Tag Archives: Jeroboam

2 Chronicles 13-14

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2 Chronicles 13-14

Chapter 13: The Lord Kills Jeroboam

In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. He reigned three years in Jerusalem. A war broke out between Abijah and Jeroboam. Abijah had four hundred thousand choice warriors. Jeroboam also formed eight hundred thousand choice men of valor, to go up into battle against one another.

Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is the mountains of Ephraim and he said to Jeroboam and all of Israel;

“Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord. And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him. And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.” (2 Chronicles 13: 5-12)

Abijah argued that the dynasty of David is the only legitimate house to rule over the tribes of Israel, including the 10 northern tribes that rebelled under Jeroboam. King Abijah essentially threatens the king and challenges him to fight against the Lord, because that is who they were really fighting against and not against Abijah and his small army.

Jeroboam, however was not going to listen he caused an ambush to happen from both sides of Abijah and his men. Something that was not very honorable since the battle had yet to begin and negotiations were still being considered. So Abijah and his men, upon seeing this ambush dropped to the ground and sounded their trumpets to the heavens crying out to the Lord for deliverance.

The Lord listened to their cry and caused that Jeroboam and his men be struck down, giving Abijah and his men the ability to slay 500,000 thousand of his men, with only 400,000 men on the side of Abijah. Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took many cities from him.

Jeroboam did not recover his strength again, and he later died. Abijah on the other hand grew mighty, had fourteen wives, 22 sons and 16 daughters. The rest of his acts are written in the book of the prophet of Iddo. Yet another lost book of the bible!

Chapter 14: Asa Reigns in Judah

Abijah passes away and is buried in the City of David. Asa, his son reigns in his place and for 10 years of his reign there is peace and quiet in the land. Asa did what was good in the eyes of the Lord and he removed altars of the foreign gods and the temples with whom others had built. Asa commands Judah to seek the Lord and to observe the law and his commandments. Asa builds fortified cities in Judah and he had no wars, because the Lord had given them rest.
Asa tells Judah the importance of building cities with great walls around them, with towers, gates and bars while the land is still under their control, to avoid having it taken back from them. Because of this, they built and prospered. Asa also worked on the army and had three hundred thousand men from Judah, who carried shields, and spears. Benjamin also has two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields, and drew bows who were very mighty men of valor.
Not too much time goes by when Zerah the Ethiopian comes out against them with an army of a million me and three hundred chariots. They came to Mareshah. So Asa fought against them, in a battle at the Valley of Zephathah in Mareshah. Asa cried out to the Lord God asking for his help, so that they might rest. Asa praised the Lord.
The Lord heard the cries and struck down the Ethiopians before Asa and all of Judah. The Ethiopaians fled. Asa and his people pursued them to Gerar, where the Ethiopians were overthrown. They were beaten down to the point of no recovery. Asa and his people were able to return victorious and with lots of spoil.

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2 Chronicles 11-12

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2 Chronicles 11-12

Chapter 11: Jeroboam does wickedly

When Rehoboam comes to Jerusalem, he assembled from the house of Judah and Benjamin; one hundred and eighty thousand (180,000) warriors. This was the time of Jeroboam’s rebellion against the house of David. Rehoboam would keep the kingdom united, even if he had to do it by force. He was ready for a war against any of the Tribes of Israel that wanted to secede, but God spoke through a prophet in order to stop him. It was convincing enough, because Jeroboam decided to listen to the words of God spoken through Shemaiah, who was a man of God.

Rehoboam stayed in Jerusalem and made sure to build cities of defense in Judah, Bethlehem, Tekoa, Beth Zur, Sochoh, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. He fortified strongholds and put captains to watch over stores of food, oil and wine. He put shields and spears; making them very strong.

From all the territories; the priests and the Levites who were in Israel came out and took their stand with him. Jeroboam and his sons had been rejected from serving as priests of the Lord and therefore were now appointed as priests in the high places for the demons, and the calf idols. With this, they were able to strengthen the kingdom of Judah, but only because of the godly men and women who had migrated there. The kingdom was strong for 3 years because they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

Rehoboam took for himself as a wife; Mahalath and she bore him children: Jeush, Shamariah, and Zaham. Rehoboam also took for himself eighteen wives and sixty concubines. Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maachah as chief to be leader among his brothers. He dispersed his sons throughout all the territories of Judah and Benjamin in order to keep them from forming an alliance to overthrow Abijah, who would be the likely successor to the throne.

Chapter 12: Rehoboam forsakes the Lord

After Rehoboam had established his kingdom with strength, he completely forsook the law of the Lord and all of Israel along with him. He grew independent of God, instead of becoming more dependent on him. Essentially he looked to his own strength and wisdom, instead of humbling himself before the Lord.

