And he shall give Israel up ,.... Into the hands of their enemies: because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin ; by his devices and stratagems, by his example and edicts, and by the methods he took to prevent Israel from worshipping in the manner and place he directed to. read more
Abijah and Ahijah. Perhaps there is no single section of this book more full of lessons, and lessons of the most varied kind, than this. Let us try to gather something of what God has strawed with so liberal a hand. 1. " At that time ( 1 Kings 14:1 )"—the time of 1 Kings 13:33 . The sickness of the child distinctly connects itself with the father's persistence in sin (see Deuteronomy 7:15 ; Deuteronomy 28:22 , Deuteronomy 28:61 ). The hard and impenitent heart treasures... read more
Affliction and judgment. I. THE STRICKEN KING . Abijah seems to have been heir to the throne, and to have been alike the king's and the people's hope. The father's heart was touched: the king saw the dynasty threatened, to establish which he had ventured so much. The voice of God, against which the car was closed, will be heard again in the quietness of the sick chamber, in the silence of death. God follows us through deepening sorrows, if haply we may turn ere we are overwhelmed by... read more
The Future of Israel. The vision of the Shilonite concerning the house of Israel, now before us, seems to have come upon him suddenly. We think the exclamation, "But what? Even now!" was the half-involuntary expression of the surprise of this new revelation. This utterance should, then, have stood at the beginning of 1 Kings 14:15 rather than at the end of the verse preceding. The connecting particle "For," with which 1 Kings 14:15 now opens, favours this view. The new vision... read more
And he shall [or, that he should ] give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin. [These words became almost a formula ( 1 Kings 15:33 , 1 Kings 15:34 ; 1 Kings 16:2 , 1 Kings 16:19 , etc.)] read more
1 Kings 14:15-16. For the Lord shall smite Israel For consenting to that idolatrous worship which Jeroboam set up. As a reed is shaken in the water Hither and thither, with every wind. So shall the kingdom and people of Israel be always in an unquiet and unsettled state, tossed to and fro by foreign invasions and civil wars; by opposite kings and factions, and by the dissensions of the people. The emblem expresses very forcibly the ease with which God could punish the Israelites and... read more
Jeroboam’s punishment (13:1-14:20)God soon showed that this new form of religion was totally unacceptable to him. A prophet from Judah came to Bethel and, by bold words and dramatic actions, condemned both the people and the king (13:1-10).However, there was another prophet, a much older man, who lived in Bethel and had apparently not spoken out against Jeroboam’s wrongdoing. The old prophet seems to have been jealous of the prophet from Judah, and decided to tempt him to disobey God’s command.... read more
made Israel to sin. The first of twenty-one occurrences in these two books: 1 Kings 14:16 ; 1 Kings 15:26 , 1Ki 15:30 , 1 Kings 15:34 ; 1 Kings 16:19 , 1Ki 16:26 ; 1 Kings 21:22 ; 1 Kings 22:52 . 2Ki 3:3 ; 2 Kings 10:29 , 2 Kings 10:31 ; 2Ki 13:2 , 2 Kings 13:6 , 2 Kings 13:11 ; 2Ki 14:24 ; 2 Kings 15:9 , 2 Kings 15:18 , 2Ki 15:24 , 2 Kings 15:28 ; 2 Kings 16:13 ; 2Ki 17:21 ; 2 Kings 23:15 . read more
The prophecy of judgment on Jeroboam’s dynasty 14:1-18Whereas the prophecy of the young prophet from Judah dealt with Jeroboam’s religious cult, this one predicted the fate of the king’s descendants. Compare Samuel’s prediction concerning unfaithful Saul’s descendants (1 Samuel 13).Jeroboam probably sent his wife to see Ahijah because that prophet had previously given a favorable prophecy to him (1 Kings 11:29-39). He probably hoped his gift (1 Kings 14:3) would win the prophet’s favor as... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 14:7-20
When those that set up idols, and keep them up, go to enquire of the Lord, he determines to answer them, not according to the pretensions of their enquiry, but according to the multitude of their idols, Ezek. 14:4. So Jeroboam is answered here. I. The prophet anticipates the enquiry concerning the child, and foretels the ruin of Jeroboam's house for the wickedness of it. No one else durst have carried such a message: a servant would have smothered it, but his own wife cannot be suspected of... read more