Kings – Northern Kingdom

NOTABLE KINGS OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM

When Solomon died in 730 b.c., his son Rehoboam succeeded him. The high taxes Solomon had imposed to support his vast building projects had placed great stress on his people. An agitator and ex-official named Jeroboam exploited this unrest, and the northern Hebrew tribes were ready to revolt. The men of the north informed Rehoboam that they would remain loyal only if he promised to reduce their taxes. The young king arrogantly informed his subjects that he would raise their taxes! At this the northern tribes did revolt and made Jeroboam king. Only the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, remained loyal to David’s line.

The northern Hebrew kingdom, called Israel, lasted from 930 to 722 b.c., when it was overrun by the Assyrians and its population was resettled. During Israel’s two centuries as a nation not a single godly king ruled in the north. The best known king of the northern kingdom, Ahab, has been discussed in the article on Elijah (see pages 87–90). Two other rulers, Jeroboam I and Jehu, give us an accurate impression of the character of the northern kings.

THE KINGS OF ISRAEL

JEROBOAM I

Scripture references:
1 Kings 11:26–14:20;
2 Chronicles 13

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JEROBOAM’S ROLE IN SCRIPTURE

After Rehoboam’s foolish first actions as king of the united Hebrew kingdom built by David and Solomon, Jeroboam was largely responsible for the establishment of the breakaway northern kingdom of Israel. Jeroboam was also responsible for setting the sinful course for the northern kingdom. The Bible frequently condemns the kings of Israel by saying that they followed “the way of” or committed the “sins of” Jeroboam (1 Kings 15:30; 16:2, 19, 26, 31; 2 Kings 3:3; 10:29). Jeroboam is a powerful example of a man who had a great opportunity but consciously abandoned God’s ways and by his choice condemned not only himself but future generations.

JEROBOAM’S LIFE AND TIMES

Jeroboam was an industrious and talented young man. Solomon recognized his ability and made him supervisor of the labor force engaged in all public works. When Solomon heard that the prophet Ahijah had predicted that Jeroboam would become ruler of ten of the twelve Hebrew tribes, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. After Solomon died, Jeroboam became the spokesman for the northern tribes, urging Solomon’s son Rehoboam to lighten the tax load Solomon had imposed. When Rehoboam arrogantly refused, the rebel tribes crowned Jeroboam.

The north possessed a larger population and controlled most of the land of the old united kingdom. Jeroboam immediately took steps to consolidate his power. But in a war with Judah in his eighteenth year, Jeroboam lost territory. Jeroboam died three years later.

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As Jeroboam dedicated the worship center he intended to replace God’s temple at Jerusalem, his arm was paralyzed when he attempted to kill the young prophet who condemned his action.

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EXPLORING JEROBOAM’S RELATIONSHIPS

The relationship that is key to understanding Jeroboam is his relationship with the Lord.

Jeroboam commissioned by God (1 Kings 11:26–40). Jeroboam was a responsible official in Solomon’s service when the prophet Ahijah announced that God would give Jeroboam ten of the twelve Hebrew tribes. God made Jeroboam a promise: “If you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you” (11:38). The Lord gave Jeroboam a tremendous opportunity he might easily have grasped.

Jeroboam’s choice (1 Kings 12:25–33). When Jeroboam became king of the ten northern tribes, he began to worry. The temple, where the Lord was to be worshiped, was in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the capital of the southern kingdom, Judah. Jeroboam did not want his citizens to go to Jerusalem to worship, as the Law stated that they must. Despite God’s promise Jeroboam was sure that religious unity would lead to political reunion.

So Jeroboam set up his own sect, a religious system that counterfeited elements of the law God had given to Moses. Jeroboam intended his people to worship Yahweh. But they would worship at shrines in Bethel and Dan, not in Jerusalem. Jeroboam erected golden calves in Bethel and Dan. The Lord was assumed to stand or be seated on these calves. Rather than keeping the religious festivals established in the law, Jeroboam implemented a religious calendar that “he had devised in his own heart” (12:33). Rather than have descendants of Aaron offer sacrifices, Jeroboam sold priesthood positions to anyone who could pay.

God’s response (1 Kings 13).God sent a prophet from Judah to confront Jeroboam on the day he dedicated the altar at Bethel. The prophet condemned what Jeroboam had done as sacrilege and predicted that a future king of Judah named Josiah would one day burn human bones on that altar, so polluting it that the site could never again be used for worship. As a sign that the prophet spoke in God’s name, the altar at Bethel shattered.

Rather than repent, Jeroboam ordered the young prophet killed. Only paralysis of the arm he lifted to point at the prophet stopped him. The prayer of the prophet restored the arm, but Jeroboam had made his choice. Jeroboam determined to go his own way rather than rely on the promise of the God who had given him his kingdom.

