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Israel VS Judah – The War That Divided God_s People · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: Before the first sword was drawn, before the first battle
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  Speaker 1: cry echoed through the valleys. The prophet spoke words that
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  Speaker 1: would haunt generations. This thing is from me, God himself
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  Speaker 1: was tearing his own kingdom in two But why imagine
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  Speaker 1: standing at Shakum on that fateful day, the air thick
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  Speaker 1: with tension, one hundred and eighty thousand warriors ready to march,
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  Speaker 1: families about to become mortal enemies. A young, foolish king
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  Speaker 1: utters one sentence that will unleash two centuries of bloodshed.
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  Speaker 1: Ten tribes scream their rebellion. When Prophet tears his cloak
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  Speaker 1: into twelve pieces, Golden calves rise where God's altar should stand,
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  Speaker 1: and brothers who once worship together now plan each other's destruction.
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  Speaker 1: Here's what will chill you. This wasn't random chaos. This
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  Speaker 1: was prophesied, predetermined, ordained. The same God who promised Abraham
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  Speaker 1: a great nation was now dividing it with his own hands.
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  Speaker 1: Why would the Almighty orchestrate such devils station among his
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  Speaker 1: chosen people? What sin was so grave that it required
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  Speaker 1: a kingdom to bleed for generations? Five hundred thousand men
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  Speaker 1: will die in a single day. Mothers will lose sons
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  Speaker 1: to their own cousin's arrows. The temple treasury will be
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  Speaker 1: stripped again and again to pay foreign armies. And through
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  Speaker 1: the smoke and screams, one question burns, was this judgment
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  Speaker 1: or was this mercy in disguise? The answer will shake
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  Speaker 1: everything you thought you knew about divine justice. Solomon sat
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  Speaker 1: on the throne of Israel at a time when the
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  Speaker 1: kingdom had never been greater. The borders stretched farther than
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  Speaker 1: they ever had before or would again. First Kings, Chapter four,
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  Speaker 1: verse twenty one tells us exactly how vast his territory was.
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  Speaker 1: Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River
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  Speaker 1: to the land of the Philistines, as far as the
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  Speaker 1: border of Egypt. These countries brought tribute and were Solomon's
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  Speaker 1: subjects all his life. This wasn't just political control. This
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  Speaker 1: was wealth beyond imagination. The same chapter, in verse twenty six,
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  Speaker 1: describes his military might. Solomon had four thousand stalls for
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  Speaker 1: chariot horses and twelve thousand horses. These weren't just for show.
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  Speaker 1: They represented power that made neighboring nations think twice before
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  Speaker 1: causing trouble. The palace complex in Jerusalem became the envy
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  Speaker 1: of the ancient world. It took thirteen years to complete,
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  Speaker 1: and when it was finished nothing compared to it. But
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  Speaker 1: even more impressive was the temple Solomon built for God
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  Speaker 1: Verse Kings, chapter six, Verse thirty eight marks its completion
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  Speaker 1: in the eleventh year, in the month of Bull, the
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  Speaker 1: eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details,
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  Speaker 1: according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it.
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  Speaker 1: When the Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon's wisdom and wealth,
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  Speaker 1: she had to see it for herself. She came with
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  Speaker 1: hard questions and expensive gifts. What she found left her breathless.
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  Speaker 1: First Kings Chapter ten, verses six and seven record her reaction.
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  Speaker 1: She said to the King, the report I heard in
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  Speaker 1: my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true.
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  Speaker 1: But I did not believe these things until I came
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  Speaker 1: and sow with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half
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  Speaker 1: was told me. In wisdom and wealth, you have far
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  Speaker 1: exceeded the report I heard. The gold alone was staggering.
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  Speaker 1: Verse fourteen of that same chapter states the weight of
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  Speaker 1: the gold that Solomon received yearly was six six six
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  Speaker 1: six talents that's roughly twenty five tons of gold every
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  Speaker 1: single year, not counting what came from merchants and traders.
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  Speaker 1: Solomon made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones. According
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  Speaker 1: to verse twenty seven, the city gleamed with prosperity. Kings
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  Speaker 1: and rulers from every nation sent representatives to hear Solomon's wisdom.
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  Speaker 1: First Kings, Chapter four, Verse thirty four says from all
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  Speaker 1: nations people came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by
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  Speaker 1: all the kings of the world who had heard of
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  Speaker 1: his wisdom. Israel had become the center of the known world,
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  Speaker 1: the place where wisdom, wealth, and divine blessing converged. Everything
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  Speaker 1: seemed perfect. The nation was at peace. The temple stood
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  Speaker 1: magnificent on Mount Moriah. Trade routes brought endless wealth. Solomon's
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  Speaker 1: wisdom was celebrated everywhere. But underneath this golden surface, cracks
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  Speaker 1: were already forming. The very policies that built this empire
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  Speaker 1: were creating resentment that would one day explode into civil war.
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  Speaker 1: All those buildings, all that gold, all those horses and chariots,
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  Speaker 1: they didn't appear out of nowhere. Someone had to do
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  Speaker 1: the work, Someone had to quarry the stones, cut the timber,
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  Speaker 1: haul the materials, and spend years constructing these monument That
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  Speaker 1: someone was the people of Israel. Verse Kings. Chapter five
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  Speaker 1: describes the massive work force Solomon assembled. Verse thirteen states
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  Speaker 1: King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel, thirty thousand men.
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  Speaker 1: These weren't volunteers. These were men forced to leave their families,
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  Speaker 1: their fields, and their livelihoods to serve the king's building projects.
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  Speaker 1: The system worked in shifts. Verse fourteen explains he sent
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  Speaker 1: them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month,
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  Speaker 1: so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two
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  Speaker 1: months at home. A dunium was in charge of the
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  Speaker 1: forced labor, one month away, two months home. It sounds
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  Speaker 1: reasonable until you realize this went on for years. Farmers
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  Speaker 1: missed planting seasons, shepherds left their flocks, craftsmen abandoned their shops.
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  Speaker 1: But it wasn't just the thirty thousand sent to Lebanon.
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  Speaker 1: Verse fifteen adds more numbers. Solomon had seventy thousand carriers
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  Speaker 1: and eighty thousand stone cutters in the hills. That's one
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  Speaker 1: hundred fifty thousand more men doing back breaking labor in
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  Speaker 1: the quarries and on the construction sites. These workers cut
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  Speaker 1: massive stones for the temple foundation, some of them weighing
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  Speaker 1: several tons first kings. Chapter nine gives us even more
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  Speaker 1: detail about Solomon's building program. Verses seventeen through nineteen list
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  Speaker 1: project after project. Solomon rebuilt Gizer. He built up Lower
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  Speaker 1: Beth Horon, Baalath, and Tadmore in the desert within his land,
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  Speaker 1: as well as all his store cities and the towns,
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  Speaker 1: for his chariots and for his horses. Whatever he desired
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  Speaker 1: to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and throughout all the
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  Speaker 1: territory he ruled. Every single one of these construction projects
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  Speaker 1: required men, lots of men, men who would rather be home.
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  Speaker 1: And here's what made it worse. The burden didn't fall
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  Speaker 1: equally on every one. The northern tribebes, the territories that
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  Speaker 1: had once belonged to the ancient tribal lands of Ephraim,
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  Speaker 1: Manasse and the others, they bore the heaviest load. Chapter eleven,
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  Speaker 1: verse twenty eight mentions a man who would become important
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  Speaker 1: to our story. Now. Jeroboam was a man of standing,
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  Speaker 1: and when Solomon saw how well the young man did
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  Speaker 1: his work. He put him in charge of the whole
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  Speaker 1: labor force of the tribes of Joseph, the tribes of Joseph,
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  Speaker 1: that's Iphram and Manasse, the heart of the northern territory.
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  Speaker 1: Solomon had appointed someone to squeeze even more work out
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  Speaker 1: of them. Month after month, year after year, men from
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  Speaker 1: the North left their homes. They hauled timber from Lebanon.
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  Speaker 1: They cut stones in the quarries. They built cities they
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  Speaker 1: would never live in, and palaces they would never enter.
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  Speaker 1: Their muscles ached, their families, struggled, and slowly, quietly anger
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  Speaker 1: built in their hearts. The kingdom looked glorious from the outside,
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  Speaker 1: but for the common man, especially in the North, Solomon's
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  Speaker 1: glory came at a painful price. They were building an empire, yes,
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  Speaker 1: but they were also building resentment that would outlast the
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  Speaker 1: buildings themselves. The labor was only part of the burden
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  Speaker 1: Solomon's court needed to eat. His officials needed salaries, his
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  Speaker 1: building projects needed materials, His trading expeditions needed funding. All
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  Speaker 1: of that required taxes, lots of taxes. First Kings, Chapter
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  Speaker 1: four lays out Solomon's administrative system in detail. Verse seven
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  Speaker 1: introduces it simply Solomon had twelve district governors over all Israel,
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  Speaker 1: who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household.
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  Speaker 1: Each one had to provide supplies for one month in
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  Speaker 1: the year. Twelve districts, twelve governors, each responsible for one month.
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  Speaker 1: Verses eight through nineteen list each governor by name and territory.
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  Speaker 1: But here's what matters. Look carefully at that list and
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  Speaker 1: will notice something. Judah isn't included in the twelve districts.
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  Speaker 1: Solomon's own tribe, the Southern Kingdom's heartland, wasn't in the rotation.
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  Speaker 1: The northern tribes carried the full weight of feeding the
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  Speaker 1: royal court, and what an appetite that court had. Verses
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  Speaker 1: twenty two and twenty three describe a single day's provisions.
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  Speaker 1: Solomon's daily provisions were thirty core of the finest flower
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  Speaker 1: and sixty cores of meal, ten head of stall fed cattle,
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  Speaker 1: twenty of pasture fed cattle, and a hundred sheep and goats,
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  Speaker 1: as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and choice fowl. Do
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  Speaker 1: the math. Thirty cores of fine flower is about six thousand,
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  Speaker 1: six hundred pounds of the expensive stuff. Sixty cores of
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  Speaker 1: regular meal is over thirteen thousand pounds, ten fattened cattle,
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  Speaker 1: twenty range cattle, a hundred sheep and goats, plus wild
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  Speaker 1: game and fancy birds. Every single day, for one month
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  Speaker 1: each year, each district had to provide this. Month after month,
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  Speaker 1: the wagons rolled into Jerusalem loaded with grain and meat
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  Speaker 1: and wine, while the families back home tightened their belts.
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  Speaker 1: Verse twenty five paints a picture of peace and prosperity
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  Speaker 1: during Solomon's lifetime. Judah and Israel from Dan to Beersheba
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  Speaker 1: lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under
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  Speaker 1: their own fig tree. But this verse hides attention. Yes
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  Speaker 1: there was safety, Yes there was peace, but everyone under
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  Speaker 1: their own vine and fig tree applied much more comfortably
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  Speaker 1: to Judah than to the northern tribes who were funding
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  Speaker 1: the whole operation. The system wasn't just about food. Verse
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  Speaker 1: twenty six reminds us Solomon had four thousand stalls for
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  Speaker 1: chariot horses and twelve thousand horses. Those horses needed grain.
