1 Kings Chapters 12-14
King Jeroboam
The Christian life in some
ways is like one of those drawings where you color inside the lines.
A) God has a plan for our lives – He loves us – He is
painting a picture - Masterpiece
B) He gives us the Choice to add some of the color
some of the depth / some of the detail
C) But he has created the picture! – Our Job is to
stay within the lines –
D) That is what we call trust – trusting God is a
Master artist and – He Knows Best
1) Has our best interest at heart – Does what is best
for us.
Now here is the thing: God
gives us the Choice to draw outside the lines
A) We can make a completely different picture if we
want to { add lines – add scenes
B) We can turn his masterpiece into a trash heap.
1) Know this: Whenever you alter the Lord’s art work –
you only ruin it!
2) You never ever – ever
improve upon it.
C) Like taking your crayons to a Rembrandt
Well tonight we are
considering the Story of King Jeroboam –
A) Boy did the Lord have a Masterpiece in mind for him
– Talking DYNASTY {not the Soap opera
B) Dynasty for the Northern Kingdom of
1) All Jeroboam needed to do was to color inside the
lines – Walk in obedience and Spiritually Loyalty
C) But unfortunately he didn’t do that – Instead of
Dynasty – he ends up with a Horrific Soap opera
Solomon’s Sin – Kingdom would be Divided
A) David’s sake 2 tribes remain –
B) 10 Tribes – North –
Incredible Promise: Enduring house!
DYNASTY
Requirement: Walk in my ways and do what is right in
my sight.
Solomon was out to get
Jeroboam – Fled to Egypt
A) After Solomon’s death – his Son Rehoboam takes the
throne – Jeroboam returns –
B) Leads a contingency to ask – How are you going to
treat us? – Bad – Revolt –
1) Northern tribes make
him there King
C) Prophecy is fulfilled
– Blessings are in Store
1) Potential long lasting Dynasty - All he has to do
is walk in the ways of the Lord and do what is right!
What will He do? – RD Ch.12 v.25-33
A) SAID IN HIS HEART
B) Calves as idols or symbols of the Lord?
1) Either way the result was the same – v.30 Became
sin – because people began to worship
C) Jeroboam was afraid he would lose people if they
went to
1) So he decided to combat that by creating a whole
new worship experience –
Jeroboam turned to the wrong
advisors and established a new religion built around 4 innovations
1) He changed the object of worship – 2 golden calves
A) There is something inside of man that is hates the
mystery that of God!
B) Forever – Man has tried to make images of God.
C) Reason: Don’t like the
mystery- Don’t like that there is a part of Him that is unexplainable.
Rom 11:33
33 Oh, the
depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable
(inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)! And how
untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)!
D) Rejoice: That God is bigger than your imagination –
and comprehension
2) He changed the
place of worship: Dan & Bethel
A) Motivation: Make it convenient for people – Easy
religion always caters to the Flesh
B)
C) Ignores something good about the Journey
Prov 8:17
“I love those who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will
find me.”
Heb 11:6
“But without faith it is impossible to
please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
C) Time for Heart Prep
–
1) Men’s retreat – getting away!
D) Big push today: Make
Church more convenient – more comfortable
1) Shorter services –
2) Coffee and Donuts
3) No need for Bibles
E) Losing sense of the heart Prep and time commitment
– get there for worship
1) Prepare my heart
2) Steady my mind
3) He changed the one who
served in worship.
A) God established a Priesthood – set apart for
service – Special tribe = Levites
B) No longer the Priest – in fact 2 Chronicles 11 he
excluded the priest.
C) He defied the law of God – by suggesting anyone
could do that.
Now in the NT – We are a
Royal Priesthood – but you still have to be a set apart vessel {Proven no
novice
A) True God can use any of us –But he looks for
vessels of honor.
4) He changed the
calendar of worship.
A) V.33 He instituted a festival in the 8th
month, month of his choosing.
B) This involved moving the
Feast of tabernacles from its divinely intended location in the 7th
month
C) This change seemed to be for no other reason than
to make Jeroboam’s religion distinctive.
D) There are groups out there that are seeking to
change Church – for no other reason than this
1) Want to make a Distinctive
E) Appeal to people’s longing for something new
God Condemns Jeroboam’s altar! Ch.13
v.1 And
behold, a man of God went from
A) V.1 Of Chapter 13 introduces us to a very important
phrase in the
B) That Phrase appears 7 times in this chapter
1) Lesson: Man might do what He wants – but God’s word
is going to prevail!