God helps Judah(2 Chron. 13:20). In Jeroboam’s eighteenth year, he went to war with Abijah, king of Judah. Jeroboam had 800,000 men, Abijah 400,000. But the young King Abijah challenged Jeroboam:

“Have you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands … But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties.… Now look, God Himself is … our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper” (13:9–12).

Jeroboam refused to listen to the young king. He relied on his numbers and on an ambush that surprised Judah’s forces. Despite Jeroboam’s strategic and numerical advantages, Abijah decisively defeated Jeroboam. He had abandoned God, and his destiny was sealed.

JEROBOAM: AN EXAMPLE FOR TODAY

Jeroboam was an energetic leader. God had promised to make him ruler of ten of the Hebrew tribes, and God had kept His promise. God had also promised that if Jeroboam was faithful to Him, Jeroboam’s kingdom would be established. But in a conflict between reason and faith, Jeroboam was unwilling to rely on God’s promises. It was reasonable to assume that if his people went to Jerusalem to worship, he would lose his throne. It was reasonable to invent his own national religion. When it came time to do battle with Judah, it was reasonable that the larger force would win, and reasonable that superior strategy and tactics would route the enemy. But in every choice, Jeroboam was wrong. So, what do we learn from Jeroboam?

•     Jeroboam reminds us that we are wise to trust God’s promises, and utterly foolish to discount them.

•     Jeroboam alerts us to the limitations of human reason. Yes, we are to be reasonable in making decisions. However, we need to remember that to submit our reason to God and to walk always in His ways is truly reasonable.

•     Jeroboam demonstrates the impact one person’s choices can have on others. Jeroboam’s sins corrupted generations of Israelites. No telling how our own sinful choices may affect the lives of those we love. How much better to do what is right and trust God to bless.

AHAB

Scripture references:
1 Kings 16–18; 20–22;
2 Chronicles 18

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AHAB’S ROLE IN SCRIPTURE

Ahab and his queen, Jezebel, aggressively promoted the worship of Baal-Melqart in an attempt to replace worship of the Lord in the northern Hebrew kingdom, Israel. The prophet Elijah thwarted Ahab’s efforts by demonstrating decisively that the Lord is God and turning the populace back to Him (see Elijah, page 87). The religious struggle between the royal family and Elijah was so significant that no other king of either Judah or Israel was given as much space in the Old Testament account of the history of the divided kingdom.

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BAAL-MELQART

The particular form of idolatry Ahab and Jezebel sought to introduce into Israel had its origins in Phoenicia, Jezebel’s home. Worshipers of Baal-Melqart seem to have possessed a missionary zeal, although the primary motivation may have been political. Like other Canaanite religions, the worship of Baal-Melqart was morally degrading and included religious prostitution.

The deity was also worshiped in the Phoenician colony of Carthage. Findings by archaeologists in a sacred garden in Carthage demonstrate just how depraved this religion was. There, in thousands of burial urns, the remains of children ranging in age from infants to four-year-olds have been found. These were children offered to Baal in a ceremony in which they were burned alive while drums beat loudly to drown out the children’s anguished screams.

The struggle between Elijah and the royal family to establish which deity would be the God of Israel, the Lord or Baal-Melqart, was truly a matter of life and death.

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AHAB’S LIFE AND TIMES

Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Handbook fills in details about Ahab’s political accomplishments that are not recorded in Scripture.

The biblical record focuses on the religious conflict. But from OT hints and other historical sources we can reconstruct other elements of Ahab’s long rule. In general, he was a capable leader. He continued to build (1 Kings 22:39). Twice he defeated the Aramean forces of Ben-Hadad II. He also joined a coalition of kings who temporarily stopped the advance of the Assyrians under Shalmaneser II at Qarqar in 853 b.c. Ahab also made an alliance with Jehoshaphat of Judah, maintaining the peace that had existed between the two nations since the time of Omri (p. 197).

EXPLORING AHAB’S RELATIONSHIPS

Ahab’s relationship with the prophet Elijah is explored in the article on Elijah (p. 87). Two of the king’s other relationships are significant.

Ahab’s relationship with Jezebel(1 Kings 21). Jezebel was from Sidon, a center of the worship of Baal-Melqart. When Jezebel came to Israel, she influenced her husband to worship her deity; in time, Ahab converted to her religion. The text tells us that Ahab “set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria” (the capital of the northern kingdom), and that Ahab “made a wooden image” (1 Kings 16:32, 33). Together Ahab and Jezebel set out to replace worship of the Lord in Israel with the worship of Baal. To accomplish this, Jezebel attempted to kill off all prophets of the Lord (1 Kings 18:4) and imported hundreds of prophets of Baal to spread the new religion. Jezebel was the driving force behind these efforts, but Ahab was her willing accomplice.

