I Kings 14:1-4a- At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people. And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child. And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah.
Jeroboam's son, who should have taken the throne after him, had fallen sick. The Bible doesn't tell us if Jeroboam tried to find the answer through his false gods or if he knew that his idols couldn't answer him. We only know that he sent his wife to the prophet that anointed him king to see what would happen to his son.
He told his wife to pretend to be someone else. Jeroboam was hoping that the prophet wouldn't know who she was and that maybe he would heal his son.
I Kings 14:4b-7, 9-10a, 11-13- But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age. And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman. And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings. Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel, But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it. Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
The prophet told Jeroboam's wife that he knew who she was. He told her that God was going to punish Jeroboam's entire house for his sin. God was going to kill everyone who belonged to Jeroboam. The son that was now sick would die once she got back to her city.
This son would be the only one to come to the grave in peace. God would let him die by sickness because He saw something good in him. It was God's mercy that took this man home in sickness instead of through the horrors of war.
I Kings 14:17-18- And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died; And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.
The young man died just like God had said, but that didn't even encourage Jeroboam to repent. He was going to bring the wrath of God down on his household and on his nation!
There were now two wicked men ruling over Judah and Samaria. Abijah, Solomon's grandson ruled over Judah, and Jeroboam ruled over Samaria. These two kings both wanted to reunite the kingdoms under themselves, and they fought each other to do so.
II Chronicles 13:2a-3- And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.
Abijah brought 400 thousand men and Jeroboam brought 800 thousand men. Abijah thought that he could sway some of Jeroboam's army with a speech, but Jeroboam was getting ready to pounce!
II Chronicles 13:13-18- But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand. And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers.
Jeroboam had twice the man power that Abijah, Solomon's grandson, had. He had Abijah's army surrounded. But, Abijah was trusting in the Lord God and when he prayed to God, God fought for him. God allowed the smaller army to defeat the larger army.
II Chronicles 13:19-20- And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof. Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died.
The Lord had told Jeroboam that he would die for his sins. He lost many men and also cities to Abijah. And then, the Lord killed him.
I Kings 14:19-20- And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.
Jeroboam only reigned for 22 years. He led his entire nation on a path that would ensure their destruction. This was prophesied by the prophet who told Jeroboam's wife about his child's death.
I Kings 14:15-16- For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger. And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
It's a scary thing to think that your actions can effect other people. An entire nation has come under a slave sentence because of the stubborn rebellion of one king. We should beware of what our actions could do.
