Who was King Jeroboam II in the Bible?

Son of Jehoash, or Joash, and his successor on the throne of Israel. He was made co-regent in B.C. 836, and reigned alone 41 years: B.C. 825-784. Very little is recorded of this king except that he obtained signal victories over the Syrians, and Hamath and Damascus were recovered, for the Lord had mercy on Israel. "He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat." Amos announced his death by the sword. 2 Kings 13:13; 2 Kings 14:16-29; 2 Kings 15:1, 8; 1 Chr. 5:17; Hosea 1:1; Amos 1:1; Amos 7:9-11.

"In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." His was the longest and most prosperous of any of the reigns of the kings of Israel. "He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He spake by the hand of His servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher." This was the beginning of the ministry of the sixteen prophets whose writings have been preserved to us. Jonah was the earliest of these probably, and appears to have been Elisha's immediate successor. His prophecy referred to here, of the enlargement of Israel's coast (border), must have been a very pleasant one to him — a much more welcome work than his commission toward the Ninevites. But God's servants have no choice. They know "the love of Christ," and, constrained by that same love, it is their joy to tell it; but they also know "the terror of the Lord"; and knowing this, they do their utmost to "persuade" and warn men of "the wrath to come." It is not grace only that came by Jesus Christ, but "grace and truth." And the truth must be made known to men, however unpleasant or unthankful the task. But if done as unto God, it can never be a disagreeable or unwelcome undertaking to the spirit, however painful or unpleasant to the flesh. See 1 Cor. 9:16-17.

The increase of Israel's territory under Jeroboam II. was considerable; his prosperity in this way corresponding with his name — whose people is many. " 'The entering in of Hamath' indicates that the long valley between Lebanon and Anti-lebanon was the point of entrance into the land of Israel for an invading army" (Fausset). "The sea of the plain" was the Dead Sea (Joshua 3:16), making the total distance of his kingdom, north and south, almost two hundred miles. He was, no doubt, the "savior" promised under the unfortunate reign of Jehoahaz (2 Kings 13:5). "For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. And the Lord said not that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash." This was not for any goodness that He saw in them or Jeroboam their king, but "because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (2 Kings 13:23).

"Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?" Damascus and Hamath were both capitals of two once powerful kingdoms, and though once subjugated by David (1 Chron. 18:3-6), their recovery to Israel under Jeroboam, more than one hundred and fifty years after their revolt from Judah, speaks eloquently for the success and power of his arms against those hostile nations on his northern border. Hamath, called "the great" in Amos 6:2, was the principal city of upper Syria, and an important strategic point, commanding the whole valley of the Orontes leading to the countries on the south.

Israel was blessed, with the ministries of both Hosea and Amos during Jeroboam's reign. From their writings it will readily be seen that though there was political revival under his rule, there was no real moral or spiritual awakening among the people. Amos was looked upon as a troubler to the peace of the kingdom, and admonished by Amaziah the priest of Bethel to flee away to the land of Judah, "and there eat bread, and prophesy there," as if God's prophet were nothing more than a mere mercenary like himself. He also accused the prophet before the king of having conspired against his life. Jeroboam appears to have paid little or no attention to this charge, being, perhaps, too sensible a man to believe the accusation, knowing the jealous, self-seeking spirit of the arch-priest of the nation. See Amos 7:7–17.

Jeroboam, king of Israel, the third successor of Jehu, succeeds Joash, his father. "He did evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not from any of the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin" (v. 24). Nonetheless his reign lasted forty-one years! One might believe, and we have several examples in this history, that God always promptly cut off the kings whose conduct dishonoured Him. Such is the case with Zechariah, the son of this same Jeroboam (2 Kings 15:8), but it is not so here. God has different ways which He knows how to reconcile with His longsuffering and His mercy. His pity for Israel's state of being oppressed directs His ways concerning Jeroboam's reign. "Jehovah saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; and that there was not any shut up, nor any-left, nor any helper for Israel. And Jehovah had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens; and he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash" (vv. 26-27). God raises up a saviour for this people in the person of this king who had incurred His displeasure, just as He had previously done with Joash his father (2 Kings 13:5). "He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the sea of the plain" (v. 25).

The territory of Hamath, the principal city of upper Syria, had at one time belonged to Solomon (2 Chr. 8:3). Jeroboam's victory restored to Israel "the entrance of Hamath," a very important strategic position. The city of Hamath itself does not seem to have been part of the conquest, but the borders of Israel were restored from the entrance of Hamath to the Salt Sea, which is the Dead Sea (cf. Joshua 3:16). Taking possession of this enlarged Israel's territory at the expense of that of Judah, for a part of Damascus and of Hamath had formerly belonged to the latter (v. 28).

