As I asked the Lord to guide my reading today this is what I got. I FIRST NOTICED THIS
CHART FROM MY BIBLE.
There is something to learn from this play of Israel’s Division and Captivity. I did not realize
that (it did not sink in) that the solid good years of Israel as an established nation were only
112 years.
After that the Kings' Rebellion are charted above. Then God said enough and let His
people become captive so that they would turn fully back to Him. Our leaders are
rejecting our fore-fathers wisdom and relying on those who think similar to them in guidance
in leadership.
These are the things I gleaned. Our nation's lazy self-serving ways and our greed have
brought us to this place and it is of God (that we have to go through hard times now) to turn
around. Rehoboam was now King over Judah and Jeroboam over Israel. Both were Evil.
1 Kings 12:1-14:1
12:1 The Revolt Against Rehoboam)
Decisions were made how to rule and Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make
him king. 2 So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in Egypt, for he had fled from
the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt),3 that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam
and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
4 "Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of
your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."
5 So he said to them, "Depart for three days, then come back to me." And the people departed.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said,
"How do you advise me to answer these people?"
7 And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to these people today, and
serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your
servants forever."
8 But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up
with him, who stood before him. 9 And he said to them, "What advice do you give? How should we answer this
people who have spoken to me, saying, 'Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?" 10 Then the young men
who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you,
saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us' -- thus you shall say to them: 'My little
finger shall be thicker than my father's waist! 11 And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on
you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!'"
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam (King of Judah) the third day, as the king had directed,
saying, "Come back to me the third day."13 Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the advice
which the elders had given him;14 and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My
father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise
you with scourges!"
THIS PART HIT ME STRONG IN PARALLEL TO US-
15 So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from the LORD, that He might fulfill
His word, which the LORD had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 16 Now when
all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:"What share have we in
David?We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.To your tents, O Israel!Now, see to your own house, O David!"
So Israel departed to their tents. 17 But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of
Judah.
18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones,
and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been
in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 20 Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam
had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There
was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
21 And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin,
one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he
might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man
of God, saying, 23 "Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin,
and to the rest of the people, saying,24'Thus says the LORD: "You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren
the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me."" Therefore they obeyed the
word of the LORD, and turned back, according to the word of the LORD.
Jeroboam's Gold Calves - Israel’s King
25Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and
built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: 27 If these
people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back
to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah."
28 Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go
up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!"29 And he set up one
in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the
one as far as Dan. 31 He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were
not of the sons of Levi.
It strikes me that the willingness to serve other God’s comes from laziness and convenience.
Just as in America. We are a nation that has come to serve the quickest easiest way of doing
everything. Innovation is one thing, forsaking our values for it is another. We have forsaken
the wisdom of our forefathers and have served our own self interest negating responsibility
of those around us. I’m talking a nation of individual, not taking time to do things right, and
serving- pleasure, Seeking it above all things.
32 Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the Eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and
offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he
installed the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 So he made offerings on the altar which he had
made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the Eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart.
And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.
The following is a warning to us as we serve God to not be deceived by Satan. To trust God
and not man. It hit me that the judgment on this was similar to what God showed. Because of
disobedience the prophet of God was torn to pieces by a lion in wait for him. We must not be
persuaded by the enemy to follow other instructions, even if they claim to be speaking the
words of God. There will be many false prophets in our time.
1 Kings 13
The Message of the Man of God
1 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, and Jeroboam stood by the altar
to burn incense. 2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar! Thus says
the LORD: 'Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the
priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burned on you.'"3 And he gave a
sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the LORD has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the
ashes on it shall be poured out."
4 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in
Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, "Arrest him!" Then his hand, which he stretched out
toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. 5 The altar also was split apart, and the ashes
poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6 Then
the king answered and said to the man of God, "Please entreat the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me,
that my hand may be restored to me."
So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him, and became as before. 7 Then
the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward." 8 But
the man of God said to the king,"If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat
bread nor drink water in this place. 9 For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying,'You shall not
eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.'"10 So he went another way and did not return
by the way he came to Bethel.
Death of the Man of God
11 Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done
that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. 12 And their father said
to them, "Which way did he go?" For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah.
13 Then he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it,
14 and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, "Are you the man of
God who came from Judah?" And he said, "I am." 15 Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread."
16 And he said,"I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in
this place. 17 For I have been told by the word of the LORD, 'You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor
return by going the way you came.'"
18 He said to him, "I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying,
'Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'" (He was lying to him.) 19 So
he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.
20 Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought
him back;21 and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus says the LORD: 'Because
you have disobeyed the word of the LORD, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God
commanded you, 22 but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the LORD said to you,
"Eat no bread and drink no water," your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.'"
23 So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet
whom he had brought back. 24 When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse
was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. 25 And there, men passed
by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the
city where the old prophet dwelt.
26 Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, "It is the man of God who
was disobedient to the word of the LORD. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him
and killed him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke to him."27 And he spoke to his sons, saying,
"Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled it. 28 Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and
the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey. 29 And
the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet
came to the city to mourn, and to bury him. 30 Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over
him, saying, "Alas, my brother!"31 So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I
am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the
saying which he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines on the
high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass."
33 After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people
for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
34 And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the
earth.
God wants us to know HIS voice and to not follow any other. That comes by the word of God
and our relationship with God. It is important hold onto the truth. God Bless-Connie
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Dreams and Visions
God's Word Speaking to US in History - Israel and US parallels
March 23, 2010
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