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 A QUICK AND EASY SURVEY OF HEBREW HISTORY

 The Kings of Israel, the Northern Kingdom

Introduction.  After Solomon’s death, the kingdom of Israel split in two.  Ten tribes in the north rejected the House of David and formed their own nation under Jeroboam, son of Nebat.  The southern kingdom of Judah retained the Temple, the Davidic line of kings, and the capital at Jerusalem.  From that day forward, the northern kingdom – simply called Israel – walked a path marked by instability, idolatry, and eventual total destruction.

The Books of Kings give us a long list of northern kings.  Almost without exception, the verdict is the same for all of them:  “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”  Three of those northern kings stand out with special clarity:

• Jeroboam established the pattern of syncretistic worship that would plague the nation for two hundred years.
• Ahab took that pattern and plunged it into open Baal worship.
• Jehu was raised up by God Himself to execute judgment on the House of Ahab – yet even he couldn’t bring himself to abandon the golden calves of Jerusalem.

Together, these three kings show us the tragic trajectory of people who traded the living God for political security, personal power, and cultural/religious compromise.  Their stories still speak with force to every generation that is tempted to do the same.

Jeroboam, the first king of the north.

Insecure leadership, 1 Kings 12:25 – 27.

Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel. [26] Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. [27] If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”  (1 Kings 12:25 – 27 | TNIV)

If you’ll recall, God had promised Jeroboam the ten tribes through the prophet Ahijah (1 Kings 11:29 – 39).  The Lord’s generous promise, though, was conditioned on Jeroboam’s obedience.   Jeroboam had every reason  to trust the God who had specifically raised him up.

Instead, he looked at the political realities and panicked.  He fortified cities.  He calculated the risk of pilgrimages to Jerusalem.  He imagined assassination plots.  In short, he measured the future by what he could see rather than by what God had spoken.

Insecurity is a powerful engine of unbelief.  When a leader’s first question is “How do I keep my position?” rather than “How do I honor the Lord?” compromise is almost inevitable.  Jeroboam’s fear was not irrational on a human level – loyalty to Jerusalem could indeed undermine his throne – but it was faithless.  The same God who tore the kingdom from Solomon could preserve it under Jeroboam if Jeroboam stayed faithful to him.

We see this pattern repeatedly in Scripture and in our own hearts.  Abraham feared for his life and passed Sarah off as his sister.  Saul feared the people more than God and kept the best of the Amalekite spoil.  Peter feared the servant girl and denied his Lord.  Insecurity almost always drives us to take matters into our own hands.

Setting up idols, 1 Kings 12:28 – 33.

After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” [29] One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. [30] And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other. [31] Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. [32] He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. [33] On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.  (1 Kings 12:28 – 33 | TNIV)

Jeroboam’s solution was brilliant politics but disastrous theology.  He created a convenient alternative religion.  Two golden calves – like the ones at Mount Sinai – were placed at opposite ends of the kingdom so that no one had to travel far.  Non-Levitical priests were appointed so that the religious system would be loyal to the king and not to the Mosaic Law.  A new festival was invented on a date of Jeroboam’s choosing so that the people would not feel the pull of the true feasts in Jerusalem.

Notice the language:  “Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”  Jeroboam didn’t invent a brand-new deity; he claimed to be representing the God of the Exodus.  This is the essence of syncretism.   It keeps the language of faith while emptying it of its content.  These golden calves were not meant to replace Yahweh so much as to make Yahweh manageable, accessible, and politically useful.

The text is very blunt:  “And this thing became a sin.”  From that day forward, every northern king is measured against “the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat.”  The calves at Bethel and Dan became the defining idolatry of the northern kingdom until it fell to Assyria.

Jeroboam teaches us that the most dangerous compromises are often the ones that look most practical.  “It’s too much for you to go to Jerusalem.”  Convenience is still one of the most effective evangelists for false worship.  When the true worship of God requires inconvenience, cost, or risk, the temptation is to invent a more use-friendly version is strong.  Churches and individual believers alike need to guard against this impulse to reshape the faith to fit our fears or our preferences.

Ahab, Israel’s worst king.

Ahab’s depravity, 1 Kings 16:29 – 33.

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. [30] Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. [31] He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. [32] He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. [33] Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.  (1 Kings 16:29 – 33 | TNIV)

The historian’s evaluation of Ahab is devastating.  Ahab did more evil than all who preceded him.  The sins of Jeroboam – already having catastrophic effects on the people – were treated as trivial.  Ahab moved beyond syncretism into open cultic/occultic polytheism.

The decisive factor was his marriage to the wicked Jezebel, a Sidonian princess and aggressive promoter of Baal worship.  Under her influence, Ahab built a temple for Baal in the capital, erected an altar, and raised an Asherah pole.  Baal, the Canaanite storm god and Asherah, the mother goddess, were given official state sponsorship in the land that rightfully belonged to the Lord.

The northern kingdom had long tolerated the golden calves.  Ahab took the next logical step:  If the God of Israel could be reduced to a pair of golden calves, why not just add the gods of the surrounding nations?  Cultural accommodation became full-blown apostasy.

