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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [First Kings, Chapter XIV].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T K I N G S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XIV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The kingdom being divided into that of Judah and that of Israel, we
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must henceforward, in these books of Kings, expect and attend their
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separate history, the succession of their kings, and the affairs of
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their kingdoms, accounted for distinctly. In this chapter we have,
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I. The prophecy of the destruction of Jeroboam's house,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:7-16">ver. 7-16</A>.
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The sickness of his child was the occasion of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>),
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and the death of his child the earnest of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:17,18">ver. 17, 18</A>),
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together with the conclusion of his reign,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:19,20">ver. 19, 20</A>.
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II. The history of the declension and diminution of Rehoboam's house
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and kingdom
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:21-28">ver. 21-28</A>)
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and the conclusion of his reign,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:29-31">ver. 29-31</A>.
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In both we may read the mischievous consequences of sin and the
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calamities it brings on kingdoms and families.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Abijah's Sickness; the Prophet Ahijah Consulted.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 960.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
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2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and
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disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of
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Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there <I>is</I> Ahijah the
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prophet, which told me that <I>I should be</I> king over this people.
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3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of
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honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the
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child.
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4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh,
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and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for
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his eyes were set by reason of his age.
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5 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam
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cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he <I>is</I> sick: thus
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and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she
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cometh in, that she shall feign herself <I>to be</I> another <I>woman.</I>
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6 And it was <I>so,</I> when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as
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she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of
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Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself <I>to be</I> another? for I <I>am</I>
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sent to thee <I>with</I> heavy <I>tidings.</I>
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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How Jeroboam persisted in his contempt of God and religion we read in
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the close of the foregoing chapter. Here we are told how God proceeded
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in his controversy with him; for when God judges he will overcome, and
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sinners shall either bend or break before him.</P>
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<P>
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I. His child fell sick,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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It is probable that he was his eldest son, and heir-apparent to the
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crown; for at his death all the kingdom went into mourning for him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+13:1-34"><I>ch.</I> xiii.</A>
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His dignity as a prince, his age as a young prince, and his interest in
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heaven as a pious prince, could not exempt him from sickness, dangerous
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sickness. Let none be secure of the continuance of their health, but
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improve it, while it continues, for the best purposes. Lord, <I>behold,
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he whom thou lovest,</I> thy favourite, he whom Israel loves, their
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darling, <I>is sick. At that time,</I> when Jeroboam prostituted the
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profaned the priesthood
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+13:33"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 33</A>),
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his child sickened. When sickness comes into our families we should
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enquire whether there be not some particular sin harboured in our
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houses, which the affliction is sent to convince us of and reclaim us
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from.</P>
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<P>
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II. He sent his wife in disguise to enquire of Ahijah the prophet
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<I>what should become of the child,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
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The sickness of his child touched him in a tender part. The withering
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of this branch of the family would, perhaps, be as sore an affliction
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to him as the withering of that branch of his body,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+13:4"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 4</A>.
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Such is the force of natural affection; our children are ourselves but
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once removed. Now,</P>
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<P>
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1. Jeroboam's great desire, under this affliction, is to know <I>what
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shall become of the child,</I> whether he will live or die.
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(1.) It would have been more prudent if he had desired to know what
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means they should use for the recovery of the child, what they should
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give him, and what they should do to him; but by this instance, and
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those of Ahaziah
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+1:2">2 Kings i. 2</A>)
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and Benhadad
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+8:8">2 Kings viii. 8</A>),
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it should seem they had then such a foolish notion of fatality as took
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them off from all use of means; for, if they were sure the patient
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would live, they thought means needless; if he would die, they thought
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them useless; not considering that duty is ours, events are God's, and
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that he that ordained the end ordained the means. Why should a prophet
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be desired to show that which a little time will show?
