Category Archives: People of the Bible

The Places of Rehoboam and Jeroboam

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The Places of Rehoboam and Jeroboam

Israel and Judah

Shechem – (see the post The Tribes of Israel and Shechem) Why or if Rehoboam choose this place for his coronation is not mentioned in Scriptures but its history links it to Jacob (Genesis 34). It is also important in the start of the nation with Joshua because this is where the “Blessings and Curses” were recited (Deuteronomy 27:12 and Joshua 8:30). Shechem was also a city of refuge where people could find sanctuary if they were accused of murder and had not yet been tried (Numbers 35:9). It was also in Manasseh so for Rehoboam to pick this city would have had major unifying step to start his reign. But his poor judgment in accepting bad advice divided the kingdom. This is where Judah was elevated over his three older brothers and where his descendent split the nation of Israel.

Peniel or Penuel– This is the second city that Jeroboam “built up” or fortified in 1 Kings 12:25. The name means “face of God” and it is first mentioned with Jacob and his wrestling matching with the angel (Genesis 32: 30). This is when he was renamed Israel and met his brother the next day. The landmark that is mentioned is the Jabbok River on the east side of the Jordan in the Land of Gad. The area is also part of the story of Gideon and the city was punished for not helping him in a time of need. The Reader’s Digest Atlas of the Bible adds a twist to the why this city question. It is near the King’s Highway trade route and they hypothesize it was to control the trade (money). It is also in the Valley of Succoth and is more or less in a line with Shechem so it would form the southern boundary of the new nation. I can’t help but think that Jeroboam son of Nebat was still making a connection to Israel’s past and identifying with Jacob thus furthering his gods of gold as legitimate.

Shiloh – The name means tranquil. It was the first meeting place for the Israelites (Joshua 18) and is where the Ark of the Covenant was housed before the Temple was built so it was the major place of worship (Judges 18 and 1 Samuel 1). The prophet Ahijah lived there and this is where the wife of Jeroboam came to seek answers about her sick son (1 Kings 14). But this place was rejected by God because of Israel’s unfaithfulness and was desolate by the time of Jeremiah (chapter 26).

Bethel – The name means House of God and this is the place where Jacob saw the staircase to Heaven and God spoke with him (Genesis 12). It was part of the circuit that Samuel traveled when he judged Israel (1 Samuel 7). Jeroboam probably picked this because of how close it was to Jerusalem, was in the land belonging to Benjamin, and the connection to Jacob. The sin was so bad that in the prophet Amos’ day Bethel was condemned. FYI – The problem started with the first Jeroboam and Amos’ prophecies came during the second Jeroboam’s reign, Jeroboam son of Jehoash (2 Kings 14: 21).

Dan – (see the post Dan) The city and the tribe was considered the northern most part of Israel. So the saying from Dan to Beersheba meant from the north to the south. This area started wrong and never stopped. From Joshua 19:47 we see that they did not take control of their inheritance but instead went to Laish or Leshem. They killed everyone and set up their own priest and ignored God’s order of priest (Judges18: 30). Their priests were from Moses’ family not from Aaron’s. Note – this really is what Jeroboam son of Nebat did maybe that is why Dan is “lost” on so many of the Family List, they simply rejected what God had for them and did things their own way.

Egypt – The land of false gods and slavery, an enemy that did not quit until Babylon destroyed them. Yet almost without exception (Jonah is the only one I can think of) Israelites run back to Egypt. I know it is a spiritual picture of what not to do and of the sin we are to leave behind us. Jeroboam is a good example; Shishak gave him a place to hide but history indicates that when he invade Judah he kept going and subjected the Northern Kingdom also. The lesson here is RUN TO GOD NOT YOUR PAST.

Jerusalem/City of David – This is a name-dropper situation. Saying the City of David just made everything “look” better.

Built-up towns -2 Chronicles 11:6 -10.   Reader’s Digest Atlas of the Bible helps make sense of why these towns were picked by Rehoboam. This blocked the mountain passes from the south (Egypt) and set a defensive perimeter to the east and west of Judah. Looking at these marked off on a map this was a well thought out course of action the only place really not defended was to the north.

Map from:  http://www.bible-history.com/maps/israel_judah_kings.html 

The Prophets of Rehoboam and Jeroboam

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The Prophets of Rehoboam and Jeroboam

Ahijah of Shiloh – The story of Jeroboam son of Nebat really starts and ends with Ahijah. (There are several Ahijah’s in the Bible the name means worshipper of [God] Jah). In 1 Kings 11 Jeroboam hears what he wants to form this aging prophet, that he will be king, and ignores the reason why he is getting it. So it would be safe to say that the counsel he gets in 1 Kings 12:28 is not from Ahijah because he does exactly what Solomon did to anger God. But like many before him when he is in need and it is something important he knows to seek God. So in 1 Kings 14 when Jeroboam sends his wife to Ahijah he is acknowledging the God he has forsaken. (He could not go himself because of pride and fear of his priest.) God proclaims an end to his family through this old prophet who still believes in God. Ahijah may have been the prophet who spoke against Solomon in 1 Kings 11:9 (see 2 Chronicles 9:29).

