Rehoboam v. Jeroboam

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen people. Solomon left a gleaming empire behind, but for all its glamour, it teetered on the brink of chaos and war. The children of Israel were crushed under the weight of taxes and conscripted labor. As a result, they had little faith left in their rulers. 00:00:22 Speaker 2: Your majesty, we have come before you, not as rebels, but as your loyal subjects. We have built your father cities, harvested his fields, paid his tribute. But as yop was heavy upon us, you. 00:00:35 Speaker 1: Don't truly think that people would turn against the House of David, do you. 00:00:40 Speaker 3: My great grandfather united us, and my grandfather made us all rich. 00:00:44 Speaker 2: The people won't forget that. 00:00:46 Speaker 4: What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Israel, return to your tents. The sons of David can look after their own. 00:00:59 Speaker 2: How we were slaves once real long never. 00:01:05 Speaker 1: Again there was stillness for another fraught heartbeat, and then chaos. The northerners at the far end of the hall exploded with fury and sprang forward past the tribal leaders and toward the royal family and advisors. But they were swiftly driven back by Rio Boham's guard. Rio Boham stumbled, but was shoved toward the chariot. The kingdom his father built was tearing itself apart, or rather, it was being torn from him. 00:01:42 Speaker 5: Two kings stood where one God should have been. Shello, my friends, from here in the holy land of Israel. I'my l extein with international fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. In today's episode, drawn from One King's twelve twenty to thirty three and two Chronicles eleven, we find ourselves in the rubble of what once was unity. The sons of Israel, once gathered as one under David, are now divided. And the question that hovers over it all is this, how does a nation lose itself? What happens when fear guides leadership, when insecurity dresses up as strength, When men who are once brothers become enemies. Previously I'm the Chosen People, we witness the rise of Solomon's son, Rehoboam and his stunning failure to keep the tribes unified. Now Jeroboam seize his opportunity from the fracture, and two kings stand where there should have been just one, and today we begin to see the cost of that split. 00:02:52 Speaker 1: Jeroboam had won, the House of David had lost, miles away from the gleaning capital of Jerusalem. In the north, a modest coronation had taken place. The victorious Northerners gathered in their burned hall of Shechem, anointing Jeroboam as king. Despite the charred stone wars of the recent fire, raucus, cheers reverberated, joyously, rising from the ashes of their rebellion. The northern tribes cast off the yoke of Solomon's line, rallying around their chosen king. But the cost was high. Brothers had spilled each other's blood for the first time since David had united them. Israel was fractured. Jerobone stood atop a sooty, rough hewn stone platform in the destroyed hall. He looked out at the expectant faces, hungry for inspiration, ready to be led into a glorious future as a liberated people. He had fought to be worthy of this moment. He rose for nothing, And yet Jeroboa exhaled slowly, his fingers clenching at his sides. He had won but had he the throne of the northern kingdom's was his? Yet his kingdom was built on ashes and betrayal. Was this what a prophecy fulfilled looked like? 00:04:28 Speaker 2: I have taken the throne. Now I must. 00:04:33 Speaker 1: Keep it to the side of his platform In the dilapidated hall, his wife Elisheba stood with their young sons. Abija the elder watched his father with admiration. Beside him, Nadab clutched the hem of his mother's robe, his young eyes wide with unease. Jeroboa fixed a confident smile to his face, stepped forward, his voice steady and commanding, and address the. 00:05:03 Speaker 6: Crowd, people of Israel. You have thrown off the heavy yoke of the House of David. Today we stand as a free nation, no longer subject to the tribe of Judah. Let the House of David and the tribe of Judah sit in their palaces and. 00:05:26 Speaker 2: Look after themselves. For what portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance. In the sun of Jesse. 00:05:36 Speaker 6: We will arise and build ourselves into an even greater nation. Let Judah and Benjamin in the south fall away and look after their own house. 00:05:50 Speaker 2: Let the twelve be con ten. We are Ruben, Simeon, Levi. 00:05:59 Speaker 7: Dan Left Tally, God, Assir, Isakhar, Zabelon, and the sons of Joseph, Evraim and Manessa. We are strong, strong without Benjamin, strong without Judah. 00:06:20 Speaker 2: We are the Kingdom of Israel. 00:06:26 Speaker 1: The resounding chia rose from the assembly, but Jeroboah me well enough cheers today did not guarantee loyalty tomorrow. As the crowd started to disperse to the center of town to celebrate their new found independence, his shrewd eyes scanned the fringes of the crowd until he found him Abbieu, an old priest from Shiloh, situated at the edge of the crowd. Jeroboah moved with the throng of people, shaking hands and clapping arms until he finally made his way to the stooped priest on the edge. He then bent down so as to be high leveled with Abio. Jeroboam's voice dropped so only the priest could hear him. 00:07:15 Speaker 2: Abiel, I'm honored that you would be here at my coronation. 