1 Kings 14

AT that time Either, First, Presently after the things described in the former Chapter: which, though related in the beginning of his Reign, yet might be done a good while after it, and so Ahijah the Prophet might be very old, as he is described to be, v. 4. Or, Secondly, many Years of it, i. e. Whilst Ieroboam lived and persisted in his former course. For this Phrase is oft used indefinitely, and without respect to the time last mentioned before it, as Dan. 12. 1. Matth. 4. 1. Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick By the stroke of God to punish Ieroboam's Rebellion against God..

And Jeroboam said to his wife Partly, because he would trust none else with this secret; partly, because she might without suspition enquire concerning her own Child; and partly, because she would enquire most exactly, and diligently, and faithfully acquaint him with the whole truth., Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thy self Change thy habit, and voice, and go like a private and obscure person., that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam This caution proceeded: First, From the pride of his heart, which made him loath to confess his folly in worshipping such ignorant and helpless Idols, and to give Glory to the God whom he had forsaken. Secondly, From jealousie and suspition, lest the Prophet knowing this, should either give her no Answer, or make it worse than indeed it was. Thirdly, From Policy, lest his people should by his example be drawn to forsake the sensless Calves, and to return to the God of Iudah, whom they had rashly forsaken., and get thee to Shiloh: Behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.

And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey A present, after the manner, Iudg. 13. 17. 1 Sam. 9. 7, 8. 2 King. 5. 15. and 8. 8. but mean, as became an ordinary Countrey Woman, which she personated., and go to him To enquire the event of this sickness, as the following words imply.: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.

And Jeroboams wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah: but Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were set Or, stood still, or were grown stiff; the Nerves, by which the Eyes and Lye-lids are moved, being contracted and withered. by reason of his age.

¶ And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son, for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign her self to be another woman.

And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam By which discovery he both reproves their folly, who thought to conceal themselves or their designs from that God from whom they expected and desired the discovery of the most secret things; and withal gives her assurance of the truth and certainty of that message which he was to deliver., why feignest thou thy self to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people For so they were when Ieroboam was first set over them. Israel:

And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David Who though he fell into some sins, yet, first, he constantly persevered in the True Worship of God; from which thou art revolted. Secondly, He heartily repented of, and turned from all his sins, whereas thou art obstinate and incorrigible., who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes,

But hast done evil above all that were before thee Above all the former Kings of my People, as Saul, and Solomon, and Rehoboam.: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images Or, other Gods, to wit, (for so and oft signifies among the Hebrews, as has been formerly noted) molten images, namely, the Golden Calves: which he calls other gods, not as if the Israelites esteemed the Calves made of their own Gold, to be gods indeed, which it is incredible should find belief with any man in his wits, especially with the whole Body of the Israelites, who knew that the Ark and Cherubims, though made by Gods special direction, were not Gods, but only Pledges of Gods presence, &c. Nor as if they thought them to be other gods in a strict and proper sense; for it is apparent that they still pretended to Worship the God of their Fathers, as the Iews at Ierusalem did, though in a differing manner; but only because God rejected their whole Worship, and, howsoever they called or accounted it, he reckoned it a manifest defection from him, and a betaking of themselves to other gods, or devils, as they are called, 2 Chron. 11. 15. by whose instigation they were led to such Idolatrous practises, and whom alone they served and worshipped therein, whatsoever pretences they had to the contrary., to provoke me to anger i. e. Whereby thou didst provoke me. For otherwise this was not Ieroboam's design in it, but only to Establish himself in the Throne., and hast cast me behind thy back Despised, and disregarded, and forsaken me, and my Commands, and my Worship, as we do things which we cast behind our backs.:

Therefore behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall Either, so much as a Dog: or, any male Children. Of which Phrase see the Notes on 1 Sam. 25. 22., and him that is shut up and left Those who had escaped the fury of their Enemies invading them, either because they were shut up in Caves, or Castles, or strong Towns: or, because they were left, over-looked or neglected by them, or spared as poor, impotent, helpless Creatures. But now, says he, They shall be all searched out, and brought to destruction. See more on Deut. 32. 36. in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung Which they remove, as a loathsom thing, out of their Houses, and that thoroughly and universally., till it be all gone.

Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city, shall the dogs eat: and him that dieth in the field, shall the fowls of the air eat So both sorts shall die unburied.: for the LORD has spoken it.

