1 Kings 14 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 1 Kings 14:1-20

At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, ² and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so you won’t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there—the one who told me I would be king over this people. ³ Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” ⁴ So Jeroboam’s wife did what he said and went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh.

Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age. ⁵ But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else.”

⁶ So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense? I have been sent to you with bad news. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. ⁸ I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. ⁹ You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me.

¹⁰ “‘Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free.^[a] I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone. ¹¹ Dogs will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country. The Lord has spoken!’

¹² “As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die. ¹³ All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the Lord, the God of Israel, has found anything good.

¹⁴ “The Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. Even now this is beginning to happen.^[b] 15 And the Lord will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused the Lord’s anger by making Asherah poles.^[c] 16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. ¹⁸ They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the Lord had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.

¹⁹ The other events of Jeroboam’s reign, his wars and how he ruled, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. ²⁰ He reigned for twenty-two years and then rested with his ancestors. And Nadab his son succeeded him as king.

A. Find Out

1. What did Jeroboam tell his wife to do and why? v.1-3
2. How was Ahijah prepared? v.4-6
3. What was the 1^st part of his message? v.7-9
4. What was going to happen to Jeroboam’s family? v.10-14
5. What was going to happen to Israel and why? v.15-16
6. What followed? v.17-20

B. Think:

1. How does Jeroboam have a half-hearted respect for the Lord?
2. What was the overall message coming from the Lord?
3. What could Jeroboam still have done at that time?

C. Comment:

Unbelievers are content to be unbelievers as long as things are going well. Such was Jeroboam. Then his son is taken seriously ill so he sends to the prophet to seek clarity. The prophet is warned by the Lord that Jeroboam’s wife is coming, and tells him what to say.

The message of the Lord is clear and unequivocal. There are four parts to this comprehensive message.

Part 1 tells off Jeroboam for not having been faithful to God.

Part 2 is God’s judgement on him because of that. The previous word had said that God would bless his family if he was faithful. He wasn’t so the blessing would not continue and, indeed, it would mean that no one from his family would continue, so the reign over Israel would be taken away. Judgement will soon come to destroy this family.

Part 3 is a further consequence in line with the judgement of Part 2 – the son will not recover. In fact he will die as soon as she returns.

Part 4 is a long-term condemnation of Israel. Jeroboam has led them astray, but they have allowed themselves to be led astray – they are willing participants. Yes, there will be future kings but the end of Israel will be destruction because they have ceased to live as the covenant people of God. Observe though, that if Jeroboam genuinely repented at this point, he, his family, and possibly Israel could have been saved. Repentance always stays the hand of the Lord.

D. Application:

1. Do we only seek the Lord when things go wrong?
2. God will not turn a blind eye to ongoing sin.