JEROBOAM SETS UP TWO CALVES OF GOLD FOR THE PEOPLE TO WORSHIP. WHILE HE IS BURNING INCENSE TO ONE OF THEM, A PROPHET FORETELLS JOSIAH'S BIRTH. THE PROPHET IS SLAIN BY A LION. JEROBOAM'S DEATH. AHAB REIGNS. ELIJAH FORETELLS A FAMINE IN THE LAND. THE RAVENS FEED HIM. HE RAISES THE WIDOW'S SON TO LIFE.
AS soon as the ten tribes had chosen Jeroboam king, they left Rehoboam and went away to their own homes. Then Jeroboam said to himself, If the people of the ten tribes shall go up to Jerusalem to keep the feasts there, and worship at the temple, they will soon put me away from being their king. For at Jerusalem they will see Rehoboam, Solomon's son, and will want to serve him, but me they will put to death. Therefore Jeroboam made two calves of gold, and set them up in that part of the land which belonged to the ten tribes. And he said to the people, It is too far for you to go to Jerusalem to worship. See these idols of gold, they are your gods; worship them, for it was they that brought your fathers up out of Egypt.
And he built houses for the idols, one at Bethel, and the other at Dan, in different parts of the land, and the people went there to worship them. He made a feast also for the people to keep at Bethel, instead of the feasts which the Lord had commanded them to keep at Jerusalem. And Jeroboam chose wicked men for priests to his idols, to stay at the idols' houses and offer up sacrifices to them, but he would not allow the priests of the Lord to offer up sacrifices to God. Therefore all the priests and the Levites who were living in the land of the ten tribes, came to Jerusalem to live; and many other persons who would not worship the calves, came with them and chose Rehoboam for their king.
But Jeroboam did very wickedly, for he prevented the people of the ten tribes from going to Jerusalem, where God had commanded them to worship, and he taught them to worship the golden calves which he had set up. And the lift people also sinned with him, for they willingly obeyed him, and worshipped the calves, and did not any more go to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
And one day Jeroboam was standing in his idol's house, by the altar of incense, to burn incense to the calf which was at Bethel. And there came to him a prophet out of the land of Judah, who said that a king should be born in Judah, named Josiah, who would come and. burn men's bones on that altar, to defile, or spoil it, and make it unclean. This was not to happen for many years, and yet, that Jeroboam might know it would surely come true, the prophet said, the altar should be broken and its ashes emptied out on the ground that very day.
And Jeroboam was angry at what the prophet said, and stretched out his hand to take hold of him; but while it was stretched out, the Lord made it grow stiff and withered, in a moment, so that he could not draw it back to him again. The altar was broken also, as the prophet had said, and its ashes were scattered on the ground. When Jeroboam saw what the Lord had done to him, he begged the prophet to pray that his hand might be made well. And the prophet prayed for him, and his hand was made well. Then Jeroboam said to the prophet, Come home with me and rest thyself, and I will give thee a reward. But the prophet answered, Though thou wouldst give me half of all the riches in thy house, I will not go with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place. For so the Lord commanded me, saying, Eat no bread nor drink water there, nor come back by the same way that thou goest.
So the prophet turned to come back by another way, to the land of Judah. Now there was living at Bethel an old man who also was a prophet. And his sons came and told him of all that the prophet from Judah had done. Then the old prophet at Bethel asked them which way he went, for his sons had seen the road he had taken. When he heard, he said to them, Saddle the ass for me; and they saddled it, and the old man followed after the prophet.
And he came up with him, and found him sitting under an oak, and said to him, Art thou the prophet that came from Judah? He answered, I am. Then the old man said, Come home with me and eat bread. But the prophet from Judah said, I may not go with thee, nor eat bread nor drink water in this place, for the Lord has commanded me, saying, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor come back by the way that thou goest. Then the old man said to him, But I also am a prophet, and an angel spoke to me, saying, Bring him back with thee to thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. Yet the old prophet lied to him, for no angel had spoken these words.
Now the prophet from Judah ought not to have listened to what the old man said, for the Lord himself had commanded the prophet from Judah what he must do. Yet he listened to the old man's words and went back with him, and did eat bread and drink water in his house. And the Lord was angry at his disobedience, and while they sat at the table, the Lord made the old man speak to the prophet from Judah, and tell him, that because he had disobeyed the Lord and come back to Bethel, and had eaten bread and drunk water there, he should not, when he died, be buried in his father's sepulchre.
So after he had eaten and drunk, he started to go back to the land of Judah again. But as he went, a lion met him and slew him, and his dead body lay in the road, and the ass on which he had ridden stood by it, and the lion also. And some men passed that way, and saw the dead body in the road and the lion standing by it; and they came and told it in Bethel, where the old prophet—lived. When he heard it, he said, It is the prophet from Judah who disobeyed the command of the Lord, therefore: the Lord has given him to the lion, which has slain him, so that he shall not be buried in the sepulchre of his fathers, as the Lord said.
And the old man spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle the ass for me; and they saddled it. And he went to the place where the prophet had been slain, and found his dead body lying in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by it. The lion had not eaten the body nor killed the ass. And the old man took up the prophet's dead body, and laid it upon the ass and brought it to Bethel, and he buried it in his own grave. Then he said to his sons, When I am dead, bury me in the sepulchre where the prophet of Judah is buried; lay my bones beside his bones, for the words that he spoke against the altar in Bethel shall surely come true.