Arise thou therefore, get thee to thin... own house; and when thy feet enter into the city Presently upon thy entrance into the City; when thou art gone but a little way in it, even as far as to the threshold of the Kings door, v. 17. which possibly was near the Gates of the City. And by the event of this branch, judge of the Truth of the rest of my Prophecy., the child shall die.

And all Israel shall mourn for him Either, First, For the loss of so worthy and hopeful a Person. Or, Secondly, For the sad calamities which should follow his death, which possibly his moderation, and wisdom, and virtue, might have prevented, whereof his death was a certain presage and evidence. So they should mourn, not simply for him, but for their own loss in him., and bury him for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave Shall have the honour of Burial, denied to the rest, v. 11., because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel Some P... ous inclinations and intentions of taking away the Calves, or of permitting or obliging his People to go up to Ierusalem to Worship, if God gave him Life and Authority to do it, and of trusting God with his Kingdom in that case., in the house of Jeroboam Which is added for his greater commendation; he was good in the midst of so many temptations and wicked examples; a good branch of a bad stock..

Moreover, the LORD shall raise him up a king Baasha, chap. 15. 28. over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day When he is so raised; in the very beginning of his Reign, chap. 15. 29.: but what But what do I say, he shall raise, as it were a thing to be done at a great distance of time: he has already raised him in some sort: the man is now in being, if not in power, who shall do this: this Judgment shall be shortly executed.? even now.

For the LORD shall smite Israel Because they obeyed Ieroboam's wicked command of Worshipping the Calves, and that willingly, Hos. 5. 11. as a reed is shaken in the water Easily and variously, hither and thither, with every wind. So shall the Kingdom and People of Israel be always in an unquiet and unsettled posture, tossed to and fro by Foreign Invasions, and Civil Wars; by opposite Kings and Factions, and by the dissentions of the People. See 2 King. 17. 18., and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river To wit, Euphrates, oft so called by way of eminency, as Gen. 15. 18. and 31. 21. 1 King. 4. 21, 24. This was accomplished in part, 2 King. 15. 29. and more fully, 2 King. 17. 6., because they have made their groves For the Worship of their Idols, Exod. 34. 13. Deut. 16. 21. God having before condemned the making and worshipping of the Calves, by which they designed or pretended to Worship the True God; he now takes notice that they were not contented with the Calves, but (as it is the nature of Idolatry, and all sin, to proceed from evil to worse) were many of them fallen into another and a worse kind of Idolatry, even their worship of the Heathenish Baals, which they commonly exercised in Groves. See on 1 King. 18. 19., provoking the LORD to anger.

And he shall give Israel up, because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin To wit, by his invention, and making of the occasion of their sin, the Calves; by his example, by encouraging those and only those that worshipped the Calves; and by his Authority requiring and compelling them to do it. This is mentioned as a monstrous aggravation of his wickedness, that he was not content with his own sin, but was the great Author, and chief cause, of drawing others into sin, and of corrupting and undoing the whole Kingdom: which therefore God would never forgive him, nor forget him, but upon all occasions mentions him with this Eternal brand of infamy upon him..

¶ And Jeroboams wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah An Ancient and Royal City, Ios. 12. 24. in a pleasant place, Cant. 6. 4. where the Kings of Israel had a Palace, chap. 15. 33. and 16. 6, 8, 23, 24. whither Ieroboam was now removed from Shechem, either for his pleasure, or for his Sons recovery, by the healthfulness of the place.: and when she came to the threshold of the door To wit, of the Kings House, which probably was upon, or by the Wall of the City, and near the Gate, which was the place of Judicature. See v. 12., the child died.

And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.

And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel Heb. in the book of the words or things of the days, &c. By which you are not to understand that Canonical Book of the Chronicles, for that was written long after this Book; but a Book of Civil Records, the Annals, wherein all remarkable passages were Recorded by the Kings command from day to day; out of which the Sacred Penman by the direction of Gods Spirit, took out those passages which were most considerable and useful for Gods Honour, and Mens Edification..

And the days which Jeroboam reigned, were two and twenty years So he lived till Asa's second year, chap. 15. 25.: and he slept with his fathers Either, First, He was Buried with his Ancestors. But their Sepulchre seems to be too mean and improper for a great King; and Kings use to be Buried in peculiar Sepulchres. Or, Secondly, He died, as his Fathers did., and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

¶ And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah: Rehoboam was forty and one years old Therefore he was born a year before Solomon was King, as appears from 1 King. 11. 42. This is noted as an aggravation of Rehoboam's folly, that he was old enough to have been wiser. when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his Name there: and his mothers name was Naamah, an Ammonitess A People Cursed by God, and shut out of the Congregation of his People for ever, Deut. 23. 3. Neh. 13. 1. This is observed as one cause both of Gods displeasure in punishing Solomon with such a Son, and of Rehoboam's Apostacy after his three first years, 2 Chron. 11. 17..

