Jeroboam

Jeroboam, also known as “Jeroboam I,” was the first king of the Kingdom of Israel after the division of the united monarchy. He was the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was Zeruah (1 Kings 11:26).

Jeroboam was originally a servant of King Solomon. Solomon, seeing that he was not only brave and skilled in battle but also diligent in his work, put him in charge of all the forced labor from the house of Joseph (1 Kings 11:28). Later, the prophet Ahijah met Jeroboam and revealed a surprising message to him. Ahijah tore his new cloak into twelve pieces and told Jeroboam to take ten pieces, signifying that the Lord would tear Solomon’s kingdom in two and give Jeroboam rule over ten tribes. However, this act only divided the political rule; in terms of religion, the proper worship was still centered in Jerusalem, the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah, and the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel was expected to continue its full support. The Lord assured Jeroboam that if he diligently kept God’s statutes and commandments, his kingdom would prosper, and God would build him an enduring dynasty (1 Kings 11:29-38).

Because Solomon, Rehoboam’s father, had turned away from the ways of the Lord God and served foreign idols, the Lord, through the prophet Ahijah, promised to give the kingdom to Jeroboam. After King Solomon died, his son Rehoboam succeeded him. When the Israelites, who had been subjected to heavy labor, asked Rehoboam to lighten their burden, Rehoboam answered them harshly, leading to the division of the Israelite kingdom (1 Kings 12:8-15) into two kingdoms: North and South. The capital of the divided southern kingdom remained Jerusalem and was historically known as the Kingdom of Judah, comprising the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The northern part, formed by the remaining ten tribes, crowned Jeroboam as king and established the new Kingdom of Israel, with its capital at Shechem (1 Kings 12:25), later moving to Samaria (1 Kings 16).

Jeroboam feared that his kingship was unstable and that the nation might revert to David’s lineage. Therefore, he resorted to unscrupulous methods to consolidate his rule. He sought to prevent the people from going up to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship God by casting two golden calves, instructing the people to worship them as gods. He placed one calf in Bethel and the other in Dan, causing the people to fall into sin. Jeroboam built shrines on high places and, contrary to Mosaic Law, appointed common people who were not Levites as priests. He also designated the fifteenth day of the eighth month as a festival, like the festival in Judah, and personally offered sacrifices and burned incense on the altar.

From Jeroboam onward, the nine dynasties of the northern kingdom of Israel were all the result of human promotion and power struggles; they were not based on the covenant with God but on human needs. Consequently, all the kings of the northern kingdom rebelled against God, sought to please people, and engaged in idol worship. Eventually, the capital Samaria was conquered by Assyria, the people were taken captive, and the Kingdom of Israel fell.