Study Desk

I pray that the Lord our God will always remember this prayer and what I have asked. I pray that he will do these things for his servant, the king, and for his people, Israel. I pray that he will do this every day.

If he will do these things, all the people of the world will know that the Lord is the only true God.

You people must be loyal and true to the Lord our God. You must always follow and obey all of his laws and commands. You must continue to obey in the future as you do now."

People will say, ‘This happened because they left the Lord their God. He brought their ancestors out of Egypt, but they decided to follow other gods. They worshiped and served those gods. That is why the Lord caused all these bad things to happen to them.'"

Praise the Lord your God! He was pleased to make you king of Israel. Because of the Lord 's unending love for Israel, he has made you king to rule with justice and fairness."

People everywhere wanted to see King Solomon and listen to the great wisdom that God had given him.

He had 700 wives who were the daughters of leaders from other nations. He also had 300 slave women who were like wives to him. His wives caused him to turn away from God.

Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of Sidon, and Milcom, the horrible god of the Ammonites.

So Solomon did not remain faithful to the Lord , the God of Israel, even though God had appeared to him twice. The Lord became angry with him.

God also raised up another man to become one of Solomon's enemies. This man was Rezon, son of Eliada. Rezon ran away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah.

Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces of this coat for yourself because the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘I will tear the kingdom away from Solomon, and I will give you ten of the tribes.

I will take the kingdom from Solomon because he stopped following me and began worshiping Ashtoreth, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. Solomon stopped following my ways and doing what I say is right. He does not obey my laws and commands as his father David did.

But God spoke to a prophet named Shemaiah. He said,

The Lord commanded a man of God from Judah to go to the city of Bethel. King Jeroboam was standing at the altar offering incense when the man of God arrived.

The Lord had commanded the man of God to speak against the altar. He said, "Altar, the Lord says to you: ‘David's family will have a son. His name will be Josiah. The priests of the high places are now burning incense on you, but Josiah will offer the priests on you and burn human bones on you, so you can never be used again!'"

The man of God gave proof to the people that this would happen. He said, "This is the proof that the Lord told me about. He said, ‘This altar will break apart, and the ashes on it will fall onto the ground.'"

When King Jeroboam heard the message from the man of God about the altar in Bethel, he took his hand off the altar and pointed at the man. He said, "Arrest that man!" But when the king said this, his arm became paralyzed. He could not move it.

Then the altar broke into pieces, and all its ashes fell onto the ground. This proved that what the man of God had said came from the Lord .

Then King Jeroboam said to the man of God, "Please pray to the Lord your God for me. Ask him to heal my arm." So the man of God prayed to the Lord , and the king's arm was healed, as it was before.

Then the king said to the man of God, "Please come home with me. Come and eat with me. I will give you a gift."