Jeroboam was the first king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He was the one who spearheaded the rebellion against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, and became king when the 10 northern tribes chose to not have anything to do with David’s line anymore. Jeroboam was not merely infamous for this rebellion but more so for his setting up the two golden calf idols in Dan and Ber-sheeba. Jeroboam would be marked for this sin and be the litmus test for every king of Israel until the conquest of Assyria that scattered these ten tribes from then till today.
Jeroboam was a valiant man in Solomon’s army. Though Solomon never had to face any battles, Jeroboam was a clear leader in Solomon’s ranks. As with most of the kings of Israel, we don’t know how old they were when they became king, and the same is true with Jeroboam. So it is harder to understand the backstory than with Judah’s kings. But we do know he ruled for 22 years, starting within one year of Rehoboam’s coronation. So, what drove Jeroboam to become the king he became? What influenced his decisions and set him up? Let’s explore the history.
As mentioned above, Jeroboam was a valiant man. He was a warrior and courageous. He was one of Solomon’s best soldiers. And being in that position, he would have known Rehoboam quite well. Rehoboam lived 2/3 of his life as the chief prince for 40 years before ruling for only 17 years. Jeroboam was seen as young while in Solomon’s army and, Scripturally speaking, this is often given to someone age 30 or younger. He looked the part and had the people’s following.
But then Solomon turned to idolatry. It was in this stage where God confronted Solomon and told him he would lose his kingdom in his son’s lifetime. Solomon heard that a prophet, Ahijah, had anointed Jeroboam to be king and sought this young man’s life. Again, we don’t know when the idolatry took place in Solomon’s reign exactly, but it is safe to say it was at least in the latter half of his reign. Jeroboam had to flee to Egypt for his life where he stayed until Solomon died.
I suspect that Egypt plays an important role here. Solomon focused his attention on the daughter of Pharaoh, enough to spend more time building his and her palaces than he spent building the Temple. Egypt and Israel had a strong relationship. I don’t know if Solomon ever pursued Jeroboam or knew where he went, but the relationship between Egypt and Israel would play a role in how quickly Jeroboam would hear about Solomon’s death. As he was someone who would have known Rehoboam, he would have made a good candidate for the elders of the ten tribes to be the head and spokesman to Rehoboam for the decision to stay or leave the leadership of David’s family.
But Egypt played another role. What were the idols that Jeroboam built? What shape or image did he use? Calves. He built two golden calves and all in the name of convenience. This should remind us of a deadly decision made about 500 years earlier at Mt Sinai when Israel convinced Aaron to make a golden calf to worship. And both Aaron and Jeroboam made the same statement: that this golden calf was the “God who brought us out of Egypt.” They both declared that such a grotesque image was a visible image of the Lord God Almighty. And both events came out of a coming out of Egypt. In making these idols and setting up the religion, Jeroboam either removed or chased out the Levites, all under the fear that going to Jerusalem to worship under the Law of Moses would cost him the kingship. Let’s not forget that Jeroboam was given the exact same promises of a kingship that David had, except he would not get the promise of a line to carry the Savior. He would have a strong lasting dynasty if he stayed obedient to the Lord. But he went to follow idols just as his peer Rehoboam and his former master Solomon did.
Jeroboam was confronted by an unnamed prophet, attempted to curse him, and his hand withered on the spot. After asking for prayer to be healed, Jeroboam went his way, knowing he was cursed and his line would not survive. He even had the audacity to try to send his wife to Ahijah the prophet to see if his sick son would survive. In his mercy, God was going to take the son’s life because there was good in him and so he would not experience the annihilation of Jeroboam’s line. And in the end of it all, Jeroboam would be the litmus test for all the kings of Israel.
So what can we learn from Jeroboam? You can get more details of his reign in Katie Erickson’s post about him. One thing I noticed is that Jeroboam is never seen to seek the Lord other than in the case of his sick son. God went to him, but he never responded in kind. He never pursued the Lord with his heart. God gave him the opportunity that only David was given, to have a lasting dynasty for following the Lord. But for fear of losing it, he turned to idolatry, to making a mimic and a counterfeit of genuine faith. He was religious, but he let the influence of Egypt and the idolatry of Solomon to make him think that such idolatry was acceptable. This was all in the fear of man.
Jeroboam was not a spiritually healthy man. God knew this when he selected him, but God was going to tear the kingdom apart for good and Jeroboam was the right man for the job. God did not regret choosing Jeroboam in the same way he regretted making Saul king (note that God does not make any mistakes; he simply was grieved over Saul). Just because a man looks the part, that does not make him someone you should be following. We know this from Saul, but the same applies to Jeroboam. He challenged a corrupt king and created a national split. People still do this today where if they do not get their way, they will create a church split. We must be aware of attitudes like Jeroboam. Not only are they rebellious, but they are also idolaters, and the only destination they can lead towards is death. Stay away from such people.
Next week, we will look at Abijah son of Rehoboam and his short reign.
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