Study Desk

Then he died and was buried in the city of David, his father. Then Solomon's son, Rehoboam, became the next king after him.

Jeroboam son of Nebat was still in Egypt where he had run away from Solomon. When he heard about Solomon's death, he returned to his city, Zeredah, in the hills of Ephraim. Rehoboam and all the Israelites went to Shechem to make him the king. The people said to Rehoboam,

But Rehoboam did not listen to the advice from the older men. He asked the young men who were his friends.

He did what his friends told him to do and said, "My father forced you to work hard, but I will make you work much harder! My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with whips that have sharp metal tips."

The Israelites saw that the new king refused to listen to them, so they said to him, "We are not part of David's family are we? We don't get any of Jesse's land, do we? So, people of Israel, let's go home and let David's son rule his own people!" So the Israelites went home.

A man named Adoniram was one of the men who directed the workers. King Rehoboam sent Adoniram to talk to the people, but the Israelites threw stones at him until he died. King Rehoboam ran to his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem.

Rehoboam went back to Jerusalem and gathered together an army of 180,000 men from the families of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. Rehoboam wanted to go fight against the Israelites and take back his kingdom.

So the king asked his advisors what to do. They gave him their advice, and King Jeroboam made two golden calves. He said to the people, "You don't have to go to Jerusalem to worship anymore. Israel, these are the gods that brought you out of Egypt."

So King Jeroboam chose his own time for a festival for the Israelites, the 15th day of the eighth month. And during that time he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the altar he had built at Bethel.

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!'"

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.

There was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons came and told him what the man of God did in Bethel and what he said to King Jeroboam.

The old prophet told his sons to saddle his donkey. They put the saddle on the donkey, and the prophet left.

On the way home, a lion attacked and killed the man of God. His body was lying on the road while the lion stood next to it. The donkey stood nearby.

Then the prophet told his sons to saddle his donkey, and they did so.

The old prophet put the body on his donkey and carried it back to the city to cry for him and bury him.

The old prophet buried the man in his own family grave. The old prophet cried for him and said, "Oh, my brother, I am sorry for you."

So the old prophet buried the body. Then he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in this same grave. Put my bones next to his.

This is the sin that caused the ruin and destruction of his kingdom.

Jeroboam said to his wife, "Go to Shiloh and see the prophet Ahijah. He is the one who said that I would become king of Israel. Dress yourself so that people will not know that you are my wife.