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The Kingdom of Israel Splits · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of
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  Speaker 1: his hand, but I will make him prince all the
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  Speaker 1: days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom
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  Speaker 1: I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes.
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  Speaker 1: 1 Kings 11.34 Lord, through the life of Solomon and
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  Speaker 1: the listening of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, I now
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  Speaker 1: know the value of wise and honest counsel. Therefore, I
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  Speaker 1: pray that there is never a moment in my life
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  Speaker 1: that I am ever without wise and God-fearing counsel. When
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  Speaker 1: others around me seek to give advice that is contrary
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  Speaker 1: to your wisdom and your ways, place people like Jeroboam
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  Speaker 1: in my life to remind me to honor what you've
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  Speaker 1: entrusted me with and to deal kindly with everyone I
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  Speaker 1: come in contact with. From this truth, I know your
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  Speaker 1: hand will stay upon me and guide me as you
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  Speaker 1: continue to expand and enlarge the tent pegs of my
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  Speaker 1: life and ministry. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for
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  Speaker 1: praying with us today. Continue your time with God by
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  Speaker 1: listening to today's Bible story, brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: The Kingdom of Israel Splits In our last story, we
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  Speaker 2: beheld the vast wisdom of the philosopher King Solomon. Kings
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  Speaker 2: and queens of old would seek him out and travel
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  Speaker 2: long distances to glean from his wisdom. Solomon led with
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  Speaker 2: great kindness and pursued peace with other nations. However, Solomon
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  Speaker 2: had a weakness for women. He amassed a harem of
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  Speaker 2: hundreds of wives and concubines from other nations. He immersed
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  Speaker 2: himself in lewd cultures and sexual deviance. Eventually, he began
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  Speaker 2: to worship foreign gods. Therefore, his kingdom was promised by
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  Speaker 2: God to be split. Solomon died and left his kingdom
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  Speaker 2: to his son, Rehoboam. Now we peer more into the
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  Speaker 2: inner workings of rebellion during Solomon's reign and witness the
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  Speaker 2: heart of Rehoboam. His pride and unwillingness to heed the
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  Speaker 2: advice of his elders may end up being his downfall.
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  Speaker 2: inspired by the book of 1 Kings.
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  Speaker 3: We're so glad you joined us on the Bible in
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: a Year podcast today. The Bible in a Year podcast
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: is an outreach of PowerPoint Ministries and can only come
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: to you each week through the support of listeners just
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: like you. Your support today is so important that we
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: want to thank you for your gift by giving you
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: a copy of my book called The Jesus Book. It
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: is a powerful guide that shows how every book of
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: the Bible points to Jesus and and how his living word,
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: the truth of God's word, will transform your life. So
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: to get a copy of the Jesus book, simply go
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: to jackgraham.org slash Jesus. That's jackgraham.org slash Jesus. And thank
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  Speaker 3: you for your support. In yesterday's episode, we heard about
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  Speaker 3: Solomon's fall from God. Though he was wise and wealthy,
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  Speaker 3: his heart sought his own desires. He disobeyed God and
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  Speaker 3: married foreign women, hundreds of them. And with each new wife,
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  Speaker 3: he would give a bit of his heart to a
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  Speaker 3: false god. His life, though filled with such promise, ended
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  Speaker 3: up in strife and sorrow. But God's grace was with him,
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  Speaker 3: and in the end, he turned back to the Lord
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  Speaker 3: and praised the God of his father, the one true God. Today,
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  Speaker 3: we'll hear how dissension was already brewing before Solomon's death,
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  Speaker 3: and how his son, Rehoboam, his successor, would face the
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  Speaker 3: consequences of Solomon's sins and his own prideful spirit. Let's
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  Speaker 3: listen now to today's scripture.