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  Speaker 1: Verse twenty eight specifies they also brought to the proper
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  Speaker 1: place the of barley and straw for the chariot horses
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  Speaker 1: and the other horses. More wagons more grain, more demands
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  Speaker 1: on the northern districts. Each district governor had to make
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  Speaker 1: it happen. They had to collect from farmers who might
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  Speaker 1: have had a bad harvest. They had to requisition animals
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  Speaker 1: from shepherds who couldn't afford to lose them. They had
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  Speaker 1: to keep the supply lines moving to Jerusalem or face
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  Speaker 1: the king's displeasure. The weight of it all pressed down
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  Speaker 1: harder each year, and always there was the reminder that
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  Speaker 1: Judah didn't share this burden. The men of Ephraim and
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  Speaker 1: Manassa noticed, The farmers of Issachar and Zebulun noticed. The
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  Speaker 1: herders of Naftali and Asher noticed why should they bear
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  Speaker 1: what Judah didn't have to carry. The tax collectors came regularly,
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  Speaker 1: their demands never decreasing. The barns emptied to feed Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: the herds shrank to supply the royal table, and in
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  Speaker 1: the homes of the northern tribes, parents looked at their
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  Speaker 1: children and wondered why Solomon's wisdom didn't include fairness in taxation.
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  Speaker 1: This wasn't just money or food. This was justice or
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  Speaker 1: the lack of it. And when justice feels absent, loyalty
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  Speaker 1: starts to crack. Solomon's political genius included strategic marriages. Want
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  Speaker 1: an alliance with Egypt, marry Pharaoh's daughter, need peace with
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  Speaker 1: the Moabites. Take a Moabite princess trying to secure trade
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  Speaker 1: routes through edom An Edomite wife helps. It was brilliant diplomacy.
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  Speaker 1: It was also spiritual disaster. First King's Chapter eleven opens
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  Speaker 1: with the ugly truth Verse one doesn't sugarcoat it. King Solomon, however,
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  Speaker 1: loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians,
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  Speaker 1: and Hittites. The list reads like a catalog of Israel's
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  Speaker 1: ancient enemies. The very nations God had warned them about.
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  Speaker 1: Verse two reminds us why thisted. They were from nations
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  Speaker 1: about which the Lord had told the Israelites, you must
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  Speaker 1: not inter marry with them, because they will surely turn
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  Speaker 1: your hearts after their gods. Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to
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  Speaker 1: them in love. God had been clear, Moses had warned them,
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  Speaker 1: but Solomon loved them anyway. The numbers are shocking. Verse
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  Speaker 1: three gives the count he had seven hundred wives of
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  Speaker 1: royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led
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  Speaker 1: him astray a thousand women, each one bringing her own gods,
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  Speaker 1: her own priests, her own religious practices. The palace became
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  Speaker 1: a religious market place. These weren't quiet, private beliefs. Verse
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  Speaker 1: four describes what happened as Solomon aged. As Solomon grew old,
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  Speaker 1: his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his
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  Speaker 1: heart was not fully devoted to the Lord, his God,
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  Speaker 1: as the heart of David, his father had been, the
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  Speaker 1: man who built God's temple, was now bowing to other deities.
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  Speaker 1: Verse five names them specifically. He followed Ashtorreth, the goddess
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  Speaker 1: of the Sidonians, and Molek, the detestable god of the Ammonites. Ashtoreth,
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  Speaker 1: the goddess of sexuality in war, Molek the god who
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  Speaker 1: demanded child's sacrifice. Solomon wasn't just tolerating these religions, he
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  Speaker 1: was following them. It got worse. Verse seven describes construction
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  Speaker 1: projects that rivaled the temple itself. On a hill east
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  Speaker 1: of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Kimosh, the
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  Speaker 1: detestable god of Moab, and for Molik, the detestable god
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  Speaker 1: of the Ammonites. These weren't hidden shrines. They were on
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  Speaker 1: a hill where every one could see them right across
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  Speaker 1: the valley from God's temple. Verse eight extends the horror.
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  Speaker 1: He did the same for all his foreign wives, who
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  Speaker 1: burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. Multiple high places,
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  Speaker 1: multiple altars, multiple priesthood, all operating with the king's blessing
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  Speaker 1: and funding. The man whom God had blessed with wisdom
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  Speaker 1: beyond measure, was now spreading idolatry throughout his kingdom. Think
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  Speaker 1: about what the people saw. They looked at Mount Moriah
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  Speaker 1: and saw the temple their fathers had built, where sacrifices
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  Speaker 1: to Yahweh rose daily. Then they looked across the Kidron
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  Speaker 1: valley and saw smoke rising from altars to Camoche and
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  Speaker 1: Mollich and Ashtereth. Their king, David's son, the wisest man alive,
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  Speaker 1: was hedging his bets with foreign gods. The spiritual confusion
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  Speaker 1: filtered down through the nation. If the king worshiped at
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  Speaker 1: multiple altars, why shouldn't they. If foreign gods deserved high places,
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  Speaker 1: maybe they had power too. The clarity that had marked
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  Speaker 1: David's reign was replaced by religious compromise. The nation that
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  Speaker 1: had been called to be holy, separate, devoted to one
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  Speaker 1: God alone, was now just another polytheistic kingdom. The temple
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  Speaker 1: still stood, the priests still offered sacrifices, the festival still happened.
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  Speaker 1: But something essential had been corrupted. Solomon had traded spiritual
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  Speaker 1: purity for political convenience, and God was watching. God's patience
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  Speaker 1: had limits. Solomon's idolatry couldn't continue without consequences. The judgment
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  Speaker 1: would come through a prophet named Ahijah from Shiloh, and
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  Speaker 1: it would be delivered to an unlikely recipient, a labor
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  Speaker 1: foreman named Jeroboam. First Kings, Chapter eleven, Verse twenty nine
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  Speaker 1: sets the scene about that time. Jeroboam was going out
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  Speaker 1: of Jerusalem and Ahijah, the prophet of Shiloh, met him
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  Speaker 1: on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of
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  Speaker 1: them were alone out in the country. This wasn't a
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  Speaker 1: public confrontation. This was a private encounter on a deserted road,
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  Speaker 1: the kind of moment that changes history. Verse thirty describes
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  Speaker 1: what happened next. And Ahijah took hold of the new
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  Speaker 1: cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.
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  Speaker 1: Imagine watching this, a respected prophet suddenly grabbing his own
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  Speaker 1: new garment and ripping it apart. This wasn't symbolic. This
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  Speaker 1: was shocking, violent, deliberate. Then came the interpretation, verse thirty one.
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  Speaker 1: Then he said to Jeroboam, take ten pieces for yourself.
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  Speaker 1: For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. See,
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  Speaker 1: I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's
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  Speaker 1: hand and give you ten tribes, ten pieces of cloth,
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  Speaker 1: ten tribes. The math was simple and devastating. But why,
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  Speaker 1: God explained through Ahjah. Verses thirty two and thirty three
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  Speaker 1: lay out the reasons. But for the sake of my
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  Speaker 1: servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have
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  Speaker 1: chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will
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  Speaker 1: have one tribe. I will do this because they have
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  Speaker 1: forsaken me and worshiped ash Taurus, the goddess of the Sidonians, Kemosh,
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  Speaker 1: the god of the Moabites, and Molek, the God of
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  Speaker 1: the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me,
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  Speaker 1: nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept
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  Speaker 1: my decrees and laws. As David, Solomon's father did notice
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  Speaker 1: the language. They have forsaken me, not just Solomon, the
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  Speaker 1: nation had followed him into idolatry. The worship of Ashtreth
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  Speaker 1: Kemosh and Molech had spread beyond the royal family. The
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  Speaker 1: spiritual rot went deep. Verse thirty four contains both judgment
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  Speaker 1: and mercy. But I will not take the whole kingdom
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  Speaker 1: out of Solomon's hand. I have made him ruler all
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  Speaker 1: the days of his life for the sake of David,
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  Speaker 1: my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands
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  Speaker 1: and decrees. Solomon would keep his throne until death, for
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  Speaker 1: David's sake, not Solomon's. The promise to Jeroboam continued verse
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  Speaker 1: thirty seven and thirty eight offered him something remarkable. However,
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  Speaker 1: as for you, I will take you, and you will
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  Speaker 1: rule over all that your heart desires. You will be
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  Speaker 1: king over Israel if you do whatever I command you,
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  Speaker 1: and walk in obedience to me, and do what is
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  Speaker 1: right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands,
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  Speaker 1: as David my servant did, I will be with you.
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  Speaker 1: I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the
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  Speaker 1: one I built for David, and will give Israel to
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  Speaker 1: you an enduring dynasty. The same promise given to David
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  Speaker 1: All Jeroboam had to do was obey. The condition was clear,
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  Speaker 1: The opportunity was incredible. This labor foreman, this manager of
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  Speaker 1: conscripted workers, would become king over ten tribes. Verse thirty
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  Speaker 1: nine adds one final note, I will humble David's descendants
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  Speaker 1: because of this, but not forever. The punishment had an
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  Speaker 1: end date. The division wouldn't last eternally, but for now,
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  Speaker 1: for generations to come, the kingdom would be torn in two.
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  Speaker 1: Jeroboam stood on that empty road, holding ten pieces of cloth,
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  Speaker 1: his mind reeling. A prophet had just told him he
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  Speaker 1: would be king. God himself had decreed it. The united
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  Speaker 1: kingdom of David and Solomon was finished. The question was
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  Speaker 1: no longer if it would split. But when Solomon heard
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  Speaker 1: about ahjous prophecy, how he found out? Scripture doesn't say.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe someone saw the encounter, Maybe Jeroboam told someone he
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  Speaker 1: shouldn't have trusted. Maybe the prophet himself spoke publicly. However
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  Speaker 1: it happened, the king learned that God had promised his
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  Speaker 1: kingdom to one of his own officials. First Kings, Chapter eleven,
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  Speaker 1: verse forty tells us Solomon's response. Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam.
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  Speaker 1: But Jeroboam fled to Egypt to Shishak the King, and
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  Speaker 1: stayed there until Solomon's death. The wisest man in the
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  Speaker 1: world responded with simple violence. Kill the threat, eliminate the problem.
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  Speaker 1: The same Solomon, who had once judged between two mothers
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  Speaker 1: with brilliant insight, now saw murder as the solution. But
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  Speaker 1: Jeroboam was smart. He didn't wait around, he didn't try
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  Speaker 1: to negotiate, he didn't gather followers for a rebellion. He ran.
