It was a sad time for the nation of Israel. During the reign of Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon, the nation was divided into two parts: The Northern Kingdom, also known as Judah, and the Southern Kingdom, also known as the kingdom of Israel, or even “Ephraim”. This Southern Kingdom consisted of ten tribes, while the Northern Kingdom consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
Why the split?
Solomon’s idolatry:
“Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him regarding this thing, that he was not to follow other gods; but he did not comply with what the Lord had commanded. So the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Since you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you, and will give it to your servant. However, I will not do it in your days, only for the sake of your father David; but I will tear it away from the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.’” (1 Kings 11:9-13 NASB)
Besides these words directly spoken to Solomon, God also appeared to the next king, Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, through the prophet Ahijah the Shilonit: “but I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you; that is, ten tribes.” (1 Kings 11:35 NASB).
And it came to be: “And it came about, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent word and called him to the assembly, and made him king over all Israel. “ (1 Kings 12:20 NASB)!
Unfortunately, despite being prewarned and having the privilege of witnessing how God is true to His word, Jeroboam immediately fell into idolatry, taking his entire newly-established nation with him. His reasoning went like this: “If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” (1 Kings 12:26b-27 NASB)!
Let’s remember that Jeroboam had been given a prophetic message ahead of time, telling him he would be king, and then things had rolled out exactly as it had been foretold. Why, then, was Jeroboam overcome with fear? Why did he go to such lengths, even going as far as to break the law of the One who had put him on the throne, in order to set up safeguards so that the people of Israel did not return to their former king?
Because Jeroboam’s faith in God was weak. He didn’t trust that God would keep him on Israel’s throne.
And so it was that Jeroboam’s lack of faith brought down an entire nation. The consequences of his lack of faith was a long and sad history of idolatry and oppression, until the Kingdom of Israel was finally overtaken by the Assyrians and Israel was no more: “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria…All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God…” (2 Kings 17:6a, 7a NIV)
But, you say, my faith may be weak, but I’m not going to lead anyone into idolatry!
Friends, we have no idea how our lack of faith can influence others. This may seem like an extreme case; but no matter what, others are watching how we live our lives. Our example can result in them coming to the Lord themselves, or forever turning away! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to take that chance!
Let’s resolve to take a firm stand in faith! No matter what the circumstances!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