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(2.) It would have been more pious if he had desired to know wherefore
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God contended with him, had begged the prophet's prayers, and cast away
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his idols from him; then the child might have been restored to him, as
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his hand was. But most people would rather be told their fortune than
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their faults or their duty.</P>
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<P>
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2. That he might know the child's doom, he sent to Ahijah the prophet,
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who lived obscurely and neglected in Shiloh, blind through age, yet
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still blest with the visions of the Almighty, which need not bodily
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eyes, but are rather favoured by the want of them, the eyes of the mind
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being then most intent and least diverted. Jeroboam sent not to him for
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advice about the setting up of his calves, or the consecrating of his
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priests, but had recourse to him in his distress, when the gods he
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served could give him no relief. <I>Lord, in trouble have those visited
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thee</I> who before slighted thee. Some have by sickness been reminded
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of their forgotten ministers and praying friends. He sent to Ahijah,
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because he had <I>told him he should be king,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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"He was once the messenger of good tidings, surely he will be so
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again." Those that by sin disqualify themselves for comfort, and yet
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expect their ministers, because they are good men, should speak peace
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and comfort to them, greatly wrong both themselves and their
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ministers.</P>
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<P>
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3. He sent his wife to enquire of the prophet, because she could best
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put the question without naming names, or making any other description
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than this, "Sir, I have a son ill; will he recover or not?" The heart
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of her husband safely trusted in her that she would be faithful both in
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delivering the message and bringing him the answer; and it seems there
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were none of all his counsellors in whom he could repose such a
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confidence; otherwise the sick child could very ill spare her, for
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mothers are the best nurses, and it would have been much fitter for her
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to have staid at home to tend him than go to Shiloh to enquire what
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would become of him. If she go, she must be <I>incognito--in
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disguise,</I> must change her dress, cover her face, and go by another
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name,not only to conceal herself from her own court and the country
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through which she passed (as if it were below her quality to go upon
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such an errand, and what she had reason to be ashamed of, as Nicodemus
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that came to Jesus by night, whereas it is no disparagement to the
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greatest to attend God's prophets), but also to conceal herself from
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the prophet himself, that he might only answer her question concerning
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her son, and not enter upon the unpleasing subject of her husband's
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defection. Thus some people love to prescribe to their ministers, limit
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them to smooth things, and care not for having the <I>whole counsel of
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God declared</I> to them, lest it prove to prophesy <I>no good
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concerning them, but evil.</I> But what a strange notion had Jeroboam
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of God's prophet when he believed that he could and would certainly
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tell what would <I>become of the child,</I> and yet either could not or
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would not discover who was the mother! Could he see into the thick
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darkness of futurity, and yet not see through the thin veil of this
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disguise? Did Jeroboam think the God of Israel like his calves, just
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what he pleased? <I>Be not deceived, God is not mocked.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. God gave Ahijah notice of the approach of Jeroboam's wife, and
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that she came in disguise, and full instructions what to say to her
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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which enabled him, as she came in at the door, to call her by her name,
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to her great surprise, and so to discover to all about him who she was
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam, why feignest thou thyself to be
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another?</I> He had no regard,
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1. To her rank. She was a queen, but what was that to him, who had a
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message to deliver to her immediately from God, before whom all the
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children of men stand upon the same level? Nor,
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2. To her present. It was usual for those who consulted prophets to
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bring them tokens of respect, which they accepted, and yet were no
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hirelings. She brought him a handsome country present
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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but he did not think himself obliged by that to give her any finer
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language than the nature of her message required. Nor,
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3. To her industrious concealment of herself. It is a piece of
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civility not to take notice of those who desire not to be taken notice
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of; but the prophet was no courtier, nor gave flattering titles; plain
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dealing is best, and she shall know, at the first word, what she has to
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trust to: <I>I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.</I> Note, Those who
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think by their disguises to hide themselves from God will be wretchedly
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confounded when they find themselves disappointed in the day of
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discovery. Sinners now appear in the garb of saints, and are taken to
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be such; but how will they blush and tremble when they find themselves
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stripped of their false colours, and are called by their own name: "Go
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out, thou treacherous false-hearted hypocrite. <I>I never knew thee.
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Why feignest thou thyself to be another?</I>" Tidings of a portion with
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hypocrites will be heavy tidings. God will judge men according to what
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they are, not according to what they seem.</P>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki14_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Ruin of Jeroboam's House Foretold; Abijah's Character and Death.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 960.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel,
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Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee
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prince over my people Israel,
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8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave
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it thee: and <I>yet</I> thou hast not been as my servant David, who
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kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to
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do <I>that</I> only <I>which was</I> right in mine eyes;
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9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou
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hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke
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me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:
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10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of
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Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against
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the wall, <I>and</I> him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will
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take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh
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away dung, till it be all gone.