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  Speaker 1: He fled south, past Judah, past the Negev, into Egypt,
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  Speaker 1: putting hundreds of miles between himself and Solomon's assassins. Egypt
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  Speaker 1: was the perfect refuge. It was powerful enough that Solomon
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  Speaker 1: couldn't simply demand extradition, it was close enough that Jeroboam
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: could keep track of events back home, and Shishak the
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh had his own reasons to harbor an enemy of Solomon.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: A divided Israel would be a weakened Israel, and a
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: weakened Israel served Egypt's interests. We don't know much about
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam's years in Egypt. First Kings doesn't tell us if
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: he lived in the palace or in a common house.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: We don't know if he learned Egyptian ways or kept
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: to his Israelite customs. We don't know if he was
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: honored as a political refugee or watched carefully as a
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: potential trouble maker. But we know he waited day after day,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: month after month, year after year, in a foreign land.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: He couldn't go home, He couldn't claim his promise throne.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: He couldn't do anything except survive. And remember what the
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: prophet had said. God would give him ten tribes. God
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: would make him king, but not yet, not while Solomon lived.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: Think about those years from Jeroboam's perspective. A prophet had
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: spoken God's word to him directly. He had been promised
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: a kingdom, but instead of a crown, he got exile.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Instead of a throne, he got a foreign land where
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: he couldn't even speak the language at first. Instead of ruling,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: he was running for his life. Did he doubt? Did
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: he wonder if Ahija had been wrong? Did he question
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: whether God's promise would actually come true? Scripture doesn't say it,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: just tells us he stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: He waited for God's timing. Meanwhile, Back in Jerusalem, Solomon
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: ruled on. The forced labor continued, the taxes kept flowing,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: The foreign altars still smoked with incense. The kingdom looked
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: stable on the surface, but in reality, every one was waiting.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: The king was aging, the people were restless, and in Egypt,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: the man God had chosen to tear the kingdom apart
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: was biding his time. The kingdom's days were numbered. Solomon's
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: policies had created the pressure. His idolatry had triggered divine judgment.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: His attempt to kill Jeroboam had driven away the very
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: man who would fulfill God's prophecy. All the pieces were
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: in place. Only Solomon's death stood between the present and
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: the catastrophe to come. The years caught up with Solomon.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: Age diminished. The sharp mind that had once amazed the
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: Queen of Sheba, the body that had overseen massive building projects,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: grew weak. The king, who had ruled for four decades
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: faced the one enemy. His wisdom couldn't outwit death itself.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: First Kings, Chapter eleven, verse forty two records the end simply.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. Forty
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: years of glory. Forty years of building, forty years of wealth,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: forty years that began with divine blessing and ended with
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: divine judgment. Verse forty three states the conclusion. Then he
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: of David. His father and Rehoboam, his son, succeeded him
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: as king. No dramatic final words are recorded, No death
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: bed repentance is mentioned. Solomon simply died and was buried
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: with his fathers in Jerusalem. Think about what Solomon left behind.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: The temples still stood magnificent on its platform. The palace
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: complex sprawled across Jerusalem. Store cities dotted the landscape. Fortifications
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: protected the borders. The treasury held wealth beyond counting by
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: any measure. He had been successful, but success had come
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: at a price. The northern tribes groaned under forced labor.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Tax districts bled the people dry, while Judah watched from
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: the side lines. Foreign altars polluted the land. God's prophet
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: had already pronounced doom on the kingdom, and in Egypt,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam waited for news of the king's death. Rehoboam stepped
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: into his father's shoes. He was forty one years old,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: according to First Kings, Chapter fourteen, verse twenty one, old
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: enough to have watched his father's policies for years, Old
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: enough to understand how the kingdom worked, old enough to
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: know about the tensions simmering beneath the surface. But being
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: old enough to know something and being wise enough to
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: handle it are different things. Rehobom had grown up in
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: the palace surrounded by luxury. He had seen the tribute
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: flow in. He had watched foreign delegations bow before his father.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: He had lived his entire life at the center of power.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: What he hadn't experienced was the life of a farmer
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: in Ephraim who lost his sons to labor duty every
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: few months. He hadn't felt the frustration of a merchant
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: in Manassa who paid taxes that Judah didn't carry. He
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: hadn't stood in the northern territories and sensed the anger
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: building against Jerusalem. Solomon's death changed everything. The old king
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: was gone. The promises God made to David's line still stood,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: but the promise to split the kingdom also remained unfulfilled.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Rehaboam held the crown, but his grip on the northern
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: tribes was already slipping before he even realized it. The
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: people weren't going to automatically accept the new king just
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: because he was Solomon's son. They had questions, they had demands,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: They had decades of resentment ready to spill out, and
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: they had a place in mind for this confrontation. Not Jerusalem,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: where Ri Hooboam could surround himself with Judah's support, but Shechem,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: in the north. Solomon's funeral was barely over before the
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: real crisis began. The kingdom looked stable, the succession seemed secure,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: but underneath everything was about to explode. Rihoboam faced his
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: first test as king, but it wouldn't happen in Jerusalem.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: The northern tribe sent word. If Rihoboam wanted their allegiance,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: he needed to come to them, Come to Shechem, come north,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: and they had someone they wanted him to meet. First Kings.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter twelve, verse one sets the stage. Rijo Boam went
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: him king. This location wasn't random. Shechem carried deep meaning.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Abraham had built an altar there, Jacob had bought land there,
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Joshua had gathered the tribes there for covenant renewal. It
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: was neutral ground between North and South, a place where
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Israel's tribal identity ran deeper than Jerusalem's royal politics. But
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: there was a bigger issue. Verse two introduces it. When
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam's son of Nabat, heard this, he was still in Egypt,
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: where he had fled from King Solomon. He returned from Egypt.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: The exile was over. The man God had promised to
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: make king was back, and the Northern tribes had invited him.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Verse three makes clear this wasn't a one man mission.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: assembly of Israel to Rehoboam and said to him this
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: was official. Organized. The northern tribes had a spokesman, and
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: they had chosen the one man Solomon had tried to kill,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: the one man a prophet had said would rule ten tribes.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: The moment had arrived. Ri Hooboam stood before the Northern
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: tribes at Shechem, the ancient covenant site. Jeroboam stood with them,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: representing their interests and their demands. The whole assembly waited.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: Would the new king listen? Would he understand what his
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: father's policies had cost them? Everything that happened next. The
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: division of the kingdom, the wars, the blood shed, the
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: centuries of conflict, all of it hinged on what would
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: happen in this assembly. The seed Solomon had planted were
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: about to sprout. The kingdom David had built was one
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: decision away from shattering Rehoboam had been king for weeks
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: at most. He held all the power he had, the army,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: the treasury, the palace, the temple. But standing at Shechem,
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: facing the Northern tribes with Jeroboam among them, his power
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: wasn't quite as solid as it looked. The northern tribes
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: had come, yes, but they had come with expectations, and
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: they were about to make those expectations very, very clear.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: The assembly at Shechem wasn't just a formality. The Northern
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: tribes had come with a clear agenda, and they had
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: chosen their spokesman carefully. Jeroboam stood before Rihoboam, backed by
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: the whole assembly of Israel, ready to voice what generations
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: had been thinking. First Kings. Chapter twelve, verse four records
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: their petition, your father put a heavy yoke on us,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: he put on us. And we will serve you, simple direct,
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: a straightforward deal. Reduce the burden and you'll have our loyalty.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: The request wasn't asking for much. They weren't demanding independence,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: They weren't rejecting the House of David. They were simply
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: asking for relief. Years of forced labor had worn them down,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: decades of unfair taxation had drained their resources. They wanted
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: a lighter load. In exchange, they promised to serve the
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: new king. Notice the condition in their words, we will
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: serve you. They were offering allegiance, but it wasn't automatic.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: It was conditional. Rea Boam had to earn their loyalty
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: by showing them basic fairness. The northern tribes were essentially saying,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: we're willing to follow you, but not under the same
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: crushing weight your father put on us. This was Jeroboam's
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: first public appearance since returning from Egypt. He wasn't claiming
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: the throne yet, he wasn't stirring up rebellion. He was
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: simply speaking for the people, expressing their legitimate grievances. The
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: prophet had promised him ten tru vibes, but he wasn't
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: forcing it. He was letting the situation unfold. Think about
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: the position ri Hooboam was in. He could start his
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: reign with unity. All he had to do was show compassion,
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: reduce the labor requirements, ads the tax system, and the
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: northern tribes would rally behind him. Or he could assert
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: his authority, insist on maintaining his father's policies, and risk
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: alienating half the kingdom. The choice seemed obvious. Any wise
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: leader would choose unity over stubbornness. Any smart king would
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: recognize that small concessions now could prevent massive problems later.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: But Rehoboam was about to show that being Solomon's son
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: didn't mean inheriting Solomon's wisdom. Rihoboam didn't give an immediate answer. First,
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: King's Chapter twelve, Verse five shows he asked for time.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: Rehoboam answered, go away for three days and then come
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: back to me. So the people went away three days
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: to think, three days to consult advisers, three days to
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: make the most important decision of his new reign. He
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: went first to the people who knew his father best.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: Verse six tells us. Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. How
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: would you advise me to answer these people, he asked.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: These weren't young men. These were experienced administrators who had
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: watched Solomon's policies create this tension. Their advice was clear
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: and practical. Verse seven records their counsel. They replied, if
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: today you will be a servant to these people and
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: always be your servants. Notice their logic. Serve them now
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: and they'll serve you forever. Show compassion today, and you'll
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: gain loyalty for life. This was wisdom speaking. These elders
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: understood something fundamental about leadership. Sometimes the strongest position is
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: the humble one. They weren't suggesting Rehoboam abandon his authority.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: They were advising him to use his authority wisely. Meet
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: the people's needs, and the people will meet yours. But
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: Rihoboam wasn't satisfied with this advice. Verse eight shows his
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: next move. But Rihoboam rejected the advice the elders gave
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: him and consulted the young men who had grown up
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: with him and were serving him. Ooh. He turned from
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: experience to youth, from wisdom to arrogance. These young advisers
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: were Rehoboam's age. They had grown up in the palace
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: alongside him. They had never worked in the fields, they
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: had never been conscripted for labor duty. They had never
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: struggled under heavy taxes. They lived in a bubble of
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: privilege and power. Rihoboam asked them the same question in
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: verse nine, what is your advice? How should we answer
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: these people who say to me, lighten the yoke your
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: father put on us? He presented the situation exactly as
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: it was. The people want relief, What should I do?
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: The young men's answer was the opposite of the elder's wisdom.
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: Verses ten and eleven record their council. The young men,
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: who had grown up with him, replied, these people have
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: said to you, your father put a heavy yoke on us,
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: But make our yoke lighter. Now tell them my little
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: finger is thicker than my father's waist. My father laid
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: on you a heavy yoke, I will make it even heavier.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: My father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: with scorpions. This was more than bad advice, This was contempt.
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: The young advisers were telling Rehoboam to mock the people's suffering.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: Don't just refuse their request, insult them. Don't just maintain
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: the status quo. Threaten to make it worse. Show them
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: whose boss, assert dominance, make them fear you. The metaphor
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: they suggested was deliberately insulting. My little finger is thicker
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: than my father's waist was a crude boast about strength
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: and virility. Scorpions referred to whips embedded with metal barbs
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: that tore flesh. The young men were advising Rehoboam to
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: threaten the people with torture. Rehoboam had two completely different
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: counsels before him. The elders said, humble yourself and gain loyalty.
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: The young men said, threaten them and demand submission. Experience
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: said serve, youth said dominate, Wisdom said unite, Arrogance said intimidate.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: The three days passed, the northern tribes returned to Shechem,
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: waiting for the king's answer. Jeroboam stood among them. The
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: whole assembly gathered. Herboam prepared to speak, and the future
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: of the kingdom hung on which advisers he had chosen
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: to follow. The northern tribes stood before Rehoboam, waiting for
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: his response three days, had given them hope. Surely the
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: new king would be reasonable. Surely he would see that
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: easing their burden would strengthen his reign. They had asked
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: for so little. Now they would hear whether their new
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: king had wisdom or pride. First Kings Chapter twelve, Verse
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: twelve sets the scene. Three days later, Jeroboam and all
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: the people returned to ri Hooboam. As the king had said,
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: come back to me in three days. They came back
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: as requested. They were following protocol. They were giving Rehoboam respect.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: They were hoping for good news. What they got instead
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: was a slap in the face. Verse thirteen describes Rehoboam's demeanor.
