And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah, Solomon's servant (whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman), even he lifted up his hand against the king.
Solomon turned to other gods, and a chain of adversaries followed. This verse names the third and most damaging of them — not a foreign enemy, but Solomon's own servant. How did a trusted man come to raise his hand against his master, and who stood behind him?
The two earlier opponents, Hadad and Rezon, came from outside Israel. One writer notes that Scripture waits until Solomon's idolatry to tell their story. He then points out how different this man is:
I do not mean that Hadad and Rezon only became a trouble when Solomon turned to idols. But notice this: the Holy Spirit saves the account of the trouble they caused the king until then. The Spirit Himself presents them as a direct chastening for his idolatry. And these were not the only ones. They were external. Solomon might say, "Well, we cannot expect anything better. They have private grudges, or national grudges, against our family." But "Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite," was no foreigner. He was not avenging some supposed wrong done to his family or his race.
Another writer names what made this man so dangerous, and who was behind the revolt:
Solomon's third enemy was the most dangerous. He was Solomon's own servant, a capable man whom the king had trusted with a responsible position (v.28). Jeroboam rebelled against the king because of a message God sent to him by the prophet Ahijah. So it is plainly God who raised up such an adversary.
The verse names his town, his father, and his widowed mother. Solomon was not the only one watching this young man:
Jeroboam, the first king of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel, was the son of a widow and a promising young man. From the human standpoint he had everything going for him. Solomon was busy fortifying Jerusalem. He noticed how hard Jeroboam worked and put him in charge of the work crews from Ephraim and Manasseh. But we see that the king was not alone in taking note of this young man. God also took note of his industry and ambition. God's eye is upon the ways of man and, more than that, He knows the thoughts and desires of every man's heart.
The verse does not say what this raised hand did. One writer suggests a failed grab for power, and sets it against David:
"He lifted up his hand against the king," it says. It may have been some failed attempt on his part to raise a rebellion, to hurry along the fulfilment of the prophecy about him. Compare 2 Samuel 20:21. How unlike David, the man after God's own heart! Samuel the prophet had anointed and chosen him to replace Saul. Yet David would not harm a hair of the condemned king's head, or lift a finger to take the kingdom for himself! David was a man of faith; and faith — that precious "gift of God"! — always waits on God, waits for His time and His way to fulfil His promises.
God had promised Jeroboam the kingdom. But Ahijah said it would pass from the hand of Solomon's son, not Solomon's own. Jeroboam would not wait:
Ahijah had made it clear that Solomon should be "prince all the days of his life." Only out of his son's hand would God take the kingdom and give it to Jeroboam. But he could not wait. Like a wilful, impatient child, he took the case out of God's hand and handled it himself.
Another writer asks whether we do the same thing:
The kingdom was his. He had only to believe the promise of God for that. Yet, like Jacob, he felt he had to work out his own schemes to get the promise fulfilled. Are we not ourselves sometimes guilty of the same mistake? So often we are not content with God's clear promise. We try to get what we want by our own efforts, sometimes at the cost of obeying God's Word.
The rising of this servant fits a wider principle of how God governs:
David used the sword to accomplish his own sinful will, and the sword never departed from his house. Solomon consorted with strangers, his heart was led astray, and enemies arise in the very quarters from which he drew the means of pleasing himself (1 Kings 11). Man's self-devised plans and wilful choice always come back on him with a harvest of results.
What began with one raised hand became a permanent tear in the nation. The split came in the days of Solomon's son Rehoboam:
They have been a divided people since the days of Rehoboam. Solomon's serious turning away from the Lord tore the nation apart after his death. God allowed Jeroboam to lead ten tribes away from their loyalty to the house of David (1 Kings 11 — 12). They have never been united since that day.
- Cause. Scripture presents these adversaries as God's direct chastening for Solomon's idolatry.
- Closeness. Hadad and Rezon were foreigners. This third adversary was Solomon's own servant, and that is what made him the most dangerous.
- Sovereignty. Solomon promoted him for his hard work. God saw his heart, and raised him up by a message through Ahijah.
- Impatience. He knew the kingdom would pass from Solomon's son, yet he would not wait. David, though Samuel had anointed him over Saul, never lifted a finger to seize the throne.
- Consequence. One raised hand split Israel in two, and the nation never came back together.
And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king Solomon was building Millo, and closing the breach of the city of David his father;
This verse stops the story to answer one question. Why did a trusted servant of Solomon raise his hand against his own king? The answer starts with a building project in Jerusalem.
God had already stirred up two enemies against Solomon: Hadad and Rezon. Both were foreigners with old grudges. Jeroboam was neither.
The mischief caused by Hadad and Rezon did not only begin when Solomon became an idolater. But notice this: the Holy Spirit holds back the account of the trouble they caused the king until then. The Spirit Himself presents it as a direct chastening for his idolatry. And these were not the only ones. They were external. Solomon might say, "Well, we cannot expect anything better. They have private grudges, or national grudges, against our family." But "Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite," was no foreigner, and it was not a question of avenging supposed wrongs done to his family or his race.
The verse ties the revolt to Solomon's building work at Millo.
Next comes the building of the Millo. This must have been a citadel, a tower in Jerusalem's defences. Solomon fortified his kingdom against possible attacks by enemies. Yet he had already welcomed the enemy into his kingdom by marrying an Egyptian woman!
The trouble did not arrive at random.
Solomon kept company with strangers, and they led his heart astray. Enemies arose in the very quarters from which he drew the means of pleasing himself. Man's self-devised plans and wilful choice always come back on him with a harvest of results.
Solomon put Jeroboam in charge of forced labour from his own tribe.
The post gave him a place of importance in the eyes of his fellow countrymen, and it prepared the way for what was soon to follow. They plainly resented this forced labour. "Your father," they said later to Rehoboam, "made our yoke heavy." There is no certain evidence that this was really so. Their labour served the glory and security of the kingdom, and everyone was meant to share in its prosperity. It is possible, though, that Solomon set them to work on projects that served nothing but self-indulgence. When men leave the right way, as Solomon did, they soon become oppressive. That would give some ground for their discontent. And Jeroboam, it is quite certain, would take no trouble to calm it.
A prophecy had already been spoken about Jeroboam. He would not wait for God to fulfil it.
"He lifted up his hand against the king," it says. It may have been a failed bid on his part to stir up rebellion, to hurry along the prophecy concerning him. How unlike David, the man after God's own heart! The prophet Samuel had anointed and chosen him to replace Saul. Even so, David would not harm a hair of the condemned king's head, or lift a finger to bring the kingdom to himself! David was a man of faith; and faith — that precious "gift of God"! — always waits on God, waits for His time and His way to fulfil His promises.
The job that made Jeroboam useful also made him dangerous. One writer turns the story into a warning for God's people.
