The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord

2 Chronicles 11:13-17

13 The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him. 14 The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord 15 when he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made. 16 Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon three years, following the ways of David and Solomon during this time.

Today’s title is “The Tales of Two Kingdoms”

Israel had their golden days in the reign of David and Solomon. Their military might reached its highest that they defeated enemies all around. Their territory expanded widely in all directions and countless people were added as their subjects. The nation became so rich that they didn’t value silver highly. The chroniclers of the kingdom clearly attribute the prosperity of the kingdom in the reign of David and Solomon to the love and faithfulness of the kings and people to the Lord. Unfortunately, the golden age of Israel didn’t last long. The kingdom became divided soon after Solomon died due to the stubborn folly of the successor Rehoboam. Unlike his predecessors such as David and Solomon, Rehoboam was not mindful of the plight of the people. Jeroboam, who was very ambitious and was eying on the opportunity to rebel against the king, seized the moment. He split the northern tribes from Israel leaving only the tribe of Judah and Benjamin to Rehoboam. Rehoboam tried to reunify the kingdom without success. On the other hand, Jeroboam tried to strengthen the northern kingdom in his own ways. In doing so, he endeavored to establish totally independent religious system from the original system established by David and Solomon with the temple in Jerusalem at the center. He built the new temple and placed goat and calf idols in it. He rejected the Levites and priests installed by the original system. He banned northern people from going to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord. All of these changes must have seemed very savvy movements to Jeroboam to solidify his own northern kingdom. Rehoboam couldn’t do anything to stop him. But many Levites in the northern regions and people who sought the Lord took brave actions. They left everything that belonged to them such as pastureland and property and moved to Judah and Jerusalem. For them, nothing matters more than to worship the true God at the true temple. It sets up the temporary revival at the time of Rehoboam. But it didn’t end there. It sets the direction of the two kingdoms. The northern kingdom became a man-centered kingdom, while the southern kingdom remains God-centered despite its ups and downs. In due time, the northern kingdom becomes completely wiped out and ceases to exist while the southern kingdom manages to survive until the time of Jesus. This tale of two kingdoms shows the path of two types of human lives; man-centered and God-centered. Man-centered life no matter prosperous and strong it may look will end up in total wipe-out. God-centered life, no matter how hard and difficult challenges one may go through. Will end up seeing the Messiah. Which path of life are you following?