Bible Food Day 32 - Second Chronicles

Good day and welcome to Bible Food.

We are going to pick up our reading in 2 Chronicles today starting at chapter eight; and we'll end in chapter twenty-three.  Let's get our eyes on and read the the Word of God.

2nd Chronicles chapter 8

Solomon is ordering the kingdom and he is still keeping the ways written by Moses, the servant of God.

¹³Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

2 Chronicles 9

 ¹And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

We remember this story in 1st Kings chapter 10; people of the world sought after God in these days and to hear that a man in Israel had all the answers; quite naturally everyone will come up and prove he had them or get some good wisdom from that person, concerning the Lord.  

That person was Solomon; and I have to reemphasize that Sheba came up asking hard questions; not simple stuff like what day is the Sabbath day, or how many are in the Godhead; but hard questions like what is the Lord doing with this creation?

She was very impressed from his wisdom to how orderly his kingdom was and how everyone was happy that worked for his.  She gave great monetary gifts; that is another thing wisdom can get you.

¹²And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.
 ¹³Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

Just a quick sign in verses13; the amount of gold that came in one year was six hundred, sixty, and six, or 666!

¹⁹And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.
²²And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
 ²³And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart. 

Solomon's kingdom was rich and beautified with gold; great ivory overlaid with gold.  And his kingdom is nothing compared to what Jesus will have in the 1,000 years he reigns.  If you have much knowledge and wisdom, you will be sought after by not just the "regular joes;" but the great men of the world.
Solomon reigned 40 years in Jerusalem and died and his son Rehoboam took over in his place.

2 Chronicles 10

We get a recap of the story of Rehoboam and his failed wisdom to seek counsel from the elders but instead with his childhood boys; and although it was from God; it got the kingdom stripped from him (1Kings 12).

¹⁶And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them,... What good is it to not listen to the citizens of your country and to their needs?  Business owners can take heed from this and work on customer satisfaction.  The result for Rehoboam was the other tribes wanting nothing to do with the son of David (¹⁹And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.).

2nd Chronicles 11

Here Rehoboam does like children do; when you can talk it out it leads to fighting it out, even if it was caused by you.  So he prepares to bring Israel back together by war.  However the Lord sends Shemaiah, the man of God, and tells him this split of the kingdom is from the Lord for the sin of Solomon.  And the smartest thing Rehoboam does is listen to Shemaiah and backs off.

Now initially, all tribes left Judah alone; but Benjamin being neighbors stayed with Judah and then the priest or Levites returned because Jeroboam (the king over the 10 tribes), hired anyone to be priest to the Lord and many devils took the office; so the Levites returned since they had no inheritance among the people.  No inheritance and no job means a bunch of hungry priest so they returned.

¹⁴For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the LORD:
 ¹⁵And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.

With the Levites returning to Judah, they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.  Just three years huh...
Just like his daddy, Rehoboam loved the women.  ²¹And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)  He had 18 wives; and pretty much slept with 60 other women called concubines, which gave him 28 sons and 60 daughters.  Gees Luis...

One thing Rehoboam did do is take care of all the women he had in abundance and took care of his children wisely and in abundance as well.

 ²³And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.

2 Chronicles 12

With much success, the grandson of David began to leave the law of God and do his own thing.  We much watch when our riches are increased that we do not forget the Lord our God at all.  As Rehoboam began to forsake God, much trouble came on him and his kingdom.  Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians rose up against him, and he probably never laid it to heart that he needed to patch things up with God.

And I know the prophets let him know why he was having so much trouble; because he forsook the Lord.  And when they were told, they humbled themselves and the LORD saw it, so the Lord had Shemaiah tell them He will not destroy them, but will grant them some deliverance; and His wrath will not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

 ⁸Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

The Lord will still punish you and if you can deal with the punishment, you are blessed.  The Lord made them serve Egypt; and he will make you serve someone else if you refuse to serve Him.  Think about it?

Rehoboam did evil in the sight of God and his son Abijah took over after Rehoboam died after 17 years of ruling in Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 13

 ¹Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.

Abijah confronts Jeroboam about breaking off from the house of David and while speaking Jeroboam's 800,000 army ambushes Abijah's 400,000 army.  However, the Lord was with Judah and they slew 500,000 of Jeroboam's army and defeated them.  Jeroboam never recovered strength against Judah in Abijah's days.

²¹But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.
On the personal side of things Abijah was just like his fathers; many wives and many children.