Solomon had set him over Ephraim for the work of fortifying Millo, which was the defence of Jerusalem against enemies from the north. It was a most dangerous move, but what could Solomon foresee? God alone knew. Through his duties Jeroboam knew all the secrets of the stronghold, and he won the sympathies of his own tribe as well. In the same way, when difficulties arise among God's people, the greatest danger comes from those who by their own activity have taken up the principles of their fellow believers. Such men have managed to put themselves in the place of Christ in winning the sympathies of the many.
after-note: restores the source's Millo detail (depth) and splits the 47-word sentence Such are the weapons they use to make a breach among the people of God. Their motives appear unselfish. Like Jeroboam, they would free the people from a yoke that is hard to bear. In reality they are Satan's instruments to destroy the testimony of God. And yet they are servants of Christ, as Jeroboam was of Solomon!
- Breach within. Hadad and Rezon attacked from outside; Jeroboam rose from inside the household, with no foreign grudge to explain him.
- Walls misplaced. Solomon built a citadel against attack from outside, but he had already welcomed the enemy in.
- Yoke resented. Jeroboam ran the labour levy. It gave him standing with his own tribe, and a grievance he had no wish to calm.
- Hand lifted. He grabbed at a kingdom God had yet to give him; David, already anointed, would not lift a finger to take one.
- Harvest reaped. Trouble came from the very quarters Solomon used to please himself. Self-chosen plans come back with their own harvest.
and the man Jeroboam was strong and valiant; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.
Solomon's kingdom is starting to break apart, and the man who will tear it is not a foreign invader but his own employee. Why did Solomon's eye for talent hand him his rival, and why was ability alone not enough to make Jeroboam a good king?
Jeroboam enters the record with no royal background. One writer sets his rise beside other sudden promotions in Scripture:
Jeroboam is an example of something quite common in the East. A man is raised from a relatively low position in private or public life to the highest, or one of the highest, positions in the land. We have examples of this in Scripture, such as Joseph and Moses, and secular history mentions plenty more.
Earlier in the chapter God stirred up Hadad and Rezon against Solomon. Both were outsiders with old national quarrels. Jeroboam was different:
The Holy Spirit holds back the account of the trouble Hadad and Rezon caused the king until this point. The Spirit Himself presents it as a direct chastening of Solomon's idolatry. And these were not the only ones. They were external. Solomon might say, "Well, we cannot expect anything better. They have private grudges, or national grudges, against our family." But Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite, was no foreigner. This was not a matter of avenging supposed wrongs done to his family or his race.
This promotion is what made the threat serious. Jeroboam knew the kingdom from the inside.
The third enemy of Solomon was the most dangerous, for he was a servant of Solomon, a capable man whom Solomon had entrusted with a responsible position (v. 28). Jeroboam rebelled against the king because of a message God sent to him through the prophet Ahijah. So it is plainly God who raised up this adversary. Jeroboam was from Ephraim, and Solomon set him over all the labour force of the house of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh). He would be fully familiar with the running of the affairs of Solomon's kingdom.
Solomon judged Jeroboam by what he could see — the man's work.
When Solomon was busy fortifying Jerusalem he noticed Jeroboam's industrious ways and promoted him to be in charge of the work crews from Ephraim and Manasseh. But we see that the king was not alone in taking note of this young man. God also took note of his industry and ambition. God's eye is on the ways of man and, more than that, He knows the thoughts and desires of every man's heart.
Industry is a real virtue. The same writer marks its limit:
Jeroboam's industriousness was commendable, but God looks for more than merely commendable human character traits. He looks at the heart and wants hearts wholly committed to Him. So He told Jeroboam, "If you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes… as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house… and I will give Israel to you" (v. 38).
The job put Jeroboam over work gangs drawn from his own tribes. One writer weighs whether their later complaint was fair:
This naturally gave him a place of importance in the eyes of his fellow countrymen, and prepared the way for what was soon to follow. They clearly resented this forced labour. "Your father made our yoke heavy," they later said to Rehoboam… There is no certain evidence that this was true. Their labour served the glory and security of the kingdom, and everyone was meant to share in its prosperity… It is possible, however, that they were set to work on what served only self-gratification; for when men leave the right way, as Solomon did, they soon become oppressive.
God had already promised him the kingdom. He still would not wait for it:
He had secretly longed for power over his brothers. The phrase "all that your soul desires" shows it clearly. He probably chased the fulfilment of Ahijah's prophecy with the feverish haste of pride… Ahijah had said plainly that Solomon should be ruler all the days of his life, and that only out of his son's hand would the kingdom pass to Jeroboam. But like a wilful, impatient child, he could not wait, and had to take the matter out of God's hand and act for himself.
- Noticed. Solomon saw an industrious young man and promoted him. God saw the same man and read his heart.
- Promoted. Charge of the labour force of Ephraim and Manasseh gave him standing at home and inside knowledge of the kingdom.
- Positioned. Hadad and Rezon attacked from outside. Jeroboam was Solomon's own servant, so the chastening came home.
- Promised. God promised him Israel outright, but a lasting house depended on walking in God's ways, as David did.
- Impatient. He had a clear promise and still schemed to hurry it up. Like a wilful, impatient child, he would not wait for God's time.
And it came to pass at that time that Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field.
An officer Solomon had promoted walks out of Jerusalem alone. On the open road a prophet meets him, and what happens to the coat on his back settles the future of the nation.
The king was meant to hold Israel's link with God. Watch what God does when the king fails.
Now a prophet appears. The ruin of the priesthood raised up Samuel; in the same way, the fall of the kingship now raises up a prophet. As these books go on, he becomes the striking link between the people and God, now that the kingship has failed in its responsibility.
A prophet on the scene is not only bad news.
His appearance proved that the grace and mercy of God could not be destroyed even when everything was ruined.
Jeroboam was no foreign enemy. Solomon had promoted him himself.
Solomon's third enemy was the most dangerous. He was Solomon's own servant, a capable man whom Solomon had trusted with a position of responsibility (v.28). Jeroboam rebelled against the king because of a message God sent him through the prophet Ahijah. So it is plainly God who raised up this enemy.
The coat is not a random object. It is new, and so is what it stands for.
Ahijah met Jeroboam outside Jerusalem, with no one else there to see it (v.29). Ahijah was wearing a new garment. He took it and tore it into twelve pieces, telling Jeroboam to take ten of them. The garment was Solomon's kingdom, newly set up.
The tearing is not a forecast of something God will do later.
He tears the new garment he is wearing (the kingdom itself was still quite new), and gives ten parts to Jeroboam. At that very moment the kingdom is torn out of Solomon's hands, though people only see it later. One tribe is left to the house of David, because grace freely chose David and Jerusalem.
God gives His reason in the message: "they have forsaken me." One writer asks who that "they" really was.
"They" was Solomon, the king! No doubt, all the people later followed that same path, but at this moment one man had sinned — the king. God had set him in a position of responsibility for all the people, and his unfaithfulness brought judgment on Israel.
The charge is spelled out in full. It was also a warning to the man who heard it.
God's reason for breaking up the kingdom is stated very clearly. Israel had forsaken the Lord and had sunk to worshiping all kinds of false gods and goddesses, ignoring God's statutes and judgments (v.33). God plainly hated that guilt, and Solomon led the way into it. It should have made a deep impression on Jeroboam's conscience, so that he took care never to copy such practices. But soon after he was raised up as king of the ten tribes, he fell into the same evil ways.
One tribe looks like a scrap next to ten. Watch what happens to each kingdom afterwards.