Man of God from Judah – was not a prophet, priest, apostle, pastor, or teacher just a MAN. He got a Word from God, now we are not told how or from whom but he knew what he had to do and was serious about doing. I normally would have added my own adjective to this man but nowhere is he called anything else, including the final mention of this tale in 2 Kings 23:19, but a man of God (this term is usually associated with a prophet). He spoke against the altar and predicted what would happen in 2 Kings, he prayed for Jeroboam’s hand and even refused a meal and a gift. The mistake he made was to STOP (vs. 14). Who knows, possible he was the next prophet that would have been used to call Judah/Israel to repentance instead he symbolizes Judah and their stopping.

Old Prophet of Bethel – had not moved with God and was jealous. This character I like the least, feel sorry for the most, and never want to become. (He could be the lukewarm ones in the Book of Revelations 3: 16.) If he had gotten the word about the altar he did not act on it and he had not left his old way and moved to Judah like many others had done (2 Chronicles 11: 13 – 17).   He recognized the move of God and instead of helping the “man of God” finish his mission he condemned him to death. Jehovah even gave him a chance to repent; he could have gone with the man instead of grabbing a final moment of glory. His final wish to be buried with the man of God was so his bones would not be burned in 2 Kings 23.

Shemaiah Prophet/Man of God – This Shemaiah is found in 1Kings 12 and 2 Chronicles 11 and 12 (there are 24 other people with that name in the Bible). Like many prophets, he is there when needed and is directed to one person, Rehoboam. He must have been known before this because just to walk up to a mad king bent on conquest and say, “Go home” and everyone listens to you speaks to a high level of credibility. In chapter 12:5 when he delivers the good news/bad news to Judah about Shishak king of Egypt; it is also received and seems to bring a change in Rehoboam. With that, this Shemaiah fades from history having done his job. His name means Jah (God) has heard which is why I am sure there were so many people with that name.

Iddo the Seer – In 1 Samuel 9:9 it is explained that a seer was an old name for a prophet. This Iddo is mentioned three times in the Bible (there are five others) in 2 Chronicles 9:29, 12:15, and 13:22. (His name means timely.) He had visions about Jeroboam, recorded genealogies, and wrote about the reign of Abijah son of Rehoboam. He saw the struggles of Judah through the reigns of Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah. We can hope that he was a voice God used to speak righteousness to his people and priest during confusing times.

Rehoboam

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Rehoboam has had a lot of adjectives used to describe him and most of them are negative. This early case of affluenza (can’t believe I used that word) however is a clear case of genetics and learned behaviors. His legendary bad judgment is detailed in 1 Kings 12 and 2 Chronicles 10. He did listen to the man of God in 1 Kings 12:22 and so the word against Solomon in chapter 11 was accomplished. In 2 Chronicles 12: 12 – 14 the greatness of the Lord and His love for His people and the base problem of Rehoboam are shown. His heart was “not set” on seeking God but the Lord still saw some good in Judah, as shown by Rehoboam humbling himself. So the confusion created by Solomon is seen in his son – the Lord and other gods.

Kings – God Warned Them

Deuteronomy 17: 14-20 is God’s warning to the Israelites about kings and what they will do to their kingdoms. 1 Samuel 8 the warning is repeated and expanded as the people reject God’s rule and want to be like the world around them. Solomon did a good job in breaking most of the rules and Rehoboam just followed what his father modeled for him. If David did not break them he was stepping real close to the “line.” It is not recorded if any of the kings ever wrote their own copy of the law as it is written in Deuteronomy 17: 18.

“My little finger is thicker than my father’s wrist.” You wonder how many times Rehoboam rethought that statement? But that attitude took over forty years to develop and the apparent change started in Solomon’s rule. 1 Kings 4:20 and 9:22 paint a picture of valued countrymen living happily under the “early Solomon.” So you wonder what happened to get the complaint in 1 Kings 12:4 of a “heavy yoke” with “harsh labor.” The “rights” of the king warned about apparently had crept in and found a home in the family of Solomon. An example of worldly influence and affluenza (used it again) is seen in the gold shields of Solomon. The officer’s of Hadadezer of Damascus had gold shields that David took after conquering him (2 Samuel 8:7). We don’t know if David ever had his officers use them or had them made for his men. 1 Kings 10:16 details the practice carrying on under Solomon and the amount of gold used and where they were kept. It must have been a show when He went anywhere with his men sparking in the daylight with those expensive mirrors. Rehoboam also used them until Shishak of Egypt took them in 1 Kings 14:25. However not to stop the show he had bronze shields made in there place.

