Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / January 15 - 1 Kings 12

Transcript

January 15 - 1 Kings 12 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:13
  It's Sean here. It's Wednesday, it's the 15th.
• 0:15
  Gee, it's great to have your company.
• 0:17
  Wherever you are, Whenever this finds you, whether it is
• 0:20
  actually on the 15th or whether you're catching up a bit later
• 0:23
  on, you are most welcome. And whether you are in my corner
• 0:27
  of the world or whether you are far away, welcome.
• 0:30
  You are a part of this community.
• 0:33
  And I was speaking with someone who I managed to bump into the
• 0:37
  shops and who said, are you Sean from the podcast?
• 0:40
  Yeah, you probably know I'm talking about you right now and
• 0:43
  was telling me a story about being on the other side of the
• 0:45
  world and listening to this and feeling connected to a community
• 0:49
  of people and not so isolated. And that is us, friends.
• 0:52
  We are a community of people who gather around God's Word every
• 0:56
  day, no matter where you are and no matter what's going on.
• 1:00
  So welcome, welcome. As we gather around God's Word
• 1:04
  and today, God's Word, well, it all starts to fall apart.
• 1:07
  This is where, unfortunately, Solomon has died and he's
• 1:13
  turning his back on God, comes home to roost and the nation of
• 1:17
  Israel begins to fall apart. And you might have heard the
• 1:20
  term used in in other parts of the Bible, the sins of Jeroboam.
• 1:25
  Have you heard that? The sins of Jeroboam?
• 1:27
  Well, today we're going to hear what exactly that is referring
• 1:30
  to, as this guy makes some decisions that start to, well,
• 1:36
  not go particularly well for him as a king living in God's
• 1:39
  promise to him. So why don't we gather around
• 1:43
  God's Word together and hear the story as it unfolds?
• 1:46
  In First Kings chapter 12, Rehoboam went to Shechem where
• 2:01
  all Israel had gathered to make him king.
• 2:04
  When Jeroboam, son of Nebat heard of this, he returned from
• 2:08
  Egypt, for he had fled to Egypt to escape from King Solomon.
• 2:12
  The leaders of Israel summoned him and Jeroboam and the whole
• 2:16
  assembly of Israel went to speak with Rehoboam.
• 2:20
  Your father was a hard master, they said.
• 2:23
  Lighten the harsh labour demands and heavy taxes that your father
• 2:27
  imposed on us, then we will be your loyal subjects, Rehoboam
• 2:31
  replied. Give me 3 days to think this
• 2:35
  over, then come back for my answer.
• 2:38
  So the people went away. Then King Rehoboam discussed the
• 2:42
  matter with older men who had counselled his father Solomon,
• 2:46
  What is your advice? He asked.
• 2:48
  How should I answer these people?
• 2:50
  The older counsellors replied, If you are willing to be a
• 2:54
  servant to these people to day and give them a favourable
• 2:57
  answer, they will always be your loyal subjects.
• 3:02
  But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older men and instead
• 3:06
  asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him
• 3:09
  and were now his advisers. What is your advice?
• 3:12
  He asked them. How should I answer these people
• 3:15
  who want me to lighten the burdens imposed by my father?
• 3:19
  The young men replied, This is what you should tell those
• 3:22
  complainers who want a lighter burden.
• 3:25
  My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.
• 3:29
  Yes, my father laid heavy burdens on you, but I'm going to
• 3:33
  make them even heavier. My father beat you with whips,
• 3:36
  but I will beat you with scorpions.
• 3:40
  Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to hear
• 3:43
  Rehoboam's decision, just as the king had ordered.
• 3:47
  But Rehoboam spoke harshly to the people, for he rejected the
• 3:51
  advice of the older councillors and followed the counsel of his
• 3:54
  young advisers. He told the people, My father
• 3:58
  laid heavy burdens on you, but I'm going to make them even
• 4:02
  heavier. My father beat you with whips,
• 4:04
  but I will beat you with scorpions.
• 4:08
  So the king paid no attention to the people.
• 4:11
  This turn of events was the will of the Lord, for it fulfilled
• 4:15
  the Lord's message to Jeroboam, son of Nebat, through the
• 4:18
  prophet Ahijah from Shiloh. When all Israel realised that
• 4:23
  the king had refused to listen to them, they responded down
• 4:27
  with the dynasty of David. We have no interest in the son
• 4:31
  of Jesse. Back to your homes, O Israel.