What mercy — a light always! Judah was greatly reduced, cut down in size and glory, yet one thing marked it off sharply from the ten tribes. Their kingdom began with a rebellious servant, and it would not end with him. Rebellious servant after rebellious servant would rise up against the king of Israel, so the ruling family was changed over and over and over again. It was not so with Judah. God calls it only one tribe, and still the light will always be there.
God had put the matter in His own hand, and told Jeroboam the outcome. Jeroboam would not leave it there.
But like a stubborn, impatient child, he could not wait. He had to take the case out of God's hand and handle it himself.
What God asked of him was simple trust.
The kingdom was his. He had only to believe the promise of God for that. Yet, like Jacob, he felt he had to work out his own schemes to get the promise fulfilled. Are we not ourselves sometimes guilty of the same mistake?
- Failure — kingship broke down, so God raised up a prophet as the link between Himself and His people.
- Sign — the new garment stood for the new kingdom. Tearing it settled the split that day, though no one saw it yet.
- Cause — the reason was idolatry. One man held responsibility for all, and his sin brought judgment on the nation.
- Mercy — God kept one tribe for David's sake. Its light would always burn, while the ten tribes changed ruling families again and again.
- Warning — the kingdom was already his by God's promise. He would not wait. He schemed for what he only had to trust God for.
Then Ahijah seized the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces;
Ahijah stops Jeroboam on the road outside Jerusalem. No one else is watching. He takes the new coat off his own back and tears it into twelve strips. The act says more than a speech could: Solomon's kingdom is about to come apart, and God Himself is doing the tearing.
The scene marks a shift in how God deals with His people. The king has failed, and God does not leave His people without a voice.
Now a prophet appears. Just as Samuel came at the time when the priesthood was ruined, so the fall of the kingship now raises up a prophet. He becomes the link between the people and God when kingship in responsibility has failed. We shall see this so strikingly through these books. Ahijah the prophet meets Jeroboam outside Jerusalem. He tears the new garment he is wearing (and indeed the kingdom was still quite new), and gives ten parts to Jeroboam. At that very moment the kingdom is torn out of Solomon's hands, though this fact is only realized later.
The detail that the coat was new is not decoration.
Ahijah was wearing a new garment. He took it, tore it into twelve pieces, and told Jeroboam to take ten pieces. The garment was the kingdom of Solomon, newly established.
The tearing is not politics. Ahijah gives a reason for it.
But God's reason for breaking up the kingdom is stated very plainly. Israel had forsaken the Lord. They had sunk to the level of worshipping various idolatrous gods and goddesses, and they ignored God's statutes and judgments (v.33). God plainly hated such guilt on Israel's part, and Solomon was the leader in it. This ought to have impressed Jeroboam's conscience deeply, so that he would make sure he did not follow such practices himself. But it was not long after he was raised up as king of the ten tribes that he fell into the same evil ways (ch. 12:29-33).
Ahijah tears twelve pieces, but hands over only ten. What stays behind matters as much as what is given.
The the message of the Lord through Ahijah also declared His faithfulness to David. The Lord still speaks of "David my servant"; he is to have a lamp always before Him in Jerusalem, the city He has chosen to put His name there. The house of David in the middle of all the evil is not forgotten. There will be affliction, "but not forever" (verse 39). And Jeroboam also has the opportunity of having a house "as I built for David," on the condition of obedience. But ambitious Jeroboam did not keep the statutes and commandments of the Lord.
Why does the kingdom not change hands at once?
Because of His promises to David, He would not entirely take the kingdom from David's family, and He would not do this during Solomon's lifetime. While God is always faithful to His word, He is never in a hurry to carry out His righteous judgments.
Ahijah's message also carried a timetable.
Ahijah had clearly said that Solomon should be "ruler all the days of his life." Only out of his son's hand would the kingdom be taken and given to Jeroboam. But like a wilful, impatient child, he could not wait, and had to take the case out of God's hand and act for himself.
God said two different things to Jeroboam that day.
God's promise to Jeroboam was plain. The kingdom was his unconditionally. "You shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel." The continuing of the kingdom, on the other hand, depended on his obedience. "If you will listen… walk in My ways, and do what is right in My eyes… I will be with you and build you a sure house." The kingdom was his. He only had to believe God's promise for that. Yet, like Jacob, he felt he needed to work out his own schemes to get the promise fulfilled. Are we not sometimes guilty of the same mistake? So often we are not content with God's clear promise. We try by our own efforts to get what we want, sometimes at the cost of obeying God's Word.
- Torn — the new garment pictures Solomon's new kingdom. God Himself tears it; this is no palace revolt.
- Why — the stated cause is idolatry: Israel forsook the Lord and served other gods, with the king leading.
- Kept — ten pieces go to Jeroboam, but one tribe stays with David's line. David keeps a lamp in Jerusalem. The affliction is real, yet "not forever."
- Timed — God is faithful to His word but never hurried; the sentence falls in the son's reign, not Solomon's.
- Forfeited — the kingdom was a gift, but keeping it depended on obedience. Jeroboam schemed for what God had already promised, and lost the house he was offered.
and said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces; for thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee;
Solomon received the kingdom whole. Now God is about to tear it in pieces, and the news comes through a prophet who meets Jeroboam outside Jerusalem. Why did God tear away ten tribes, why did He leave anything at all, and what did Jeroboam do with the promise he was handed?
Ahijah's appearance is itself part of the message. Prophets appear in Israel's story where the appointed order has broken down.
When the king failed in his responsibility, it was really the people's relationship with God that suffered. But then something happened that lasted through the whole life of the kingdom, and even after it: the prophet came on the scene. His appearance proved that the grace and mercy of God could not be destroyed even when everything was ruined.
The garment Ahijah tore was new. That detail carries the meaning of the sign.
Ahijah the prophet meets Jeroboam outside Jerusalem. He tears the new garment he is wearing (the kingdom was indeed still quite new), and gives ten parts to Jeroboam. At that very moment the kingdom is torn out of the hands of Solomon, although people only realize this later.
God does not leave the cause in doubt.
But God's reason for breaking up the kingdom is most clearly stated. Israel had forsaken the Lord and had sunk down to the level of worshiping various idolatrous gods and goddesses, ignoring God's statutes and judgments (v.33). Solomon was the leader in that guilt. God's plain hatred of it ought to have struck Jeroboam's conscience, so that he would keep clear of such practices. Yet soon after he became king of the ten tribes, he fell into the same evil ways.
Rossier stops on the word "they" in that charge.
"They" was Solomon, the king! No doubt all the people later followed that same path, but at this moment one man had sinned — the king. God had set him in a position of responsibility for all the people, and his unfaithfulness brought judgment on Israel.
Ten pieces go to Jeroboam. The reason the rest stays is not Solomon's worth.
"However," God said, "I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand" (v.34). He would allow Solomon's son to keep the tribe of Judah (which included Benjamin) for David's sake, not for Solomon's sake. God also made it plain to Jeroboam that He had chosen Jerusalem to put His name there (v.36).
What is left to David's line is small, but the light in it never goes out.
