Table Of ContentA Walk Through the Bible 5.1
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The new king!
Last week, we learned about Solomon’s foolishness in his later years. Solo-
mon ruled over Israel for 40 years. In today’s lesson, from I Kings 11-13, we
will learn what happened immediately before and after he died.
There are always consequences...
You remember that Solomon had begun worshiping idols in his later years.
God had warned him, and God even sent enemies to attack Solomon, proba-
bly in an attempt to get his attention. One enemy he chose was a man from
Ephraim, named Jeroboam. He was the son of one of Solomon’s servants.
Jeroboam became a very important servant in the kingdom: he was placed
over the forced labor.
Solomon made use of a LOT of forced la- ple and to build his own palace. He im-
bor. He used forced labor to build the Tem- proved the nation of Israel this way.
One day, Jeroboam had an unusual meeting with a prophet from God. His
name was Ahijah. They were alone together in an open field. Ahijah was
wearing a new piece of clothing. He tore his new clothes into twelve pieces!
He told Jeroboam to take ten of the pieces. He said he had a message from
God for him: “Behold, I am about to tear the king-
dom from the hand of Solomon and will give you
ten tribes (but he shall have one tribe, for the sake
of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusa-
lem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes
of Israel), because they have forsaken me and wor-
shiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians,
Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god
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of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right
in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did” (I
Kings 11:31b-33 ESV). He went on to say, “And I will take you, and you shall
reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. And if
you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do
what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as
David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I
built for David, and I will give Israel to you” (I Kings 11:37-38 ESV).
Somehow, Solomon learned about this meeting and tried to kill Jeroboam,
but Jeroboam went to Egypt to hide.
Change in leadership
Solomon died after having ruled for 40 years. He was
buried, and his son Rehoboam, who was 41 years old, be-
gan ruling.
Rehoboam went to Shechem to be officially crowned king. Jeroboam, in
Egypt, heard what had happened, so he traveled to Shechem as well.
A challenge!
A group of people met with Jeroboam, and together they went to the new
king, Rehoboam. They said, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now there-
fore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we
will serve you” (I Kings 12:4 ESV).
You remember the 30,000 men who built workers were tired and wanted some rest.
the Temple? They were slave laborers. The
Rehoboam asked the people to return in three days, and he would give
them his answer. Rehoboam then did a wise thing: he asked for advice.
First, he met with Solomon’s advisors: older men who were wise,
who told him to agree to lighten the workers’ loads because they
would be loyal to him if he did this.
Then he met with his friends, who told him to deny the request and
make their lives harder — just to show them who’s boss.
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Who gave the better advice here? Usually, better able to give advice. What do you
older people who have life experience are think Rehoboam should do?
Rehoboam thought about it for three days. Jero-
boam and the people came to him to hear his deci-
sion. Rehoboam decided to follow the advice of his
friends, and he said to the crowd: “My father made
your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My fa-
ther disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline
you with scorpions” (I Kings 12:14 ESV).
Consequences — always consequences
When the country saw that the king did not listen to them and seemed to
have no interest in their problems, they rejected him as king! They decided
that Jeroboam should be their king! The prophet’s words came true. All of Is-
rael, except the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, followed Jeroboam.
The kingdom, which had been united all this time, now split into what’s
called the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah).
This is why you often hear Israelites called the tribe of Judah.
“Jews” or “Jewish people.” They are from
Rehoboam, of course, tried to stop this from happening. He gathered
180,000 warriors to go to war against Israel. God sent a prophet, Shemaiah,
to Rehoboam and told him to send everyone home. He told Rehoboam that
this was from God.
Okay, but so what?
This seems like a very bad situation. A country that once was united and
strong was now two countries, both with new and inexperienced leaders. This
must have been a very scary time for the people in the nation. But God had a
plan, and He was working it out. God had promised to David that there
would always be a king from his family ruling on the throne, and He is keep-
ing that promise here. David’s grandson was ruling over the land of Judah.
Sometimes God works out His plans in ways that we don’t understand. He
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is always in control, though, and we must remain faithful in our obedience
and trust in Him.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who
promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23 ESV).
The end of the matter
Let’s review what we’ve studied today.
God raised up enemies against Solomon because of his disobedi-
ence.
The prophet Ahijah met privately with Jeroboam, one of Solo-
mon’s enemies.
Ahijah told Jeroboam that God was giving him ten tribes of Israel.
Solomon died, and his son, Rehoboam, began ruling.
Jeroboam and a large group met with Rehoboam and asked him to
ease their work load.
Rehoboam met with his father’s advisors, who told him to agree to
ease the work load; then they’d be loyal to him.
Rehoboam then met with his friends, who told him to show Israel
who’s boss.
When they gathered together three days later, Rehoboam gave his
decision: he would make their lives harder.
Israel rebelled against Rehoboam and chose Jeroboam to be their
leader.
The country split into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the
Southern Kingdom of Judah.
If you learn nothing else, get this!
God kept His promise to David, and He continues to keep His
promises today!
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Let’s learn it!
1. Which man, who was the son of one of Solomon’s servants, became Solo-
mon’s enemy?
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2. What unusual thing did Ahijah do when he met with Jeroboam? _________
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3. What did this mean? _____________________________________________
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4. Why did this happen? ____________________________________________
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5. Where did Jeroboam go to hide from Solomon? _______________________
6. When Solomon died, which son began ruling? ________________________
7. What did the people ask him to do? _________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
8. What did Rehoboam do while deciding? _____________________________
9. List the two groups of people he met with and what they said:
A. ____________________________________________________________
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B. _____________________________________________________________
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For deeper thought...
