“Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes; but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back— therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the Lord has spoken!” ’”
I Kings 14:7-11 NKJV
a. You have done more evil than all who were before you: Saul was a bad man and a bad king. Solomon was a good king but a bad man. Though both men were bad, Jeroboam was far worse. He became the measuring line for the bad kings of Israel to come.
i. God compared Jeroboam unfavorably to David with the words, as my servant David“who though he fell into some sins, yet, first, he constantly persevered in the true worship of God, from which thou are revolted; secondly, he heartily repented of and turned from all his sins, whereas thou are obstinate and incorrigible” (Poole).
b. And have cast Me behind your back: This was a powerful description of intense contempt towards God, as in Ezekiel 23:35 - Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, therefore you shall bear the penalty of your lewdness and your harlotry.
i. “The last reason implies a neglect, a scorning of God. It is the same figure of speech used to describe God’s forgiveness of our sins. He puts them behind His back, or in other words, He forgets them. That is good news when it describes God’s treatment of our sins [Isaiah 38:17], but it is tragically bad news when it describes a person’s treatment of God.” (Dilday)
c. I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male: Jeroboam could have had a lasting dynasty, but he wasted the promise of God with his unbelief, idolatry, and outright rejection of God.
i. Every male: “Means literally ‘he who urinates against the wall’” (Patterson and Austel). (Guzik)
Obstinate and incorrigible!
We’ve all known someone like Jeroboam and just maybe, we were once like that! I know I was!
But notice the difference between David and Jeroboam, “he heartily repented of and turned from all his sins (David) whereas thou are obstinate and incorrigible (Jeroboam)” (Poole).
I have repented and accepted the grace of Jesus Christ.
Have you?
Do you know someone who is obstinate and incorrigible? If so pray for them.
Blessings
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