First Kings 21 provides special insight into the relationship between these two. Ahab wanted a plot of land near his palace for a vegetable garden. When the owner refused to sell or trade the land, Ahab went home and sulked. When Jezebel found what was wrong, she promised to take care of the matter. She organized a plot in which the owner was killed, and she then presented the field to her husband. The incident suggests that Ahab while wicked was also weak and in many ways depended on his wife. He might have been a gifted military commander, but he clearly lacked the strength of character which Jezebel, a truly evil woman, possessed. No wonder Jezebel had been able to win Ahab over to the worship of Baal and to her plans for turning the Israelites away from the Lord.

Ahab’s relationship with God.Early in his reign Ahab turned from God to the worship of his wife’s deity, Baal-Melqart. Yet God did not leave the apostate king alone, nor did God abandon efforts to turn him back to the true faith.

Elijah predicted God’s judgment (1 Kings 17). Elijah confronted Ahab and announced that there would be neither rain nor dew in Israel except at his word for three years. Elijah then dropped out of sight. Although Ahab sent officials to scour the kingdom, they could not find Elijah. Ahab clearly blamed Elijah for the drought that brought economic disaster on Israel rather than acknowledging his own responsibility for the divine judgment.

Ahab accepted Elijah’s challenge (1 Kings 18).After three years had passed, Elijah again met Ahab. Elijah proposed a contest between himself and the 450 prophets of Baal who owed allegiance to Ahab. The king’s acceptance of the challenge suggested that Ahab truly did believe in Baal and expected that deity to respond to the prayers of Baal’s prophets. In contrast, Jezebel was unwilling to expose the four hundred prophets of Asherah (Baal’s consort) that she controlled to the contest. Apparently Jezebel viewed promotion of her nation’s religion more as a political than a religious mission!

When God answered Elijah’s prayers and decisively demonstrated that He is God, Ahab did not attempt to intervene when Elijah ordered the death of Baal’s prophets. But Jezebel expressed her determination to see Elijah dead!

God assisted Ahab against the Syrians (1 Kings 20). When Ben-Hadad of Syria attacked Samaria, God sent a prophet to instruct Ahab on how to defeat his enemy. The prophet announced that the Lord intended to deliver the enemy into his hand, “and you shall know that I am the Lord” (1 Kings 20:13). Ahab followed the prophet’s instruction, and the Syrians were defeated. The same prophet continued to inform Ahab of Syrian plans, enabling Ahab to block every effort of the enemy. However, when Ahab again defeated the Syrians and captured Ben-Hadad, the defeated Syrian offered a treaty. Ahab, without consulting the Lord or his prophet, agreed! The prophet then announced that Ahab would now suffer the fate God had intended for the Syrian enemy.

Ahab had been shown God’s ability to help as well as to judge, but Ahab continued to be unresponsive to God.

Ahab feared God’s judgment (1 Kings 21). After Jezebel arranged the murder of the owner of the land Ahab coveted, the king hurried to take possession of the property. He met Elijah, who pronounced a terrible judgment on the king and Jezebel.

This time Ahab took the prophet’s word seriously, and displayed some repentance in the traditional way. He “tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning” (1 Kings 21:27). God then told Elijah that since Ahab had humbled himself before the Lord, the terrible judgment pronounced on Ahab’s line would be delayed until after Ahab’s death.

Ahab disregarded the warning of the prophet Micaiah (1 Kings 22). Later Ahab, in alliance with the king of Judah, laid plans to attack Syria. Ahab’s court prophets predicted victory, but the king of Judah asked Ahab to inquire of a prophet committed to the Lord. Ahab responded: “I hate him, because he does not prophecy good concerning me, but evil” (1 Kings 22:8).

When Micaiah appeared he told the king plainly that an evil spirit inspired his prophets and that if he fought the Syrians he would die in battle. Ahab had Micaiah imprisoned, to be dealt with when he returned from the conflict. Ahab did not return, but was killed in battle as God’s prophet had foretold.

AHAB: AN EXAMPLE FOR TODAY

Ahab is a complex figure whose weaknesses made him vulnerable to domination by his wife, Jezebel, and whose tendency toward sin made him unresponsive to God despite the many opportunities God gave him to repent.

Ahab demonstrated many traits against which believers must be on guard.

•     Ahab warns us against choosing a spouse whose faith is at odds with God’s Word. Ahab not only chose Jezebel but also succumbed to her influence. He adopted her faith and her ways, and in the end brought judgment on himself and his people.