• 4:34
  Look out for your own house, O David.
• 4:37
  So the people of Israel returned home, but Rehoboam continued to
• 4:42
  rule over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.
• 4:46
  King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labour,
• 4:50
  to restore order, but the people of Israel stoned him to death.
• 4:55
  When this news reached King Rehoboam, he quickly jumped into
• 4:59
  his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.
• 5:02
  And to this day, the northern tribes of Israel have refused to
• 5:06
  be ruled by a descendant of David.
• 5:09
  When the people of Israel learned of Jeroboam's return
• 5:12
  from Egypt, they called an assembly and made him king over
• 5:16
  all Israel. So only the tribe of Judah
• 5:20
  remained loyal to the family of David.
• 5:23
  When Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he mobilised the men
• 5:27
  of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180 thousand select
• 5:31
  troops to fight against the men of Israel and to restore the
• 5:34
  Kingdom to himself. But God said to Shamaya, the man
• 5:39
  of God, say to Rehoboam, son of Solomon king of Judah, and to
• 5:44
  all the people of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the
• 5:47
  people. This is what the Lord says.
• 5:50
  Do not fight against your relatives.
• 5:52
  The Israelites go back home, for what has happened is my doing.
• 5:59
  So they obeyed this message of the Lord and went home as the
• 6:03
  Lord had commanded. Jeroboam then built up the city
• 6:08
  of Shechem in the Hill Country of Ephraim, and it became his
• 6:11
  capital. Later he went and built up the
• 6:14
  town of Peniel. Jeroboam thought to himself,
• 6:19
  Unless I'm careful, the Kingdom will return to the dynasty of
• 6:23
  David. When these people go to
• 6:25
  Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord, they
• 6:29
  will again give their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah.
• 6:33
  They will kill me and make him their king instead.
• 6:36
  So on the advice of his counsellors, the king made 2
• 6:40
  gold calves. He said to the people, It is too
• 6:44
  much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem.
• 6:47
  Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt.
• 6:52
  He placed these calf idols in Bethel and in Dan at either end
• 6:58
  of his Kingdom. But this became a great sin, for
• 7:03
  the people worshipped the idols, travelling as far north as Dan
• 7:07
  to worship the one there. Jeroboam also erected buildings
• 7:12
  at the Pagan shrines and ordained priests from the common
• 7:15
  people, those who are not from the priestly tribe of Levi and
• 7:20
  Jeroboam instituted a religious festival in Bethel held on the
• 7:25
  15th day of the 8th month in imitation of the annual festival
• 7:30
  of shelters in Judah. There at Bethel, he himself
• 7:34
  offered sacrifices to the calves he had made, and he appointed
• 7:38
  priests for the Pagan shrines he had made.
• 7:42
  So on the 15th day of the 8th month, a day that he himself had
• 7:46
  designated, Jeroboam offered sacrifices and the altar at
• 7:50
  Bethel. He instituted a religious
• 7:53
  festival for Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.
• 8:08
  My Lord, it's easy for us to hear the story and to think,
• 8:11
  Jeroboam, what are you doing? Why would you do this thing in
• 8:16
  opposition to what God had asked you to do?
• 8:19
  Ah, but Lord, we see that just too easily.
• 8:23
  These nagging fears and doubts grow in us, just as they did in
• 8:27
  Him. And just as He feared that He
• 8:29
  would lose the throne that You gave him, we become fearful that
• 8:34
  things will not go well unless we do the thing that the world
• 8:38
  is asking us to do. Unless we place you 2nd and
• 8:42
  prioritise something else instead.
• 8:46
  But Lord, here we just hear of your heart.
• 8:50
  Your heart that wants nothing more than for us to choose you
• 8:55
  and to worship you. And this echoes throughout all
• 8:59
  of scripture, as even Jesus tells us in the Gospels to place
• 9:05
  worship of You first and everything else will take care
• 9:08
  of itself. So that's what we do again
• 9:11
  afresh today. We worship you, Lord, we give
• 9:15
  you our lives, we commit ourselves to you and to your
• 9:19
  priorities and pray that you would take care of everything
• 9:23
  else as we prioritise you, our loving Saviour, our merciful
• 9:30
  God, our good, good Father. So we worship you and pray all
• 9:35
  of these things in the saving name of Jesus.
• 9:39
  Amen.