Genetics – Physical and Spiritual

“He acted wisely” (2 Chronicles 11:22) does herald the wisdom of Solomon that Rehoboam used when it came to his children and how he built up Judah. Rehoboam had the ability to be a good king and displayed it at times. Judah and Benjamin did thrive under his rule as shown by the increase in fighting men during his seventeen years as king; in 2 Chronicles 11:1 there were 180,000 men as compared to 400,000 when his son Abijah confronted Jeroboam in 13:3.

Spiritually God was still honoring David during Rehoboam’s life. Rehoboam did listen to Shemaiah and he apparently kept the burnt offerings and the Aaronic priesthood intact and working so as to honor God (2 Chronicles 13:10). Jeroboam’s treatment of the priests and Levites did exactly what he did not want to happen, Rehoboam was strengthened. In 11:17 it says this happened for three years but by the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign he felt comfortable to go the way of Solomon and bring in all kinds of evil into Judah (1 Kings 14:22). God allowed Shishak king of Egypt (Sheshonk I, Shoshenq I, Susac, or Shishaq frequently found spellings) to conquer Judah and some of the literature suggest that he subdued Northern Israel and Jeroboam also (so much for fleeing to Egypt). 2 Chronicles 12 explains all of this and the leaders realized they were wrong and God was just in what happened.

Rehoboam seemed to be keeping the pattern of behavior that was started in Judges: prosper while honoring God, forget God and suffer, honor God again.

Rehoboam, David, and Politics

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The study of Rehoboam has gone places I could not have seen when I started. Rehoboam and His Mom pushed this study back to David and his relations with the countries around Israel. I think it would be fair to say that David’s foreign policies were complicated. In 1 Samuel 22 David, the outlaw hides his parents with the king of Moab. Yet in 2 Samuel 8 Moab is defeated and David took care of business. In 8:12 a list of peoples he subdued is listed and the Ammonites are among them. In 2 Samuel 10: 2 David was going to “show kindness” to the Ammonites because Nahash their king had always been kind to him. The new King insults the delegation so Joab and the army is sent to settle the matter. This is the time period when David has Uriah the Hittite killed (by the Ammonites) and takes Bathsheba as a wife. It is ironic that Solomon is married to Naamah an Ammonite. David took care of problems not grudges. Jewish tradition holds Naamah was Nahash’s granddaughter. There is also a tradition that says Moabite and Ammonite women were not the problem in Deuteronomy 23:3 only the men that is why Ruth and Naamah could be included in David’s family tree. The story goes that it came as a revelation from Samuel the prophet (Jewish Encyclopedia). (See Rehoboam and Ammonites)

David had problems. Surrounding countries were attacking Israel, the Ziphites and others would have handed him over to King Saul, and he had to go hide with the enemy that did not trust him. His handling of Amnon and Tamar, Absalom, and Adonijah could also be labeled as bad but in one thing he stands out – he is known as a man after God’s heart.

So how would David be treated today?     Palace Picketed or Helped

Rehoboam and His Mom

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In the post Rehoboam and Ammonites I drew what should have been logical conclusions about Naamah, Rehoboam’s mother. They were based on what I had read about the Ammonites and their interactions with Israel though out Scripture. There is an addition to that story (I am embarrassed to say I should have read more/deeper.) At least I get to correct this; so I had better start at the beginning.

2 Chronicles 9:30 – Solomon reigned forty years over all of Israel in Jerusalem. In 2 Chronicles 12:13 are time markers about Rehoboam’s reign that says he was forty-one years old when he started to rule. Do the math and it is easy to see that Rehoboam was born before Solomon became king. That means that David had approved/gotten Solomon an Ammonite wife. You always think that Pharaoh’s daughter (1 Kings 3) was his first wife but he married her after he became king.

David’s “Mighty Men” and his officials did have Ammonites and people from the surrounding countries. Was Naamah the daughter of a friend of his (Zelek the Ammonite – 2 Samuel 23:37)? We are not told much about her other than she was an Ammonite and her name means “pleasant.” She may have been Solomon’s very first wife and Rehoboam could have been his first-born son! That may have been why he was made king.

How does all of this mesh with the first post? I have no idea! God has “concealed the matter” and I just get to think about it. Naamah is now a bigger mystery than before.

Lessons learned: 1. Be careful where you step that shoe maybe in your mouth soon. 2. God will have mercy on whom He pleases. 3. He has hide this matter, He allowed this matter, there is a BIG lesson here (just wish I could see it).