What mercy! "a light always." Judah was greatly reduced — reduced in the extent and glory of the kingdom. But there was this marked difference from the ten tribes, the much larger part that passed to the other man. They would shift their loads from time to time. Their ruling family changed again and again, and one man after another rose up. Not so with Judah. Judah was reduced to what God calls only one tribe — the strongest possible way of stating their complete loss of glory. Still, there the light shall be always.
The difference between Jeroboam's kingdom and David's was not size but foundation.
David's kingdom stood on grace, and in due time that grace would assert its rights again. Jeroboam's kingdom, and Solomon's own, stood not on grace but on responsibility. God never takes back His promises; He delights in grace. So the future kingdom of the true King of Glory will rest on a new covenant — a covenant of grace, where God alone is under obligation.
Jeroboam had a plain promise. He still went to work to secure it himself.
God's promise to Jeroboam was plain. The kingdom was his, with no conditions attached. Keeping it in his family, on the other hand, depended on his obedience. The kingdom was his. He had only to believe the promise of God for that. Yet, like Jacob, he felt he had to work out his own schemes to get the promise fulfilled. Are we not ourselves sometimes guilty of the same mistake? So often we are not content with God's clear promise, but try by our own efforts to get what we want, sometimes at the cost of obedience to God's Word.
- Cause. The torn garment is judgment, not politics. Israel turned to other gods, and Solomon led the way.
- Restraint. God did not take the whole kingdom — one tribe was kept back, and kept for David's sake, not Solomon's.
- Light. The small portion carried a promise of light that would never go out, steady while the ten tribes changed one ruling family for another.
- Foundation. Jeroboam's kingdom rested on his obedience. David's rested on grace. That is why the coming kingdom rests on a covenant where God alone is under obligation.
- Waiting. The kingdom was already Jeroboam's by promise; he schemed for it anyway — the warning is against helping God keep His word.
but one tribe shall he have for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel
Ahijah tore a new cloak into twelve pieces and handed ten of them to Jeroboam. In God's sentence, the kingdom Solomon built was already broken. God held back one tribe only. The two reasons He gives for keeping it have nothing to do with Solomon.
The verse says who keeps the one tribe, and then gives the two reasons why. One writer follows both reasons back to David and to Jerusalem, and also names who was counted inside that "one tribe":
The Lord told Solomon that because he had done this, and had not kept His covenant and His statutes, He would surely tear the kingdom away from him and give it to his servant. Yet the Lord would not do this while Solomon was alive, because the Lord respected Solomon's father David. Solomon's son would suffer the shame of a broken kingdom instead. Even so, God would leave one tribe to that son — again for David's sake, not for Solomon's sake. Judah was that tribe, though Benjamin, very small and weak, was counted with it. God granted this also for Jerusalem's sake, because His choice of that city stood despite the failure and disobedience of all Israel.
The split that followed is often blamed on Rehoboam. One writer traces it further back:
In the hour of Solomon's idolatry, God decreed the ruin of his kingdom. For David's sake God put off the judgment during Solomon's own day. But in the days of Rehoboam, his proud and foolish son, Jeroboam the son of Nebat rebelled and snatched ten of the twelve tribes out of his hand. Rehoboam was about to go to war to win back what he had lost. Shemaiah, the man of God, stopped him with a word from God: this division was from God. Division was the judgment for idolatry.
Judah and Benjamin both stayed with David's house, so the count in this verse puzzles readers. A reference work on the tribes explains how Benjamin drops out of the count:
When the kingdom divided, Benjamin stayed with Judah, but Israel seized a large part of Benjamin's land. At times Benjamin seems to drop out of sight. Ahijah said that God had kept one tribe for the house of David — as if Benjamin counted as cut off in judgement, 1 Kings 11:36. People spoke of the two tribes together as "Judah," while they called the ten tribes "Israel."
The verse gives two reasons, not one. One writer sees them bound together long before Ahijah spoke:
David and Jerusalem were linked by ancient decree in one covenant of peace and joy.
Ten tribes sound like the better share. Yet Jeroboam's throne changed hands again and again, while the one tribe kept something the ten never had:
What mercy! "a light always." The kingdom was greatly reduced — reduced in size and in glory. But mark the difference from the ten tribes, the much larger part that went to the other king. They would shift their load from time to time. The family that governed them changed again and again, and one man after another rose up. It began with a rebellious servant, and it would not end with him. Many a rebellious servant would rise up against the king of Israel, and so the ruling family would change over and over again. Not so with Judah. They were reduced to what God calls only one tribe — His way of saying in the strongest possible terms how completely their glory had shrunk. Still, there the light shall be always.
Keeping one tribe back kept a family line going. That line had somewhere to arrive:
For this future Son to be "the offspring of David," David's line had to be kept alive until He appeared. That is why God had promised David "to give to him always a lamp, and to his sons" (2 Chron. 21:7). Now, how was this lamp going to shine in the royal house until the promised Son appeared? How was it to pass through man's poisoned air and moral darkness without being put out? If it went out, David's true Heir could never appear. Satan understood this. If he could put out the lamp, all God's purposes for the "Just Ruler over men" would come to nothing. But the Son of David appeared in the world, despite all the enemy's efforts to put out this light.
- Cause — Solomon's idolatry tore the kingdom. Rehoboam's folly was only the occasion, and God held the blow back past Solomon's lifetime for David's sake.
- Concession — God keeps the one tribe for David's sake and Jerusalem's, never for Solomon's. The mercy is borrowed, not earned.
- Count — "one tribe" means Judah with Benjamin inside it. Benjamin was small, and Ahijah spoke of it as though cut off.
- Contrast — the ten tribes got size and endless changes of dynasty; the one tribe got a light that never went out.
- Continuance — that light was David's line, kept burning through the dark until the Son of David came.
because they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my sight, and my statutes and mine ordinances, as David his father.
God has just promised Jeroboam ten of Israel's tribes. Here He gives the reason for the loss: three foreign gods have taken the place that belonged to Him alone, and David is named as the standard Solomon failed to meet.
The verse opens with a plural: "they have forsaken me." Yet God is judging one king here. One reading takes the plural as pointing straight at Solomon:
"They have forsaken Me," says the Lord... "They" was Solomon, the king! No doubt, all the people later followed that same path, but at this moment one man had sinned — the king. God had set him in a position of responsibility for all the people, so his unfaithfulness brought judgment on Israel. What a severe punishment Solomon had incurred.
Commentators differ here. Others read the plural as widening the blame beyond the king, and point out that Scripture gives more than one reason for the same disaster:
Ten of the tribes of Israel were torn from Rehoboam. In 1 Kings 11:11 we are told it was for the sin of Solomon, but verse 33 of the same chapter says it was for the idolatry of the people. In chapter 12 we find the immediate cause was the harsh spirit in which Rehoboam met the people, when they asked him for a gentler rule than his father's. The fact is that the sin of any one of the three parties named was quite enough to bring all the trouble, and so the responsibility is left at the door of each.
