AHIJAH, the Prophet of the Lord, who dwelt at Shilo. He is thought to be the person who spoke twice to Solomon from 1 Kings vi. 11. Ch. xi. 6.God; once while he was building the Temple, at which time he promised him his protection. And another time, after his falling into all his irregularities, when God expressed his indignation with great threatnings and reproaches. Ahijah was one of those who wrote the history or journal of 2 Chr. ix. 29.this Prince’s life. We read in1Epiphanius of his prediction to Solomon, that he would one day be perverted by Women, and God would raise up Enemies against him. And the same Prophet declared to Jeroboam, that he would by stratagem usurp the Kingdom, and that two heifers should alienate him from the Lord; meaning the two golden Calves erected by Jeroboam, one at Dan, the other at Bethel. We read in the first book of Kings 1 Kings xi. 29.that Jeroboam going one day out of Jerusalem, was met by the Prophet Ahijah of Shilo. As they two were alone together in the fields, the Prophet took a new Cloak which Jeroboam wore from off his shoulders, and cutting it in twelve pieces, said, Take ten pieces for thyself; for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten Tribes to thee: He shall have one Tribe for my Servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake the City which I have chosen out of all the Tribes of Israel, because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the Goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the God of the Moabites, and Milcom the God of the Children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, as did David his Father.
Howbeit, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hands, I will suffer him to govern for the remainder of his life; but I will take the kingdom out of his Son’s hands, and will give it unto thee, even ten Tribes: And unto his Son will I give one Tribe, that David my Servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem: And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy Soul desireth, and shalt be King over Israel: And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken to all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my Statutes and Commandments, as David my Servant did, that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee: And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever. This happened in the year of the World 3020, before J. C. 980, before the vulgar Æra 984.
This Prophecy could not be so secret but Solomon got intelligence of it; and perhaps Jeroboam was so imprudent as to boast of it, and declare too openly against the King. But however this may be, Jeroboam was obliged to fly for security into Egypt, where he continued with King Shishak till the death of Solomon, in the year 3025. Then Jeroboam was advanced to the Throne of Israel, or the ten Tribes, as we shall relate in the Article belonging to him. He soon forgot what Abijah had recommended to him, to be faithful to the Lord. He forbad his Subjects to go and worship God at Jerusalem, and set up two golden Calves for the object of their Worship; one at Dan, the other at Bethel. At Bethel he erected a profane Altar, and himself sacrificed upon it: But a Man of God sent from Judah foretold the overthrow Ch. xii. 28, 29, & seq. Ch. xiii. 1, 2, &c.of his Altar, and the birth of King Josiah, who upon this Altar should sacrifice the Priests of the high places. Some take this Prophet from Judah to be Abijah, whom we are speaking of; but Abijah dwelt at Shilo, in the Tribe of Ephraim; and besides, survived the erection of this Altar at Bethel; whereas the Prophet here in question was killed by a lion the very day he had been speaking to Jeroboam.
About the end of Jeroboam’s Reign, that is to say, towards the year 3046, AbijahCh. xiv. 1, 2, &c., the Son of Jeroboam, fell sick; Jeroboam therefore said to his Wife, Change your dress, and disguise yourself, so that no one may know you, and go to Shiloh, where the Prophet Ahijah lives, who first promised that I should reign over this People: Take with you ten loaves, and craknels, and a cruise of honey, and consult him concerning the indisposition of my Son. The Queen therefore went to Abijah’s house in Shiloh. Now the Prophet could not see, for his eyes were darken’d with old age; but the Lord said to him, Behold the Wife of Jeroboam is come hither to consult you concerning the distemper of her Son; thus and thus shall you say unto her:
As Jeroboam’s Wife came in disguised, and concealing who she was, Abijah heard the sound of her Feet, and 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; for as much as I exalted thee from among the People, and “ made thee Prince over my People Israel, and rent the Kingdom away from “ the house of David, and gave it to “ thee, and yet thou hast not been as “ my servant David, who kept my Commandments, and who followed me with “ all his heart, to do that only which was “ right in mine eyes; but hast done evil “ above all that were before thee, for “ thou hast 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, I will cut “ off all the Males of his Family, and will “ utterly extirpate them out of Israel; I “ will take away the remnant of the “ house of Jeroboam, as a Man taketh “ away dung, till it be all gone. 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’s “ House “ House 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. Moreover, the “ Lord shall raise him up a King over “ Israel, who shall cut off the House of “ Jeroboam that day: but when? Even “ now. This Prince is already appointed, “ and the sentence of God against Jeroboam shall be soon executed. 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.
Jeroboam’s wife returned therefore, and came to Tirzah, and when she set her foot upon the threshold of the door her child died. He was honourably interr’d, and lamented by all Israel, as the Lord had foretold by his servant Ahijah. Ahijah, in all probability, did not long survive these predictions; but the time and manner of his death we are not acquainted with.