2 Chronicles 14

Asa then took over and he had peace ten years in the land and did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.
⁴And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.

2 Chronicles 15

 ¹And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:
 ²And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
 ³Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
 ⁴But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
 ⁵And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.

This chapter is one of my favorite chapters in the entire bible because it makes a HUGE statement in the first five verses.  The Spirit of the God came on Azariah, and he went out to meet with the king, king Asa telling them if you seek God; you will find him; if you forsake Him; He will leave you too.  
In the days of Asa; Israel had been without the true God.  What does this mean?  They were dealing with paganism, and things that don't pertain to God.  Why were they like that?  Because they did not have a teaching priest and that meant they were without the law of God.  

That is what a priest does; teaches the law and the ways of God to the people.  So if they have a priest or preacher who just motivates them or tell them what they want to hear; he is not a teaching priest that is teaching the law.  And look at the results of that; no peace in the streets, killings, robbing, wars, and other grave atrocities because no one is keeping the laws of God.  
Sounds familiar today doesn't it?  No mention of the commandments in public places (for a country built on religious freedom (USA)), preachers preach we don't have to keep the law, Jesus has done it, and on and on.  So we have the chaos we have in the world because we lack teaching priest.

Hearing this prophesy from Azariah made Asa do even more to keep the ways of the Lord and he prospered.  He didn't have a war in his 40 years of reigning until the 35 year.  That is some major peace.

2 Chronicles 16

 ¹In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

Now in the 36th year; Baasha the king of Samaria came up against him and Asa called on Syria to help him instead of calling on the Lord to help him.  We must remember where our help comes from.  Yeah; God may send Syria to help you but it's better for you to acknowledge God and have Him send someone to you than for you to ignore God and seek help on your own.

⁷And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.
⁹For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
 ¹⁰Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.

The seer came and spoke with Asa about relying on men and not God and Asa got upset with the seer, who told him he'd have wars, and threw him in jail.  We cannot get mad at the truth; instead we should be mad at our foolishness and accept our consequences.

¹²And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.

Asa caught a disease in his feet and it became a harsh ailment but through it all he did not seek the Lord for healing; but went to the trusted medical doctors.  As I mentioned earlier; we should seek GOD and have him sent the best physician to you.

2 Chronicles 17

 ¹And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel.
³And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;

Jehoshaphat was a great king in Judah; he loved the Lord and made sure to walk in the Lord's ways.  He was a nice man, meek in some of his dealings with Ahab; but he was diligent about the Lord and always sought counsel of the Lord first (as David did).

⁷Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to Benhail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah.
⁹And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.

Look at this; imagine of Barak Obama or any king over a nation sent trained teaching priest and prophets to teach all citizens the book of the law (the bible) throughout all the cities.  Imagine telling folks to simply keep Exodus 20 the commandments and teaching them why.  That would be a nice country to live in.

Because of this, the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.  This is what the Lord will do for you if you simply keep His ways and seek Him.

2 Chronicles 18

 ¹Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab.
⁴And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.

Now we had this story in 1 Kings chapter 22 about the lying spirit that went to Ahab's prophets to get Ahab to go to war and be killed.  Ahab persuaded Jehoshaphat to go with him and it nearly got him killed.  I think the Lord spared him because of his good works.

²¹And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so.

The events account is the same as in 1st Kings chapter 22; so you can read it in that post.  However, we do see that prophets can be lying even when it is 400 to 1.  If 400 men say the Sabbath is Sunday and 1 says it's the 7th days of the week (known as Saturday); go with what the Bible says regardless of how many side on Sunday.

Micaiah was the prophet that spoke the vision and he was punched in the face and thrown in jail for telling what he saw from God.    ²⁸So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.  Nevertheless, they went up and Ahab was killed even when he attempted to set Jehoshaphat up, the Lord still had him killed.   

2 Chronicles 19

 ¹And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.
 ²And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.

This is why I think Jehoshaphat was meek and nice, thinking his niceness will turn people over to the ways of God.  Because why would you be brotherly to someone who hates the Lord.  Ahab wanted nothing to do with God's ways, he'd get sad when bad news came on him and humble himself; but he'd go right back to his ways.

We aren't to go to bat or war with people who are consciously not committed to serving God.  You can hang with them, attempt to show them the ways of the Lord; but if they come and ask you for help with a situation, I'd be cautious.
  