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: The king answered the people harshly, rejecting the advice given
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: him by the elders. He had made his choice. He
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: had listened to the young men instead of the experienced counselors,
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: and now he was about to destroy his own kingdom.
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: Verse fourteen records the actual words. He followed the advice
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: of the young men and said, my father made your
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: yoke heavy, I will make it even heavier. My father
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: scourged you with whips. I will scourge you with scorpions,
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: word for word exactly what the young advisers had suggested.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: The insult, the threat, the mockery of their suffering. Can
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: you imagine the shock These men had come asking for
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: relief from years of forced labor and crushing taxes. They
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: had offered their loyalty in exchange, and the king's response
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: was to threaten them with worse treatment. He didn't just
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: say no, He mocked them. He promised to increase their pain.
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: But something bigger was happening here. Verse fifteen reveals the
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: hidden hand behind these events. So the king did not
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: listen to the people, for this turn of events was
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: from the Lord to fulfill the word the Lord had
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: spoken to Jeroboam, son of Nebat through Aheja. The Shilanite
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: God was orchestrating this disaster. Rehoboam's foolishness was fulfilling divine prophecy.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: This doesn't excuse re Heoboam's cruelty. He made his own
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: choice to ignore wise counsel. He chose arrogance over humility,
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: He picked intimidation over compassion. But his bad choice became
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: the instrument of God's judgment. On Solomon's idolatry. The kingdom
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: that Solomon had corrupted with foreign gods was now being
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: torn apart through Solomon's son's stupidity. The northern tribes heard
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: Rehoboam's answer, they looked at each other. They looked at Jeroboam.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: They looked back at the young king who had just
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: throw threatened them with scorpions, and something broke. Years of
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: resentment crystallized into rebellion in that single moment. The heavy
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: yoke wasn't going to get lighter, The unfair taxes weren't
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: going to change. The forced labor would continue, maybe even worse.
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: Re Heaboam had been given a choice between unity and division.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: He chose division. He had been offered loyalty in exchange
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: for fairness. He rejected the deal. He had three days
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: to choose wisdom. He chose foolishness instead, and with those words,
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: I will scourge you with scorpions, he became the king
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: who split God's kingdom in two. The northern tribes didn't
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: need to discuss their response. Reherboam's words had made the
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: decision for them. If the new king wouldn't listen to
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: reasonable requests, if he would mock their suffering and threaten
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: worse treatment, then why should they serve him at all?
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: First King's Chapter twelve, verse sixteen captures the moment of rebellion.
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: to them, They answered the King, what share do we
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: have in David? What part in Jesse's son? To your
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: tense Israel, look after your own house, David. So the
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: Israelites went home, What share do we have in David?
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: This wasn't a new question. These same words had been
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: shouted generations earlier during Sheba's rebellion. In Second Samuel chapter twenty.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: It was an old battle cry, a rejection of Judah's dominance,
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: a declaration of northern independence. The northern tribes were saying
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: they owed nothing to David's family. To your tense Israel
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: was a command to go home, to abandon reherboem, to
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: return to their own territories. They weren't just walking away disappointed,
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: They were walking away done, finished through with the house
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: of David. If Rieboam wanted to rule, he could rule Judah.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: The North was leaving. The assembly at Shechem dissolved men
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: from Ephraim, Manassa Isakar Zebulun, Naftali, asher Dan, all the
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: Northern tribes. They turned their backs on Riheoboam and headed home.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: The coronation that was supposed to unite the kingdom had
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: instead fractured it beyond repair. But ri Heboam still didn't
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: understand what he had done. He still thought he could
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: control the situation through force. Verse eighteen shows his next
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: disastrous decision. King ri Heboam sent out Adoniram, who was
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: to death. King ri Heboam, however, managed to get into
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. Of all the officials
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: ri Herboam could have sent, he chose Adonrum, the man
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: who symbolized everything the Northern tribes hated. A Deniram was
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: the overseer of forced labor, the face of their oppression,
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: the man who had conscripted their sons and husbands for
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: Solomon's projects. Sending him was like pouring gasoline on a fire.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: The Northern tribe's response was immediate and violent. They stoned
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: Adanairam to death. This wasn't a random mob action, this
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: was execution. They were killing the symbol of their oppression,
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: making clear that the old system was dead and any
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: one who tried to enforce it would die too. Ricobom
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: finally grasped the danger he was in. He wasn't safe
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: in Shechem any more. The northern tribes weren't just walking away.
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: They were ready to kill any one associated with his regime.
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: He ran for his chariot and raced back to Jerusalem,
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: probably wondering how everything had gone so wrong so fast.
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: Verse nineteen summarizes the catastrophe. So Israel has been in
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: rebellion against the House of David to this day. This
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: wasn't a temporary disagreement. This wasn't a protest that could
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: be smoothed over with negotiations. This was permanent separation. The
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: northern tribes had rejected David's dynasty completely. Rehobboam had arrived
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: at Shechem as king over all Israel. He left as
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: king over only Judah and Benjamin. In the span of
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: three days, he had lost ten tribes through his own arrogance.
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: The United Kingdom was finished. What David had built and
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: Solomon had maintained was now shattered. And it had happened
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: because a young king listened to young fools instead of
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: wise elders. With re Herboem fled to Jerusalem and the
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: northern tribes, having rejected David's house, someone needed to step
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: into the leadership vacuum. The northern tribes knew exactly who
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: they wanted. The man God had promised a kingdom was
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: about to receive it first. Kings Chapter twelve, verse twenty
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: describes what happened next. When all the Israelites heard that
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: tribe of Judah remained loyal to the House of David.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: Notice the process. They didn't just declare Jeroboam king on
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: their own. They called an assembly. This was official, deliberate, organized.
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: The northern tribes were establishing a legitimate government, not just
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: staging a rebellion. They were forming a new nation. Jerobom's
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: coronation fulfilled Ahijah's prophecy exactly. The prophet had torn his
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: cloak into twelve pieces and given Jerobom ten. Now ten
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: tribes had given themselves to Jeroboam. God's word through Ahijah
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: had come true. The kingdom was divided, just as predicted,
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: but noticed what the verse says about Judah, Only the
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David Dudris.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: What about Benjamin? Second Chronicles, Chapter eleven, verse one clarifies
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered Judah and Benjamin
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty thousand able young men to go
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam.
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: So Benjamin stayed with Judah, but they were so small
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: and so close to Jerusalem that they barely counted as separate.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: The division was complete, ten tribes in the north under Jeroboam,
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: two tribes in the south under Rehoboam. The northern kingdom
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: kept the name Israel. The southern kingdom became known as Judah.
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: Two nations where there had been one two kings where
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: David's line had ruled alone, Two kingdoms that would now compete, clash,
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: and sometimes go to war. Jeroboam established his capital at Shechem,
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: the very place where Rehoboam had destroyed his own kingdom.
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: First Kings, Chapter twelve, verse twenty five tells us. Then
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: lived there. From there he went out and built up Pennil.
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: He was building infrastructure, establishing defenses, creating a government. The
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: Northern Kingdom was larger in territory and population. They controlled
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: the fertile valleys and important trade routes. They had more tribes,
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: more soldiers, more resources. On paper, Israel looked stronger than Judah.
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: But Israel had a problem that Judah didn't have. Jerusalem
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: was in Judah. The temple was in Judah. God's altar
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: was in Judah. Every major festival required pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: The religious center of the entire nation was in Rehoboam's territory,
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: not Jeroboam's. Jeroboam had received the kingdom God promised him.
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: He ruled over ten tribes, He had a capital city
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: and administrative structure. He had legitimate from the people and
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: prophecy from God. But he also had a crisis that
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: would define his entire reign and doom his dynasty. And
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: that crisis was about to drive him to make a
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: decision that would corrupt his kingdom. From the very beginning,
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: Rehoboam sat in Jerusalem, humiliated and angry. He had lost
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: ten tribes in a matter of days. His authority had
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: been rejected, his official had been stoned to death. The
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: kingdom his father and grandfather built was now split in two.
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: He wasn't going to accept this quietly. Second Chronicles, Chapter eleven,
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: Verse one describes his response. When re Hoboam arrived in Jerusalem.
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: He mustered Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: able young men to go to war against Israel and
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: to regain the kingdom for re Hoboem one hundred eighty
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: thousand soldiers. This was serious. Rihoe the Boehm was preparing
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: to force the northern tribes back under his control. This
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: was civil war, brother against brother, Israelite against Israelite. The
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: same people who had stood together at Sinai, who had
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: crossed the Jordan together, who had worshiped together at the temple,
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: now they were about to kill each other over which
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: king to follow. The army assembled, Officers gave orders, weapons
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: were distributed, Roots were planned. Judah and Benjamin were about
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: to march north and drench the land in blood. But
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: before a single soldier crossed the border, God intervened. Verse
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: two introduces the prophet. But this word of God came
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: to Shemaiah, the man of God. God sent a message
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: through one of his prophets, just as he had sent
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: the division prophecy through Ahija. The same God who had
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: torn the kingdom apart, was now preventing the war to
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: reunify it. Verse three identifies the audience, say to Rehoboam,
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: son of Solomon, King of Judah, and to all Israel
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: in Judah and Benjamin. This message was for everyone, the king,
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: the soldiers, the people. Everyone needed to hear what God
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: was about to say. Verse four delivers the command. This
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: is what the Lord says. Do not go up to
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: fight against your fellow Israelites. Go home, every one of you,
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: for this is my doing. The message was clear and direct.
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: Don't fight, go home. This division isn't an accident, It's
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: God's plan. This is my doing. Those four words explained everything.
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: Ria Boham's foolishness at Shechem wasn't just bad luck. The
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: northern tribe's rebellion wasn't just political frustration. The whole situation
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: was orchestrated by God as judgment on Solomon's idolatry. Fighting
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: against it meant fighting against God. The command continued, so
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: again as the Lord had ordered. This is remarkable. One
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: hundred eighty thousand soldiers assembled and ready for war simply
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: went home. Rehoboam wanted his kingdom back, his commanders wanted
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: military glory. The soldiers were prepared to fight, but they
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: all heard God's word through the prophet and obeyed. Think
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: about what this prevented. If Judah had marched north, thousands
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: would have died, Cities would have been destroyed, Families would
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: have been torn apart. The bitterness would have run so
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: deep that reconciliation might never have been possible. God stopped
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: the war before it started. But God's stopping the war
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: didn't mean the two kingdoms would be at peace. Verse
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: one of First King's Chapter fourteen states there was continual
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. They didn't have one big battle,
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: but they had constant skirmishes, raids, border disputes. The relationship
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: between Israel and Judah would be hostile for generations. The
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: aborted war showed something important. God had divided the kingdom,
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: and God wasn't going to let Rehoboam undo it by force.
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: The split was permanent. The northern tribes were now Israel,
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: the southern tribes were now Judah, and both kingdoms needed
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: to accept this new reality and figure out how to
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: live with it. Jeroboam had everything he had been promised.
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: He was king over ten tribes, He had a functioning government.
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: His people had chosen him freely. God's prophet had declared
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: him the rightful ruler. But as he sat in his
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: palace at Shechem, a dangerous thought kept returning to his mind.
