I Kings 14: Judgment On Jeroboam - And Judah

In the immediate aftermath of the civil war following the death of Solomon, Judah and Israel are plagued by evil kings.  As a result, judgment falls on both nations.

For Jeroboam, king of Israel, the Lord's displeasure is recounted in verses 7-16.  Because of his idolatry and worship of other gods, God promises to bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam (vs. 10).  Jeroboam's ailing son, Abijah, is prophesied to die and all the males in Jeroboam's entire family will soon follow.  Another king of Israel, from another family, will arise and cut off the house of Jeroboam.

The judgment extends even beyond the king and his family, however.  The prophet Ahijah, goes on to make a devastating proclamation against the entire nation of Israel: "The Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; he will root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their ancestors, and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their sacred poles, provoking the Lord to anger.  He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and which he caused Israel to commit" (vs. 15-16).

All of this will come to pass, just as Ahijah spoke.  The favor of the Lord will depart from Israel because of their transgressions and breaking of the covenant, just as Moses had warned hundreds of years earlier.

Things aren't much better to the south.  For Judah, we read of Rehoboam's reign in verses 21-31.  He led  his people in doing evil.  Like their cousins in Israel, Judah also built "high places, pillars, and sacred poles on every high hill and under every green tree" (vs. 23).  In response to this idolatry, the Lord allowed Shishak, the king of Egypt to come against Jerusalem and humiliate them by carrying off the treasures of the palace and the temple.  "He took everything" (vs. 26).

Sadly, Solomon's wisdom and wealth did not even persist through the next generation.  (It is possible that this is how the Ark of the Covenant became lost - that it was looted away by Shishak to Egypt.)  In all of this, God shows how serious He is through the judgment He allows.