1 Kings 14

What an opportunity Jeroboam squandered! He was given a kingdom and the promise of an enduring dynasty; all he had to do was to walk in God’s ways (1 Kings 11:37–38). We look back at him and think, “How foolish he was!”

And yet how many people today are equally foolish! We too have been promised a kingdom and an enduring dynasty"ETERNALLIFE. And the conditions for obtaining these blessings are the same as they were in Jeroboam’s day: faith in God and obedience to Him. For us, it is even easier than it was for Jeroboam: God has come down to us in the person of Jesus Christ and has offered to take our hand and lead us personally into these blessings. May we not be foolish like Jeroboam and reject God’s offer.

Rehoboam King of Judah (14:21–31)

(2 Chronicles 12:9–16)

21–24 In this section the writer summarizes the seventeenyear reign of Rehoboam son of Solomon.⁷⁰ The writer has already introduced us to Rehoboam in connection with the rebellion of the ten northern tribes (see 1 Kings 12:1–24). Rehoboam was the son of one of Solomon’s foreign wives (verse 21).

During most of Rehoboam’s reign, the people of Judah behaved almost as badly as the people of Israel (the ten northern tribes). They engaged in the detestable practices of the Canaanites (see Exodus 23:24; 34:13–14). They set up high places—pagan shrines and altars—on every high hill; there were even shrine prostitutes at these places⁷¹ (verses 23–24).

According to 2 Chronicles 11:13–17, for the first three years of Rehoboam’s reign the people of Judah did not engage in these pagan practices; after that, however, the people began to turn from the Lord (2 Chronicles 12:1).

25–28 As a result of the sins of Judah’s people, God used the Egyptian king, Shishak, to punish them⁷² (verse 25). He plundered the treasures stored in the temple and the royal palace, including the gold shields Solomon had made (1 Kings 10:1617). According to 2 Chronicles 12:5–8, the people of Judah humbled themselves before the Lord during Shishak’s invasion, and as a result, the Lord saved them from total destruction.

29–31 In verse 29, the writer mentions another of his sources, the annals of the kings of Judah (see verse 19). He notes that there was continual warfare between Judah and Israel during the reigns of Rehoboam and Jeroboam (verse 30).