God’s Glory in God’s Word Lesson 14 – Kings and Chronicles Part 3 The Northern Kingdom

Recall: Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. (1Ki 11:11)

The Result:  Rehoboam becomes king after his father Solomon dies.  The assembly of Israel asks Rehoboam to “lighten the hard service of your father”.  Solomon’s counselors’ advice - be a servant to the people  Rehoboam’s “young” counselors’ advice – “thus shall you say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.'" 1 Ki 12:10- 11  Rehoboam does not listen to the people or to his father’s counselors. Instead, he delivers to the people the message of his foolish counselors.  This results in division in the kingdom.

So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the LORD that he might fulfill his word, which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. (1Ki 12:15)

The Northern Kings – all dates B.C. and approximate Jeroboam (931-910)  Built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim  Did not want people returning to Jerusalem for sacrifices, so made 2 golden calves – one in Bethel and one in Dan  He also made temples on high places and appointed non-Levites as priests

And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings. And the man cried against the altar by the word of the LORD and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'" And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: 'Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.'" And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, "Seize him." And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. And the king said to the man of God, "Entreat now the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me." And the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it was before. (1Ki 13:1-6)

And the prophecy to Jeroboam from Ahijah: therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the LORD has spoken it."' (1Ki 14:10-11)

Nadab (910–909)  Did what was evil in the sight of the Lord  Baasha conspires against him and kills him

Baasha (909-886)  Did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin  Kills all the house of Jeroboam “according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite (1 Ki 15:29)  Warred against the Southern kingdom all of his days (Asa was king of the Southern kingdom)

And the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, "Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat." (1Ki 16:1-4)

Elah (886-885)  Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him and murdered him

Zimri (885)  Destroyed all the house of Baasha “according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet” (1 Ki 16:12)  Reigned 7 days  When the troops heard he had killed Elah, they made Omri king over Israel

And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house over him with fire and died, because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. (1Ki 16:18-19)

Omri (885-874)  The people of Israel were divided over who should rule after Elah’s murder – some supported Omri and some supported Tibni – 6 years of civil war.  The Tibni supporters were overcome, Tibni died, and Omri reigned.  Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him.  He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of sliver

Extrabiblical sources point to Omri being one of the strongest leaders of the Northern Kingdom:  Moab was conquered  Formed an alliance with Tyre (through marrying Ahab to the king’s daughter Jezebel)  Moved capital city to Samaria – referred to as “House of Omri” in found Roman documents  Introduced Baal worship

Ahab (874-853)  Did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him  Married a foreigner (Jezebel) and worshipped her god (Baal)  Erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal – which he built in Samaria  Made an Asherah  “Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.” 1 Ki 16:33  We will return to Ahab and Jezebel when we consider the prophets of the Northern Kingdom in a future lesson

Ahaziah (853-852)  He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and mother  He served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the Lord to anger  He becomes ill and inquires of Baal-zebub – the god of Ekron whether he would recover.

Thus says the LORD, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.'" 2 Ki1:6

Jehoram (Joram) (852-841)  Ahaziah had no son, so Jehoram becomes king  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it. (2 Ki 3:3)

Jehu (841-814)  He is anointed as king by a prophet of the Lord and is told:

And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her." Then he opened the door and fled. (2Ki 9:7-10)

 Kills both Joram (king of north) and Ahaziah (king of south)  Kills Jezebel and all of Ahab’s male descendents  Gathers all Baal worshipers for a “great sacrifice to offer to Baal”  When they went into the house of Baal for sacrifice, Jehu sent 80 men inside to strike them all down – then he set fire to the house of Baal, demolished it, and “made it a latrine (a sewer, dung hill) to this day” (2 Ki 10:27)  Because of this, the Lord promises “your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel”.  But, Jehu did not stop the golden calf worship and was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord

In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel. Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the Valley of the Arnon, that is, Gilead and Bashan. (2Ki 10:32-33)

Jehoahaz (814-798)  He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord  The Lord “gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria”  He did relent after Jehoahaz sought his favor, but “there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsement and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing”.

Jehoash (798-782)  He also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord – he walked in the sins of Jeroboam.

Jeroboam II (793-753)  He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord  He restored the border of Israel

For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. But the LORD had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. (2Ki 14:26-27)

Zechariah (753)  He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done.  Shallum conspires against him and kills him  Last of the promise to Jehu – “Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation”.

Shallum (752)  Reigned one month  Menahem strikes him down and reigns in his place

Menahem (751-742)  He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord  Great evil – attacks a city and “ripped open all the women in it who were pregnant” 2 Ki 15:16  Paid tribute to Pul (Tiglath-Pileser) of Assyria by “exacting the money from Israel”.

Pekahiah (741-740)  He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord  Pekah conspired against him and killed him

Pekah (740-732)  He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth- maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria. Then Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and struck him down and put him to death and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. (2Ki 15:29-30)

Hoshea (732-722)  He did evil in the sight of the Lord “yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him”.  Shalmeneser king of Assyria came against him – Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute

But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it. (2Ki 17:4-5)

 Israel falls – 2 Kings 17:6-41