God names the three gods instead of speaking of idolatry in general. One writer identifies each one, and says that building shrines for his wives left Solomon himself guilty:
It has been stated that Solomon himself was not actually guilty of idolatry. If he built the places of idolatrous worship for his many wives only, he was guilty of the sin of idolatry. Luxuries, wealth, self-indulgence, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life led into idolatry. It is the same in the closing days of the present age. Ashtoreth, a Phoenician goddess, was worshipped with impure rites. Milcom (Molech) was the idol-god of the Ammonites. Chemosh was the sun-god and war-god of the Moabites.
Behind the name Milcom lay a rite in which parents gave up their own children:
Then we move from wives to children, and to that most inhuman rite: parents were so blinded by Satan that they gave their own children as sacrifices to Molech or Moloch, and probably Malcham or Milcom.
The astonishing thing is the identity of the man. The one who built the house for God's name set up shrines for Chemosh and Milcom. The path there was traced backwards to a single earlier step:
We may wonder how such a man as Solomon could ever be led to "build high places for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites." But the reason is easy to see. He had first disobeyed the Word of his Lord by going to those nations for wives. From there he fell easily enough into the deeper error of adopting their worship.
The collapse was slow, not sudden — and that is what makes it dangerous:
His reign opened amid the glory of a little millennium... But as we go on examining his conduct, it is easy to see that his early glory fades, the king's heart turns to the world, the world becomes his master... And how had this decline begun? Note, dear brother, it did not happen all at once, but gradually; without his noticing, the things of the world gained access to his heart, and he went from bad to worse until he became an idolater.
The verse ends by comparing Solomon with his father. David failed too, yet God's verdict on him was striking:
David failed, yet this could be written about him: "David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite" (1 Kings 15:5). This is a remarkable divine commendation.
God still holds one tribe back, and the reason is David, not Solomon:
In verse 34 God comes back once more to the grace He had shown to David. He adds: "And to his son I will give one tribe, that David My servant may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen for Myself to put My name there" (v. 36). Grace is more in God's eyes than all glory, or rather, grace is the most precious part of glory, for it is, so to speak, at the head of all divine perfections.
Jeroboam, who received these words and the ten tribes, learned nothing from them:
Israel was guilty of this, and Solomon was the leader in it. God's plain hatred of such guilt should have impressed itself deeply on Jeroboam's conscience, so that he would take care not to follow such disgusting practices. But soon after he was made king of the ten tribes, he fell into the same evil ways.
- Cause — The kingdom was not lost to politics. One step away from God's Word made the next step easy.
- Named — God lists Ashtoreth, Chemosh and Milcom. Their worship was impure, and it cost children their lives.
- Reach — What the king did in private became the nation's religion. Leaders carry others with them.
- Measure — David failed too, yet God commended him for keeping His commands. He is the standard this verse holds up.
- Remnant — Judgment stops short of total loss. God leaves one tribe for David's sake, so the lamp keeps burning — grace, not merit.
But I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; for I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes;
Ahijah the prophet has just torn a new garment and handed ten pieces of it to Jeroboam, Solomon's own servant. Yet the judgment announced here stops short of total loss. The reason God gives points away from Solomon, back to a father long dead.
The charge just before this verse uses the plural, as though the whole nation had turned to foreign gods. One writer notes who God really has in view.
"They have forsaken me," says the Lord, "and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians... and they have not walked in my ways... as David his father did" (v. 33). "They" was Solomon, the king! No doubt all the people later followed that same path, but at this moment one man had sinned — the king. God had set him in a position of responsibility for all the people. His unfaithfulness brought judgment upon Israel.
Solomon keeps the throne until he dies. But the delay does not mean God let the sin pass.
God acted in judgment as He must ever do when the believer knowingly breaks Scripture. The kingdom was to be torn from him and given to his servant. The carrying out of this judgment was delayed, not for Solomon's sake but for that of his father David.
The same clause tested the man who received the prophecy. Ahijah had named the moment for Jeroboam's turn, and Jeroboam would not wait.
Ahijah had clearly said that Solomon should be "ruler all the days of his life." Only out of his son's hand would the kingdom be taken and transferred to Jeroboam. But Jeroboam was like a wilful, impatient child. He could not wait. He had to take the case out of God's hand and handle it himself.
Twice in this passage God names David as the reason He holds back. Reading the same phrase a few verses later, one writer draws out what it reveals about God Himself.
In verse 34 God, ever coming back to the grace He had shown to David, adds: "Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name" (v. 36). Grace is more in God's eyes than all glory. Or rather, grace is the most precious part of glory, because it stands, so to speak, at the head of all divine perfections.
God calls David a man who kept His commandments, though David's life held real failure. One writer points to how Scripture itself sums him up.
Although there was failure with David, it could be written about him: "David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD." He "did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite" (1 Kings 15:5). This is a remarkable divine commendation.
The remaining share looks pitiful — God calls it one tribe. But one writer contrasts what happened to the ten tribes with what happened to the small one.
What mercy! "a light always." Greatly reduced — reduced in the size and glory of the kingdom. But there was a very marked difference from the ten tribes, the much larger part that passed to the other man. They would shift their loads from time to time. After continual changes in the ruling family, they had one king after another rising up. Not so with Judah. Judah was reduced to what God calls only one tribe. That word puts their loss of glory in the strongest possible way. Still, there the light shall be always.
If the lamp never goes out, someone must hold the promise that keeps it burning.
David's throne is guaranteed by God, not to Solomon or to any other unfaithful creature, but to Christ. Jeremiah 33:15-17 makes this clear. "In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land... For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel."
- Cause. The charge names the nation, but one man is meant. The king carried the responsibility, so his unfaithfulness brought judgment on Israel.
- Delay. Solomon keeps the throne for life — a postponement granted for David's sake, not for his own.
- Ground. God keeps coming back to the grace He showed David; grace stands at the head of all His perfections.
- Verdict. God's summary of David: right in everything except the matter of Uriah. That is a remarkable commendation.
- Result. One tribe looks like almost nothing, yet the light stays there always. And God guarantees the throne itself not to any failing man but to Christ.
but I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, -- the ten tribes.
Ahijah the prophet has just torn his new coat and handed ten parts of it to Jeroboam, one of Solomon's servants. Here God names the timing — not Solomon's reign, but his son's — and the man who will receive the ten tribes.
The torn coat was not theatre. It marked a shift in how God kept contact with His people once the throne had broken down.
Now a prophet appears. Just as the ruin of the priesthood raised up Samuel, so the fall of the kingship now raises up a prophet. The king has failed in his responsibility, so the prophet becomes the link between the people and God. Ahijah tears up the new coat he is wearing — the kingdom itself was still quite new — and gives ten parts to Jeroboam. At that very moment the kingdom is torn out of Solomon's hands, though people only see it later.
Solomon keeps his throne to the end of his days. The loss lands on the next king. Commentators trace that gap to God's word to David rather than to any easing of the sentence.
Because of His promises to David, God would not take the whole kingdom from David's family. He would not do it during Solomon's lifetime either. God is always faithful to His word. But He is never in a hurry to carry out His righteous judgments.
Rehoboam's own folly triggered the split, yet the shape of that folly was set long before he opened his mouth.
Solomon was the wisest of men. Yet he did not obey the clear instructions of Scripture. He leaned on his own understanding, wrecked his life, and broke up his kingdom. It will never be one kingdom again until Christ comes to reign. So the consequences of his sin come out in the history of his son, to whom he gave a heathen mother. What else could we expect but catastrophe!
