Jeroboam (I)

I. JEROBOAM, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, whose name is so often mentioned with detestation in the Scripture, as Author of the Schism and Idolatry of the ten Tribes; was the son of Nebat, and a widow, whose name was Zervah. He was born at Zereda in the Tribe of Ephraim. Jeroboam was bold and enterprizing; and Solomon had given him commission to levy the taxes over the whole house of Joseph, that is to say, throughout the Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. One day when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, and was going alone into the 1 Kings xi. 29.country, the Prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him with a new cloak upon his shoulders. There were only these two in the field. Then Ahijah taking his The year is uncertain, but it was towards the end of Solomon’s reign that this was done.cloak, cut it in twelve pieces, and said to Jeroboam, Take ten of them to thy self; for thus saith the Lord, I will divide and rend the Kingdom of Solomon, and will give ten Tribes to thee. One Tribe shall remain to him for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, which I have chosen among all the Tribes of Israel; because Solomon worshipped Ashtoreth the Goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the God of the Moabites, and Milcom the God of the Ammonites, and because he hath forsaken me, and given himself over to iniquity. Notwithstanding I will not deprive him of the Kingdom; he shall enjoy it till his death: but I will dispossess his son of it, and will give thee ten Tribes belonging to it. If therefore thou obeyest my orders, and walkest in my ways, as David my servant hath done, I will be with thee, and will establish thy house for ever, and put thee in possession of the Kingdom of Israel.

In the year of the World 3029, before J. C. 971, before the Vulgar Æra 975.Jeroboam, who was already ill-inclined to Solomon, being encouraged by Abijah’s promises, began to stir, and sollicit the people to revolt. But Solomon, who had intelligence of his designs, resolved to take Jeroboam into custody, who therefore fled into Egypt, and there continued till the death of Solomon. Rehoboam, who succeeded him, following the advice which his young Counsellors gave him a, behaved himself in a haughty and menacing manner towards the people, who were assembled in order to acknowledge him for their King; this provoked them to such a degree, that ten of the Tribes separated from a 1 Kings xii. 1, 2, &c.the house of David, and deserted Rehoboam. In the mean time, Jeroboam returned from Egypt, and the ten Tribes having intelligence of it, invited him to appear among them in a general Assembly, in which they appointed him to be King over all Israel. Jeroboam fixed his residence at Shichem, and there fortified himself. He likewise rebuilt Penuel beyond Jordan, and put it into a condition of defence, in order to keep the Tribes quiet which were on that side.

Jeroboam forgetting the fidelity which he owed to God, who had given him the Kingdom, thought of nothing more than maintaining himself in possession of it at the expence of Religion, and God’s Worship. He said within himself, If my people go to Jerusalem to offer their Sacrifices, and perform their Adorations, they will soon return to the obedience of the house of David, and I shall be the victim of their inconstancy, or of Rehoboam’s resentment. He resolved therefore to make two golden Calves, in imitation probably of the God Apis, whom he had seen in Egypt; to place one at Dan, the other at Beersheba¹, at the two extremities of his Dominions; and to publish a prohibition throughout all the land against going hereafter to Jerusalem, and an order to worship these two golden Calves. Henceforth, said he, go no more to Jerusalem. Behold thy Gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt! He built Temples likewise in the High-Places, and made Priests of the lowest of the people, who were neither of Aaron’s Family, nor of the Tribe of Levi.

In the year of the World 3030, before J. C. 970, before the Vulgar Æra 974. 1 Kings xiii.He appointed publickly a solemn Feast upon the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in order to dedicate his new Altar, and consecrate his golden Calves; and all the people being assembled, he himself went up to the Altar to offer Incense and Sacrifices. At that time a man of God, who is generally believed to be the Prophet Iddo, came from Judah to Bethel by God’s direction, and seeing Jeroboam at the Altar, he cried, “ O Altar, Altar, thus saith the “ Lord; a Child shall be born unto the “ house of David, by name Josiah, and “ upon thee shall he sacrifice the Priests of “ the High-Places, who now burn incense “ upon thee: he shall burn men’s bones “ upon thee.” And for a proof that the Lord hath spoken this, behold the Altar shall immediately be rent asunder, and the ashes, and whatsoever is upon it, shall be poured upon the earth. At the same time the King, who was standing by the Altar, stretched out his hand, and commanded the Prophet to be seized: but the hand which he had so stretched out withered, and he could not draw it back. The Altar immediately was broken, and the fire, with the ashes which were upon it, fell upon the ground, according to the man of God’s prediction. Then the King said to him; Offer up thy prayers to God, that he may restore to me the use of my hand. The man of God besought the Lord, and the King’s hand was restored to the condition it was in before. Hereupon Jeroboam said to the Prophet, Come and dine with me at my house, and I will make thee some presents. He answered, Although thou shouldst give me half of thine house, I would not go with thee, nor will I taste any thing in this place; for the Lord hath expressly forbidden me to do so.

An event of so extraordinary a nature did not recover Jeroboam from his impiety; he continued to keep the people in error and superstition, by appointing Priests of the High-Places, and engaging them in such a sort of worship as was contrary to the Law of God. This was the sin of Jeroboam’s family, and the cause of its utter The year is not certain.extirpation. Some time after, Abijah his son falling sick, Jeroboam sent his wife to 1 Kings xiv.the Prophet Abijah to consult him concerning his son’s health. And that the man of God might not discover the Queen, she disguised herself in the dress of an ordinary woman. She was scarce got to the threshold of the Prophet’s door, but Abijah, who had lost his sight with age, cried out to her, Come in thou wife of Jeroboam, why dost thou disguise thyself? Go tell Jeroboam, thus saith the Lord, I made thee Prince over my people, and thou, instead of continuing faithful to me, hast turned thy back upon me, and paid thy adorations to strange Gods. Wherefore I will utterly root out the house of Jeroboam; they of his family who shall die in the city, shall be eaten by dogs; and they, who shall die in the field, shall be devoured by fowls of the Air. As to the Child concerning whom thou art come now to consult me, he shall die of his disease, and all Israel shall mourn for him. As the Prophet had foretold, so it happened: yet Jeroboam became not at all the better for it. He died after a reign of two and twenty years, and Nadab his son In the year of the World 3050, before J. C. 950, before the Vulgar Æra 954.reigned in his stead.

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