Day 101. 1 Kings 13-15

In our reading for today we see repeated the pattern that was established with the division of the kingdom at the death of Solomon. The prophets of God--for some we are given names, for others not--arise and denounce the idolatry of the kings of Judah and Israel. They speak the word of God boldly and do miracles, like the nameless prophet in 13:1-10, who causes the hand of King Jeroboam to wither and then restores it again to demonstrate that the power of God is active in his messengers. But absolute fidelity to instructions of the LORD is required of his messengers—that is the point of the curious story of the two unnamed prophets recounted in 13:11-32. Even the slightest disobedience will prove fatal to one who is called to deliver the word of the LORD. In this story, the old prophet "deceives" the younger one (13:18), telling him that he has a message from God permitting him to eat, when God has in fact commanded him not to eat or drink until he has returned from delivering his message to king.  As punishment for his momentary lapse, the erring prophet is killed by a lion, which miraculously does not devour his body or kill his mule.  Instead the lion sits beside the dead prophet, guarding his body until it is recovered for burial (13:27). To us it is a strange, barbaric story, but to its first hearers it demonstrated that absolute faithfulness is required of those who carry the word of LORD, whose commands not even another prophet can contradict. But in spite of the words of the prophets, King Jeroboam of Israel does not repent. Instead he patronizes the "high places," and nominates priests to serve in them who are not part of the tribe of Levi, again in an effort to undermine the authority of temple establishment in Jerusalem (13:33).  And because of his apostasy, Jeroboam's son Abijah falls ill (14:1). So the king sends the child's mother in disguise consult to the prophet Ahijah in disguise. The blind prophet is not deceived, however; he immediately recognizes the queen and sends her back to her husband with a chilling prophesy. On her return home her child will die (14:12). Furthermore, her husband's family is marked for exterminating —his house will be burned up like "dung until it is gone" (14:10). Most terrible of all, because of the sins of Jeroboam and the sins he caused Israel to commit--"because they have made their sacred poles, provoking the LORD to anger"--the northern kingdom of Israel will be carried off into exile and oblivion "beyond Euphrates" and never heard from again (14:15-16). The prophecy takes several generations to ripen, but it will come to pass, as we shall see. Things are little better in Judah, the southern kingdom. They are also worshiping in the "high places" and under "every green tree" (14:23).  Therefore, the LORD allows the holy city of Jerusalem and the temple to be sacked by the Pharaoh Shishak, "who [takes] away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house" (14:26). He takes away everything, we are told including the golden shields that Solomon had made (14:26); these Rehoboam replaced with bronze. The Golden Age is over. A melancholy pattern we have seen in the northern kingdom is established in Judah as well. At the death of Rehoboam, his son Abijam succeeds him. Abijam commits all the sins his father had and more, and "his heart was not true to the LORD his God" (15:3). But Abijam's reign is mercifully short, three years, and he is succeeded with a good king, Asa. Good king Asa suppresses the male temple prostitutes and smashes the idols (15:12). He even removes the queen mother because of her devotion to the fertility goddess Asherah. The reform he begins is not complete. Asa allows the "high places" to remain—as serious fault in the eyes of the compiler of 1 Kings. Nevertheless, he grants that all and all Asa is a good king whose heart is true "to the LORD all his days" (15:14). All during this period there is continuous war going on between Israel and Judah. Neither kingdom, however, can get the upper hand. In the north Jeroboam of Israel dies and is succeeded by his son Nabab, another evil king. Someone named Baasha conspires against Nabab, kills him, and in good oriental fashion slaughters the whole house of Jeroboam, so that there is "left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed" (15:29). So the prophecy of Ahijah the prophet was confirmed. A new dynasty is established in Israel, but Baasha proves no better those he overthrows. "He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD," we are told, "walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin that he caused Israel to commit" (15:34). So again we see the soul of the ruler reflected in the character of his people.