Leadership always multiplies influence – for good or evil.  Ahab’s personal choices shaped the spiritual climate of an entire nation.  The prophets of Baal multiplied.  The prophets of the Lord were hunted down.  Ordinary Israelites found it easier to blend in with the new religious landscape than to stand against it.

We must never underestimate the power of a leader’s private compromises.  What begins in the palace, eventually reaches the village.

A prophecy of judgment, 1 Kings 21:17 – 29.

The immediate occasion for this judgment was the judicial murder of Naboth.  King Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard.  Naboth was one of the few righteous men left in Israel, and he refused to sell his ancestral inheritance.  So Queen Jezebel arranged a false witness, a show trial, and an execution.  Ahab got his vineyard.

God sent Elijah with a word of irreversible judgment.  The dynasty would be wiped out.  Jezebel would die a disgraceful, horrible death.  Dogs and birds would consume the bodies of Ahab’s house.  The language deliberately sounds like the earlier judgments against Jeroboam and Baasha.

But something very odd happens.  Ahab tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth, fasts, and humbles himself.  The Lord notices this, and because of Ahab’s temporary humility, the full disaster is postponed until the next generation.

Two truths jump out.  First, God is not mocked and sin has consequences – and those consequences can be far-reaching.  Second, God is astonishingly patient.  Even the most wicked king in Israel’s history received a measure of mercy when he humbled himself.

This episode also reveals the power of a godly prophet.  Elijah didn’t have a political office or military force.  He had the word of the Lord.  That word exposed Ahab’s sin, pronounced judgment, and still left room for a flicker of repentance.  The church today needs men and women who still speak the truth of God without fear or favor, trusting that the word itself carries the power.

Jehu, God’s avenger.

God chooses a king, 2 Kings 9:1 – 10.

Years after the prophecy against Ahab, God raised up the instrument of judgment.  Elisha sent a young prophet to anoint Jehu, a military commander, as the next king of Israel.  The commission was explicit:  Destroy the House of Ahab and avenge the blood of the Lord’s servants.

Jehu was not a reformer in the modern sense.  He was a warrior who was chosen for a specific and very violent ask.  The anointing was private and hurried; the young prophet was told to run.  God’s purposes often move through unexpected people and unconventional means.  Jerhu’s rise reminds us that the Lord isn’t limited to the “nice” and “acceptable” instruments.  He can use a ruthless soldier to accomplish His justice.

Vengeance belongs to God, 2 Kings 10:11, 17 – 31.

Jehu carried out his commission with ruthless efficiency.  The entire house of Ahab was eliminated.  Jezebel died exactly as predicted.  The prophets of Baal were gathered under false pretenses and slaughtered.  The temple of Baal was destroyed and turned into a public toilet – a deliberate act of permanent desecration.

The Lord Himself approved of Jehu’s work.

The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”  (2 Kings 10:30 | TNIV)

 And yet, the final assessment is sobering and disappointing.  Jehu destroyed Baal worship but left the golden calves standing.  He was zealous for the Lord’s judgment against Ahab, but he wasn’t at all careful to keep the Law of the Lord with all his heart.  Partial obedience is still disobedience.

Jehu shows us the reality of divine judgment and the danger of incomplete repentance.  God will not allow evil to go unpunished forever.  At the same time, the instruments of judgment are themselves accountable.  Zeal for one aspect of God’s will doesn’t excuse neglect of another.

Conclusion.  The northern kingdom of Israel ever recovered from the pattern set by these three kings.  Jeroboam’s calves remained until the bitter end.  Ahab’s Baal worship left scars that even Jehu’s purge couldn’t fully erase.  In 722 BC the Assyrians carried away what was left of the ten tribes into exile and Israel ceased to exist.

What do these stories teach us today?

First, leadership matters.  Insecure leaders create false religions.  Compromising leaders open the door to greater evil.  God-raised leaders may accomplish significant good, but still fall short if their hearts are not full given to the Lord.

Second, idolatry is subtle and progressive.  It begins with practical concerns – “It’s to much for you to go to Jerusalem.”  It always ends with temples to foreign gods.  The church must always examine whether convenience, cultural accommodation, or political advantage has begun to shape our worship.

Third, God is both just and patient.   He judges sin, sometimes through surprising means and instruments.  He also notices even the imperfect humility of a wicked man like Ahab.  His patience is meant to lead to repentance, not presumption.

Fourth, these kings point us beyond themselves to the true King.  Jesus Christ is the opposite of Jeroboam:  Secure in the Father’s love and purpose.  He doesn’t invent alternative ways of approaching God.  He is the opposite of Ahab:  Instead of selling Himself to do evil, He gave Himself to redeem the ungodly.  He is the perfect fulfillment of what Jehu only partially accomplished.  He will one day execute perfect judgment while remaining the perfect embodiment of God’s Law and grace.,

Until that day, the people of God are called to walk in the light of His Word, to reject every golden calf, and to trust the King who never fails.