Observations and Interpretations:
(1) Bad advice to Rehoboam
12:3 They sent for him [Jeroboam], and Jeroboam and the whole Israelite assembly came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father made us work too hard. Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.”
(NAC) Conscripted labor is the major complaint. Northerners have been forced to build southern projects, a fact Jeroboam, the former taskmaster (1 Kgs 11:28), knows quite well
12:13 The king responded to the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the older men 14 and followed the advice of the younger ones. .. 15 The king refused to listen to the people, because the LORD was instigating this turn of events so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat
(NAC) Conscripted labor is the major complaint. Northerners have been forced to build southern projects, a fact Jeroboam, the former taskmaster (1 Kgs 11:28), knows quite well
12:13 The king responded to the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the older men 14 and followed the advice of the younger ones. .. 15 The king refused to listen to the people, because the LORD was instigating this turn of events so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat
(NAC) This lack of judgment and its results, this “turn of events,” “was from the LORD” so that God’s word through Ahijah could come true... God is sovereign. Still, Rehoboam’s decision is his own. The text maintains the tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility that pervades all of Scripture
One incredibly poor decision tears down in a few days what David and Solomon labored eighty years to build. DeVries notes, “Possibly this passage’s most important lesson is how much easier it is to break up what belongs together than it is to restore what is broken
(2) Bad advice to Jeroboam
(2) Bad advice to Jeroboam
First Jeroboam had his own responsibility. He feared that the people might shift their loyalty back to the southern king (x2 in 12:27). Then he listened to his advisers, who told him to build 2 golden calves v.28.
(NAC) This fear amounts to a lack of faith, since surely the God who brought him to power can protect him from harm. God had promised him a dynasty as enduring as David’s if he would keep God’s commandments (1 Kgs 11:38). But Jeroboam does not find the Lord’s pledge sufficient for his life needs...Bad advice again mars a king’s life (cf. 1 Kgs 12:10–11). “After seeking advice,” Jeroboam introduces a new form of religion that in effect institutionalizes idolatry.
1. The result to the whole country
30 This caused Israel to sin; the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves.
Israelites were led into sin of idolatry for centuries after Jeroboam and it eventually became the reasons for their exile (2 Kings 17:22–23).
2. The result to his own family
[14:7-16] (NAC) First, he [Ahijah] condemns Jeroboam for making idols, which makes God consider him “more evil than all who lived before” him. Second, “every last male” in Jeroboam’s line will die. Jeroboam’s sin disqualifies him from the enduring dynasty Ahijah said would result from covenant obedience (cf. 1 Kgs 11:38). Third, Ahijah states that her sick boy will die, be mourned in Jerusalem, and will be buried.
(3) Bad advice to the prophet from Judah
13: 18 Then the old prophet said, “I too am a prophet like you. And an angel has told me in a message from the LORD, ‘Bring him back with you to your house so he can eat food and drink water.’ ” But he had lied to him. 19 So the prophet went back with him. He ate food in his house and he drank water.
(NET) The motives and actions of the old prophet are difficult to understand. The old man’s response to the prophet’s death (see vv. 26–32) suggests he did not trick him with malicious intent. The old prophet probably wanted the honor of entertaining such a celebrity, or perhaps simply desired some social interaction with a fellow prophet.
(NAC) Sadly, like Jeroboam (cf. 1 Kgs 12:28) the man of God has listened to bad counsel rather than heeding a direct word of God
13:20 While they were sitting at the table, the LORD’s message came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 So he cried out to the prophet who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD has said, ‘You have rebelled against the LORD’s instruction and have not obeyed the command the LORD your God gave you. 22 You went back. You ate food. And you drank water in the place of which he had said to you, “Eat no food. Drink no water.” Therefore your corpse will not be buried in your ancestral tomb.’ ”
The LORD’s message came to the old prophet and said, "You have rebelled against the LORD’s instruction and have not obeyed the command the LORD your God gave you." That was a direct confrontation to the old prophet's own lie. Perhaps that's why God chose to spoke through the old prophet himself to confront him.
Reflection:
(1) Rehoboam listened to bad advice, but he himself also did not have good judgment. He lost the kingdom both David and Solomon had well established. Do we ever have the wrong judgment and suffer loss?
(2) On one hand, we need to be careful about what advice to hear. On the other hand, be careful to give advice to others.
The results of listening to wrong advice may cause the sins of the whole nation, the consequence of the death of one's own family and the death of the ourselves. What bad advice have we listened to and led to serious consequences?
The consequence of making wrong advice will be the confrontation coming from the LORD. What bad advice have we given to other people? Have God ever confronted you with that?
(3) Jeroboam feared that the people might return back to the king of Judah because he did not believe that God had given him the northern kingdom. Do we do similar things? Are we afraid because of lack of faith in God?
Audrey
Comments