And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
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."
Gift and Condition
God puts two different things before Jeroboam. The throne is a gift. Whether it lasts depends on Jeroboam.
Truth & TestimonyGod'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.
The Measure: "As David My Servant Did"
God does not set an unreachable bar. He points Jeroboam to a life already lived.
An Outline of Sound WordsGod 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).
Responsibility, Not Grace
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.
H. L. RossierA 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.
Why the Sure House Never Came
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.
H. L. RossierEvents 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.
W. W. FeredayDespite 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.
Where the Verse Points
Two kings held the throne on these terms. Both failed. That leaves a question the verse itself does not answer.
W. W. FeredayThe 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.
Summary
- 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.