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: First Kings, Chapter twelve, Verse twenty six reveals his fear.
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam thought to himself, the kingdom will now likely revert
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: to the House of David. Despite every thing that had happened,
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: despite God's prophecy, despite the people's choice, Jeroboam was afraid
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: he would lose what he had gained. Verse twenty seven
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: shows his reasoning. If these people go up to offer
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: sacrifices at the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: will again give their allegiance to their Lord, Rehboam, king
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: This was his crisis. The law required Israelites to worship
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: at Jerusalem three times a year, pass Over Pentecost and Tabernacles.
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: Every major festival would pull his people south into enemy territory.
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: Think about what Jeroboam was imagining his citizens traveling to Jerusalem,
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: seeing the temple in its glory, participating in the festivals,
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: rubbing shoulders with people from Judah. Over time, the old
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: loyalties might revive, the old connections might strengthen. They might
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: start thinking, why are we following jerobim Boam when God's
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: house is here. With David's line, Jeroboam's fear wasn't completely irrational.
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem held powerful emotional and spiritual appeal. The temple was magnificent,
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: The Davidic line had divine promises. The religious and political
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: centers being in Rehoboam's territory did create a long term
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: problem for the Northern Kingdom's stability. But here's what Jeroboam forgot.
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: God had given him the kingdom. God had promised through
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: Ahija that if Jeroboam obeyed God's commands and walked in
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: his ways, God would build him a dynasty as enduring
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: as David's. The solution to Jeroboam's fear was simple, trust
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: God and obey God's law. Instead, Jeroboam chose political calculation
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: over faith. He decided to solve a spiritual problem with
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: a political solution. He would create an alternative religious system
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: that would keep his people in the north. He would
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: give them a substitute for Jerusalem so they wouldn't need
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: to travel south. Verse twenty eight shows his decision. After
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. Notice he
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: sought advice. He didn't make this decision alone. He consulted
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: with advisers, probably priests, and officials, working out how to
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: create a rival religious system. But the moment he decided
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: to make golden calves, he crossed a line. He knew
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: the history. Every Israelite knew the story of Aaron and
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: the Golden Calf at Mount Sinai. They knew how that
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: had nearly destroyed the nation. They knew God's fury at
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: that idolatry. Yet Jeroboam deliberately chose the same symbol for
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: his substitute worship. Jeroboam faced a crisis of faith. He
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: could trust God's promise and maintain proper worship, accepting the
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: political risk, or he could trust his own wisdom and
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: create a new system, corrupting worship to secure his throne.
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: He chose his throne over God's commands, and that choice
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: would poison his entire dynasty. Jeroboam's golden calves were ready.
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: Now he needed to sell the idea to his people.
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: He needed to make this religious innovation seem legitimate, even appealing.
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: He needed them to stop thinking about Jerusalem and start
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: worshiping in the North. First Kings, Chapter twelve, verse twenty
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: eight records his announcement. He said to the people, it
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem.
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: Here are your gods Israel who brought you up out
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: of Egypt. Notice the manipulation. First, he appeals to convenience.
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem is too far, the trip is too hard. Second,
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: he uses the exact words Aaron had used at Sinai.
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: Here are your gods who brought you up out of Egypt.
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: By using Aaron's words, Jeroboam was trying to connect his
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: calves to that ancient event, but he was connecting to
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: the wrong part of the story. Aaron's golden calf had
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: nearly resulted in God destroying the entire nation. Moses had
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: to intercede desperately to prevent it. Three thousand men died
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: that day for worshiping the calf. This wasn't a precedent
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: to repeat, It was a warning to avoid. Verse twenty
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: nine describes the locations. One he set up in Bethel
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: and the other in Dan. This was strategic. Bethel was
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: in the south of the Northern Kingdom, close to the
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: border with Judah. Anyone thinking about traveling to Jerusalem could
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: stop at Bethel instead. Dan was in the far north. Together,
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: these two sites book ended the kingdom. From Dan to
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: Beersheba had been the traditional phrase describing Israel's extent. Now
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam had a calf at Dan in the nor and
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: another at Bethel, replacing Beersheba in the south. He was
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: creating a rival geography of worship to compete with Jerusalem.
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: But the calves weren't the only innovation. Verse thirty ads
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: a prophetic comment, and this thing became a sin. The
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: people came to worship the one at Bethel and went
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: as far as Dan to worship the other. The writer
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: of Kings is making clear this wasn't just a political move.
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: This was sin. This was idolatry. The people embraced it,
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: but that didn't make it right. Jeroboam went further Verse
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: thirty one says Jeroboam built shrines on high places and
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: were not Levites. He was completely rewriting the religious system.
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: God's law specified that only descendants of Aaron could serve
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: as priests, only levites could handle temple duties. Jeroboam ignored
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: all of that. He appointed priests from any tribe. If
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: someone wanted to be a priest, fine, no qualifications needed,
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: no legitimate ordination required. This wasn't just creating an alternative
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem. It was creating an alternative to God's entire
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: system of worship. Verse thirty two describes the final innovation.
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: to the calves he had made, and at Bethel he
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: also installed priests at the high places he had made.
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: He created his own festival calendar. The real festival of
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: Tabernacles happened in the seventh month, Jeroboam moved it to
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: the eighth month. Why change the calendar to make sure
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: his people weren't traveling to Jerusalem for the real festivals.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: If they were celebrating in the eighth month at Bethel
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: or Dan, they wouldn't be in Jerusalem for the seventh
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: month celebration. He was deliberately pulling them away from God's
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: appointed times. Verse thirty three emphasizes Jeroboam's personal involvement. On
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: This was his own idea, his own timing, his own system,
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: and he personally participated, giving royal approval to the whole
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: corrupt set up. Jeroboam had solved his political problem. His
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: people no longer needed Jerusalem. They had their own worship sites,
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: their own priests, their own festivals. But he had created
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: a spiritual disaster. He had led the Northern Kingdom into
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: idolatry from its very first year, and the writer of
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: Kings would repeat refer to the sin of Jeroboam as
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: the defining corruption that plagued the Northern kingdom until its
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: eventual destruction. The kingdom was divided, but the conflict was
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: just beginning. Rehoboam ruled in Jerusalem over Judah and Benjamin.
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam ruled in Shechem over the ten northern tribes, and
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: between them was a border that became a battlefield. First Kings,
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen, verse thirty summarizes the ongoing hostility. There was
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Not one war, not
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: a single campaign, continual warfare. Year after year. The two
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: kingdoms clashed along their shared border, raids, skirmishes, territorial disputes.
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: The fighting never really stopped. Second Chronicles, Chapter eleven, Verses
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: five through twelve describe how Rehoboam fortified his territory. Rehoboam
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: lived in Jerusalem and built up towns for defense in Judah, Bethlehem, Eatum, Tekoah, Bethzur, Soko, Adullam, Gath, Mauritia,
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: zif Adorim, Lakish, Azeka, Zorah, Aigelon, and Hebron. These were
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. He strengthened their defenses
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: and put commanders in them with supplies of food, olive oil,
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: and wine. He put shields and spears in all the
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: cities and made them very strong. Noticed the locations most
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: of these fortified cities faced west toward the Philistines or
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: north toward Israel. Rehoboam was building a defensive perimeter, creating
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: a network of strongholds to protect Judah from invasion. He
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: wasn't preparing for peace, he was preparing for prolonged conflict.
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: The military build up was extensive. Verse twelve emphasizes the
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: weapons stockpiles in every city, Shields for defense, spears for offense.
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: These weren't oaken garrisons. These were serious military installations designed
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: to withstand siege and support offensive operations. But something else
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: happened during this time that would actually strengthen Judah. Verses
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: thirteen and fourteen describe an important migration. The priests and
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him.
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and came
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: rejected them as priests of the Lord. The religious divide
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: was hardening. Jeroboam had created his alternative worship system with
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: non levitical priests. The real priests and Levites recognized this
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: as illegitimate and moved south. They left their ancestral lands,
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: their homes, their property, everything to serve in Jerusalem, where
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: proper worship continued. This migrations strengthened Judah spiritually and demographically.
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: The priests and Levites brought their families, their knowledge, their
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: commitment to God's law. Verse sixteen ads those from every
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord,
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: offer sacrifices to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: So it wasn't just religious officials. Regular Israelites who wanted
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: to worship God properly were moving south. Families from the
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: northern tribes were abandoning their homes to live in Judah,
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: where they could worship without the corruption Jeroboam had introduced. Yet,
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 1: even with this spiritual and demographic strength, the warfare continued
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: throughout Rehaboem's entire reign. Neither side could deliver a knockout blow.
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: The border remained contested. Villages changed hands, soldiers died, Families
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: on both sides barre their sons. Rehoboam's troubles weren't limited
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: to fighting with Israel. In his fifth year as king,
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: a far more dangerous threat came from the south. Egypt
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: saw opportunity in the divided kingdom. Second Chronicles, Chapter twelve,
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: Verse two introduces the crisis. Because they had been unfaithful
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: to the lord. Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem in
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: the fifth year of King Rehoboem. This wasn't a border raid.
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: This was a full scale invasion by one of the
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: ancient world's great military powers. Verse three describes the size
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: of Shishak's army, with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen,
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: and the innumerable troops of Libyans, Sukites, and Kushites that
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: came with him from Egypt. Twelve hundred chariots was an
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: overwhelming force. Sixty thousand cavalry added to the shock troops
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: and the infantry from Libya, Sukoth and kush swelled the
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: numbers beyond counting. This army rolled north through Judah like
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: a storm. Verse four records the devastation. He captured the
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: All those cities Rehoboam had fortified, lakish Azekah, Marisha, they
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: fell to Shishak's invasion. The shields and spears weren't enough.
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: Egypt was unstoppable. Jerusalem itself came under siege. Rehoboam and
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: his officials gathered in the city trapped. Then the prophet
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: Schemiah came to them. Verse five records his message. Then
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: the prophet Shamaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 1: of Judah, who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak,
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 1: and he said to them, this is what the Lord says.
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: You have abandoned me. Therefore I now abandon you to Shishak.
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: The message was harsh but clear. Judah's unfaithfulness had consequences.
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: Both kingdoms had fallen into idolatry, the North under Jeroboam
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 1: with his golden calves, the South under re Hoboam with
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: high places and pagan practices. Verse six shows the response.
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said,
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: the Lord is just. They didn't argue, they acknowledged they
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 1: deserved judgment. Because of this humility, God showed mercy verses
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: seven and eight record the modified judgment. When the lords
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the Lord
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: came to Shamaiah. Since they have humbled themselves, I will
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: not destroy them, but will soon give them deliverance. My
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 1: wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak.
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: They will, however, become subject to him, so that they
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: may learn the difference between serving Me and serving the
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: kings of other lands. De God wouldn't destroy Jerusalem, but
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 1: jew Udah would pay a heavy price. Verses nine and
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: ten described the cost When Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem.
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: He carried off the treasures of the Temple of the
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: Lord and the treasures of the royal Palace. He took everything,
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: including the gold shield Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: to the royal Palace. Everything the temple treasury that Solomon
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: had filled, gone, the palace wealth gone. Those magnificent gold
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: shields carried off to Egypt. Rehoboam replaced them with bronze,
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: a cheaper metal, a visible reminder of how far Judah
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: had fallen. Rahoboam died after seventeen years, and his son
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: a Bija took the throne. The warfare between Judah and
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: Israel continued, but Abija wouldn't be content with border skirmishes.
