And they buried him ,.... In an honourable manner, suitable to his rank and pedigree: and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet , 1 Kings 14:13 . 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
Death and Mourning. With a heavy heart the queen of Jeroboam moved along the road from Shiloh to Tirzah, and received the salute of death at the threshold of the palace. This sad event was soon followed by a state funeral and by a public mourning. In all this note how— I. SORROW TARNISHES HUMAN SPLENDOUR . 1 . Survey this palace of Tirzah . 2 . Behold in this paradise a corpse! II. IT HAS RELIEFS AND AGGRAVATIONS . 1 . The reliefs are the fruits... read more
The Dead Child. Following the order of events as they appear in the Hebrew text rather than in the Septuagint, we regard this as the first of the calamities that befell the house of Jeroboam, until it became extinct on the death of Nadab ( 1 Kings 15:29 ), as the penalty of his transgression in violating the religious unity of the nation. So soon was he made to feel that he was in the grasp of a Power that could not be mocked or trifled with, and against which it was vain for him to... read more
And they buried him [see on 1 Kings 14:13 ]; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by the hand [see on 1 Kings 2:25 ] of his servant Ahijah the prophet, [it was a token of the righteous judgment of God that the same prophet who announced Jeroboam's exaltation predicted his fall.] read more
1 Kings 14:18 . All Israel mourned for him And justly: not only for the loss of a hopeful prince, but because his death plucked up the flood-gates at which an inundation of judgments broke in. According to the word of the Lord by Ahijah Thus by accomplishing the predictions of his prophet concerning the death and burial of the child, and the lamentation which the people made for him, God confirmed all the rest of his threatenings against the house of Jeroboam and the people of Israel. 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
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