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  Speaker 2: The trees shifted slightly from the breeze. Crickets chirped and
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  Speaker 2: the subtle sound of babbling brooks could be heard among
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  Speaker 2: the forest. In the darkness, a faint chanting could be
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  Speaker 2: heard from the distance. Deep among the trees, Solomon stood
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  Speaker 2: in the Mount of Olives, where his father would once
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  Speaker 2: go to pray and sing before the Lord. His face
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  Speaker 2: was illuminated by candles and incense. There, in the coolness
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  Speaker 2: of evening, Solomon worshipped the Moabite god Shemosh. Shemosh was
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  Speaker 2: known as the Destroyer. He was said to be a
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  Speaker 2: god that craved blood. The Moabites would often make human
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  Speaker 2: sacrifices to Shemosh to appease him. There, bowing before a
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  Speaker 2: massive black stone altar, Solomon worshipped the Destroyer. His kind
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  Speaker 2: heart was being tainted by the evil that lurked behind
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  Speaker 2: the altar. He sat among a darkness that would not
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  Speaker 2: relent in its desire to destroy Solomon's soul. Solomon's idolatry
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  Speaker 2: was well known by his officials. They watched as he
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  Speaker 2: left in the middle of the night. They witnessed his
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  Speaker 2: lust for foreign women. They saw his insatiable hunger for
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  Speaker 2: exotic sex and idol worship. Jeroboam, son of Nebat. Watched
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  Speaker 2: as Solomon came to and fro from the black stone altar,
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  Speaker 2: his bones shook at the thought of Israel's king worshipping
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  Speaker 2: a god that required human blood. Jeroboam was the son
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  Speaker 2: of a widow and knew the hardships some had experienced
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  Speaker 2: in Israel. It pained him to watch the king shirk
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  Speaker 2: his faithfulness for the sake of simple pleasures and dark arts.
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  Speaker 2: One day Solomon was overseeing a rebuilding project of Israel's walls.
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  Speaker 2: He took many of his men to aid in the repairs.
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  Speaker 2: Together in the hot sun, Solomon and his men began
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  Speaker 2: to reinforce the walls, building better beams and support systems
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  Speaker 2: to keep it upright. Solomon saw Rehoboam work. He was
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  Speaker 2: a capable young man, strong and a good leader among
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  Speaker 2: the rest of his men. Solomon decided to put him
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  Speaker 2: in charge of the labor force from the tribes of
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  Speaker 2: Ephraim and Manasseh. Jeroboam accepted the task reluctantly, still leery
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  Speaker 2: of the king. Jeroboam departed from Jerusalem to begin his work.
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  Speaker 2: He passed some of the farmlands on the outskirts of
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  Speaker 2: the city. The fields were lush and ripe for harvesting,
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  Speaker 2: and the air smelled of wheat and barley. Along the way,
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  Speaker 2: the prophet Ahijah stopped him in the middle of the field.
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  Speaker 2: Ahijah was wearing a brand new cloak that waved gracefully
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  Speaker 2: in the breeze. Jeroboam watched as Ahijah removed his new
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  Speaker 2: cloak and tore it into ten pieces. He watched curiously
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  Speaker 2: as the prophet ripped the robe. He handed the ten
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  Speaker 2: pieces to Jeroboam and said, Take these pieces of my cloak,
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  Speaker 2: for the Lord is about to tear the kingdom apart
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  Speaker 2: because of Solomon's idolatry. Ten tribes of Israel will be
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  Speaker 2: given to you, Jeroboam. However, he will leave one tribe
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  Speaker 2: to Solomon and his descendants because of his loyalty to
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  Speaker 2: King David. You shall rule over all that your heart desires.
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  Speaker 2: Listen to the ways of the Lord, and your dynasty
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  Speaker 2: will be established. Jeroboam held the torn pieces in his hands,
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  Speaker 2: and from that day forward he began the secret workings
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  Speaker 2: of a rebellion. When Solomon caught wind of Jeroboam's favor,
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  Speaker 2: he sent men to kill him. However, Jeroboam fled to
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  Speaker 2: King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there for a long while.
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  Speaker 2: The days of Solomon came to a close, and it
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  Speaker 2: was time for his son Rehoboam to take the throne.