In the fifth year of the reign of the King of Rehoboam, Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem and because they had transgressed against the Lord, the Lord held his hand back and let the king of Egypt, Lubim, Sukkim and the Ethiopians take the fortified cities of Judah and Jerusalem. Shishak (known in Egyptian history as Sheshonk I), was the founder of the 22nd Dynasty and one of the most energetic Pharaohs. His campaigns include a list of documented cities of Palestine that he conquered which stands to this day, carved into the walls of the temple of Amon at Karnak.

Shemaiah, the prophet comes to Rehoboam and relays a message from God; “…Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.” (2 Chronicles 12:5). Shemaiah was the same prophet who discouraged Rehoboam from attacking the 10 tribes of Israel that rejected the leadership and ultimately formed the northern kingdom of Israel (see: 2 Chronicles 11:1-4).

Because of this invasion, the leaders and King of Israel humbled themselves and said; “…The Lord is righteous.” (2 Chronicles 12:6). After the Lord had seen them humble themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah saying; “…They had humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries” (2 Chronicles 12:7-8).

So, Shishak comes to Jerusalem and takes away all of the treasures of the house of the Lord and treasures of the King’s house. He also took away the gold shields, which Solomon had made. After the useless gold shields were taken to Egypt, Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place. This is an example of the fall; from gold to bronze in less than 5 years!

Thus Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah. And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. The acts of Rehoboam, first and last, were written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer. Again, the Lost Books of the Bible. And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. So Rehoboam rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. Then Abijah his son reigned in his place.

2 Kings 13-14

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2 Kings 13-14

Chapter 13: Jehoahaz Reigns in Wickedness

In the 23rd year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, his reign lasted 17 years. While Jehoahaz reigned in did so in wickedness. Because of this wickedness, the Lord was angry and caused that all of Israel fell into the hands of Hazael the king of Syria. Jehoahaz  hearkened unto the Lord and because of this the Lord caused a savior to arise among the Israelites and lead them out from underneath the Syrians. Because of their past wickedness Jehoahaz was left with a very small army of men.

Jehoahaz dies and is buried with his fathers. Elisha falls sick and is on his death bed. Joash comes to visit him and cries over him. Elisha tells him to grab a bow and some arrows and point to the window and tells Joash to shoot out the window, and he does. Elisha tells him that the arrow he shot symbolizes the deliverance of the Lord and that he would have victory over the Syrians. So Elisha tells him to shoot into the ground some more… so Joash shoots three times and then stops, but before Elisha dies he tells him that he should have shot 6 or more times, because that is how many times he would have victory over the Syrians.

One of the more bizarre things of the Bible happens in verse 21, where they lower another dead man into Elisha’s tomb and when the man touches the bones of Elisha he revives and stands up! The verse does not give any more details, and the reader is left to wonder why Elisha’s bones would make some re-live? Maybe it is to honor this great prophet?

Hazael, the king of Syria oppresses Israel… but the Lord was gracious unto them because of the covenant that He had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and would not destroy them. Hazael the king of Syria died and his son, Ben-hadad reigned in his place.

Chapter 14: Jeroboam Reigns in Wickedness

In the second year of the reign of Joash, reined Amaziah in Judah. Amaziah was only 25 years old when he began to reign and he reigned for a total of 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan.

Amaziah did what was right in the sight of the Lord. Once, however he came to power he slew the servants who had killed his father. But he did not kill the children of the murderers. The reason he did not do this, is because it was written in the “Book of the Law of Moses” that

“…The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” (2 Kings 14:6)

There are a few things that I can say about this…

First; “The book of the Law of Moses” could very well be referring to one of the five books of Moses that we know of today as the first 5 books of the Bible. However, more likely than not this verse is referring to a book that we do not know about currently TODAY. The Bible is not complete, because there were at least 10 times as many books that should have or could have been part of the Bible and 10 times is a LOW number. We know that the Bible is not complete, because the Bible refers often to books that DO NOT EXIST today. So we must accept that the Bible (while very important book, and I personally believe to be the WORD of God) is not a complete WORD of God, but not doubt words from God.