And Judah did evil After a little time, 2 Chron. 11. 17. in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousie with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.

For they also They followed the example of the Israelites, although they were better instructed, and had the Temple in their Kingdom, and liberty of access to it, which was denied to the Israelites; and the priviledge of Worshipping God in his own way, and the Counsels, and Sermons, and Examples of the Priests and Levites, to teach and stablish them, and the dreadful example of Israel's horrid Apostacy, to caution and terrify them. built them high places Which was unlawful, and, now especially when the Temple was Built, and ready to receive them; unnecessary, and therefore expressed a greater contempt of God and his express Command to the contrary., and images, and groves Not only after the manner of the Heathens and Israelites, but against a direct and particular prohibition. on every high hill, and under every green tree The People were universally corrupted: which is a prodigious, all things considered, and is a clear evidence of the greatness and depth of the Original corruption of Mans nature, which without Gods Grace is ready to break forth into all sorts of wickedness..

And there were also Sodomites i. e. Males, who prostitured their Bodies to the filthy Lusts of others: of whom see on Deut. 23. 17. who also did this in the worship, and to the honour of their Idols, as also the Women did, Numb. 25. 1, 2. And this might be one occasion of so great a spreading of Idolatry among the Lustful Israelites. And on the other side God does frequently punish Idolatry with Corporal uncleanness, Rom. 1. 21, 28. See 1 King. 15. 12. and 22. 46. 2 King. 23. 7. in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

¶ And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Presently after his and his Peoples Apostacy, which was not till his fourth year: when the Apostatical Israelites enjoyed Peace and some kind of Prosperity, at first, for many Years together: of which difference two reasons may be given: First, That Iudah's sins were committed against clearer Light, and more powerful means and remedies of all sorts, and therefore deserved more severe and speedy Judgments. Secondly, That God discovered more Love to Iudah in chastizing them speedily, that so they might be humbled, and reformed, and so graciously preserved, as it happened; and more anger against Israel, that he spared them, and by their impunity hardned and ripened them to that total destruction which he intended to bring upon them., that Shishak king of Egypt Of whom see 1 King. 11. 40. and 2 Chron. 12. 2, &c. where this History is more fully described. He is thought by many to be Solomon's Brother-in-law. But how little such Relations signify among Princes, when their Interest is concerned, all Histories witness. Besides Rehoboam was not Solomon's Son by Pharaoh's Daughter, and so the relation was in a manner extinct. came up against Jerusalem Either, From ambition and a desire to enlarge his Empire: or, from jealousie of Rehoboam's growing-greatness: Of which see 2 Chron. 11. or, by Ieroboam's instigation: or, from a covetous desire of possessing these great treasures which David and Solomon had left: and, above all, by Gods Providence, disposing his heart to this expedition for Rehoboam's punishment..

And he took away the treasures It is implied, that first he took the City: which may seem strange, considering the great strength of that City, and how much time it took Nebuchadnezzar and Titus to take it. But, First, It might cost Shishak also some time, and a long Siege ere he took it, though that be not here related. Secondly, It is probable that David and Solomon in their building and altering of this City, had more respect to State and Magnificence, than to its defence, as having no great cause to fear the Invasion of any Enemies, and being too secure in reference to their Posterity, because of Gods promise of the Kingdom to be continued to them and to their seed for ever. And it is probable and certain, that after the division between Iudah and Israel, the Kings of Iudah did add very much to the Fortifications of this City. of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the kings house, he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

And king Rehoboam made in their stead brazen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard Whereas the Golden Shields, as being more precious, were kept in a certain place., which kept the door of the kings house.

And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD By which it seems the affliction had done him some good, and brought him back to the Worship of God, which he had forsaken, chap. 12. 1., that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber.

¶ Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah Such a Book of Chronicles as that mentioned above, ver. 19..

And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam Not an Invasive War with Potent Armies, which was forbidden, chap. 12. 12. and not revived till Abijam's Reign, 2 Chron. 13. but a defensive War from those Hostilities which by small Parties and Skirmishes they did to one another. all their days.

And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David and his mothers name was Naamah an Ammonitess This is repeated as a thing very observable. See above, ver. 21.. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.