The Kings and Prophets of Israel Torn - The division of Israel The Kings and Prophets of Israel

It was Solomon’s fault So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” 1 Kings 11:11-13. Rehoboam refused to lighten the requirements that his father had made on the people, so the people rebelled. So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. 1 Kings 12:15

Jeroboam If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. I will humble David’s descendants because of this, but not forever.’” 1 Kings 11:38,39 Jeroboam set up idols, sanctuaries and priests. The man of God from Judah, 1 Kings 13.

Jeroboam’s legacy 1 Kings 13:33,34; 14:7-11, 14-16; 2 Kings 23:15-18 Failures God’s unhappiness What happened?

Did Rehoboam learn? Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than their fathers had done. They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 1 Kings 14:22-24. The temple was attached, 1 Kings 14:25 It wasn’t all bad, Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah. 2 Chronicles 12:12

Nadab Baasha Elah 1 Kings 15:25-32 15:33,34; 16:1-7 16:8-14 How he came to power Kind of king What did he do? Prophecy fulfilled? Loss of power?

Abijah Asa Jehoshaphat 1 Kings 15:1-8 15:9-24 22:1-50 How he came to power Kind of king What did he do? Prophecy fulfilled? Loss of power?

The Kings and Prophets of Israel Elijah – the great confrontation

A three year drought He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. 1 Kings 16:32,33 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” 1 Kings 17:1 God’s provision for Elijah during this drought.

The widow at Zarephath “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” 1 Kings 17:12 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’” 1 Kings 17:13-14. She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:15,16 A crushing blow A powerful God A faith confirmed

Let’s rumble: Things heat up on the mountain Pages 157-160

The aftermath of Mt Carmel 1 Kings 19 Jezebel threatened Elijah So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” (1 Kings 19:2) Elijah fled to the desert Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. (1 Kings 19:3-5) The Lord appeared to Elijah The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” (1 Kings 19:11) Elijah sent to return and appoint two new kings and a new prophet. The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. (1 Kings 19:15)

Case Study: Naboth’s vineyard, 1 Kings 21 Page 163

Possible test question In 1 Kings 3 “the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you.’” How did Solomon respond to this and what was God’s response to Solomon’s answer? How can we understand the rest of Solomon’s life in the light of this incident?