T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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rito ry and a g reat people. He had Isra el’s history, the Word of God, the example of th e judges and of th ree kings. In spite of all this, he began to reason and philosophize. “He said in his h ea rt.” He looked a t the circum stances and surroundings ra th e r th a n to God. God had said (1 1 :3 i, 37, 38) “ T ak e thee ten pieces; for thus saith the Lord, the God o f Israel, Behold, I w ill rend the kingdom out o f the hand o f Solo mon, and Trill g iv e ten tribes to thee. * * * A n d I w ill tak e thee, and thou sh all reign according to a ll th at th y soul de- sireth, and sh alt be k in g over Israel. “ And it sh all be, if thou w ilt hearken unto all th at I command thee and w ilt w a lk in m y w a y s, and do th at is rig h t in m y sigh t, to keep m y statu tes and m y commandments as D avid m y servan t did; th at I w ill be w ith thee and build thee a sure house, as 1 built fo r D avid, and w ill g iv e Israel unto thee.” Jeroboam forgot or was Indifferent to God’s message. He ignored God. He had proposed war b u t had refrained from it, and God had blessed him . Now h e ' tu rn s from God and adopts what seemed to be a wise, successful policy. He sought no t counsel of God. He set him self against God and against HiS word. (Isa. 45:9) “ W oe unto Mm th at striveth w ith h i. M aker. L e t the potsherd strive w ith the potsherds of the earth. Sh all the clay s a y to him th at fashioneth it, W h a t m ukest t hou f or th y w o rk , He hath no handhf” God’s promise was definite (I K ings 11:38) “ And it sh all he, if thou hearken unto all that I command thee and w ilt w a lk in m y w a y s, and do th at is righ t in m y sigh t, to keep m y statu tes and m y command m ents a s D avid m y servan t did; that 1 w ill he w ith thee and huild thee a .sure house, as I built fo r D avid, and w ill g ive Israe l ttntq thee.” Jeroboam had th e kingdom. Why doubt God? He took counsel of his fears. He counselled w ith has own wicked h e a rt in place of th e Word of th e living God. An evil h ea rt is th e root of unbelief. (Heb. 3:12 ) “ T ak e heed, brethren, lest there be In a n y o f you an evil h eart o f unbelief, in d eparting from the livin g God.” The cu re for unbelief is found in Col. 3:16. “ L e t the w ord o f C h rist dw ell in you rich ly in a ll w isdom ; teach in g and ad m onishing one another in pgalms and hym ns and sp iritu al songs, sin gin g w ith g ra ce in you r h earts to the Lord:”
Solomon’s erection of altars for Ash- to reth , Mllcom and Chemosh, and by th e setting up of calves by Jeroboam , a t Bethel, afte r th e revolt. Rehoboam played th e fool and paid the price of his folly. God “m aketh th e w rath of man to praise H im” and He worked out of th is revolution His own purposes. ( 2 ) The Shaken F a ith of Jeroboam , vs. 25-27. Following Rehoboàm’s fatal decision, Israel departed from him arid called Jeroboam to be king of Israel. Reho boam sent his tax collector to tak e tri bute from Israel and they slew him. He then fled to Jerusalem and proposed a war against Israel b u t God sent th e prophet Shemaiah to forbid it. There was no seeking of counsel from God. Jeroboam had been called from Egypt to head th e p ro test against the excessive taxes and now -he seemed to be th e most available candidate. I t has never been easy sailing for a king, and it never will be. “Uneasy lies the head th a t wears a crown.” Jeroboam chose Shechem for his capi tal. This city had been destroyed by Abimelech two centuries before (Judges 9 :4 5 ). It took money to build a f o rti fied city and a palace. Then Jeroboam became restless in Shechem and moved to Penuel on the east side of Jo rd an where he repeated th e building process. This took more money. Israel seemed to be getting no relief from th e ir burdens. Then th e feast days had a strong call upon th e h earts of th e people to go up to Jerusalem to worship, and Jeroboam feared fo r th e th rone of Israel. This is th e background of th e picture for our lesson study. Jeroboam was a man of affairs. He had been one of Solomon’s advisers and co-workers. He was fam iliar w ith Egyptian affairs and a strong man. He was chosen of God and chosen by the people. He was ru ler over a large te r
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