 ³Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.
 ⁴And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.

Because Jehoshaphat did good things the Lord spared his life and the good of his kingdom.  Let your good outweigh your bad and your foolishness.  Jehoshaphat continued to put men of God in offices to rule and judge the people faithfully with the fear of the Lord.

2 Chronicles 20

 ¹It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

Let's see who the king called on for help with this war...

³And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

He turned to the Lord is swift prayer; and he threw every punch in there, even reminding the Lord that they are the seed of Abraham, God's friend.  ⁷Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
¹⁴Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
 ¹⁵And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

The Lord told them not to worry nor fear; this is His battle.  Insomuch as they would not need a single weapon; just instruments and some singers.  Jehoshaphat told the people something preachers need to mention more to their congregations today; "Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper."

So they come to the war with just singers and the Lord set up the children of Ammon & Moab (brothers) to fight against the children of Edom.  After they kilt off the Edomites; they began to fight against each other until no one was left but the children of Judah singing.

²⁴And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

No one escaped of these 3 countries that came up against Judah.  And Israel had spoil in abundance.  It took 3 days to take all the riches of spoil that was in the valley of the dead bodies.

2 Chronicles 21

 ¹Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.  He did evil; even killed his brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat and he walked in the ways of the kings of Samaria.

¹²And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
 ¹³But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself:
 ¹⁴Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:

Look who's back on the scene, Elijah sending letters.  See he hadn't died yet but was taken up in a whirlwind.  He was still doing his job in correcting wicked kings.  And he brought judgement on Jehoram for his evil.

¹⁵And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.
¹⁸And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

And later his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. 

 ²⁰Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

He reigned 8 years and died and no one felt sad for him.  He departed like George W. Bush departed out of office; without being desired.

2 Chronicles 22

 ¹And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.  

He also was like the kings of Samaria and was hanging out with Ahab's sons when Jehu, who the Lord commissioned and anointed to cut down Ahab's house, saw him and killed him along with Ahab's sons.  Jehoram died after reigning one year and his evil mother Athaliah attempted to take over his thrown.

¹⁰But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah.

However, one of the royal seed got away.  The infant Joash was taken away by Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah for six years.

2 Chronicles 23

After six years, Jehoiada the priest made ready to make Joash the king over Judah.  ¹¹Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.

Athaliah saw this and shouted treason and they caught her and killed her.  ¹⁶And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD's people.  Then they went back to serving the Lord. 

²¹And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.  It says in proverbs when the wicked are removed; the people rejoice (Proverbs 29 v2).  That is of course if there are righteous men in the land.

This concludes our reading today, I notice chronicles focuses more on the kings of Judah and are vague with the kings of Samaria as in the book of Kings; Judah was more vague than the descriptions of the kings of Samaria.  Thank you for reading; praise God in Jesus name.  Amen. 

--
Peace & Grace

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Bible Food 1 Kings - Day 25

Good day; it is sort of a mile stone; but we'll wait five more days before we call it that.

We will begin our reading today in 1 Kings chapter 8!

Since Solomon is building a Temple; all the Holy vessels and Ark of the Covenant had to be moved into the Temple and Solomon had the elders of the tribes and the priest come up to perform this.

¹⁰And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
 ¹¹So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.
 ¹²Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

As they put the Ark in the Most Holy place; the Lord come there in a thick cloud that practically runs the priest out.  The Lord keeps His Word all the time that He would dwell with them there.  Remember, they are doing this in the 7th month where there are important feast, feast of In-gathering or Tabernacles in which the Lord will return.

²²And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: Solomon is setting a prayer before the Lord now and it is an important prayer...

³⁰And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.  When you see people praying towards Jerusalem; this is what they are doing.  

They are attempting to get their prayer heard.  Solomon prayed for the Israelite home born and for the stranger, who will hear of the Lord's name and want to serve the Lord too.  If they pray towards Jerusalem; Solomon asked for the Lord to hear them too.

1 Kings 9

²That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.

The Lord let Solomon know that He has heard Solomon's prayer and He has hallowed this house, which Solomon hast built, to put the name of the Lord there for ever; and His eyes and His heart shall be there perpetually. However, if they do not keep the Lord's way then He will cut off Israel and make them a proverb and a byword among all people: as written in Deuteronomy 28.