•     Ahab warns us against showing contempt for God’s grace. God helped Ahab against the Syrians despite Ahab’s abandonment of the Lord in favor of Baal. Ahab showed contempt for this gracious revelation of God’s willingness and ability to come to his aid. When Ahab showed contrition, God relented and put off the judgment decreed against the king and his line. Even after this, Ahab showed himself unwilling to respond to the Lord by his hatred for Micaiah, God’s prophet. The only valid responses to God’s grace are gratitude and faith.

JEHU

Scripture references:
1 Kings 19:16, 17; 2 Kings 9:1–10:36;
2 Chronicles 22; Hosea 1:4

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JEHU’S ROLE IN SCRIPTURE

Jehu was the commander of Israel’s army, but the prophets Elijah and Elisha anointed him king. He proceeded to wipe out the remaining members of Ahab’s family. To further strengthen his position, Jehu also wiped out the adherents of Baal worship, a faith that the house of Ahab had aggressively promoted. Jehu’s descendants ruled Israel for four generations.

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Jehu had a reputation for driving “furiously.” His real drive, however, was to win the kingdom by whatever means necessary.

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EXPLORING JEHU’S RELATIONSHIPS

The relationship that is emphasized in the text is Jehu’s relationship with God. However, it is clear that the relationship was indirect, not intimate or personal.

Jehu anointed by God’s prophets (1 Kings 19:16, 17; 2 Kings 9:1–10).Elijah had anointed Jehu some time before Elisha sent a young prophet to commission him. The prophet declared that God had chosen Jehu to be king “over the people of the Lord, over Israel” (2 Kings 9:6). The prophet then specifically commissioned Jehu to wipe out Ahab’s family and put an end to Baal worship. When Jehu reported the prophet’s words to his officers, they immediately acclaimed Jehu king. Jehu set out on God’s mission.

Jehu fulfilled God’s word (2 Kings 9:11–10:28).Jehu not only aggressively carried out God’s command, but he also quoted the prophet’s words to explain his actions.

Jehu killed members of Ahab’s family (2 Kings 9:11–10:17). Jehu killed the ruling king, Ahab’s son. He saw to the death of Jezebel, Ahab’s queen. Jehu then ordered the execution of Ahab’s remaining seventy sons by the heads of the families with whom the seventy had been living. When the sons were dead, Jehu announced, “Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of the Lord which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for the Lord has done what He spoke by His servant Elijah” (2 Kings 10:10).

Jehu ended Baal worship (2 Kings 10:18–28). Jehu then announced publicly that he would actively promote Baal worship. He called all worshipers of Baal to a conference at the temple of Baal in Samaria, Israel’s capital. When all had assembled, he ordered soldiers to murder every devotee of the pagan faith. Jehu then tore down the temple of Baal and turned it into a garbage heap. “Thus Jehu destroyed Baal from Israel” (10:28).

Jehu’s incomplete obedience and reward (2 Kings 10:29–33).Despite Jehu’s habit of quoting the Lord and his zealous attack on Ahab’s royal house and the worshipers of Baal, Jehu “took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord” (10:31). Instead, he followed the politically motivated religious practices established by Jeroboam (see page 121).

God then spoke to Jehu and told him that “because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight” in carrying out God’s judgment on the house of Ahab, “your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation” (10:30). However, Jehu’s failure to completely commit himself and his people to the Lord resulted in the loss of territory to Syria.

JEHU: AN EXAMPLE FOR TODAY

Jehu seems a puzzling character until we note one important thing. He was zealous in carrying out God’s will—as long as God’s purposes were in harmony with Jehu’s ambitions! If Jehu were to establish a dynasty of his own, he had to wipe out every descendant of Ahab around whom others might rally. And, as the worshipers of Baal had been Ahab’s strongest supporters, it made sense to break their power and influence once and for all. Jehu quoted God’s prophets to justify his actions. But Jehu was zealous to fulfill God’s word only so long as God’s will promoted Jehu’s goals!

Once Jehu had obtained his objectives, he had no more interest in submitting to the Lord, and so “took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God” (10:31). As a result Jehu, like those before him, continued to lead Israel down the path of disaster.

What can we learn from Jehu?

•     Jehu alerts us to the danger of self-centered obedience. We are to do God’s will not because it conforms to what we want, but because we trust God and are committed to obey him.

•     Jehu warns us not to take everyone who quotes Scripture at face value. We are to judge people by the way they live, not simply by what they say.

•     Jehu confirms the importance of complete obedience. We are not to pick and choose between Bible teachings we like and those we do not. Jehu’s defeats after he gained his kingdom and refused to walk with the Lord remind us that continued blessings are possible only as we remain close to the Lord.

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