This Jereboam was the son of Joash king of Israel, and reigned in Samaria for 41 years, but as did all the kings of Israel, he followed the ways of the first Jereboam in disobedience to the Lord (v.24). He did, however, benefit Israel by restoring land that belonged to them. "For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; and whether bond or free, there was no helper for Israel" (v.26). How good that the Lord gives some measure of gracious encouragement to His people, though they are in a pathetic state. Thus He saved them from enemies by the hand of Jereboam, who did some good things in spite of his general condition of disobedience to God. This included his recapturing land that had belonged to Judah (v.28), for Judah in her weakness had suffered such loss. At the death of Jereboam, his son Zechariah took the throne.

"Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, for forty-one years. And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah.He restored the border of Israel.according to the word of Jehovah the God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the prophet, the son of Amittai, who was of Gath-Hepher. For Jehovah saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter."

The son of Amittai, living in Gath-hepher, a town of Galilee, was a successful prophet known and undoubtedly honoured by his contemporaries in Israel. He prophesied in the reign of Jeroboam II., who reigned roughly seven centuries before Christ, when Isaiah and Micah and Amos were living.

Hamath, at the extreme N.W. of Palestine, had been allied with Judah, and the Kingdom of Israel accordingly suffered; but Jonah prophesied that God would restore the full border to it again, and Jeroboam II., an able but idolatrous king, won it back and raised the Kingdom of Israel to its height, yet fifty years later it fell away into the Captivity to Assyria, owing to its idolatry and rebellion against God. But this fixes, approximately, the date of Jonah's story.

Under the reign of Jeroboam II the northern kingdom of Israel flourished as never before nor after. There was a great external prosperity. Therefore, we find that the prophet mentions the rich, their great wealth and luxury, their arrogant pride and self-security and the oppression of the poor. Underneath it all was an awful moral corruption, the fruit of the false worship. In this state of prosperity, immorality and false worship they did not dream of any coming calamity whatever. Such were the days in which the herdman of Tekoa appeared upon the scene to give an inspired testimony against the nation.

The reign of this second Jeroboam was longer than that of any other king of Israel. Outwardly it was a time of prosperity, but there were deep-rooted problems. Jeroboam walked in the sins of his predecessor Jeroboam I and like him did evil in the sight of Jehovah. The prophet Amos, who lived at this time, denounced the luxury of Israel's well-to-do upper class in no uncertain terms. For this, Amos was told to flee the country and go to Judah. The sanctuary at Bethel, he was told, was the king's sanctuary, and he was not to prophesy there. Today too in many countries believers are persecuted and told what they are to preach and teach, and what topics they must avoid. In some places attempts are even being made to have the Bible classified as hate literature because of its uncompromising presentation of God's holy standards and its stern denunciation of sins such as homosexual behavior. Sinful man is quite ready for a religion that he himself can devise and control but he refuses to submit to God's standards.

The prophet Amos, who prophesied in the same epoch, announced to the house of Israel that Jeroboam's conquests would not be long-lasting. The Assyrian would capture these from them. "For behold, O house of Israel, said Jehovah the God of hosts, I will raise up against you a nation; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hamath unto the torrent of the Arabah" (Amos 6:14). Less than one hundred years later, this prophecy was realized under Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:34; 2 Kings 19:13). Jeroboam had "put far away the evil day" (Amos 6:3), in reconquering Israel's borders to "Hamath the great" (Amos 6:1-2), and unto the sea of the plain. Behold, says Amos, the evil day is near at hand. On the eve of ruin, the prince was relaxing, thinking only of his ease (Amos 6:4), and behold, Hamath itself and Gath (recaptured by Uzziah — 2 Chr. 26:6), and Calneh and Babylonia were about to fall into the hands of the Assyrians! The house of Jeroboam was threatened with ruin under the judgment of the Lord, who would "not again pass" His people any more, and who would cause judgment to fall upon them from top to bottom, even to their foundations (Amos 7:7-9).

There is no difficulty with the age in which he prophesied. This is stated in the opening verse of the book. "In the days of Uzziah, King of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, King of Israel, two years before the earthquake." Jeroboam II became king in the 15th year of the reign of Amaziah, King of Judah. Jeroboam reigned 41 years. As Amaziah reigned over Judah 29 years and was followed by Uzziah, Jeroboam's reign was during 14 years of Amaziah's reign and covered 27 years of Uzziah's reign. Amos' activity was during the period when Uzziah was king in Judah, in the second half of Jeroboam's reign.