Judgment on Jeroboam

GOLDEN TEXT: “Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day.” —Deuteronomy 8:11

I KINGS 14:5-10, 12-16

TODAY’S lesson reveals the tragic results of not properly heeding the “ifs” which God attaches to his promises. God had assured Jeroboam that “if” he was faithful in keeping his commandments and obeying his statutes he would build him “a sure house,” even as he had done for David. (I Kings 11:38) But Jeroboam was not faithful to the Lord. Instead, he established idol worship among the ten tribes with the result that God withdrew his favor from him. The Prophet Ahijah sent word to the king, through Jeroboam’s wife, saying that the Lord “shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.”—vs. 16

This lesson reveals a lack of faith in God and in his overruling providences in the affairs of Israel. This is seen in Jeroboam’s instructions to his wife that she should conceal her identity when visiting the Lord’s prophet to inquire concerning their son. Ahijah was now blind, and Jeroboam thought it would be an easy matter to deceive him. He should have known that nothing could be concealed from the true and living God of Israel whom Ahijah served.

By the same token, if Jeroboam had possessed a living faith in Jehovah, Israel’s God, he would not have resorted to the expediency of setting up idol worship in an effort to prevent those under his rulership from visiting Jerusalem where they might be weaned away from his authority. Faith would have convinced him that God was able to build him a “sure [ruling] house,” and that he did not need to resort to any such forbidden measures to maintain his authority over the ten tribes.

It is highly important in our study of the Bible to realize that God reserves to himself the right to withhold promised blessings from individuals or nations when they fail to measure up to the conditions attached to his promises. The Prophet Jeremiah was given a wonderful lesson along this line when the Lord told him to go to the house of the potter, and observe how the potter worked. The account of this is found in Jeremiah 18:1-10. Jeremiah did as instructed. Relating what he saw, he wrote concerning the potter, “The vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” Continuing, Jeremiah wrote:

“Then the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.”

God had used Jeremiah to forecast calamities that were coming upon Israel because of the nation’s sins. In this lesson of the potter, the Lord indicated that it was not too late for Israel to repent and escape the fulfillment of these prophecies of destruction and captivity. On the other hand, the nation was not to suppose that it was safe from trouble simply because they were God’s chosen people to whom so many wonderful promises of good had been made.

This, of course, was many centuries after God’s rejection of Jeroboam, after having made such a wonderful promise to him. But it clearly illustrates the principle involved, emphasizing the “ifs” that are attached to most of God’s promises. But there are exceptions. One of these is summed up in the well-known phrase “the sure mercies of David.”—Isa. 55:3; Acts 13:34

Despite David’s weaknesses, God loved him dearly, and promised to “establish his throne forever.” God also said, “I will not take my mercy away from him.” (I Chron. 17:12,13) The full meaning of this promise was that the Messiah, the “King of kings,” would come through the Davidic line. No future acts of individuals could change this. Jesus, who finally inherited the promise, was cut off with none to declare his generation. This could have destroyed the covenant, but God raised him from the dead, to guarantee “the sure mercies of David.”—Acts 13:34

QUESTIONS

What was necessary on the part of Jeroboam in order for the Lord to build him a “sure house”?

What is one of the principles in God’s dealings with his people which is important to recognize in our study of the Bible? How was this principle illustrated for the Prophet Jeremiah?

What unalterable covenant of God is described in the Bible as “the sure mercies of David,” and what miracle did God perform in order to carry out this covenant?

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