RD V.2-6
C) God sent an unnamed Prophet – a man of God from
D) He spoke the word of God to Jeroboam as He stood by
his altar to make an offering.
Here is what is interesting
is that the Prophet ignores the king – and speaks directly to the Altar
A) This symbol of counterfeit religion.
B) Prophecy of Josiah
C) Sign Split in two
D) Jeroboam hand withered
RD V.6-10
So this Prophet delivers his word and goes on his way:
If his story ended there – Great story – unfortunately it doesn’t RD V.11- 19
The man of God from
· The
prophet from
· The prophet
from
· The prophet from
· The
prophet from
· The prophet from
· The
prophet from
But No matter how natural and seductive this
enticement was, it was the duty of the man of God to resist it.
He had a word from God to
guide his actions, and should receive no other word accept through
dramatic and direct confirmation by God's Spirit.
A) His failure at this point ended his
usefulness as a man of God.
B) NO other Gospel – Accursed
– even an angel
1) Mormons -
"God never
contradicts Himself in His dealings with His servants. Let us be true to His
commands, refusing to be deflected from the path of obedience, even by an angel
from heaven." (Morgan)
RD V.20-22
This prophet from
A) Now he received a true prophecy while the man of God from
B) God promised great judgment against
the man of God from
C) This was a hard test, but he failed it.
1) He should have kept the commandment which the Lord commanded, no matter how subtle and innocent
the temptation was to disobey.
D) God judged the man of God
from
It would seem that they were guilty of worse sins
(leading national idolatry and a deliberate lying prophecy), yet the man of God
received worse judgment.
To not be buried w/ fathers was considered a curse!
James 3:1 “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing
that we shall receive a stricter judgment.”
RD V.23-32
Lesson: God’s spokesman might fail – But God’s word
will not!
Just because you were obedient in one area means that
you can disobey in another
A) Easy
trap to Rationalize
Jeroboam refuses to
Result – Doesn’t heed warning – Judgment comes
Ch.14 V.1-3
Jeroboam did not tell his
wife to pray for their son, or to ask the prophet to pray.
A_ He wanted to use Ahijah
the prophet as a fortune teller more than seeking him as a man of God.
V.4 And Jeroboam's wife did
so; she arose and went to
He was blind – He eyes were
closed but his ears were open
A) Although he was blind physically – He was tuned in
Spiritually.
B) Discernment: Tuned in Spiritually!
RD V. 5-16
Ahijah
the Prophet announced that Jeroboam had provoked God to anger – because of his
idolatry
A) Because of his unrepentance
B) Ahijah announced divine judgment upon Jeroboam that
would take three forms
1) Jeroboam’s sin would
destroy his legacy!
C) God had promised him a dynasty as enduring as the
one He built for David.
1) That promised would be
based upon the condition that Jeroboam’s obedience and spiritual loyalty
D) The condition had not been met – so instead of a
dynasty there would be Disaster!
1) Disaster for Jeroboam and for every last male in
his lineage
E) Every human trace of Jeroboam would be removed from
the nation
1) Jeroboam’s family would
become like a pile of Dung
F) They would die violent deaths in disgrace and would be unburied and
unlamented.
Application:
Sin can destroy a legacy and all hope of
promise!
2) Jeroboam’s sin would
devastate his family.
A) His son would not recover. –
B) When she stepped foot in the city the boy was going
to die.
1) I imagine
she walked very slowly home
C) Her only consolation is his death would be different from the rest of
the family he would be mourned.
Application:
Sin causes pain to those who
are the closest to us.
3) Jeroboam’s sin would damage his
nation.
A) The end of Jeroboam’s dynasty would not mark the
end of his nation.
B) God was going to raise up a new king
C) But the sins of Jeroboam introduced two certainties
into the history of this nation.
1) Instability and exile
D) Instability would be a permanent characteristic of
these northern Kingdoms
There would be 19 kings that
would reign in the 210 yr history of the northern Kingdom
A) However – The reign of those kings would be marked
by assignations and overthrows
B) The nation would eventually go into exile in 722 BC
Application:
Sin can have a far greater impact than we have ever
imagined.
RD V.17-20
Listen: In looking at these
kings – many of their stories are those of failure –
A) Jeroboam – Failure to not trust God – took matters
into his own hands –
B) Result: Drew outside the Lines – mess
C) Here is the thing – God in his grace would warn
D) He does that with us.