Jeroboam: the reference point of evil deeds.

By Omowunmi Abolade On May 3, 2020

Bible Study by Mrs Flourish Ayowale

Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for your mercy over us. As we look into Your Word, let there be light. Build us up, instruct, correct, encourage us. Meet us at the points of our need. And be glorified. Amen
So I was given the topic on Jeroboam as the reference point of evil deeds.
Our anchor scripture is from 1Kings 11.
I will paraphrase it later on but let’s all try to read it
This is our first time meeting
Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah. 1 Kings 11:26 NIV

Quick back story; his rebellion had a divine angle to it. Solomon had failed miserably and disappointed God by going after other gods introduced to him through his numerous wives and concubines
The first time we meet Mr Jeroboam, we are told of his rebellion towards King Solomon.
And it began with only one Egyptian Princess, but before anyone could say Solomon, Baba was counting his women in the hundreds!
He had a lot! You know the story.

He had to share the heart in different directions as there were many idols to please.
Long story short, they drew his heart towards their gods.

God no longer had that with Solomon and all the gold he gave to build the Lord’s temple could not make up for it.

In our relationship with God, our heart is our most prized possession.
Before Jeroboam rebelled, he was Solomon’s official. We are told Jeroboam was really good at his job and the people liked him.
Anyway, Solomon lost that and God started to search for a replacement.
More people knew him. He became a big boy.

So Jeroboam gained influence.
Solomon observed that and promoted him as superintendent over a building project and some public works.
Of course you should give your feedback politely, but speak the truth in love. Many leaders are surrounded by sycophants and they cannot get quality feedback on how to make better decisions.
Think of him as maybe a commissioner in a State.
Anyway, I’ll like to just briefly state here that those of us in assistant roles of any kind must remember that we owe our superiors two things: excellent delivery of our roles and then feedback.
We are not told that he informed Solomon. But maybe he did.
In this role, he became conversant with the ‘masses discontent with some of Solomon’s policies.
When God moved on from Solomon, a prophet met Jeroboam and told him God would give him the throne over 10 tribes of Israel.
Rehoboam sought advice from two quarters: the older, experienced people versus the his young peers. I found the advice of the older people very insightful because that’s what leadership is about.
They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.” 1 Kings 12:7 NIV.
After Solomon’s death, Solomon’s son (Rehoboam became King) and the people met and begged him to reduce their taxes and make people-friendly policies.
Solomon got to know and he sought to kill Jeroboam so Jeroboam fled to Egypt till Solomon died.
If you serve your people, they will serve you.
Once he said that, the prophecy came to pass, the kingdom broke and he became the king of only one tribe.
But he foolishly told them this:
he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord , to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, Israel! Look after your own house, David!” So the Israelites went home. 1 Kings 12:14‭-‬16 NIV.
God made an amazing promise to Jeroboam.
Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. “ ‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. I will take the kingdom from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes. However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. 1 Kings 11:31‭, ‬34‭-‬35‭, ‬37‭-‬38 NIV,
The other 10 selected Jeroboam as king.
Look at this: If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you.
But unfortunately, Jeroboam threw these promises back at God because he did evil. God did not have his heart.

Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their Lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other. 1 Kings 12:26‭-‬28‭, ‬30 NIV

After he became king, he wanted to secure the kingdom with *his own might* so he came up with the idea that ruined him.
In fact, after Jeroboam, until Nadab, and at least, seven other Kings after him, none of them pleased The Lord.
He said instead of having people go to worship God in Jerusalem, let me make them idols. Because if they go to Jerusalem often, they may want to return from his kingdom.
It shows how funny we are as humans.
God sent someone away from a throne because of a bad deed and gave you the throne. He told you you can have that throne forever if you don’t fall into that bad deed. But when you acsend the throne, you now say you want to secure that throne by doing what God said you should not do.

🤷🏾‍♀🤷🏾‍♀🤷🏾‍♀🤷🏾‍♀🤦🏾‍♀🤦🏾‍♀🤦🏾‍♀
Does it make any sense at all.
Perhaps we would have been speaking of Jeroboam on the same level as David today. But he lost it.
At the foundation was fear and an obsession to be in power.
He didn’t change.
The position revealed his heart.
Money? Intelligence? Admission? Influence? Whatever it is, if God gave you, just be faithful and follow His heart.

Do not resort to the flesh and crafty means to keep it.
God has given you and I, let’s trust Him to keep it.
God is jealous for our heart and for the heart of His people. If you lead them to sin as Jeroboam did, that person should expect to see the wrath of God.
Souls are precious to God and when you turn a soul against Him, you will not like the repercussions.

Let’s be careful what we encourage others to do, what we provide for others to do, how we handle dividing The scriptures. Don’t say it says what it doesn’t say because God is not pleased if one soul falls away on your account.
And The Bible recorded it.
That they did evil like Jeroboam.
Jeroboam set a terrible precedence and we can see that up till the end of 1 Kings, no King of Israel deviated from his evil path, up till Ahab.
Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth. 1 Kings 13:33‭-‬34 NIV

The Bible tells us his entire lineage had to be wiped out.
Completely.
We will not fail God in Jesus Mighty Name. Amen.
Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me. “ ‘Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free. I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone. Dogs will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country. The Lord has spoken!’ 1 Kings 14:7‭-‬11 NIV

Unfortunately, the other Kings after him did same. And they saw the wrath of God…which leads me to this: when you’re in a position of privilege, be conscious of your influence. Some people will take their bearing from yours and if it’s a negative one, they may never recover.
For others to learn.
And I am really surprised that they didn’t. Which brings me to the final point of our study: If the precedence is negative, you must change the narrative.

God made an example out of him.

Don’t say that’s how I met it oooo.
But we can be Daniels and Esthers.
You can be a city of light in a world of gross darkness. In fact, that’s what we are called to do as believers.
Jeroboam looks like many politicians. Before they acsend the throne, they are for the people and for God, but once they get in, they take bearing from their negative predecessors.
You must change, but for the better- on all grounds.
We see an example of a king who changed the narrative in King Jehoshaphat. His predecessors were bad but he changed the narrative.

Don’t say that’s you must change when you get to the university/polytechnic, and you now adopr ungoldy habits.
Asa wasn’t bad.
And King Asa- who laid a good example for Jehoshaphat, please.
In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord , as his father David had done. He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made. He even deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron Valley. Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 1 Kings 15:9‭, ‬11‭-‬14 NIV
So, what will your legacy be?

Asa or Jeroboam?

Or Ahab?

*“Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country.” (There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord , urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.) 1 Kings 21:24‭-‬26 NIV

May our legacy be godly. May our lives preach as The Lord desires.

May we be found faithful.

And… Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:2 KJV

He is merciful to help us make our hearts right. Knowing God this way has helped me. When God revealed Himself for the first time ever to a man after the fall, this is what He said of Himself:

And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord , The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Exodus 34:6 KJV
If you have searched you heart (like I have), and you find blemishes and impurities (like I have), God is merciful. Speak to him from your heart. David was a deeply flawed man, but Our God saw his heart.

God bless us all and help us to make our hearts right.
You know that song, “A heart like yours is what I desire…” That should be part of our prayers.
Thought to share the song. It’s by CeCe Winans.
“A Heart Like Yours”