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11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat;
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and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat:
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for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath spoken <I>it.</I>
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12 Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: <I>and</I>
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when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.
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13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he
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only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is
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found <I>some</I> good thing toward the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel in the
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house of Jeroboam.
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14 Moreover the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall raise him up a king over Israel, who
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shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
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15 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the
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water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which
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he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the
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river, because they have made their groves, provoking the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> to
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anger.
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16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam,
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who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
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17 And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah:
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<I>and</I> when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;
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18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him,
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according to the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, which he spake by the hand of
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his servant Ahijah the prophet.
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19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how
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he reigned, behold, they <I>are</I> written in the book of the
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chronicles of the kings of Israel.
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20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned <I>were</I> two and twenty
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years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned
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in his stead.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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When those that set up idols, and keep them up, go to enquire of the
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Lord, he determines to answer them, not according to the pretensions of
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their enquiry, but <I>according to the multitude of their idols,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:4">Ezek. xiv. 4</A>.
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So Jeroboam is answered here.</P>
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<P>
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I. The prophet anticipates the enquiry concerning the child, and
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foretels the ruin of Jeroboam's house for the wickedness of it. No one
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else durst have carried such a message: a servant would have smothered
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it, but his own wife cannot be suspected of ill-will to him.</P>
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<P>
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1. God calls himself the <I>Lord God of Israel.</I> Though Israel had
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forsaken God, God had not cast them off, nor given them a bill of
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divorce for their whoredoms. He is Israel's God, and therefore will
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take vengeance on him who did them the greatest mischief he could do
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them, debauched them and drew them away from God.</P>
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<P>
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2. He upbraids Jeroboam with the great favour he had bestowed upon him,
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in making him king, exalting him from among the people, the common
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people, to be prince over God's chosen Israel, and taking the kingdom
|
|
<I>from the house of David,</I> to bestow it upon him. Whether we keep
|
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an account of God's mercies to us or no, he does, and will set even
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|
them in order before us, if we be ungrateful, to our greater confusion;
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|
otherwise he gives and upbraids not.</P>
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<P>
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3. He charges him with his impiety and apostasy, and his idolatry
|
|
particularly: <I>Thou hast done evil above all that were before
|
|
thee,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Saul, that was rejected, never worshipped idols; Solomon did it but
|
|
occasionally, in his dotage, and never made Israel to sin. Jeroboam's
|
|
calves, though pretended to be set up in honour of the God of Israel,
|
|
that brought <I>them up out of Egypt,</I> yet are here called <I>other
|
|
gods,</I> or <I>strange gods,</I> because in them he worshipped God as
|
|
the heathen worshipped their strange gods, because by them he
|
|
<I>changed the truth of God into a lie</I> and represented him as
|
|
altogether different from what he is, and because many of the ignorant
|
|
worshippers terminated their devotion in the image, and did not at all
|
|
regard the God of Israel. Though they were calves of gold, the richness
|
|
of the metal was so far from making them acceptable to God that they
|
|
<I>provoked him to anger,</I> designedly affronted him, under colour of
|
|
pleasing him. In doing this,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He had not set David before him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou hast not been as my servant David,</I> who, though he had his
|
|
faults and some bad ones, yet never forsook the worship of God nor grew
|
|
loose nor cold to that; his faithful adherence to that gained him this
|
|
honourable character, that he <I>followed God with all his heart,</I>
|
|
and herein he was proposed for an example to all his successors. Those
|
|
did not do well that did not do like David.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He had not <I>set God before him,</I> but
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou hast cast me behind thy back,</I> my law, my fear; thou hast
|
|
neglected me, forgotten me, and preferred thy policies before my
|
|
precepts."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He foretels the utter ruin of Jeroboam's house,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:10,11"><I>v.</I> 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
He thought, by his idolatry, to establish his government, and by that
|
|
he not only lost it, but brought destruction upon his family, the
|
|
universal destruction of all the males, whether shut up or left,
|
|
married or unmarried.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Shameful destruction. They shall be taken away as dung, which is
|
|
loathsome and which men are glad to be rid of. He worshipped
|
|
dunghill-deities, and God removed his family as a great dunghill. Noble
|
|
and royal families, if wicked, are no better in God's account.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Unusual destruction. Their very dead bodies should be meat for the
|
|
dogs in the street, or the birds of prey in the field,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus evil pursues sinners. See this fulfilled,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+15:29"><I>ch.</I> xv. 29</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. He foretels the immediate death of the sick child,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) In mercy to him, lest, if he live, he be infected with the sin,
|
|
and so involved in the ruin, of his father's house. Observe the
|
|
character given of him: <I>In him was found some good thing towards the
|
|
Lord God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.</I> He had an affection
|
|
for the true worship of God and disliked the worship of the calves.
