withered hand, that by the goodness of God Jeroboam might be led to repentance, and, if he were not broken by the judgment, yet might be melted by the mercy.” [Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 502-503]

“The king witnessed three miracles in just a few minutes, but there’s no evidence that he was convicted of his sins.” [Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 457]

“When both…the blasts of judgment and the beams of favor, met together to work upon Jeroboam, who would not look that he should have cast off his cumbrous and mis-beseeming cloak of his idolatry, and have said, Lord, thou hast stricken me in justice, thou hast healed me in mercy; I will provoke thee no more. This hand, which thou hast restored, shall be consecrated to thee, in pulling down these bold abominations; yet now, behold, he goes on in his old courses, and, as if God had neither done him good nor evil, lives and dies idolatrous. No stone is more hard or insensate than sinful heart…” [Hall, Contemplations II, p. 154-155]

v. The Fifth Warning (13:7-10)

“Satan comes as the lion to devour us (I Peter 5:8), and when that fails, he comes as a serpent to deceive us (2 Cor. 11:3; Gen. 3:1ff). The king’s ‘Lay hold of him!’ became ‘Come home with me!’” [Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 457]

“As Jeroboam could do nothing by force against the prophet, he endeavored to gain him over to his side by friendliness, that at least he might render his threat harmless in the eyes of the people. For this purpose, and not to do him honor or to make him some acknowledgment for the restoration of his hand, he invited him to his house, to strengthen himself with food…and receive from him a present.” [Keil, p. 143]

“The refusal of hospitality was an extreme action in the east and expressed Yahweh’s complete rejection of Jeroboam and Bethel.” [Martin, p. 356]

vi. The Sixth Warning (13:11-32) Cf. Matthew 24:13

“An old prophet at Bethel heard from his sons what had taken place…had his ass saddled; hurried after him, and…invited him to come into his house and eat with him; and when the latter appealed to the divine prohibition, said to him (v. 18), ‘I am a prophet also as thou art, and an angel has said to me in the word of the Lord: Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat and drink,’ and lied to him… Then he went back with him, and ate and drank in his house….  As they were sitting at table the word of the Lord came to the old prophet, so that he cried out to the man of God from Judah: ‘Because thou hast been rebellious against the command of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment,…thou wilt not come to the grave of thy fathers,’ i.e., thou wilt meet with a violent death by the way. This utterance was soon fulfilled.” [Keil, p. 144]

“We are informed in Chronicles that the truly pious Israelites ― ‘such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel’ ― quitted their homes when Jeroboam made his religious changes, and proceeding to Jerusalem, strengthened the kingdom of Rehoboam (2 Chr. x.16, 17). We see, therefore, at the very outset of the narrative, that this ‘old prophet,’ who, without being infirm in any way, had remained under Jeroboam, and was even content to dwell at Bethel ― the chief seat of the new worship ― was devoid of any deep and earnest religious feeling.” [Rawlinson, p. 564]

“What could have moved this old man to take such action and even tell a lie? He knew that he had remained silent about the abomination at Bethel and that he was not justified in continuing to live there without protesting against it…. If he could now persuade the prophet from Judah to return with him, his own stay in Bethel and his silence about the abomination there would not seem as serious a sin.” [De Graff, Promise and Deliverance II, p. 230]

     c. Worship Corrupted (13:33-34)