The chapter blames Solomon, then blames the people's idolatry, then chapter 12 shows Rehoboam's harshness lighting the fuse. One writer treats all three accounts as true at once.
If we had only 1 Kings 11:11, we would conclude that it all happened because of Solomon's sin. If we had only verse 33 of the same chapter, we would say it was for the sin of the people. If we had only chapter 12, we would be sure to blame the nation's ruin on the harsh rule of Rehoboam. The fact is that the sin of any one of the three was enough on its own to bring all the harm that followed. So the responsibility lies at the door of each. Let me say again, though, that this judgment is only a matter of God's government, and does not always reach into eternity.
What Jeroboam receives here is a gift with no strings. What he does with it is another matter entirely — and the two must not be confused.
God's promise to Jeroboam was plain. The kingdom was his, with no conditions attached... Keeping the kingdom, on the other hand, depended on his obedience... He had only to believe the promise of God. Yet, like Jacob, he felt he needed to work out his own schemes to get what God had promised. Are we not ourselves sometimes guilty of the same mistake? So often we are not content with God's clear promise, but try by our own efforts to get what we want, sometimes at the cost of obedience to God's Word.
The ten tribes came with no promise of a steady throne. Judah's far smaller share came with something better.
If it began with a rebellious servant, it would not end with him. Many a rebellious servant would rise up against the king of Israel. So the ruling family would change over and over again. Not so with Judah. God calls Judah no more than one tribe, which is the strongest possible way of saying how far their glory had shrunk. Yet there the light will always shine.
Ahijah's message ends by promising affliction to David's line — and then setting a boundary on it.
We must notice the difference between God's ways in government with His people and His ways in grace. Because of their sins and their refusal to repent, the Jews have been under His chastening hand, and they still are. That is His righteous government. But the grace and love of His heart towards them never change. Mark the terms of the covenant: "And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever" (1 Kings 11:39). This principle matters enormously — for Israel, for the church, and for each individual Christian.
- Torn — Ahijah's cut coat announced a kingdom already torn in God's sight. The split only showed itself after Solomon died.
- Delayed — the judgment skipped Solomon's own reign, for David's sake. God keeps His word, but He is never in a hurry to carry it out.
- Shared — Solomon's disobedience, the people's sin, and Rehoboam's harsh rule each carried enough guilt on its own. This judgment belonged to God's government on earth, and did not always reach into eternity.
- Conditional — the ten tribes were a free gift to Jeroboam. Keeping them depended on obedience, and he schemed instead of trusting God.
- Limited — God would afflict David's line, but not for ever. His government chastens, while His grace towards His people never changes.
And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen for myself to put my name there.
Solomon turned to other gods, and it cost him the kingdom. Yet God kept one tribe back, so that David's lamp would not go out in Jerusalem.
God's charge sounds like it is aimed at the whole nation. One writer points to the one man behind it:
"They have forsaken Me," says the Lord, "and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways…" (v. 33). "They" was Solomon, the king! No doubt all the people later followed that same path, but at this moment one man had sinned — the king. Set before God in a position of responsibility for all the people, his unfaithfulness brought judgment upon Israel.
God spared little, and not for Solomon's sake:
God would leave one tribe to that son, also for the sake of David, not for Solomon's sake. Judah was that tribe, though Benjamin, very small and weak, was included with Judah. Also, this concession was for Jerusalem's sake, for God's choice of that city remained in spite of the failure and disobedience of all Israel.
God keeps coming back to David as the reason for what He spares. One writer weighs grace against glory:
In verse 34 God, ever coming back to the grace He had shown to David, adds: "And to his son I will give one tribe, that David My servant may have a lamp always before Me…" (v. 36). Grace is more in God's eyes than all glory, or rather, grace is the most precious part of glory, for it is, so to speak, at the head of all divine perfections.
The word "always" carries the promise. One writer sets Judah's line beside the northern kingdom:
What mercy! "a light always." The kingdom was greatly reduced — smaller in size and in glory. But here is the sharp difference from the ten tribes, the much larger part that went to the other king. They would change rulers from time to time. The family that governed kept changing, and one man after another rose up. … Not so with Judah. Judah was reduced to what God calls only one tribe — His way of saying as strongly as possible how far their glory had shrunk. Even so, there the light will be always.
(Older translations render the word as "light" rather than "lamp"; the sense is the same.)
The lamp appears in other passages too, joined to anointing and to light:
In the Old Testament we find anointing and the lamp together: "There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for My Anointed" (Ps. 132:17). David himself was spoken of as "the light of Israel" (2 Sam. 21:17); and, in a far higher sense, our Lord Jesus declares Himself "the Light of the world" (John 8:12).
The lamp had to keep burning until the promised Son came, and an enemy had every reason to put it out:
For this future Son to be "the offspring of David," David's line had to continue until He appeared. That is why God had promised David "to give to him always a lamp, and to his sons" (2 Chron. 21:7). Now, how was this lamp going to shine in the royal house until the appearing of the promised Son? How was it to pass through man's poisoned air and moral darkness without going out? If it went out, David's true Heir could never appear. Satan understood this. If he could succeed in extinguishing the lamp, all of God's counsels concerning the "Just Ruler over men" would come to nothing.
The city was God's own choice. One writer traces that choice forward:
From 1 Kings 11:36 we know that the place referred to in Deuteronomy was Jerusalem. Psalm 78:68 shows us that God chose Mount Zion, which He loved, to place His Sanctuary there. Further on we see (verse 7) that God made this place known in connection with His servant David. David is a picture of the Son of David, who in Matthew 18:20 speaks about the place connected with His Name, where He wants to be among His own.
So where does the lamp shine today? One writer answers:
If it is asked, where does this lamp shine now? Not on earth, for Jerusalem, the place of its earthly display, is "trampled underfoot by the Gentiles." But the eye of faith can see it shining with undimmed brightness "in the true tabernacle." There it will keep shining "until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." And then… the blessed lamp will come out from the place where it now shines, and cast its cheering rays on the dark path of the oppressed and sorrowing remnant.
- The sin — the failure was Solomon's own. He held the throne, so his unfaithfulness brought judgment on the whole nation.
- The sparing — God kept back one tribe, Judah, with small, weak Benjamin joined to it. He did it for David's sake and for the city He had chosen, not for Solomon's.
- The grace — God keeps coming back to the grace He showed David. Grace stands at the head of all His perfections.
- The lamp — a light that would burn always. The northern throne changed hands again and again. Judah's lamp had to keep burning until David's true Heir appeared.
- The shining — no one sees the flame in Jerusalem today. Faith sees it burning elsewhere, ready to come out again and light the dark path of a suffering people.
And I will take thee, that thou mayest reign over all that thy soul desireth, and thou shalt be king over Israel.
Solomon still sits on the throne when the prophet Ahijah tells Jeroboam that God will make him king over ten tribes. Two questions follow: how much of that promise was certain, and why did Jeroboam wreck what God handed him?
The verse opens with God's own action: "I will take you." Solomon had already promoted this hard-working young man. But the promotion that mattered came from higher up.