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: He wanted decisive victory. Second Chronicles, Chapter thirteen, Verse three
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: describes the armies that faced each other. Abija went into
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: battle with an army of four hundred thousand able fighting men,
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 1: eight hundred thousand able troops. These numbers are staggering. Jeroboam's
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 1: army was twice the size of Abija's. Before the fighting began,
• 1:09:26
  Speaker 1: Abija stood on Mount Zemaraim and delivered a speech. He
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: argued that the kingdom belonged to David's line by divine covenant.
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: He attacked Israel's religious corruption, the golden calves, the unauthorized priests,
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: the whole system Jeroboam had created. He contrasted this with
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: Judah's faithfulness to proper worship. But while Abija talked, Jeroboam maneuvered.
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: Verse thirteen describes the tactical situation. Now, Jeroboam had sent
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 1: troops around to the rear, so that while he was
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 1: in front of Judah, the ambush was behind them. Classic
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: military strategy, pin the enemy with your main force while
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: a hidden unit circles around. Judah suddenly realized they were surrounded.
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: Verse fourteen shows their reaction. Judah turned and saw that
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then
• 1:10:21
  Speaker 1: they cried out to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets.
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: Trapped between two forces, outnumbered two to one, Judah prayed.
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: Verse fifteen records what happened next, and the men of
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 1: and Judah. God intervened. The tactical advantage, the numerical superiority,
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: none of it mattered. God gave Judah victory. The defeat
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: wasn't just tactical, it was catastrophic. Verse seventeen gives the casualties.
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: Abijah and his army inflicted heavy losses on them, so
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 1: that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel's able men,
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: five hundred thousand dead. Half of Jeroboam's army destroyed in
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: a single battle. Verse nineteen describes Judah's advance, Abija pursued
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jashana,
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 1: and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. Bethel, where one of
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam's golden calves stood captured by Judah, strategic towns in
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 1: Israel's territory now under Abija's control. Verse twenty records Jeroboam's fate.
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abija,
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: and the Lord struck him down and he died. The king,
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: who had received ten tribes through prophecy, died under God's judgment.
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: Abija's reign ended after just three years, and his son
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: Asa took the throne. Where Abija had folks fused on
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: military victory, USA would focus on spiritual renewal. Second Chronicles,
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen, Verse one introduces his reign with an unexpected note,
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: and Aesa did what was good and right in the
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 1: eyes of the Lord, his God. After Rehoboem's idolatry, finally
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 1: a king who truly followed God. Verses two and three
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 1: describe his reforms. He removed the foreign altars and the
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: high places, smashed the sacred stones, and cut down the
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 1: ashera poles. He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: god of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands.
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 1: This wasn't token reform. Aesa was dismantling the idolatrous infrastructure.
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: The result was peace. Verse five states, and the kingdom
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 1: was at peace under him. After decades of constant warfare,
• 1:12:56
  Speaker 1: Judah finally had rest, not because of superior military strength,
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: but because of spiritual obedience. Verse six describes what Aesa
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: did with this peace. He built up the fortified cities
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: of Judah. Since the land was at peace, no one
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: was at war with him during those years. For the
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: Lord gave him rest, he didn't waste the peaceful years.
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 1: He strengthened defenses, rebuilt walls. Ayesa also built a strong military.
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 1: Verse eight describes his army. Aesa had an army of
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 1: three hundred thousand men from Judah equipped with large shields
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin,
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: armed with small shields and with bows. All these were
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: brave fighting men. First King's Chapter fifteen, Verse thirteen shows
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 1: ASA's reforms didn't spare his own family. He even deposed
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 1: his grandmother Marka from her position as queen mother because
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 1: she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah.
• 1:13:57
  Speaker 1: Aesa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron valley.
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 1: Removing the Queen mother took courage, but Asa valued faithfulness
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: over family loyalty. The peace lasted ten years, ten years
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: to build and strengthen, ten years to worship without corruption,
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 1: but a test was coming. The tenth year brought the
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: peace to a sudden end. Second Chronicles, Chapter fourteen, Verse
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: nine introduces the crisis. Zira. The Kushite marched out against
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: hundred chariots, and came as far as Maresha a million men.
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: This was an overwhelming force that could destroy Judah completely.
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: Verse ten shows ASA's response. Asa went out to meet him,
• 1:14:44
  Speaker 1: and they took up battle positions in the valley of
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: Zephatha near Maresha. Asa didn't hide behind Jerusalem's walls. He
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 1: marched out to face an enemy that outnumbered him catastrophically.
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: Before the battle began, Asa prayed. Verse eleven records his words.
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: Then Aesa called to the Lord his God and said, Lord,
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: there is no one like you to help the powerless
• 1:15:09
  Speaker 1: against the Mighty. Help us, Lord, our God, for we
• 1:15:13
  Speaker 1: rely on you and in your name we have come
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 1: against this vast army. Lord, you are our God. Do
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: not let me immortals prevail against you. This prayer shows
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 1: Aesa's faith. He acknowledged Judah's weakness. He recognized God as
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: their only hope. He framed the battle theologically. This was
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: God's reputation on the line. The answer came immediately. Verse
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 1: twelve states the Lord struck down the Kushites before Esa
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 1: and Judah. The Kushites fled. God intervened directly. The massive
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: army broke and ran. Verse thirteen describes the pursuit, and
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 1: Aesa and his army pursued them as far as Gharah.
• 1:15:58
  Speaker 1: Such a great number of Kushites fell that they could
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 1: not recover. They were crushed before the Lord and his forces.
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder.
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: The victory was total. The Ethiopian army was destroyed completely.
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: This victory was even more miraculous than Mount zimaraim Asa
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: faced odds that should have meant certain annihilation, but God delivered.
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 1: The lesson was clear. Faithfulness mattered more than military odds.
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: The peace that followed lasted for years, but in Aesa's
• 1:16:32
  Speaker 1: thirty sixth year, a new threat emerged from the north.
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: Second Chronicles, Chapter sixteen, Verse one describes the problem. In
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: the thirty sixth year of Aesa's reign, Basha, king of Israel,
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 1: from leaving or entering the territory of Asa, King of Judah.
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: Ramah was only five miles north of Jerusalem. Basha had
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: built a fortress on Judah's doorstep, cutting off the northern
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: approach to the capital. This was a blockade, threatening to
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 1: isolate and weaken Judah Economically. Aesa could have trusted God,
• 1:17:12
  Speaker 1: as he had against the Ethiopians. Instead, he chose diplomacy.
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: Verses two and three describe his solution. Asir then took
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 1: lord's temple and of his own palace, and sent it
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: to ben Hadad, king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus.
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 1: Let there be a treaty between me and you, he said,
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: as there was between my father and your father. See
• 1:17:39
  Speaker 1: I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty.
• 1:17:43
  Speaker 1: With Basha, King of Israel, so he will withdraw from me.
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: Asa stripped the temple treasury to bribe Damascus to attack Israel.
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 1: The plan worked. Verse four shows Ben Hadad agreed with
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 1: King Asah and sent the commanders of his forces against
• 1:18:01
  Speaker 1: the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, dan Abel, Maim,
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 1: and all the store cities of Naftali. Verse five states
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: when Basha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: his work. The blockade ended. Asa had neutralized the threat
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: without fighting, but he had relied on Damascus instead of God.
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: ASA's political solution had worked perfectly from a human perspective,
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 1: but success in human terms doesn't always mean approval from God.
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: Verse seven introduces the prophet Hanani. At that time, Hanani
• 1:18:40
  Speaker 1: the Seer came to Ayesa, King of Judah, and said
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 1: to him, because you relied on the King of Aram
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: and not on the Lord your God, the army of
• 1:18:49
  Speaker 1: the King of Aram has escaped from your hand. Hanani
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 1: reminded Asa of his past victory. Verse eight says, were
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: not the Kushites and Libyans a mighty army with great
• 1:19:01
  Speaker 1: numbers of chariots and horsemen. Yet when you relied on
• 1:19:05
  Speaker 1: the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. You defeated
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: a million man army by trusting God, but facing a
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: fortification project, you trusted Damascus instead. The prophet delivered the consequence,
• 1:19:19
  Speaker 1: You have done a foolish thing, and from now on
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: you will be at war. Peace was over. If Aesa
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: had trusted God, he could have gained victory over both
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: Israel and Damascus. His political cleverness had actually cost him
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: a greater victory. Aesa's response revealed how much he had changed.
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: Verse ten describes his reaction. Aesa was angry with the
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 1: Seer because of this. He was so enraged that he
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 1: put him in prison. At the same time, Aesa brutally
• 1:19:52
  Speaker 1: oppressed some of the people. This wasn't the Aesa who
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: had prayed humbly before the Ethiopians. This was a king
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 1: who imprisoned prophets for speaking truth, who turned his rage
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: on his own people. Success had made him self reliant.
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 1: Verse twelve shows this pattern continued. In the thirty ninth
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: year of his reign, Aesa was afflicted with a disease
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 1: in his feet. Though his disease was severe, Even in
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: his illness, he did not seek help from the Lord,
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: but only from the physicians. Even facing death, Esa looked
• 1:20:27
  Speaker 1: to human solutions rather than divine help. The confrontation between
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: Hanani and Asa illustrates how spiritual compromise affects everything. Asa
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: hadn't abandoned worship of God completely. From the outside, he
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 1: probably still looked like a godly king, but his heart
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 1: had shifted from dependence on God to confidence in his
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: own political skill. When Hanani delivered God's message, he wasn't
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: just criticizing a policy decision, He was diagnosing a spiritual condition.
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: The issue was what Aesa's actions revealed about his faith,
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: and Hanani's words exposed that USA's heart was no longer
• 1:21:08
  Speaker 1: fully committed to God. The prophet's rebuke hit Usa in
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 1: a vulnerable spot. Pride Arsa had successfully managed the crisis,
• 1:21:17
  Speaker 1: His plan had worked. Judah was safe, and then a
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: prophet showed up to say it was foolish that it
• 1:21:25
  Speaker 1: revealed lack of faith, that it would have negative consequences.
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 1: That message is hard to hear, even for humble people.
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 1: For someone whose pride had grown during decades of successful reign,
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: it was intolerable. Ace's imprisonment of Hanani revealed the transformation
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 1: in his character. The young king who had sought God's
• 1:21:47
  Speaker 1: will now silenced God's messenger. The reformer who had removed corruption,
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: now became an oppressor. The leader who had trusted God
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: against impossible odds now trusted political alliances and rest responded
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: to criticism with violence. The brutal oppression of some of
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: the people suggests Hanani wasn't the only one who felt
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 1: us as wrath. Perhaps others had agreed with the prophet.
• 1:22:12
  Speaker 1: Perhaps some had questioned the wisdom of bribing Damascus. Aesa
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 1: dealt with dissent through force. This is what happens when
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 1: leaders surround themselves with yes men and silence prophetic voices.
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: Asa had become the kind of king who couldn't tolerate challenge,
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 1: who saw truth telling as rebellion, who used power to
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: crush opposition. The foot disease that struck Asa three years
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: later could have been another opportunity for repentance. But ASA's
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 1: heart had hardened. Even facing a disease that would eventually
• 1:22:47
  Speaker 1: kill him, he looked to physicians, but not to God.
