SUMMARY
The division of the kingdom following Solomon’s death, fulfilling the prophecyProphecy is the gift, inspired by God, of speaking and interpreting the divine will. Prophets such as Amos, Isaiah, and Ezekiel spoke words of judgment and comfort to the people of Israel on behalf of God. of Ahijah the Shilonite (1 Kings 11:26-40), is recounted, with Jeroboam receiving the ten northern tribes.
ANALYSIS
The story of Jeroboam’s reign begins with a problem. Chapter 11 made it very clear that the division of the kingdom was a result of Solomon’s idolatry. Chapter 12, however, attributes the division to Rehoboam’s intransigence regarding his advisors’ request for a lessening of Solomon’s heavy oppression. Perhaps we are meant to see chapter 11 as the reason why the division occurred and chapter 12 as a discussion of how the division actually took place; after all, verse 15 informs us that “this turn of events was from the LORD” (Hebrew) in order to fulfill Ahijah’s prophecy. When RehoboamThe son of Solomon during whose reign the kingdom divided into north and south. foolishly rejected the pleas of his people, civil war ensued and the ten northern tribes seceded under the leadership of Jeroboam, never to reunite. Though the civil war continued at irregular intervals for years, the intervention of the prophet who reminded the people that God was behind the division prevented an utter bloodbath (12:21-24).
Jeroboam was an effective leader, reigning for 22 years (12:25-33). His political effectiveness, however, is the root cause of the biblical writers’ condemnation. He shrewdly surmised that a complete break from Solomon’s political unity would entail severing religious ties with the Jerusalem TempleThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged.... This break was accomplished by setting up rival shrines in Bethel and DanA son of Jacob and tribe of Israel., the southern and northern extremities of the Northern KingdomThe Northern Kingdom consisted of ten of the twelve tribes of Israel and lasted for 200 years until it was destroyed by Assyria in 721 B.C.E. In the northern kingdom the kings were evil. Prophets like Elijah and Amos railed against them and their evildoing., known as “Israel” (12:25-30). Each shrine was furnished with a golden bull-calf, possibly as a “throne” for God to sit upon, but worshipers bowing to the invisible Lord enthroned upon the bull-calf might not have differentiated between worship of God and worship of the all-too-visible golden calf (compare Exodus 32:4-8). Or such was the judgment of 1-2 Kings that uses this political move as the judgment against all the northern kings. For the rest of the book, northern kings are condemned as “walking in the way of Jeroboam,” that is, maintaining his legacy and practice of apostasy, as well as promoting their own unjust systems of governance.
Ahijah of Shiloh, the prophet who announced Jeroboam’s rise, also announced the end of Jeroboam’s reign (11:26-40; 14:1-20). Classical prophecy is closely linked with the monarchy in many cases in the Old Testament. God used the prophets as messengers to correct and admonish the kings and leaders. Ahijah had warned Jeroboam that his dynasty would depend upon his faithful obedience to God’s statutes and commandments, as had David’s dynasty (11:38). Jeroboam’s cultic innovations spelled the end for him and his house (14:10-16), as confirmed by the immediate death of his son Abijah.