Think about the two groups of people Rehoboam met with. First, write your
thoughts about the advice of the older men (Solomon’s advisors).
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Now, write your thoughts about the advice of Rehoboam’s friends.
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How do you usually make difficult decisions? Do you talk to people, or pray?
Who do you tend to go to for advice?
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If you were an Israelite at this time, what would your feelings be?
__________________________________________________________________
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Write down something that has happened that makes you question God’s
leadership. It could be something from your life or something from the news.
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What do you think God might be working out in the situation you wrote
down above?
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Write your memory verse here: _______________________________________
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What does this verse mean to you? ____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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Overview of the Northern Kingdom
Last week, we watched the United Kingdom divide into two kingdoms: the
Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. In today’s
lesson, we’ll do an overview of the Northern Kingdom. Our lesson will come
from I Kings 12-II Kings 17. That’s a lot of scripture!
You remember that the prophet, Ahijah, speaking for God, told Jeroboam,
“And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways,
and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my command-
ments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure
house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you” (I Kings 11:38 ESV).
“I will be with you” is one of God’s great it: “If you will listen to do all I command....”
promises. This time He puts a condition on When God is with us, we cannot fail!
Off to a bad start
Jeroboam, the new king of Israel, built several cities. He began worrying
about losing control of his people. He knew that God had commanded the
people to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. He was afraid that if they went
there to worship, they might decide to stay there. He decided to make sure
that they wouldn’t leave. He made two golden calves, and set one up in Bethel
(on the southern border) and one in Dan (on the northern
border).
He appointed priests and built temples on high places.
He named feast dates and offered sacrifices. He an-
nounced to Israel, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long
enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up
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out of the land of Egypt” (I Kings 12:28b ESV).
Isn’t this sad? God had fought so hard for favor of idols that have to be made and
His people, and He gave Jeroboam so carried.
much — and now Jeroboam rejects God in
List of Israel’s kings
Here is a list of the kings of Israel and how long each one ruled. Then we
will discuss them in more detail.
Jeroboam 22 years I Kings 12-14
Nadab 2 years I Kings 15
Baasha 24 years I Kings 15-16
Elah 2 years I Kings 16
Zimri 7 days I Kings 16
Omri 12 years I Kings 16
Ahab 22 years I Kings 16-22
Ahaziah 2 years I Kings 22–II Kings 2
Jehoram (Joram) 12 years II Kings 2-9
Jehu 28 years II Kings 9-10
Jehoahaz 17 years II Kings 10-13
Jehoash (Joash) 16 years II Kings 13
Jeroboam (II) 41 years II Kings 14
Zechariah 6 months II Kings 15
Shallum 1 month II Kings 15
Menahem 10 years II Kings 15
Pekahiah 2 years II Kings 15
Pekah 20 years II Kings 15
Hoshea 9 years II Kings 17
A sad thing is that each of these kings worshiped idols and refused to wor-
ship God. God never gave up on them, and He sent prophets to the kings to
try to get them to return to Him.
Every time something new happens, there Israel’s history because they wasted all
is much hope because there is so much that potential for good.
potential for good. This is a sad chapter in
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More about the kings
Jeroboam ruled for 22 years. As we’ve mentioned, he led the nation into
idol worship and away from God. God sent a prophet to him to try to get him
to do what was right, but Jeroboam refused to listen. Then Jeroboam’s son got
very sick. Jeroboam sent his wife to Ahijah, the prophet who told him that he
would be king. She went to him, and Ahijah told her all that Jeroboam had
done to hurt God and that only bad things would happen to them and their
family. He also told her that this son would die, and that’s exactly what hap-
pened.
After Jeroboam died, his son Nadab began ruling. He only ruled for two
years, and he continued doing the bad things his father had done. An enemy,
Baasha, killed him and took over the throne. He also killed all of Jeroboam’s
family.
Baasha also was an evil king. God sent him a message through his prophet,
Jehu, and warned him that since he was doing evil that God would ruin his
family; and that’s exactly what happened. When Baasha died, his son Elah
took over. One day, he got drunk, and his servant, Zimri, plotted against him
and killed him. Then he killed the rest of Baasha’s family and began ruling
over Israel. His rule was only seven days long because the leader of the army,
Omri, came and waged war against the city where Zimri was staying. When
Zimri saw that he was losing, he went into the king’s house and burned it
down around him. He died in the fire.
There are seven suicides recorded in the are tragic and unnecessary. Suicide is a
Bible, and this is one of them. All of them sin against God.
The nation was divided for a time. Part of the country wanted Omri as
king, and the other part wanted Tibni as king. Eventually, Omri be-
came king and ruled for 12 years. Omri bought a hill and built a
city which he called Samaria. It became the new capital for Israel.
He was a very evil king.
When Omri died, his son, Ahab, began ruling. Ahab was even more
evil than his father, and he married a very wicked woman named Jezebel. We
will learn more about Ahab in a future lesson. He was eventually killed in bat-
tle.
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Description:other prophets recognized that Elisha had received Elijah's spirit, and they honored him. The king issued an edict that the Jews could defend themselves. The leader of a nation needs to know God's word because it is a guide.