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 1: There's nothing wrong with using physicians, but the issue was
• 1:22:54
  Speaker 1: Ace's heart. He had replaced dependence on God with dependence
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 1: on human wisdom. Verse thirteen records the end. Then, in
• 1:23:04
  Speaker 1: the forty first year of his reign, Aesa died and
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 1: rested with his ancestors. He reigned forty one years total.
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 1: The first thirty five were marked by faithfulness, reform, peace,
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: and miraculous victory. The last six were marked by compromise, anger, oppression,
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: and disease. Usa started well but finished poorly, leaving both
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: his achievements and his failures as warnings for the generations
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: that would follow. Usa died and his son Jehoshaphat became
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: King of Judah. Unlike his father's troubled final years, Jehoshaphat
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 1: started strong and stayed strong spiritually. He would become one
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 1: of Judah's most faithful kings. Second Chronicles, Chapter seventeen, Verse
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 1: three introduces his character. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 1: he followed the ways of his father David before him.
• 1:23:59
  Speaker 1: He did not consult the Bales. Notice the comparison, not Aesa,
• 1:24:05
  Speaker 1: but David. Jehoshaphat was reaching back to the spiritual standard
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: set by Israel's greatest king. Verse four emphasizes his commitment,
• 1:24:16
  Speaker 1: but sought the God of his father and followed his
• 1:24:19
  Speaker 1: commands rather than the practices of Israel. This was a
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 1: direct contrast with the Northern Kingdom. While Israel followed Jeroboam's
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: corrupt worship system, Jehoshaphat pursued genuine faithfulness to God. He
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 1: didn't just practice personal piety. He actively worked to spread
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: knowledge of God's law throughout the kingdom. Verses seven through
• 1:24:41
  Speaker 1: nine describe an organized teaching mission. In the third year
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: of his reign. He sent his officials ben hale Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel,
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 1: and Makaya to teach in the towns of Judah. With
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: them were certain levites Shamaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Assah Hel Shemiramov, Johonathan, Adonija, Tobija,
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 1: and Tobadnija, and the priests Elishama and Jehoram. They taught
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 1: of the Lord. They went around to all the towns
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 1: of Judah and taught the people. This was systematic spiritual education.
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: Jehoshaphat sent officials, levites, and priests on a teaching circuit
• 1:25:24
  Speaker 1: through every town in Judah. They carried the Book of
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 1: the Law with them, teaching people what God actually required.
• 1:25:32
  Speaker 1: This wasn't just reform, it was revival. The results were remarkable.
• 1:25:38
  Speaker 1: Verse ten describes the impact the fear of the Lord
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 1: fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah,
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 1: so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat.
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 1: Surrounding nations recognized that God was with Judah. They didn't
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 1: dare attack. Instead, they brought tribute. Verse twelve states Jehoshaphat
• 1:25:58
  Speaker 1: became more and more powerful. He built forts and store
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: cities in Judah. He was building infrastructure, creating defensive positions.
• 1:26:08
  Speaker 1: The kingdom was growing stronger every year. His military was impressive,
• 1:26:13
  Speaker 1: with commanders leading hundreds of thousands of trained soldiers throughout
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 1: the kingdom. Jehoshaphat decided to make peace with Israel after
• 1:26:22
  Speaker 1: decades of hostility between the two kingdoms. This seemed like
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 1: wise diplomacy, but the method he chose would prove disastrous.
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 1: Second Chronicles, Chapter eighteen, Verse one records the alliance. Now
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 1: Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself
• 1:26:41
  Speaker 1: with Ahab by marriage marriage alliance. This was how ancient
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 1: kings sealed treaties, but this wasn't just any marriage. This
• 1:26:50
  Speaker 1: was marriage with Ahab's family. Ahab was the most wicked
• 1:26:54
  Speaker 1: king Israel had ever seen. First Kings, Chapter sixteen, verse
• 1:26:59
  Speaker 1: thirty states Ahab son of Omri, did more evil in
• 1:27:03
  Speaker 1: the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him,
• 1:27:06
  Speaker 1: worse than Jeroboam, worse than all the corrupt kings who
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 1: had ruled Israel since the division. Verse thirty one describes
• 1:27:14
  Speaker 1: his marriage. He not only considered it trivial to commit
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 1: the sins of Jeroboam son of Nibat, but he also
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbal, king of the Sidonians, and
• 1:27:25
  Speaker 1: began to serve bail and worship him. Jezebel the name
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 1: that would become synonymous with evil. This was the family
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 1: Jehoshaphat chose to marry into. The arrangement was for Jehoshaphat's
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 1: son Jehoram, to marry Ahab's daughter Athaliah, one marriage connecting
• 1:27:44
  Speaker 1: two dynasties, linking the godly line of David with the
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 1: most corrupt royal house in Israel's history. Second Kings, Chapter eight,
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 1: verse eighteen records the consequence he followed the ways of
• 1:27:56
  Speaker 1: the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done.
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 1: For he married a daughter of Ahab, he did evil
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 1: in the eyes of the Lord. This verse is about Jehoram,
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 1: Jehoshafat's son. The marriage to Athalia would corrupt him completely.
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 1: Athalia was Jezebel's daughter. She had learned from her mother.
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 1: When she came to Judah, she brought bail worship with her.
• 1:28:19
  Speaker 1: The idolatry that Jehoshaphat had worked so hard to eliminate
• 1:28:22
  Speaker 1: would come roaring back through his own daughter in law.
• 1:28:26
  Speaker 1: Think about what Jehoshaphat had done. He had sent teachers
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 1: throughout Judah with the Book of the Law, he had
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 1: built a spiritual revival, and then he voluntarily imported corruption
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 1: by marrying his son to Jezebel's daughter. The alliance seemed
• 1:28:42
  Speaker 1: brilliant politically it ended the warfare between Judah and Israel,
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 1: but spiritually it was poison. Years after Ahab's death, his
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 1: son Jehoram became King of Israel. Moab, which had been
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 1: paying tribute to Israel, rebelled. Jehoram decided to crush the
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 1: rebellion and ask Jehoshaphat to join him. Second Kings, Chapter three.
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 1: Verse seven records the invitation. He also sent this message
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: to Jehoshaphat, King of Judah. The king of Moab has
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 1: rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: against Moab? I will go with you, he replied, I
• 1:29:21
  Speaker 1: am as you are, my people as your people, my
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 1: horses as your horses. Jehoshaphat's answer showed how deep the
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 1: alliance had become. I am as you are. Complete identification
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 1: with Israel, no hesitation, no consulting God first, just immediate
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: agreement to join Israel's military campaign. The plan involved going
• 1:29:44
  Speaker 1: through Edom. The king of Edom joined the coalition, making
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 1: it three kingdoms against Moab, but the desert route created
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: a problem. Verse nine states after a roundabout march of
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 1: seven days, the army had no more water for them
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 1: themselves or for the animals with them. They were dying
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 1: of thirst in the wilderness. Jehoshaphat asked for a prophet.
• 1:30:08
  Speaker 1: They found Elisha. Verse fourteen shows Elisha's response. Elisha said,
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 1: as surely as the Lord Almighty lives whom I serve,
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 1: If I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat,
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 1: King of Judah, I would not pay any attention to you.
• 1:30:24
  Speaker 1: The only reason Elisha was willing to help was because
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: of Jehoshaphat. The prophet called for a harpist and prophesied.
• 1:30:32
  Speaker 1: Verses sixteen and seventeen contained God's instructions, this is what
• 1:30:37
  Speaker 1: the Lord says, I will fill this valley with pools
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 1: of water. For this is what the Lord says. You
• 1:30:43
  Speaker 1: will see neither wind nor rain. Yet this valley will
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: be filled with water, and you, your cattle, and your
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 1: other animals will drink. But God didn't stop with just
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: providing water. Verse eighteen ads this is an easy thing
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: in the eyes of the Lord. He will also deliver
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 1: the moab into your hands. The prophecy came true exactly.
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 1: Water appeared in the desert. The Moabites saw it from
• 1:31:08
  Speaker 1: a distance and thought it was blood. Assuming the three
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 1: kings had fought each other, they rushed forward, expecting to
• 1:31:14
  Speaker 1: loot corpses. Instead, they ran into three prepared armies and
• 1:31:19
  Speaker 1: were slaughtered. The coalition won a complete victory, but only
• 1:31:24
  Speaker 1: for Jehoshaphat's sake. Earlier in Jehoshaphat's reign, there had been
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 1: another joint military operation that ended in catastrophe. This one
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 1: involved Ahab himself. Second Chronicles, Chapter eighteen, Verse two describes
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: how it started. Some years later, he went down to
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 1: see Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle
• 1:31:48
  Speaker 1: for him and the people with him, and urged him
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: to attack Ramoth Gilead. Ahab hosted Jehoshaphat with lavish hospitality,
• 1:31:58
  Speaker 1: then proposed a joint campaign. Verse three shows Jehoshaphat's response. Ahab,
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 1: king of Israel, asked Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, will you
• 1:32:08
  Speaker 1: go with me against Ramoth Gilead. Jehoshaphat replied, I am
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 1: as you are, and my people as your people. We
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: will join you in the war again immediate agreement. But
• 1:32:22
  Speaker 1: then Jehoshaphat added, first seek the counsel of the Lord.
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 1: Ahab assembled four hundred prophets, who all promised victory, but
• 1:32:32
  Speaker 1: Jehoshaphat wasn't satisfied. He sensed something was wrong. Ahab admitted
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 1: there was one more prophet. Verse seven records the King
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 1: of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, there is still one prophet through
• 1:32:44
  Speaker 1: whom we can inquire of the Lord. But I hate
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 1: him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but
• 1:32:51
  Speaker 1: always bad. He is Mykiah, son of Imlah. They sent
• 1:32:56
  Speaker 1: for Mikiah. When pressed to tell the truth, he delivered
• 1:32:59
  Speaker 1: a devastating prophet. Verses sixteen and seventeen contain his vision.
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 1: Then my keyah answered, I saw all Israel scattered on
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 1: the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said,
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: these people have no master. Let each one go home
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 1: in peace. Ahab would die in this battle. Ahab's response
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 1: was to imprison my Caiah. Then he came up with
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 1: a plan. Verse twenty nine describes the King of Israel
• 1:33:25
  Speaker 1: said to Jehoshaphat, I will enter the battle in disguise,
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 1: but you wear your royal robes. He was using Jehoshaphat
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: as a decoy. The Syrian king had ordered his commanders
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 1: to target only Ahab. Verse thirty one shows what happened
• 1:33:43
  Speaker 1: When the Chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought this is
• 1:33:47
  Speaker 1: the king of Israel, so they turned to attack him.
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 1: But Jehoshaphad cried out and the Lord helped him. God
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 1: drew them away from him. Jehoshaphat barely escaped, but Ahab's
• 1:33:58
  Speaker 1: disguise didn't say him. Verse thirty three records but some
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: one drew his bow at random and hit the King
• 1:34:06
  Speaker 1: of Israel between the sections of his armor. A random
• 1:34:09
  Speaker 1: arrow found the gap in Ahab's armor. By evening he
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 1: was dead. Machaya's prophecy came true. When Jehoshaphat returned to
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem after the Ramothgiliad disaster, a prophet was waiting for him.
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 1: This would be a direct confrontation about Jehoshaphat's dangerous alliances.