When Solomon was busy fortifying Jerusalem, he noticed how hard Jeroboam worked. He put him in charge of the work crews from Ephraim and Manasseh. But we see that the king was not alone in taking note of this young man. God also took note of his industry and ambition. God's eye is on the ways of man, and more than that, He knows the thoughts and desires of every man's heart.
The promise gave Jeroboam wide room to rule. It did not give him room to ignore God.
God favoured Jeroboam by putting the ten tribes of Israel into his trust. A good and wise king had plenty of freedom to act. But God also demanded obedience to His statutes and commandments.
The two verses say different things. The kingdom itself was not up for negotiation; keeping it was.
God's promise to Jeroboam was plain. The kingdom was his unconditionally. "You shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel." Whether the kingdom lasted, on the other hand, depended on his obedience. "If you will listen … walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight … I will be with you, and build you a sure house." The kingdom was his. He had only to believe the promise of God for that. Yet, like Jacob, he felt he needed to work out his own schemes to get the promise fulfilled. Are we not sometimes guilty of the same mistake? Often we are not content with God's clear promise. We try by our own efforts to get what we want, sometimes at the cost of obeying God's Word.
One writer finds a clue to Jeroboam's heart in that phrase. He wanted power over his brothers before he was ever told he would have it.
But Jeroboam knew nothing of faith. He had secretly wanted power over his brothers. The expression "over all that your soul desires" shows it clearly. He probably tried to hurry Ahijah's prophecy along with the feverish haste of pride, and that is why he had to run to Egypt for shelter… Ahijah had plainly said that Solomon should be "prince all the days of his life." God would take the kingdom only out of his son's hand and give it to Jeroboam. But, like a stubborn, impatient child, he could not wait. He had to take the case out of God's hand and act for himself.
A promised crown tests a man before he ever wears it. David faced the same test and passed it.
How unlike David, the man after God's own heart! The prophet Samuel had anointed and chosen him to replace Saul. Even so, David would not harm a hair of the condemned king's head, or lift a finger to bring the kingdom to himself. David was a man of faith; and faith — that precious "gift of God"! — always waits on God — waits for His time and way to fulfil His promises.
God's word was enough to build a reign on. Jeroboam wanted something he could arrange for himself.
He had only to let God act in his favour, to obey Him, and he was assured of reigning over all that his soul desired (1 Kings 11:37).
But the promises of God were not enough for this man. He reasoned on a purely human level.
- Taken. The reign starts with God's move, not Jeroboam's record. God saw his hard work and the desires of his heart.
- Given. God promised the kingdom outright. Jeroboam had only to believe Him for it.
- Kept. The sure house of the next verse was the part that hung on obedience: wide freedom to reign, and a plain demand to walk in God's ways.
- Grasped. Instead of waiting as David waited, he tried to force the promise through, and had to flee to Egypt for it.
- Forfeited. He would not rest on God's plain word. Human reasoning cost him the sure house, and left him known as the man who made Israel to sin.
And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that which is right in my sight, in keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, that I will be with thee, and build thee a lasting house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.
Solomon's unfaithfulness cost his family ten of Israel's tribes. God handed them to Jeroboam and promised him a dynasty as lasting as David's — and that promise hangs on one word: "if."
God puts two different things before Jeroboam. The throne is a gift. Whether it lasts depends on Jeroboam.
God's promise to Jeroboam was plain. The kingdom was his unconditionally. "You shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel." But whether the kingdom lasted depended on his obedience. "If you will listen… walk in My ways, and do what is right in My eyes… I will be with you, and build you a sure house." The kingdom was his. He had only to believe the promise of God for that. Yet, like Jacob, he felt he needed to work out his own schemes to get what was promised. Are we not sometimes guilty of the same mistake? So often we are not content with God's clear promise, but try by our own efforts to get what we want, sometimes at the cost of obeying God's Word.
God does not set an unreachable bar. He points Jeroboam to a life already lived.
God assured Jeroboam of blessing if he sought the Lord's interests as David did. This was not beyond Jeroboam, for God was only asking for what David had already shown.
A king still had wide freedom. One writer puts both sides plainly: "There was plenty of liberty of action for a good and wise king. But there was also God's demand for obedience to His statutes and commandments" (An Outline of Sound Words).
The promise gives Jeroboam a house as sure as David's, but it stands on a different footing. The next verse also sets a limit on how far David's line will suffer.
A new responsibility now rests on Jeroboam. God was giving him a privileged position. His house was to be as sure as David's, if he would listen to the commandments of the Lord. But God makes one reservation: "And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever" (v. 39). In due time the grace that founded David's kingdom would claim its rights again. God established Jeroboam's kingdom — and Solomon's too — not on grace but on responsibility. God never takes back His promises; He delights in grace.
Jeroboam had God's word for his security. Instead of resting on it, he weighed the odds and set up a religion of his own.
Events unfold without him having to interfere. But he does not trust, and says in his heart: "Now the kingdom will return to the house of David." He has no confidence in God, so he weighs up the probabilities and stops there. Faith never stops at probabilities. I would even say that it feeds on impossibilities and is the better for it. His unbelief in God's promise and his indifference to the worship of the Lord produced a national religion of his own, separate from the worship God had established at Jerusalem.
God let his reign run its full course. The dynasty was another matter.
Despite his wickedness, the Lord allowed Jeroboam to reign twenty-two years. The Lord had used him to discipline the guilty house of David. But his own evil course made it impossible for him to establish a new dynasty. He knew Solomon's sins, and God had encouraged him to do well. The "sure house" mentioned in 1 Kings 11:38 could not be, for Jeroboam had led the people far away from their God.
Two kings held the throne on these terms. Both failed. That leaves a question the verse itself does not answer.
The Lord gave Jeroboam rule over the ten tribes because Solomon had been unfaithful. He told him that if he would listen to His commandments, walk in His ways, and do what was right in His sight, He would be with him and build him "a sure house" (1 Kings 11:38). But who can God trust except the Lord Jesus? Solomon was unfaithful; so was Jeroboam.
- Given — God handed Jeroboam the ten tribes outright. Only the lasting of his house hung on the "if" of obedience.
- Gauge — the standard was "as David my servant did" — a life already lived, so not beyond Jeroboam's reach.
- Ground — his kingdom stood on responsibility; David's stood on grace. God would afflict David's line, "but not forever."
- Grasping — Jeroboam did not trust the promise. He weighed the odds, set up a religion of his own, and lost the sure house.
- Guarantee — both kings failed. The sure house rests at last on the one Man God can trust.
And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.
Ahijah's message to Jeroboam ends with the old house, not the new king. David's line will be struck, but the blow comes with a time limit. That last clause raises the whole question. How can God tear a kingdom apart in judgment and promise in the same breath that the wound will not last?
Commentators draw a line between how God governs His people and what His heart feels toward them.
Under God's righteous government, the Jews have been and still are under His chastening hand, because of their sins and their refusal to repent. But the grace and love of His heart toward them never change. Note the terms of the covenant: "And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever." This principle matters immensely — for Israel, for the church, and for the individual Christian. The apostle uses the same principle when he handles Israel's rejection and restoration: "They were broken off because of their unbelief… But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."