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Those are good <I>in whom are good things towards the Lord God of
|
|
Israel,</I> good inclinations, good intentions, good desires, towards
|
|
him.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Where there is but <I>some</I> good thing of that kind it will be
|
|
found: God, who seeks it, sees it be it ever so little and is pleased
|
|
with it.
|
|
|
|
[3.] A little grace goes a great way with great people. It is so rare
|
|
to find princes well affected to religion that, when they are so, they
|
|
are worthy of double honour.
|
|
|
|
[4.] Pious dispositions are in a peculiar manner amiable and acceptable
|
|
when they are found in those that are young. The divine image in
|
|
miniature has a peculiar beauty and lustre in it.
|
|
|
|
[5.] Those that are good in bad times and places shine very brightly in
|
|
the eyes of God. A good child <I>in the house of Jeroboam</I> is a
|
|
miracle of divine grace: to be there untainted is like being in the
|
|
fiery furnace unhurt, unsinged. Observe the care taken of him: he only,
|
|
of all Jeroboam's family, shall die in honour, shall be buried, and
|
|
shall be lamented as one that lived desired. Note, Those that are
|
|
distinguished by divine grace shall be distinguished by divine
|
|
providence. This hopeful child dies first of all the family, for God
|
|
often <I>takes those soonest whom he loves best.</I> Heaven is the
|
|
fittest place for them; this earth is not worthy of them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) In wrath to the family.
|
|
|
|
[1.] It was a sign the family would be ruined when <I>he</I> was taken
|
|
by whom it might have been reformed. The righteous are removed from
|
|
the evil to come in this world, to the good to come in a better world.
|
|
It is a bad omen to a family when the best in it are buried out of it;
|
|
when what was valuable is picked out the rest is for the fire.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It was likewise a present affliction to the family and kingdom, by
|
|
which both ought to have been bettered; and this aggravated the
|
|
affliction to the poor mother that she should not reach home time
|
|
enough to see her son alive: <I>When thy feet enter into the city,</I>
|
|
just then <I>the child shall die.</I> This was to be a sign to her of
|
|
the accomplishment of the rest of the threatenings, as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:34">1 Sam. ii. 34</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. He foretels the setting up of another family to rule over Israel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was fulfilled in Baasha of Issachar, who conspired against Nadab
|
|
the son of Jeroboam, in the second year of his reign, murdered him and
|
|
all his family. "<I>But what? Even now.</I> Why do I speak of it as a
|
|
thing at a distance? It is at the door. It shall be done <I>even
|
|
now.</I>" Sometimes God makes quick work with sinners; he did so with
|
|
the house of Jeroboam. It was not twenty-four years from his first
|
|
elevation to the final extirpation of his family.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
7. He foretels the judgments which should come upon the people of
|
|
Israel for conforming to the worship which Jeroboam had established.