• 1:34:28
  Speaker 1: Second Chronicles, Chapter nineteen, verse two introduces the prophet Jihu.
• 1:34:33
  Speaker 1: Jihu the Seer, the son of Hanani, went out to
• 1:34:37
  Speaker 1: meet him and said to the King, should you help
• 1:34:40
  Speaker 1: the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because
• 1:34:43
  Speaker 1: of this, the wrath of the Lord is on you.
• 1:34:47
  Speaker 1: The message was blunt, Why are you helping wicked people?
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 1: Why are you loving God's enemies. Jihu was Hanani's son,
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 1: the same Hanani that Ussa had imprisoned. Now Hanani's son
• 1:34:59
  Speaker 1: was delivering a simil a rebuke to us as grandson.
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: The prophetic ministry continued across generations. Jehu's accusation was serious.
• 1:35:09
  Speaker 1: The wrath of the Lord is on you. Jehoshaphat's alliance
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 1: with Ahab had brought divine anger. He had nearly died
• 1:35:17
  Speaker 1: at Ramoth Gilead, and that was just the beginning of
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 1: the consequences. But Jehu didn't only condemn. Verse three acknowledged
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 1: there is, however, some good in you, for you have
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 1: rid the land of the Ashera poles and have set
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 1: your heart on seeking God. The prophet recognized Jehoshaphat's spiritual reforms,
• 1:35:38
  Speaker 1: but that didn't excuse his compromises. Jehoshaphat's response was different
• 1:35:42
  Speaker 1: from us, as Verse four shows. Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem,
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 1: and he went out again among the people from Beersheba
• 1:35:50
  Speaker 1: to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back
• 1:35:53
  Speaker 1: to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. Instead of
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 1: getting defensive, Jehoshaphat double down on faithfulness. He also reformed
• 1:36:03
  Speaker 1: the justice system. Verses five through seven described judicial appointments
• 1:36:08
  Speaker 1: throughout the kingdom. He established courts in every fortified city
• 1:36:12
  Speaker 1: and created an appellate system in Jerusalem. He gave clear
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 1: instructions about impartiality and fearing God. Jehoshaphat responded to prophetic
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 1: rebuke with renewed obedience. He accepted correction and intensified his reforms,
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 1: but the pattern of making alliances with wicked kings would continue.
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 1: Some time later, Jehoshaphat faced a crisis that would test
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 1: his faith more severely than any battle. A massive coalition
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 1: of enemies was marching toward Jerusalem. Second Chronicles, Chapter twenty,
• 1:36:46
  Speaker 1: Verse one introduces the threat. After this, the Moabites and Ammonites,
• 1:36:52
  Speaker 1: with some of the Unites, came to wage war against Jehoshaphat.
• 1:36:57
  Speaker 1: This was a coalition Moab, Ammon and fighters from Mune
• 1:37:01
  Speaker 1: joining forces against Judah. Verse two describes the news. Some
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 1: people came and told Jehoshaphat, a vast army is coming
• 1:37:10
  Speaker 1: against you from Edom, from the other side of the
• 1:37:13
  Speaker 1: Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar, that is Engeddi.
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 1: The enemy was already deep in Judah's territory, only about
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 1: twenty miles from Jerusalem. Verse three shows Jehoshaphat's reaction. Alarmed,
• 1:37:28
  Speaker 1: Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed
• 1:37:33
  Speaker 1: a fast for all Judah. He didn't mobilize the army first.
• 1:37:38
  Speaker 1: He didn't send messengers to make alliances. He proclaimed a
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 1: fast and turned to God. Verse four describes the response
• 1:37:46
  Speaker 1: the people of Judah came together to seek help from
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 1: the Lord. Indeed, they came from every town in Judah
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 1: to seek him. And as this was national prayer, the
• 1:37:57
  Speaker 1: entire nation was seeking God together. Jehoshaphat stood in the
• 1:38:01
  Speaker 1: temple court and prayed publicly. Verses six through nine record
• 1:38:05
  Speaker 1: his prayer, rehearsing history, acknowledging God's sovereignty, reminding God of
• 1:38:10
  Speaker 1: his promises to Abraham and the dedication of the temple.
• 1:38:14
  Speaker 1: Then he described the current crisis and concluded in verse twelve,
• 1:38:19
  Speaker 1: Our God, will you not judge them, for we have
• 1:38:23
  Speaker 1: no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.
• 1:38:27
  Speaker 1: We do not know what to do, but our eyes
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 1: are on you. Complete honesty, complete dependence. We're powerless, we
• 1:38:34
  Speaker 1: have no strategy. We're looking to you alone. This was
• 1:38:38
  Speaker 1: the faith God was looking for. While all Judah stood
• 1:38:42
  Speaker 1: before the Lord waiting for an answer, the spirit of
• 1:38:45
  Speaker 1: God came upon a levite in the assembly. Second Chronicles,
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty, Verse fourteen introduces the prophet. Then the spirit
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 1: of the Lord came on Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, the
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 1: son of Beniah, the son of Joel, the son of Mattanaiah,
• 1:39:02
  Speaker 1: a Levite and descendant of Asaf. As he stood in
• 1:39:05
  Speaker 1: the assembly, a worship leader, not a warrior, a Levite
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 1: from Asaf's line, the family of temple singers. Verse fifteen
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 1: contains the prophecy he said, listen, King Jehoshaphat, and all
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 1: who live in Judah and Jerusalem. This is what the
• 1:39:21
  Speaker 1: Lord says to you. Do not be afraid or discouraged
• 1:39:24
  Speaker 1: because of this vast army, for the battle is not
• 1:39:27
  Speaker 1: yours but God's. Verse seventeen contains the shocking command you
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 1: will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions,
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 1: stand firm, and see the deliverance the Lord will give
• 1:39:41
  Speaker 1: you Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid, do not
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 1: be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the
• 1:39:48
  Speaker 1: Lord will be with you. Don't fight, just stand there watch.
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: Verse eighteen shows the response. Jehoshaphat bowed down with his
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 1: face to the ground, and all the people of Judah
• 1:39:58
  Speaker 1: and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord before
• 1:40:02
  Speaker 1: the battle, before seeing any evidence, they worshiped in faith.
• 1:40:06
  Speaker 1: The next morning came the most unusual military formation in history.
• 1:40:10
  Speaker 1: Verse twenty one describes, after consulting the people Jehoshifat appointed
• 1:40:15
  Speaker 1: men to sing to the Lord and to praise him
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 1: for the splendor of his holiness. As they went out
• 1:40:20
  Speaker 1: at the head of the army, saying, give thanks to
• 1:40:23
  Speaker 1: the Lord for his love endures forever. The worship team
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 1: marched in front of the army, singing praise. Verse twenty
• 1:40:32
  Speaker 1: two reveals what happened as they began to sing and praise.
• 1:40:36
  Speaker 1: The Lord set ambushes against the men of Amon and
• 1:40:39
  Speaker 1: Moab and Mount Sayr who were invading Judah, and they
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 1: were defeated. Verse twenty three describes the confusion. The Ammonites
• 1:40:48
  Speaker 1: and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Sayr
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 1: to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 1: men from Seyr, they helped to destroy one another. The
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: vast army destroyed itself. Verse twenty four shows what Judah saw.
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 1: When the men of Judah came to the place that
• 1:41:07
  Speaker 1: overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they
• 1:41:11
  Speaker 1: saw only dead bodies lying on the ground. No one
• 1:41:14
  Speaker 1: had escaped. The plunder took three days to collect. Verse
• 1:41:18
  Speaker 1: twenty six records. On the fourth day, they assembled in
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 1: the valley of Berraka where they praised the Lord. They
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 1: named the location to commemorate what God had done. After
• 1:41:31
  Speaker 1: experiencing such a miraculous victory, you would think Jehoshaphat had
• 1:41:35
  Speaker 1: learned his lesson about making alliances, but near the end
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 1: of his reign he made one more partnership with Israel's
• 1:41:44
  Speaker 1: wicked kings. First Kings, Chapter twenty two, verse forty eight
• 1:41:49
  Speaker 1: introduces now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships to
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 1: go to Offia for gold, but they never set sail.
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 1: They were wrecked at Etzion Geber. Jehoshaphat was building a
• 1:42:02
  Speaker 1: trading fleet for gold from Ophia, but he didn't do
• 1:42:05
  Speaker 1: it alone. Second Chronicles, Chapter twenty, verse thirty five gives context. Later, Jehoshaphat,
• 1:42:12
  Speaker 1: king of Judah, made an alliance with a Haziah, king
• 1:42:15
  Speaker 1: of Israel, whose ways were wicked. A Hassiah was Ahab's son,
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 1: another king from that corrupt dynasty. Verse thirty six describes
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 1: he agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships.
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 1: After these were built at Etzion Gaber. This was a
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 1: joint commercial venture. From a business perspective, this made sense,
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 1: pooling resources, sharing costs. It seemed like smart economics, but
• 1:42:42
  Speaker 1: God sent a prophet. Verse thirty seven records Eliza, son
• 1:42:46
  Speaker 1: of Dodavahu of Maresia, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, because you
• 1:42:52
  Speaker 1: have made an alliance with our Hazir, the Lord will
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 1: destroy what you have made. The ships were wrecked and
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 1: were not able to set sails to trade. The destruction
• 1:43:02
  Speaker 1: wasn't natural disaster, God himself was destroying the fleet because
• 1:43:06
  Speaker 1: of the alliance. The partnership with wickedness meant the venture
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 1: was doomed from the start. First Kings, chapter twenty two,
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 1: verse forty nine ADS. At that time, a Hasiah, son
• 1:43:18
  Speaker 1: of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, let my men sail with yours,
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 1: but Jehoshaphat refused. After the ships were destroyed, a Haasiah
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 1: wanted to try again, but this time Jehoshaphat said no.
• 1:43:32
  Speaker 1: The maritime alliance showed Jehoshaphat's persistent blind spot. He was
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 1: faithful in worship, he promoted God's law, he sought prophetic
• 1:43:41
  Speaker 1: guidance in crises, but when it came to making alliances
• 1:43:46
  Speaker 1: with Israel's kings, he repeatedly compromised. Second Chronicles, Chapter twenty one,
• 1:43:51
  Speaker 1: verse one records. Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and
• 1:43:56
  Speaker 1: was buried with them in the city of David and Jehorah.
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 1: His sons succeeded him as king. Jehoshaphat was gone, his
• 1:44:05
  Speaker 1: son Jehoram married to Athalia, daughter of Ahab, and Jezebel
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 1: took the throne. The consequences of Jehoshaphat's marriage alliance would
• 1:44:15
  Speaker 1: now become clear. If this deep dive into biblical history
• 1:44:19
  Speaker 1: opened your eyes to the complexity and tragedy of Israel
• 1:44:23
  Speaker 1: and Judah's conflict, subscribe to this channel for more in
• 1:44:27
  Speaker 1: depth explorations of Scripture's most compelling stories. Share this video
• 1:44:32
  Speaker 1: with someone who needs to understand how compromise costs everything,
• 1:44:36
  Speaker 1: and let us know in the comments which king's story
• 1:44:39
  Speaker 1: impacted you the most. The kingdoms fell, the walls crumbled,
• 1:44:44
  Speaker 1: the armies scattered, But God's word remains, and these ancient
• 1:44:49
  Speaker 1: lessons still speak to us to day.