Then Solomon's servant, Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ...
rebelled against the king.
The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; ...
...the Prophet Ahijah ... took hold of the new garment that
was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. And he said to
Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the
LORD, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will tear the kingdom
out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you
(but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant
David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have
chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), because they have
forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth ..., Chemosh ..., and
Milcom ..., and have not walked in My ways ... as did his
father David.
And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return
to the house of David: ... to ... Rehoboam king of Judah,
...
Therefore [Jeroboam] ... made two calves of gold, ... one
in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ... He made shrines
on the high places, and made priests from every class of
people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
Jeroboam ...offered sacrifices on the altar... and burned
incense.
... a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of
the LORD, and ... cried out ... "O altar, altar! Thus says
the LORD: 'Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born
to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the
priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and
men's bones shall be burned on you.'" And he gave a sign
the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the LORD has
spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes
on it shall be poured out."
The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out
from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God
had given by the word of the LORD. (1 Kings 11:26-33,
12:26-33, 13:1-3,5, NKJV)
Because of Solomon's idolatry, the Lord pronounced judgment
on him and the nation of Israel: the division of Israel,
with ten tribes being given to Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
and the other two being retained by the descendants of
Solomon for the sake of David, his faithful father.
However, even though the Lord had sent the Prophet Ahijah
to him, Jeroboam failed to continue to act in faith, and
resorted to establishing idolatry in the new nation, in an
effort to prevent the nation of Israel returning to
submission to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.
Jeroboam set up idols, built altars for worshiping them,
and established priests, to minister before those idols,
from every tribe in Israel except Levi (the only tribe the
Lord had ordained to be ministers and priests before Him).
In fact, Jeroboam was far worse than Solomon, in his
pursuit of idolatry, even though it was because of
Solomon's idolatry that Jeroboam had been established as
king over the ten northern tribes.
Since Jeroboam had acted unfaithfully in spite of the
Lord's instruction, the Lord sent an unnamed prophet to him
to pronounce judgment on him, his descendants, the altars
he had built, the idols he had set up, and the priests he
had installed. Most of these judgments were to come from
Josiah, a king of Judah, who wouldn't even be born for
another 325 years.
As confirmation of the unnamed Prophet's words, the altar
split and Jeroboam's hand withered as he angrily pointed at
the prophet. His hand was subsequently restored after he
begged the prophet to intercede for him.
So what do Jeroboam and the unnamed Prophet, teach us about
faith? First, the Lord expects us to respond in faith to
every prophetic word given. Second, the Lord condemns
faithlessness. Third, the Lord provides confirmation of
many prophetic words in an effort to increase our faith.
Fourth, prophetic words uttered in faith will be upheld by
the Lord, in His time. Fifth, the future is never a mystery
to the Lord, so we should respond in faith in all
situations, knowing that He is faithful.
----------------------------------------------------
Jon V Straumfjord III is the author of numerous articles
about the Seven Spirits of God and the God of the Bible. He
is also the creator of the website http://www.7-spirits.com
, and is the author of the book "The Seven Spirits of God."