|
|
<I>If the blind lead the blind,</I> both the blind leaders and the
|
|
blind followers shall <I>fall into the ditch.</I> It is here foretold,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That they should never be easy, nor rightly settled in their land,
|
|
but continually <I>shaken like a reed in the water.</I> After they left
|
|
the house of David, the government never continued long in one family,
|
|
but one undermined and destroyed another, which must needs occasion
|
|
great disorders and disturbances among the people.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That they should, ere long, be totally expelled out of their land,
|
|
that good land, and given up to ruin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was fulfilled in the captivity of the ten tribes by the king of
|
|
Assyria. Families and kingdoms are ruined by sin, ruined by the
|
|
wickedness of the heads of them. <I>Jeroboam did sin, and made Israel
|
|
to sin.</I> If great men do wickedly, they involve many others both in
|
|
the guilt and in the snare; multitudes <I>follow their pernicious
|
|
ways.</I> They go to hell with a long train, and their condemnation
|
|
will be the more intolerable, for they must answer, not only for their
|
|
own sins, but for the sins which others have been drawn into and kept
|
|
in by their influence.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Jeroboam's wife has nothing to say against the word of the Lord,
|
|
but she goes home with a heavy heart to their house in <I>Tirzah,</I> a
|
|
<I>sweet delightful place,</I> so the name signifies, famed for its
|
|
beauty,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+6:4">Cant. vi. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
But death, which will stain its beauty and embitter all its delights,
|
|
cannot be shut out from it. Hither she came, and here we leave her
|
|
attending the funeral of her son, and expecting the fate of her family.
|
|
|
|
1. <I>The child died</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
and justly did all Israel mourn, not only for the loss of so hopeful a
|
|
prince, whom they were not worthy of, but because his death plucked up
|
|
the flood-gates, and made a breach, at which an inundation of judgments
|
|
broke in.
|
|
|
|
2. Jeroboam himself died soon after,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+13:20">2 Chron. xiii. 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>The Lord struck him</I> with some sore disease, so that he died
|
|
miserably, when he had reigned twenty-two years, and left his crown to
|
|
a son who lost it, and his life too, and all the lives of his family,
|
|
within two years after. For a further account of him the reader is
|
|
referred to the annals of his reign, drawn up by his own secretaries,
|
|
or to the public records, like those in the Tower, called here, <I>The
|
|
Book</I> or register, <I>of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel,</I>
|
|
to which recourse might then be had; but, not being divinely inspired,
|
|
these records are long since lost.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki14_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki14_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki14_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki14_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki14_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki14_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki14_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki14_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki14_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki14_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki14_31"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Rehoboam's Disgrace and Death.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 960.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam
|
|
<I>was</I> forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he
|
|
reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> did
|
|
choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there.
|
|
And his mother's name <I>was</I> Naamah an Ammonitess.
|
|
22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and they
|
|
provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had
|
|
committed, above all that their fathers had done.
|
|
23 For they also built them high places, and images, and
|
|
groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
|
|
24 And there were also sodomites in the land: <I>and</I> they did
|
|
according to all the abominations of the nations which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
cast out before the children of Israel.
|
|
25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam,
|
|
<I>that</I> Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:
|
|
26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and
|
|
the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he
|
|
took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
|
|
27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and
|
|
committed <I>them</I> unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which
|
|
kept the door of the king's house.
|
|
28 And it was <I>so,</I> when the king went into the house of the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the
|
|
guard chamber.
|
|
29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did,
|
|
<I>are</I> they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
|
|
of Judah?
|
|
30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all <I>their</I>
|
|
days.
|
|
31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his
|
|
fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name <I>was</I> Naamah
|
|
an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Judah's story and Israel's are intermixed in this book. Jeroboam
|
|
out-lived Rehoboam, four or five years, yet his history is despatched
|
|
first, that the account of Rehoboam's reign may be laid together; and a
|
|
sad account it is.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Here is no good said of the king. All the account we have of him
|
|
here is,
|
|
|
|
1. That he was forty-one years old when he began to reign, by which
|
|
reckoning he was born in the last year of David, and had his education,
|
|
and the forming of his mind, in the best days of Solomon; yet he lived
|
|
not up to these advantages. Solomon's defection at last did more to
|
|
corrupt him than his wisdom and devotion had done to give him good
|
|
principles.
|
|
|
|
2. That he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, <I>the city where God
|
|
put his name,</I> where he had opportunity enough to know his duty, if
|
|
he had but had a heart to do it.
|
|
|
|
3. That his mother was Naamah, an Ammonitess; this is twice mentioned,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:21,31"><I>v.</I> 21, 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was strange that David would marry his son Solomon to an Ammonitess
|
|
(for it was done while he lived), but it is probable that Solomon was
|
|
in love with her, because she was <I>Naamah,</I> a <I>beauty</I> (so it
|
|
signifies), and his father was loth to cross him, but it proved to have
|
|
a very bad influence upon posterity. Probably she was daughter to
|
|
Shobi the Ammonite, who was kind to David
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+17:27">2 Sam. xvii. 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
and David was too willing to requite him by matching his son into his
|
|
family. None can imagine how lasting and how fatal the consequences may
|
|
be of being unequally yoked with unbelievers.