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  Speaker 2: All of Israel gathered to make him king, He was
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  Speaker 2: ushered in with parades and dancing. The news of Solomon's
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  Speaker 2: passing spread across the land, for Solomon was beloved among
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  Speaker 2: every surrounding nation. The news came to Jeroboam, who had
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  Speaker 2: found refuge in the land of Egypt for a few years.
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  Speaker 2: He had amassed wealth and influence in Egypt, yet left
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  Speaker 2: it to return to his people. He walked the city streets.
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  Speaker 2: While many kings would have seen a thriving and flourishing culture,
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  Speaker 2: Jeroboam saw laborers who were worked hard and taxed too much.
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  Speaker 2: His days living in Jerusalem with his widowed mother had
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  Speaker 2: made him compassionate towards the suffering and poor in Israel. Together,
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  Speaker 2: with a few of the elders in Israel, Jeroboam approached
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  Speaker 2: the new king. He stood before him and said, Your
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  Speaker 2: father was a hard master at times. If you lightened
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  Speaker 2: the load of labor and decreased taxes, The people will
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  Speaker 2: love you and thank you. They will be your loyal servants.
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  Speaker 2: Rehoboam stroked his young beard. A certain air of arrogance
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  Speaker 2: came off of him. It vexed Jeroboam. Rehoboam deepened his
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  Speaker 2: voice and waved his hand like a child pretending to
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  Speaker 2: be king. He held out his hands and said, Give
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  Speaker 2: me three days to think this over and come back
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  Speaker 2: for my answer. So Jeroboam and the elders left. Rehoboam
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  Speaker 2: gathered his father's advisors and asked for their advice. How
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  Speaker 2: shall I respond to their requests, he asked. The eldest
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  Speaker 2: counselor of the group looked among the men. They all
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  Speaker 2: seemed to be in agreement that Rehoboam should lighten the
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  Speaker 2: load for the people. He bowed before the king and said,
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  Speaker 2: If you would become a servant to these people, they
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  Speaker 2: will serve you with loyalty and honor. Rehoboam did not
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  Speaker 2: like this answer. He had waited his whole life to
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  Speaker 2: become king. He enjoyed the lavish lifestyle of his father's riches.
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  Speaker 2: He enjoyed the fine wines, the gardens, the women, and
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  Speaker 2: the expensive robes. The last thing Rehoboam wanted was to
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  Speaker 2: serve anybody. Instead of heeding their advice, Rehoboam gathered his
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  Speaker 2: young friends together. They drank, reveled, and pretended to speak
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  Speaker 2: of the kingdom's greatest needs.' What is your advice?' he
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  Speaker 2: asked them.' How shall I answer these elders and servants?'
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  Speaker 2: The young men were filled with the same self as
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  Speaker 2: their king. They responded just as expected. Here is how
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  Speaker 2: you handle the complainers of Israel. Say this to them.
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  Speaker 2: I have more power in my finger than my father
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  Speaker 2: did in his whole body. He lashed you with whips,
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  Speaker 2: but I shall lash you with scorpions. Jeroboam laughed. The
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  Speaker 2: cackles of his friends filled the halls. Three days later,
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  Speaker 2: Jeroboam entered into the palace halls with the elders behind him.
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  Speaker 2: Jeroboam was tall, strong, and held his posture in a
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  Speaker 2: commanding demeanor. King Rehoboam took notice of this and was
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  Speaker 2: slightly threatened. Rehoboam shifted upright on his throne to seem taller.
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  Speaker 2: He raised his staff in the air and said, I
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  Speaker 2: have my answer. The whole crowd was silent. My father
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  Speaker 2: gave you heavy burdens, but I will make them even heavier.