At that time the son of King Jeroboam grew sick, and Jeroboam said to his wife, Put on other raiment, that no one may know thee, and go to Shiloh, to the prophet who told me I should be king; take him a present of ten loaves of bread and a cruse of honey, and he will tell thee whether the child shall get well. And Jeroboam's wife did as he said. She put on other raiment and went to Shiloh, and came to the prophet's house. Now the prophet was old and could not see, for his eyes were dim. But the Lord had told him that the wife of Jeroboam was coming to ask about her son.
So when he heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why dost thou pretend to be another woman? for I have to tell thee sad tidings. Go, say to Jeroboam, thus saith the Lord, I raised thee up from among the people, and made thee king over ten of the tribes of Israel; I took those ten tribes away from Solomon's son and gave them to thee. Yet thou hast not obeyed my commandments, but hast done wickedly, for thou hast turned away from serving me and made other gods. Therefore I will send evil upon thee and thy family, until not one of them shall be left alive. And after they are dead they shall not be buried in the grave, as the families of other kings are buried; but those that die in the city the dogs shall eat, and those that die out in the field the birds of the air shall eat; for so the Lord has said it shall be. Go back therefore to thy house, and as thou goest, thy child shall die. And all the people shall mourn for him and bury him; for he is the only one of Jeroboam's family who shall be buried in the grave.
So Jeroboam's wife rose up and went from the prophet's house to her own home, and as she came in at the door the child died. And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him as the prophet had said. Jeroboam reigned, that is, he was king, for twenty-two years; and he died and Nadab his son was made king in his place.
Nadab did not serve God, but worshipped the golden calves which his father had set up. He went with his army against the Philistines and besieged one of their cities. To besiege a city is to set soldiers around it, who will let no one come out or go in; but will fight against it, and prevent food or help from being brought to the people, until the city is taken. And Nadab besieged a city of the Philistines called Gibbethon. While he was there and after he had been king for two years, a man named Baasha rebelled against him and slew him; and Baasha was made king over the ten tribes of Israel.
Baasha put every one of Jeroboam's family to death; so the words of the prophet came true, which he spoke to Jeroboam's wife when he told her, that the Lord would bring evil on Jeroboam and his family, until not one of them should be left alive. Yet Baasha did not kill them because they were wicked, or because the Lord's prophet had spoken these words, but because he wanted to rule over the people himself. For Baasha was wicked also, and he too worshipped the golden calves. He was king for twenty-four years; and he died, and Elah, his son, was made king in his place.
Elah lived in the city of Tirzah where his father had lived. He reigned for two years; then as he was drinking himself drunk in the house of his chief servant, Zimri the captain of half his chariots, came into the house and killed him; and Zimri made himself king. Now the men of Israel were away, fighting against the Philistines at this time, but as soon as they heard what Zimri had done, they said that he should not rule over them, and they chose Omri, their captain, for king. Then Omri and the men of Israel came to Tirzah, where Zimri was, and besieged it. When Zimri saw they were about to gain the victory over him and take the city, he went into the king's palace, and setting it on fire, burnt himself up there. Zimri was king for only seven days.
Omri, after he was made king, bought a hill called the hill of Samaria, for two talents of silver; and he built a city on it which he called the city of Samaria. In this city Omri lived, and the kings of Israel who reigned after him, continued to live there as long as their kingdom lasted—for nearly two hundred years. But Omri also sinned, for he worshipped the golden calves, and encouraged the people to worship them. He was king for twelve years, and he died, and was buried in Samaria, the city which he had built; and Ahab his son was made king in his stead.
Up to this time, six kings had ruled over the ten tribes of Israel, and every one of them had been wicked. But the Bible tells us that Ahab, Omri's son, was more wicked than all who had ruled before him. He took for his wife the daughter of a heathen king. Her name was Jezebel, and she worshipped the idol Baal. And Ahab built a house, or temple, for the idol, in the city of Samaria. He chose wicked men also, to stay there and offer up sacrifices to the idol. These men he called priests, or prophets, of Baal. And Ahab set up an altar and he made a grove, and caused the people of Israel to worship Baal as the heathen nations did.
And the Lord was displeased at Ahab and sent the prophet Elijah to tell him that there should not, for years, be any more rain in the land of Israel. No rain should come there, the Lord said, until Elijah should ask for it. As this would make Ahab very angry at Elijah, the Lord told the prophet, after he had spoken these words, to flee away where Ahab could not find him. Go, the Lord said, and hide by a brook that is in the wilderness. Thou shalt drink of the water of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So Elijah went and hid by the brook; and he drank of the water, and the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening. But after a while, because there had been no rain, the brook dried up and a great famine came in the land.
Then the Lord said to him, Arise, and go to the city of Zarephath, for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed thee. And Elijah arose and went. When he came to the gate of the city, the woman was gathering sticks, and he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a little water in a cup, that I may drink. As she was going he called to her again, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a piece of bread in thy hand. She answered, As surely as the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse; and now I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and bake it, for me and my son to eat, before we starve.
But Elijah said to her, Fear not; go and bake it, as thou hast said, but make a little cake for me first and bring it. After that make more for thee and thy son. For the Lord says, that although there is but little of the meal and of the oil, yet they shall last until the famine ceases in the land. And she went and did as Elijah commanded; and afterward she, and he, and her son, did eat for a whole year, and the Lord made the meal and the oil to last all that time.
After this the son of the woman grew sick, and his sickness was so great that he died. When she told Elijah of it, he said, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her arms, and carried him up into his own chamber and laid him on his bed. And Elijah cried to the Lord, and said, O Lord, hast thou brought evil upon the woman in whose house I stay, by slaying her son? I beseech thee, O Lord, let the child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard Elijah's prayer, and sent the soul of the child into him again, so that he lived. And Elijah took him, and brought him down out of his chamber and gave him to his mother.