|
|
|
|
4. That he had continual war with Jeroboam
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
which could not but be a perpetual uneasiness to him.
|
|
|
|
5. That when he had reigned but seventeen years he died, and left his
|
|
throne to his son. His father, and grandfather, and grandson, that
|
|
reigned well, reigned long, forty years apiece. But sin often shortens
|
|
men's lives and comforts.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here is much evil said of the subjects, both as to their character
|
|
and their condition.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. See here how wicked and profane they were. It is a most sad account
|
|
that is here given of their apostasy from God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:22-24"><I>v.</I> 22-24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Judah, the only professing people God had in the world, <I>did evil in
|
|
his sight,</I> in contempt and defiance of him and the tokens of his
|
|
special presence with them; <I>they provoked him to jealousy,</I> as
|
|
the adulterous wife provokes her husband by breaking the
|
|
marriage-covenant. Their fathers had been bad enough, especially in the
|
|
times of the judges, but they did abominable things, <I>above all that
|
|
their fathers had done.</I> The magnificence of their temple, the pomp
|
|
of their priesthood, and all the secular advantages with which their
|
|
religion was attended, could not prevail to keep them to it. Nothing
|
|
less than the <I>pouring out of the Spirit from on high</I> will keep
|
|
God's Israel in their allegiance to him. The account here given of the
|
|
wickedness of the Jews agrees with that which the apostle gives of the
|
|
wickedness of the Gentile world
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:21,24">Rom. i. 21, 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
so that both <I>Jew and Gentile are</I> alike <I>under sin,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+3:9">Rom. iii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They became <I>vain in their imaginations</I> concerning God, and
|
|
<I>changed his glory into an image,</I> for they built themselves
|
|
<I>high places, images, and groves</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
profaning God's name by affixing to it their images, and God's
|
|
ordinances by serving their idols with them. They foolishly fancies
|
|
that they exalted God when they worshipped him on high hills and
|
|
pleased him when they worshipped him under the pleasant shadow of green
|
|
trees.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They were given up to vile affections (as those idolaters
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:26,27">Rom. i. 26, 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
for there were <I>sodomites in the land</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>men with men working that which is unseemly,</I> and not to be
|
|
thought of, much less mentioned, without abhorrence and indignation.
|
|
They dishonoured God by one sin and then God left them to dishonour
|
|
themselves by another. They profaned the privileges of a holy nation,
|
|
therefore God gave them up to their own hearts' lusts, to imitate the
|
|
abominations of the accursed Canaanites; and herein the Lord was
|
|
righteous. And, when they did <I>like those that were cast out,</I> how
|
|
could they expect any other than to be cast out like them?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. See here how weak and poor they were; and this was the consequence
|
|
of the former. Sin exposes, impoverishes, and weakens any people.
|
|
Shishak, king of Egypt, came against them, and so far, either by force
|
|
or surrender, made himself master of Jerusalem itself that he took away
|
|
the treasures both of the temple and of the exchequer, of the house of
|
|
the Lord and of the king's house, which David and Solomon had amassed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:25,26"><I>v.</I> 25, 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
These, it is likely, tempted him to make his descent; and, to save the
|
|
rest, Rehoboam perhaps tamely surrendered them, as Ahab,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+20:4"><I>ch.</I> xx. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
He also took away the golden shields that were made but in his father's
|
|
time,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
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These the king of Egypt carried off as trophies of his victory; and,
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instead of them, Rehoboam made brazen shields, which the life-guard
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carried before him when he went to church in state,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+14:27,28"><I>v.</I> 27, 28</A>.
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This was an emblem of the diminution of his glory. Sin makes the gold
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become dim, changes the most fine gold, and turns it into brass. We
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commend Rehoboam for going to <I>the house of the Lord,</I> perhaps the
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oftener for the rebuke he had been under, and do not condemn him for
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going in pomp. Great men should honour God with their honour, and then
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they are themselves most honoured by it.</P>
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