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  Speaker 2: Jeroboam's fists clenched at the sound of his words. The
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  Speaker 2: king smiled and said, My father lashed you with whips,
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  Speaker 2: but I shall lash you with scorpions. His friends laughed
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  Speaker 2: behind him. Yet the elders and Jeroboam were unamused. Saying nothing,
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  Speaker 2: they left the halls. So the king was brutal to
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  Speaker 2: his people. His cruelty and taxation increased, and his heavy
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  Speaker 2: hands stirred up the people of Israel. An uproar began
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  Speaker 2: to ignite among the people. They shouted in the city streets,
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  Speaker 2: down with the legacy of David. They refused to work
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  Speaker 2: any longer and returned to their homes in protest. Rehoboam
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  Speaker 2: was livid at their disobedience. He sent his enforcer, Adoniram,
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  Speaker 2: to restore order in the city streets. However, he was
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  Speaker 2: stoned to death as a message to the king. When
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  Speaker 2: Rehoboam heard of this, he hopped on his chariot and
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  Speaker 2: hid in the palace of Jerusalem. From that day forward,
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  Speaker 2: the northern tribes of Israel refused to be ruled by
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  Speaker 2: the descendants of David. The ten northern tribes of Israel
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  Speaker 2: gathered together in rejection of their king. They talked among
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  Speaker 2: themselves and decided that Jeroboam should be their new king.
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  Speaker 2: Jeroboam accepted their offer and ruled over every tribe except
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  Speaker 2: for Judah. When Rehoboam heard of this, he amassed a
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  Speaker 2: great army of 180,000 troops He was ready to destroy
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  Speaker 2: all of Israel in vengeance. However, the Lord spoke to
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  Speaker 2: him sternly, saying, Do not attack your brothers, for this
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  Speaker 2: is my doing. So Rehoboam cowered in his palace and
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  Speaker 2: ruled over the vast nation of Judah. Once again, Israel
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  Speaker 2: was a split kingdom. There were no perfect kings. The
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  Speaker 2: entirety of Israel pointed to the faithfulness of God to
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  Speaker 2: work in imperfect people. Solomon, for all his wisdom intact
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  Speaker 2: as a king, fell prey to the grips of sin.
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  Speaker 2: His sins trickled down into the heart of his son.
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  Speaker 2: God would not excuse this, nor would he abandon Israel altogether. Instead,
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  Speaker 2: God would weave Israel's goodness and evil into one tapestry
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  Speaker 2: ultimately pointing to his grace.
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  Speaker 3: Today we begin with Solomon who is still alive. He
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  Speaker 3: has given himself over to his foreign wives and their
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  Speaker 3: false gods, and his wisdom and kindness seems a distant
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  Speaker 3: memory to many in the kingdom of Israel. We also
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  Speaker 3: meet a young Israelite leader by the name of Jeroboam.
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  Speaker 3: He was a dedicated and hard worker, but even as
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  Speaker 3: he served the king, Jeroboam witnessed the conflict in Israel
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  Speaker 3: and Solomon's harshness with Jewish workers. Solomon was impressed by Jeroboam.
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  Speaker 3: and tasked him with overseeing laborers from the northern tribes
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  Speaker 3: of Ephraim and Manasseh. Little did Solomon know that this
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  Speaker 3: began to set the stage for a divided kingdom. One
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  Speaker 3: day as he was working, Jeroboam encountered the prophet Ahijah,
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  Speaker 3: who delivered a dramatic message to Jeroboam. He tore his
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  Speaker 3: robe into 12 pieces to symbolize the 12 tribes of
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  Speaker 3: Israel and told Jeroboam that God was going to take
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  Speaker 3: 10 of the tribes away from Solomon's successor and give
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  Speaker 3: them to Jeroboam. With this promise came a warning. He
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  Speaker 3: was being given charge over a vast number of God's people,
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  Speaker 3: so he must follow the Lord and listen always to
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  Speaker 3: his counsel. I can only imagine the weight of all
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  Speaker 3: this news on Jeroboam. Surely he was both excited and
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  Speaker 3: fearful at the same time. Shortly after he received the news, however,
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  Speaker 3: Solomon got wind of this threat to his kingdom and
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  Speaker 3: tried to kill Jeroboam, who had no choice but to
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  Speaker 3: flee to Egypt and hide. After Solomon's death, when Rehoboam
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  Speaker 3: was king, Jeroboam felt it was safe to return, and
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  Speaker 3: for the sake of his people, that's what he did.