1 Kings 10

 ¹And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.  The queen of Sheba, an Ethiopian queen heard of Solomon's wisdom concerning the name of the Lord, and she came up to ask his hard questions regarding God.  A lot of people think they had a romantic thing going on as well, however we haven't read that in the bible yet.

⁷Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

All that she heard about Solomon was true; and even more was left off in his knowledge of the Lord.  If the children of Israel had kept the Lord's way, every man was to have this knowledge of God and people would be coming up to ask how to be like them just as the kings and queens of the world were coming up to ask inquire of Solomon. 

You get gifts for being wise and knowledgeable.  The Lord added this to Solomon because he asked for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.  Great riches came with great understanding.  

¹⁰And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
¹⁴Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold, - that is a lot of money.  

Israel was rolling in Solomon's day.  He exceeded all the kings of the earth in wisdom and riches.  

²³So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.

1 Kings chapter 11

Many times with great riches and wealth, we tend to do things we shouldn't.  We tend to think we can handle things we really cannot.  Solomon loved many strange women.  David had many wives but he had Israelite wives.  

Solomon had more wives than David and took them of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites.  The Lord commanded that the kings should not do this because these women will turn your heart from him.

You have to believe the creator; I'm sure He knows His creation.  Nevertheless, Solomon loved these women; as he had 700 wives, 300 hundred concubines.  Over women, Solomon turned from the Lord.  ⁴For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

 ⁵For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
 ⁶And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.

The Lord appeared to Solomon twice, so God was extra displeased and angry with Solomon for his horrible acts in turned him from the Lord.  The wisest man in the world turned unwise and lacked understanding in his old age.  This is actually breaking the very first commandment.

⁹And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
 ¹⁰And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.

The Lord is now going to rip the kingdom from Solomon's son but because David kept the Lord's way, God will not rip the entire kingdom; He will leave the tribe of Judah.  Also, God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, and Hadad of Edom, and Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant to come against Solomon.  All because he wanted strange wives.

Solomon reigned in Jerusalem 40 years.  The Lord had mercy on him and hopefully he repented before he died; but he was certainly punished.

⁴³And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead. Rehoboam became the 4th king over Israel but not for long, and not even to call him the 4th king over Israel, but the 4th king over Judah because the kingdom was torn from him.

1 Kings 12

Now when Rehoboam took over, Jeroboam heard and came up out of Egypt and demanded Rehoboam lessen the taxes and the work that Solomon put on the people.  Rehoboam took three days to consult with his counselors.  
This is a lesson to young men in power, consult wisdom as well as youth and instincts.  The old men told him to listen to the people and rule forever, the young men told him to rule with an iron fist.  

He listened to the young men. And this is what the people had to say in response to that: ¹⁶So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.

When Rehoboam saw this; he wanted to fight against the tribes that left to follow Jeroboam; but the Lord sent a prophet to tell him not to; that this was from the Lord.  

²²But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
 ²³Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
 ²⁴Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD. 

The only smart thing is that Rehoboam listened to that prophet.  Jeroboam thought that during the feast days the people would go down to Jerusalem and return to the house of David.  Instead of consulting God; he made his own altar for people to keep the feast in Northern Israel.

²⁸Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
 ²⁹And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
 ³⁰And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

Jeroboam is causing the people to sin because of the lack of understanding he has in the Word of God.  He never consulted a Levite or a prophet of the Lord on what he should do.  In fact he hired anyone to be priest in place of the Levite; sin on sin, folly on top of folly.  He also changed the Lord's feast from the 7th month to the 8th month.

In first Kings chapter 13; a man of God came up and spoke against the altar that Jeroboam made.  Jeroboam tried to seize the man; but his hand dried up and he had to beg the man of God to have God restore his hand.  Now the man of God was given instructions to go prophesy, eat no food, drink no water, and leave.

He did that with the king; but when another prophet heard a man of God was in town and lied and had him stay, eat, and drink.  Then the Lord spoke to the false prophet to tell the man of God that he will be destroyed for not obeying.  When he left; a lion met him on the way and killed him and the lion did not eat him nor his donkey, it just set next to him.
  
²⁶And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.


Because of disobedience to the Lord destruction happens to men.

1st Kings 14

Jeroboam's son Abijah fell sick and Jeroboam knowing that he is wicked still wanted to inquire at the Lord so he sent his wife disguised as another woman to the prophet Ahijah.  The Lord prepped Ahijah of her and told him what to tell her.  

