[Linux4christians] Tuesday - 1 Kings 14:21-15:24

Mon Feb 7 21:30:27 EST 2011

    Tuesday

      1 Kings 14:21-15:24

Rehoboam's Reign over Judah

14:21 Now Rehoboam son of Solomon ruled in Judah. He was forty-one years 
old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, 
the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home. 
His mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah.

14:22 Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord. They made him more 
jealous by their sins than their ancestors had done. 14:23 They even 
built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on 
every high hill and under every green tree. 14:24 There were also male 
cultic prostitutes in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as 
the nations that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.

14:25 In King Rehoboam's fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked 
Jerusalem. 14:26 He took away the treasures of the Lord's temple and of 
the royal palace; he took everything, including all the golden shields 
that Solomon had made. 14:27 King Rehoboam made bronze shields to 
replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard who 
protected the entrance to the royal palace. 14:28 Whenever the king 
visited the Lord's temple, the royal guard carried them and then brought 
them back to the guardroom.

14:29 The rest of the events of Rehoboam's reign, including his 
accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the 
Kings of Judah. 14:30 Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with 
each other. 14:31 Rehoboam passed away and was buried with his ancestors 
in the city of David. His mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. His son 
Abijah replaced him as king.

Abijah's Reign over Judah

15:1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, 
Abijah became king over Judah. 15:2 He ruled for three years in 
Jerusalem. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. 15:3 He 
followed all the sinful practices of his father before him. He was not 
wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had 
been. 15:4 Nevertheless for David's sake the Lord his God maintained his 
dynasty in Jerusalem by giving him a son to succeed him and by 
protecting Jerusalem. 15:5 He did this because David had done what he 
approved and had not disregarded any of his commandments his entire 
lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite. 15:6 
Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other throughout 
Abijah's lifetime. 15:7 The rest of the events of Abijah's reign, 
including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the 
Annals of the Kings of Judah. Abijah and Jeroboam had been at war with 
each other. 15:8 Abijah passed away and was buried in the city of David. 
His son Asa replaced him as king.

Asa's Reign over Judah

15:9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam's reign over Israel, Asa became 
the king of Judah. 15:10 He ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem. His 
grandmother was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. 15:11 Asa did what the 
Lord approved like his ancestor David had done. 15:12 He removed the 
male cultic prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the disgusting 
idols his ancestors had made. 15:13 He also removed Maacah his 
grandmother from her position as queen because she had made a loathsome 
Asherah pole. Asa cut down her Asherah pole and burned it in the Kidron 
Valley. 15:14 The high places were not eliminated, yet Asa was 
wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord throughout his lifetime. 15:15 He 
brought the holy items that he and his father had made into the Lord's 
temple, including the silver, gold, and other articles.

15:16 Now Asa and King Baasha of Israel were continually at war with 
each other. 15:17 King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah and established 
Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering 
the land of King Asa of Judah. 15:18 Asa took all the silver and gold 
that was left in the treasuries of the Lord's temple and of the royal 
palace and handed it to his servants. He then told them to deliver it to 
Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ruler in 
Damascus, along with this message: 15:19 "I want to make a treaty with 
you, like the one our fathers made. See, I have sent you silver and gold 
as a present. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will 
retreat from my land." 15:20 Ben Hadad accepted King Asa's offer and 
ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel. They 
conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and all the territory of 
Naphtali, including the region of Kinnereth. 15:21 When Baasha heard the 
news, he stopped fortifying Ramah and settled down in Tirzah. 15:22 King 
Asa ordered all the men of Judah (no exemptions were granted) to carry 
away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah. King Asa 
used the materials to build up Geba (in Benjamin) and Mizpah.

15:23 The rest of the events of Asa's reign, including all his successes 
and accomplishments, as well as a record of the cities he built, are 
recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. Yet when 
he was very old he developed a foot disease. 15:24 Asa passed away and 
was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor David. His son 
Jehoshaphat replaced him as king.

      Prayer

Lord, You have Your perfect plan and even the rebellion of kings will 
not deter You. May I be more attentive to Your plans than my own, may I 
never fear man more than You, and may I actively seek to more nearly 
follow You in all that I say, think, and do.

      Commentary

Rehoboam was behaving in as disrespectful way toward the Lord God in 
Jerusalem of the single-tribe nation of Judah as Jeroboam was in the 
other nice tribes of Israel. The countryside was littered with altars 
and idols and shrines to false gods.

The Lord God allowed the king of Egypt to invade and take away all of 
the gold in Jerusalem that Solomon had gathered, including the massive 
gold shields, so Rehoboam had them replaced with brass and locked in the 
guardroom when not in use.

Rehoboam and Jeroboam warred with each other continually.

Rehoboam died and was replaced by his son Abijah. Abijah emulated the 
rebellious practices of his father and lived only three years as king. 
He also warred with Jeroboam. He died and Asa replaced him as king.

Asa removed the Ashera poles and male cultic prostitutes, restored 
David's articles of worship to the Temple, and otherwise obeyed the Lord 
God. He failed to destroy the altars and shrines to false gods in the 
high places and was continually at war with King Baasha of Israel. 
Baasha attacked Judah and began building a fortified base from which to 
control access and egress to Jerusalem. Asa used the remaining gold and 
silver in the treasury to hire the king of Syria to attack Israel, which 
he did, causing Baasha to withdraw from Jerusalem.

Asa used the stone and wood from the abandoned fortified city to build 
up cities in Judah. When he was old Asa developed a foot disease then 
died and was replaced by Jehoshaphat.

      Interaction

        Consider

The Egyptians figured out that Judah was vulnerable and that Israel 
would not help them, so they were an easy target for attack, and Solomon 
had foolishly showed-off all of their riches to everyone.

        Discuss

Given the contrast between the great blessings of Solomon while he was 
faithful to the Lord God and the troubled times when there was rebellion 
why would Rehoboam not have figured out the cause of the troubles?

        Reflect

Abijah was twice the fool having seen the consequences of both Solomon's 
and his Rehoboam's rebellion result in disaster he did not turn back to 
the Lord God.

        Share

When have you observed a new leader follow a failed leader and copy 
their destructive choices, despite the clear evidence that they would 
suffer the same outcome?

      Faith in Action

        Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a place in your life where you are 
tolerating evil.

        Action:

Today I will humble accept the chastising of the Holy Spirit and I will 
immediately remove from my life the "altars", "idols", and "shrines" to 
the world that are polluting my spiritual life. They may be obsessions 
with money, power, and/or sex, the abuse of alcohol and/or drugs, the 
experimentation with the occult, the idolatry of celebrities, or some 
other worldly obsession which interferes with the pursuit of a more 
righteous walk.

        Be Specific ______________________________________________________

    Wednesday's text will be:

      1 Kings 15:25 - 16

-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
Defend free speech or lose your freedom.
I don't google I SEARCH! http://ixquick.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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