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  Speaker 3: His first order of business was to approach the new
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  Speaker 3: king and appeal to him for the people. They were
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  Speaker 3: being worked too hard and taxed too much. So Jeroboam
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  Speaker 3: asked the king to ease their burden. Rehoboam's initial response
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  Speaker 3: seems reasonable. He doesn't immediately deny the request or concede.
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  Speaker 3: He asks for time to consider it. Then he seeks
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  Speaker 3: counsel from the elders, and their response was a wise one.
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  Speaker 3: If he will serve the people, then they will reward
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  Speaker 3: him with service and loyalty of their own. It's the
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  Speaker 3: kind of response Solomon himself would have given in his
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  Speaker 3: younger years when he walked with the Lord. Tragically, Rehoboam
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  Speaker 3: wasn't seeking wise counsel. What he wanted was an answer
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  Speaker 3: he liked, one that stroked his ego. So in 1
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  Speaker 3: Kings 12 verse 8 we read this, But he abandoned
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  Speaker 3: the counsel that the old men gave him and took
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  Speaker 3: counsel with the young men who had grown up with
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  Speaker 3: him and stood before him. So he asked his friends,
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  Speaker 3: his yes-men, and they gave him the response he wanted.
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  Speaker 3: Show your power and don't back down, they said. In fact,
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  Speaker 3: Turn the heat up. It's a response reminiscent of Pharaoh's
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  Speaker 3: answer to Moses, not of a gentle king who loves
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  Speaker 3: his people. But that's the answer he gave Jeroboam and
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  Speaker 3: the people when they returned. Rather than lighten their load,
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  Speaker 3: he would pile on more. His plan to gain power
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  Speaker 3: and respect by force backfired immediately. When the people saw
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  Speaker 3: that he didn't care for them, they dropped their tools
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  Speaker 3: and abandoned their work. Rehoboam, rather than acknowledge his mistake,
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  Speaker 3: tried once again to force the people to submit. He
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  Speaker 3: sent an enforcer to put the people back to work,
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  Speaker 3: but the Israelites stoned him to death in the streets.
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  Speaker 3: At the end of the day, Rehoboam was left with
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  Speaker 3: only two tribes to rule, while the ten tribes of
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  Speaker 3: the north made Jeroboam king. And so, just as God
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  Speaker 3: had told Solomon it would happen, the kingdom of Israel
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  Speaker 3: was split in two. Jeroboam would now have to remember Ahijah,
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  Speaker 3: the prophet's warning, to follow God's commandments and to seek him.
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  Speaker 3: How would he fare? We'll find out in tomorrow's reading.
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  Speaker 3: Dear God, we thank you always for your word, for
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  Speaker 3: it is light and life to us. Thank you for
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  Speaker 3: the lesson that we learned today that it is always
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  Speaker 3: right and best to seek wise counsel rather than foolish counsel.
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  Speaker 3: Help us always to listen to those who give us
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  Speaker 3: godly counsel. wise men and women who seek you and
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  Speaker 3: your ways. But we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: And before we go, I wanted to let you know
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  Speaker 3: that the Bible in a Year podcast is an outreach
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: of PowerPoint Ministries and can only come to you each
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: week through the support of listeners like you. Your support
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: today is so important that we want to thank you
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: for your gift by giving you a copy of my
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: book called The Jesus Book. This book is a powerful
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: guide that shows how every book in the Bible points
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: to Christ and how you can better read and understand
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: the Bible and how God's Word transforms our lives. So
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: to get your copy of The Jesus Book, simply go
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: to jackgram.org slash Jesus. That's jackgram.org slash Jesus. And thank
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: you for your support.