He told her that Jeroboam's kingdom is going to fall; and no man will be buried properly in graves of the house of Jeroboam.  Also that the sick child will die, and will be the only to be buried properly because the Lord has found some good in him.

But good is he to the Lord if he is dead.  Why wouldn't the Lord kidnap him and send him to another family?  He is no good dead.  If he will be of some good to the Lord; that means he has to live, that is what we call the resurrection.  All this calamity on Jeroboam's house because of his sin that he brought into Israel.  

¹⁶And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
²⁰And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.


Jeroboam was the first king over Samaria or the 10 tribes; and Nadab his son took over after him.  On the south side of the kingdom, Judah, Rehoboam is doing evil, the people are serving paganism and in chaos.  Just a years after David and the good portion of Solomon, now the kingdom is going down into the dumps.

 ²⁴And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

Pagan worship was being done, even sodomites were being permitted in the land, all those things the Lord threw the Philistines and Canaanites out for.  Egypt came in there and took gold out of the temple, and he had war with Jeroboam all their days.

³¹And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

This does not sound peaceful at all.  Abijam, Rehoboam's son took over as the second king over Judah after the split.

1 Kings 15

Eighteen years into the reign of Jeroboam in Samaria, Abijam, Rehoboam's son began his reign in Judah, and he only reigned three years.  He did not do what was good in the sight of God.  ⁸And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
⁸And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.

Then in the 20th year of Jeroboam's reign, Asa took over reigning in Judah.  He reigned 41 years in Jerusalem doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  Some example of what was right in the eyes of God included:  ¹²And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

If it is good to take way homosexuality out of the land and to remove paganism in that day, and God does not change; then it speaks for itself in this day.  Asa even removed his mom from being queen because she made a idol god to worship.  Who has the gall to do that today?

²⁴And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.  Asa died and Jehoshaphat took over being the 4th king to reign over Judah after the split of Israel.

Nadab, Jeroboam's son, took over in the second year of Asa's reign, only reigning two years.  Usually when it's that brief, they were doing evil in the Lord's sight as was his case.  He reigned briefly because Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and killed him.  Thus, Baasha became the 3rd king over Samaria or the ten tribes.

Baasha did this according the Word of the Lord: 

²⁹And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:
 ³⁰Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger. ³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.
 ³⁴And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.

Thus far, no king in Samaria have done any good in the sight of God.

1 Kings 16

Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, because he wasn't obeying the ways of the Lord.  The Lord would keep sending men to knock off disobedient kings.  ⁶So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah: and Elah his son reigned in his stead.  Elah became the 4th king over Samaria after the split of the nation.

⁸In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years.  In the 26th year of Asa's reign did Elah take over and his reign on top was short lived.  His worker Zimri plotted against him and kill him while he was drinking himself drunk; and Zimri took over in the 27th year of Asa's reign in Judah.

This was what prophesied by the Lord through Jehu: ¹¹And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends.

 ¹²Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet. ¹³For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.

The Lord destroyed them because of their vanities... reading about the kings in Samaria and some in Judah is like a TV show with all the drama.  TNT's "we know drama" don't know it like the old Israelites did.  When Zimri killed Baasha and took over, he did so for about seven days, then the people heard they about it and revolted against Zimri and they went and made Omri king over them.

So Omri and the people came up to Tirzah where Zimri was to kill him and when Zimri saw it he set the house on fire with him in it and he died.  We have just had Zimri the 5th king over Samaria and now Omri the 6th. 

Notice none of these men are being anointed by priest from God?  I noticed it; that is why they are having no peace.  A man wants to raise up, he raises up and takes over.  This is what Moses had to fight off when he was leading the people.

²³In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah.  But Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD, even did worse than all that were before him.  When Omri died, Ahab took over in the 38th year of Asa's reign.  Asa has seen at least 4 kings in Samaria reign and die while he stayed constant because he did the works of the Lord.

Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years; doing evil in the sight of the Lord (when we do evil, the Lord sees it too) more than before him.  With each king, it just gets worse and worse.

On top of all this, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.
We see how Israel began this slippery slope downward from the great days of David and Solomon.  It really starts with Solomon going after strange women that made the Lord split the nation in two; but the sin came in with Jeroboam and his setting up of false gods, replacing the Levite priest, and all other abominations.

Jesus said once that a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  A little sin corrupts the entire nation; and we see that clearly in todays reading; but we'll see more tomorrow.  Thanks for reading see you then.


-- Peace & Grace

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