Class 17 starts a new period, 1 Kings 12 – 2 Kings 17 – The Divided Kingdom
Rehoboam becomes king and divides the Kingdom
Jeroboam becomes king for a portion of the kingdom
Jeroboam could have been a great king and spiritual leader and blessed by God! But…1 Kings 12.
The Sin of Jeroboam
Changes to God’s Plan of Worship in 1 Kings 12
1. Object (v. 28)
2. Place (v. 29)
3. Priesthood (v. 31)
4. Time (v. 32)
Where did these sinful ideas come from?
1 Kings 12:33 – “…that he had devised from his own heart”
Romans 10:17 – Faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the word of God.
Faith says, “What did God say?”
Sin says, “What do I think or want?”
This phrase “The Sin of Jeroboam” is mentioned several times in the rest of the Old Testament about the sin that Jeroboam commits.
From 1 Kings 14:16 – “16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.”
To 2 Kings 15:28 – “28 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.”
All 19 Northern kings. Directly said of 16 of them, and implied of the other 3.
And: 2 Kings 17:21-23 summarizes the Northern Kingdom as a whole by saying Israel did not depart from “all the sins of Jeroboam.”
Jeroboam’s sin set the Northern Kingdom on a path of destruction that it would never recover from.
Departing from God in worship in one way leads to departing from God in worship in another way. Ahab brough in the worship of Baal
1 Kings 16:29-33 – “Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.”
God does not leave His people alone. He always gives them hope, and teaching. So God raised up Elijah and empowered his work with numerous miracles.
The Bible repeatedly shows that miracles were not just acts of compassion, but also signs that confirmed God’s message and the authority of the one teaching it.
What was Baal the “god” of?
Crops, harvest, fertility, and rain
God and Elijah show us that Baal is actually the “god” of nothing
1 Kings 17:1 – “1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
-In other words, “It won’t rain for three years”
-What was Baal the god of? What has Elijah said isn’t going to happen for three years?
Remember: The plagues of Egypt were a direct challenge to the Egyptian gods. It affected the Egyptians physically, but also their hearts. God does that again with Baal. God controls what people say Baal controls.
1 Kings 17:8 – “8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there.”
The famine is also in Jezebel’s hometown
God is the God of His city, and your city.
Northern Kingdom: Called Israel (capital: Samaria).
Southern Kingdom: Called Judah (capital: Jerusalem).
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The Assyrian captivity left Judah in standing alone position for 135 years.
Next week: The kings and prophets of the divided kingdoms
Notes and PowerPoint from each week will updated here every Wednesday. https://drive.google.com/