Second; it mentions that we are not responsible for the sin of our parents. So if we are to assume that Adam and Eve are our first parents (which all human life according to the Bible stems from) then why would we be held accountable for their sin? What exactly am I talking about? I am talking about the “Original Sin”. I know that there might be other religions that believe in this, but I know for a fact that the Catholic Church does believe this. Now, I am not going to tell anyone how to worship… we are all free and we all were given agency to do as we please. I believe that everyone has a right to worship God in any way that they see fit. However, I do not understand why a baby (whose life has just begun) could possibly be a sinner!  This is why babies are baptized. But in my personal opinion it is a great abomination before the Lord. We are not responsible for our parent’s sins… so why are we being held accountable for something that Adam and Eve did? We must be baptized when we gain faith in Jesus Christ and want to change our lives to follow him… which means we have to repent of our sins. How can a baby possibly repent? A baby cannot. Therefore should not be baptized. This is a doctrine that is unique to the LDS church (the Mormons) that a person should not be baptized until the age of accountability (which we know, through modern revelation is 8 years old.)

Amaziah with his new found power as king goes and kills ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and took Sela and renamed is Joktheel. Amaziah with his cocky winning streak decided to send a letter to Jehoash the king of Israel and told him to battle against him. But Jehoash writes back and tells Amaziah to glory in his victory, but to stay home and not come up to battle against him, because he would essentially destroy him. But Amaziah does not listen and goes to battle anyways… and just like Jehoash said, Judah was defeated and the men ran back to their tents. As a result of their defeat the king of Israel takes Amaziah as prisoner and also takes all his gold and silver along with the gold and silver of the treasuries of God. He had lost not only personal belongings, but that which also belonged to the children of the Lord.

Jehoash dies and his sons Jeroboam reigns in his place. Amaziah lived for 15 more years after the death of Jehoash before he too passed away. The people arise and form a conspiracy against Jehoash and end up killing him and burying him in the City of David and put Azariah the son of Amaziah in charge.

Jeroboam the second, the son of Joash became king in Samaria and reigned for 41 years. But did so wickedly. Jeroboam recaptured many parts of Israel. He died and his son Zechariah reigned in his place.

 

1 Kings 13-14

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1 Kings 13-14

Chapter 13: Jeroboam is healed by a Prophet from Judah

A man of God came out of Judah to see Jeroboam and to prophesy of the evil that the altar of the false gods would bring, by saying; “…O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.” (1 Kings 13:2).This is an important prophesy that would be fulfilled some 400 years later in 2 Kings 23:15 that the kingdom of Israel would be broken up, mainly because of the sin that they were lead into, by Jeroboam. Jeroboam was outraged and raised his hand pointing at the anonymous man of God and called for his arrest, but when he tried to pull his hand back to himself and out of the outstretched motion, his hand turned to dust. The altar that was there with them, also split in half. This should have shown Jeroboam or anyone else for that matter of the dangers that idolatry can bring.

Jeroboam calls out to the man of God and asks him to ask God for the restoration of his hand, which God through the man of God was able to restore completely. Jeroboam invites the man of God back to his house and offers to give him a reward, but the man refuses. An old prophet of Bethel finds out about this man of God and rides up after him, hoping to catch him. They meet him sitting under a tree and ask him to come back home and eat with them, but the man refuses. So the old prophet tells him that an angel had instructed him to catch up with him and invite him back to his house (this was a lie), but the man of God comes back with the old prophet.

While sitting at the table, the prophet who had lied receives a revelation from God, that basically tells the man of God that he will be cursed for having disobeyed the commandment he had been given, by going back to eat with the old prophet.

The man of God leaves and on his journeys, he is met by a lion on the road and is killed. The Lion then stands over the corpse, while a donkey and some other men on the roadway also stop to look over the corpse. Obviously this was something from God, because the Lion did not attack the Donkey or any of the other passerby’s.

The old prophet comes down to the city to mourn and to bury the man of God. He laid the man’s body in his own grave, he then commands that when he dies, his body is to be buried right next to the man of God.

Despite all that has happened, Jeroboam still continues in his ways.

Chapter 14: Prophecy of Ahijah and Jeroboam

Abijah, the son of Jeroboam becomes sick and Jeroboam sends his wife on a mission to go to Shiloh and speak with Ahijah the prophet to get help in healing his son. So, Jeroboam’s wife goes to see Ahijah, and Ahijah hears of the concerns and matters troubling Jeroboam and his house. Ahijah delivers a message from God, by declaring that God is upset; Jeroboam has done more evil than the entire leader before him! God declares a disaster upon his house and his people, destroying them all.

Jeroboam dies and Rehoboam who is ruling over Judah also dies. Shishak, the king of Egypt comes up against Jerusalem and takes away the treasures of the house of the Lord, taking everything including gold shields that Solomon had made. Nadab reigns in the place of Jeroboam and Abijam reigns in the place of Rehoboam.

It is interesting that this chapter (along with many other chapters) includes references to books that do not exist in the Bible or anywhere else for that matter. Verses; 19 and 29.

These books are rumored to be the official records that are no longer in existence that were the source books used by the authors of the Bible, to bring all of the stories together.