Each throne rested on a different foundation. That is why the affliction has an end.
A new responsibility now falls on Jeroboam. God was giving him a privileged position. His house was to be as sure as David's, if he would listen to the commandments of the Lord. But God makes one reservation: "And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever." In due time the grace that founded David's kingdom would assert its rights again. Jeroboam's kingdom rested on responsibility, not on grace, and so did Solomon's own kingdom. God never takes back His promises; He delights in grace. So the future kingdom of the true King of Glory will rest on a new covenant — a covenant of grace where God alone is under obligation — and on a new creation. Solomon's kingdom rested on neither.
The words do not mean God takes grace away for a season. He is showing something else while grace stays hidden.
"But not forever": in the ways of God there are periods where judgment, so to speak, eclipses grace. It is not that grace no longer exists. Grace stays exactly the same, but it stops shining out, so that God can show other perfections of His glory, such as righteousness and judgment. The same happens to the sun, more than a hundred times the diameter of the earth, when the earth's shadow eclipses it. When the eclipse is over, the huge star appears again in all its brightness. The shadow that covered it has taken away none of its splendour — except to the eyes of men.
Nothing here softens the blow that landed. The promise of a limit came inside a sentence of real loss that ran for centuries.
The whole message to Jeroboam ends with the remarkable words, "I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, BUT NOT FOREVER." David's offspring had now come under the rod of the covenant. Afterwards we see little but its blows. We also see the multiplied and multiplying sins that brought these blows on the guilty nation and its more guilty kings, despite all the patience with which God bore with them.
Judah's line held while the northern kingdom's ruling families kept changing.
What mercy — "a light always"! The kingdom was much reduced in size and glory. But there was a marked difference compared with the ten tribes. They would shift their loads from time to time, and after continual changes in the ruling family, one king would rise up after another… Not so with Judah. Judah was reduced to what God calls only one tribe, which states their loss of glory in the strongest possible way. Still the light would be there always.
The promise of a limit was not given so the godly could fight the judgment. It told them what to accept and what to wait for.
They were the Lord's witnesses. They ought to accept the division as the result of their sin. They ought to commit themselves to God. He would know how to put things right once His judgment had run its course and borne its fruit. That is why Ahijah had said to Jeroboam: "And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever."
- Cause — the affliction is real discipline for real sin. The rod of the covenant fell on David's line and kept falling for generations.
- Limit — "not forever" is the reservation God puts on His own judgment. Judgment eclipses grace; it never ends grace. And the eclipse passes.
- Ground — Jeroboam's throne rested on his obedience. David's rested on grace. So one house failed for good, and the other still has a future.
- Pledge — the light left to Judah was the visible proof of the limit while the judgment ran.
- Response — those who trust God accept the chastening as the fruit of sin. They leave the outcome to Him, since His gifts and calling are irrevocable.
And Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam; and Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt; and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
The prophet Ahijah has just told Solomon that God will give part of his kingdom to Jeroboam. Solomon's answer is not repentance but a death warrant. The verse leaves us with a king hunting God's chosen man, a fugitive sheltering in Egypt, and a promise that outlives them both.
God had raised up adversaries to correct Solomon. This verse shows what that correction produced in him.
Solomon seeks to kill Jeroboam (v. 40). See what feelings this discipline produced in his heart! The obstacle God had raised up should have bowed him into God's presence, submitting to the correction. Instead it only irritates him and drives him to try to free himself of it. How sad is the heart that has lost its fellowship with God and does not judge itself. What has Solomon, the king of righteousness, come to? His heart is no longer upright before God. How far he is from his beginnings!
The root of it was that Solomon would not accept what God had said. One writer traces the downward line simply:
Solomon knew that God had told Jeroboam he would be king over Israel, but instead of being chastened and repentant because he himself was to blame, Solomon wanted to kill Jeroboam. Thus, he was not willing to submit to God's Word in this matter. His disobedience to God led him farther and farther astray.
Jeroboam was more than a political threat. He was one of a line of enemies God allowed, and Solomon should have asked God why.
When enemies rise up against us our first appeal should be to God as to why He has permitted it. The enemies themselves may have no thought of God. Even so, they may be His instruments to discipline His people… Jeroboam rose up later, and became a much more serious enemy. He was an ambitious young man, and even aspired to the throne (1 Kings 11:37). Solomon forgot his own words in Proverbs 16:7. Instead of searching his conscience before God about this opponent, he tried to kill him, just as Saul had done with David.
Solomon held absolute power, and it was useless against a word God had already spoken.
But now Solomon faced another promise of God, made this time to Jeroboam: part of the kingdom would be his. God had assured him, "Yet I will not do it in your days, for the sake of David your father." Instead of resting in that, Solomon took the law into his own hands and tried to kill Jeroboam, as Herod would do in a later day. But of course God's promises could not be broken. Jeroboam fled into Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.
Why did Solomon strike at Jeroboam just then? Scripture does not say, and one writer suggests Jeroboam had tried to hurry the prophecy along — which exposes him as much as Solomon.
We are not told whether news of Ahijah's prophecy reached Solomon, or whether the excited Jeroboam gave the secret away by some rash or rebellious act. But Scripture says of him, "He lifted up his hand against the king." Perhaps he made some failed attempt to raise a rebellion and hurry along the prophecy about him… How unlike David, the man after God's own heart! Samuel the prophet had anointed and chosen him to replace Saul, yet he would not harm a hair of the condemned king's head, or lift a finger to bring the kingdom to himself. David was a man of faith. And faith — that precious "gift of God"! — always waits on God. It waits for His time and His way to fulfil His promises.
The same impatience shows up in ordinary life:
The kingdom was his. He had only to believe the promise of God for that. Yet, like Jacob, he felt he had to work out his own schemes to get the promise fulfilled. Are we not sometimes guilty of the same mistake? So often we are not content with God's clear promise. We try to get what we want by our own efforts, sometimes at the cost of obeying God's Word.
The verse names the king who took Jeroboam in. Solomon had married a Pharaoh's daughter to strengthen his throne, and Shishak had overthrown that very royal house.
Solomon had allied himself with Pharaoh by marrying his daughter. Perhaps he did this only to please himself, or perhaps he expected an alliance with such a powerful country to strengthen his kingdom. Either way it all comes to nothing, as every such scheme does where God's word is disobeyed or ignored. Shishak overthrew Pharaoh, Solomon's father-in-law, and so ended that royal line. Shishak became the "new king" who "did not know" Solomon or his successor.
- Word — God had said part of the kingdom would pass to Jeroboam. The whole verse is Solomon's refusal to bow to that word.
- Rod — Jeroboam was God's instrument of discipline. Solomon's first question should have been "Why has God allowed this?" — not "How do I remove him?"
- Sword — Solomon reached for the sword instead, as Saul did with David, and hardened where he should have humbled.
- Flight — Jeroboam grasped at the promise, and it drove him into exile. David was promised a throne, and he waited for God's time.
- Futility — The murder plot failed, and Solomon's Egyptian alliance collapsed. Nothing he gained by his own scheming lasted.