Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

In Luke 12:47-48, Jesus said: “And that slave who knew the will of his master and did not prepare or do according to his will will be given a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did things deserving blows will be given a light beating. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be demanded, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will ask him for even more.” Everyone in these chapters who got judged had heard from the Lord in some way (directly, through a prophet, etc). They knew better and were therefore held to account. This is all under the OLD covenant of judgment, where people’s sins are imputed to them where they have knowledge of God’s ways. The covenant where they were consistently pointed toward the need for a saviour in order to walk in obedience. We have a better covenant and no longer need to fear these kinds of judgments because all judgment for sin was placed on Jesus. We have been redeemed from the curse of the Law and are charged with trusting in Jesus, our saviour (which is what Holy Spirit convicts us of). We have better promises, thank God for that!

Jeroboam was offering incense at his altars by the golden calf when an unnamed man of God came up to him. This young prophet delivered the word of God to the altar. A child named Josiah would be born. He would kill the false priests and burn bones on the altar (which would defile it and make it unusable. The young prophet also gave a sign that this would truly happen: the altar would split and ashes would pour out.

The king was right there and heard this. He was not happy. He reached out his hand to the prophet and cried for his guards to seize the man. However, his hand froze. The king couldn’t move it or take it back. Also, it ‘withered’. The altar split apart and its ashes fell out. And then my how Jeroboam’s attitude altered. He didn’t cry out to his idols or his altar. Instead, he entreated the young prophet to pray for him. The young man was merciful and prayed. The king got back the use of his hand. He offered to wine, dine, and reward the prophet, but the young man turned him down. The prophet had been commanded not to eat or drink or return home the same way he had come. Which he then began to do. But word of these things spread rapidly.

The young prophet was probably within three days of his home – we don’t do well without water for longer than that. He went for a bit and then rested until he felt he was strong enough to go further. Nothing wrong with any of this. But in his weakness, and the success at the altar, he let go of the word he had from God. Unwise and quite common.

Meanwhile, a false prophet, an older man, heard about all this and hatched a plan. He got on a donkey and rode until he found the young man. He paid him compliments and asked for the young man to come eat. The young man repeated his denial and why. The false prophet lied and said an angel had told him to feed the young man. The prophet agreed, since it was an angel (Galatians 1:8). They go back to the false one’s home and eat. Suddenly the Spirit of God and he spoke a true word from God (maybe his only one): young prophet had disobeyed the Lord and would die for it. He would not be buried in his family’s tomb. They finish their meal and the false prophet gives the young man a donkey to ride.

On the way, a lion kills the young prophet. But doesn’t harm the donkey. And the donkey doesn’t run away. Neither does the lion. They both just kind of stand there, protecting the body of the young prophet. It is impossibly odd and news spreads. The false prophet comes by the next day and the animals are still there. He ignores them and collects the young prophet. The animals ignore him. This whole thing is totally supernatural. The false prophet buries the young prophet in his own tomb and charges his kids to make sure they bury him next to the young man. They obviously do and put up some kind of plague because three hundred years later when Josiah does exactly what God said he would (2 Kings 23), Josiah sees the plaque and does NOT burn their bones on the altar with the other false prophets and priests (2 Kings 23:18). The false prophet believed the word of God and made sure that HE would not end up defiled – but that’s only physically. Who knows what punishment he endured for these sins against God and the young prophet? “Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked, for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

Jeroboam heard about these things (he must have, the news is clearly spreading). Instead of it helping him repent, he ignores it. The young prophet was killed, so how good was his word anyway, right? Jeroboam doesn’t turn from his ways and continues to consecrate false priests, worship the idols he made, and helped turn the people away from God. This was his big sin and this is why he was judged so thoroughly.

“Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Look, Ahijah the prophet is there, and he spoke concerning me before I became king over this people.” (1 Kings 14:2)

The true man of God was not forgotten. Nor was his location. Nor was his God. Jeroboam didn’t try and get his sick son saved through idol worship. He sought the will of God. But he also knew his sin and apparently thought he could fool God (Proverbs 15:3). He had his wife dress up and bring the food of the poor for an offering and go see a true man of God. But God spoke to Ahijah and told him what to expect. Sadly for the wife of Jeroboam, her husband was judged. His line was judged. And other than her sick son, all the other male children of Jeroboam would be cut down (the child would die, but would be buried and properly mourned). There would be no heir. Moreover, they would not even be properly buried, but eaten by animals. A new king was being lifted up to replace Jeroboam. This was direct judgment for what Jeroboam had done through idolatry and bringing idolatry to the people. She departed, went home, and her child was dead. He was buried and mourned by the people. Jeroboam also died (it is detailed in Chronicles) and his son Nadab reigned in his place – but not for long. Jeroboam had lasted twenty-two years.

Meanwhile, back in Judah, Rehoboam was on the throne. Rehoboam was one year old when Solomon took the throne (between the ages of seventeen and twenty). His mother had been an Ammonitess (Deuteronomy 23:3). Which means Solomon started his out-of-favour dealings with women EARLY in life. he reigned a total of seventeen years. Problem is, they weren’t years marked by proper worship. The people were sacrificing in high places. This seems to have started in the final years of David’s life, continued through Solomon, and was continuing here. They were also heading downhill morally, committing the same abominations that the Canaanites had (idol worship, child sacrifice, sex as part of worship {fertility rites}, loose morals, bestiality, inhospitable behaviour, and homosexuality).

Looking at the account in Chronicles, it seems as though Rehoboam and the elders of Judah had started out all right. But after about three years, they started to waiver. By the fifth year, they were apostate and God judged them. Shishak of Egypt came up and sacked Jerusalem (but because they repented – see Chronicles – they weren’t completely destroyed), and carried off a lot of the riches. The gold shields were taken. Rehoboam replaced them with bronze and continued the show of using the shields heading into and out of the Temple, but it must have been demoralizing to use inferior riches.

Rehoboam and Jeroboam had conflict all their days. Chronicles implies it was Jeroboam who was most often the aggressor, but it’s hard to say. Obviously neither man was seeking God’s will over it. Eventually, Rehoboam died and was buried in the royal tombs in the City of David. His son Abijam (also called Abijah) ascended the throne after him.

Summary

Key Players: God, Jeroboam, Rehoboam, Prophets, Ahijah

Key Themes: Disobedience, Right Worship, Succession, Idolatry, Judgment

Key Verse(s): 1 Kings 13:1-3, 8-10, 18-19, 31-32; 14:1-3, 14-16, 22-24, 31