00:07:18 Speaker 3: Really, I must admit I'm surprised to hear that your Highness. 00:07:24 Speaker 1: Though not from the prominent line of high priests now situated in Jerusalem. Abio was still an influential priest in the lesser spiritual circles of the north Shiloh, Bethel and Shechem, and he knew the prophet a Hyjah. Well, Jeroboam knew the priest would be essential in securing his hold on the northern tribes. 00:07:49 Speaker 2: Oh yes, and I'm sure you're familiar with the prophecy given about me by the Prophet Hyjah. 00:07:56 Speaker 3: Oh, of course, your highness, everyone in Israel knows about that. The northerners have talked of nothing else these last few years. 00:08:05 Speaker 2: Oh well, I only meant to say that that a Hyja mentioned mentioned you. Really, I have long considered you from my council, Ebiel, and now that I'm king, I would I would be honored to have you at my side. 00:08:18 Speaker 1: The old man seemed caught off guard to have risen to the attention of the new king, but Jeroboam noticed with satisfaction that a flush of pride came over him. 00:08:29 Speaker 3: Why, of course, it would be an honor to advise you, my. 00:08:34 Speaker 2: King, wonder wonderful. Now come, let me introduce you to my wife and my two sons, Abaijah and a DApp the future of Israel. 00:08:43 Speaker 1: Jeroboam charismatically through an arm around the old priest and steered him over to his waiting family and the other influential men he had collected for his inner circle. Jeroboam had no royal blood, no claim, but the one he seized. Rioboam had power handed to him while Jeroboam had earned it. He prided himself on the difference. Where Rio Bouam's fragile ego made him reckless, Jeroboam harnessed the wisdom of others, shaping it into something he could wield. But even in this triumph, a seed of fear had taken root in Jeroboam's heart. He had taken the kingdom, but a question kept gnawing at the back of his mind. How long could he hold it. He could charm, then, win alliances, and shape his kingdom, but there was one thing he could never change. The heart of Israel still beat in Jerusalem, and as long as the temple stood, his throne would never be secure. In the south, in the Palace of Jerusalem, Rioboam licked his wounds from his humiliating ousting from his would be coronation. In the north, he stormed through the corridors, his fury masking the utter embarrassment of it. All his royal guard were stoned and burned alive while he fled with his weeping mother, his hands still trembled at the thought, barely containing his fury. He was still king technically speaking. But there wasn't a merchant, nobleman, or farmer who hadn't heard of what happened. There was no getting around it. He had fled from Shechem, fled from his own people. What he did next was critical to regain the control he had lost. He stormed into the audience chamber, still fuming about how he was humiliated. His inner circle was waiting for him. Nayamar his mother, Maha, his favorite wife, and Abijan along with his group of young instigators. 00:11:03 Speaker 8: They think they can defy me, that they can cast me aside like some commoner. And have you heard false skin Jeobom, that's your surber saying that they alone in the north are Israel. We are only Judah. Can you believe that. 00:11:26 Speaker 9: They have made a mistake, my love, a mistake you will correct. Israel is not Israel without Judah to meet them. Everyone knows that. 00:11:37 Speaker 1: His wife practically purred her words of comfort, as his mother slammed the table with her fist. 00:11:45 Speaker 10: Your father built this kingdom with his bare hats. He made Jerusalem the finest city in the world. We will not be able to shame in our own kingdom. 00:11:54 Speaker 2: You will reclaim it. We should go to war father who speaks that as it's a lesson at the kingdom. Yes, unlesson. 00:12:06 Speaker 1: Rear Boham turned to his last loyal general, Beniah, the old warrior who had once fought beside David himself. 00:12:15 Speaker 8: Raise the army, rouse our allies. Surely the tribe of Benjamin will stand with us. Jerusalem is their territory. After all, we march at dawn. 00:12:28 Speaker 1: My king, Are you sure this is not just a battle, This would be a civil war. Rear Boham's pride flared heart. It blinded him to the severity of Beniah's warning. 00:12:42 Speaker 8: I will not be the king who loses the house of David's kingdom. 00:12:48 Speaker 10: Yes, we'll destroy all the disloyal tribal with him, and off the pleas families, loyal families all in their face. 00:12:57 Speaker 2: I'm sure the trait is no mercy. 00:12:59 Speaker 10: White them off the face of the earth. 00:13:02 Speaker 1: The young nobles hung on every word and pounded the table and enthusiastic support. His son Abijan had a certainty and confidence to him that Ria Boham envied. The two women eyed him with maternal admiration. They shaped him into the young leader that he was. But the old general frowned, disapproval flashing and then quickly disappearing on his disciplined face. Rio Boham saw it flare up, even though his own fury bent on revenge. The look was sobering. Even in Rio Boham's murderous rage, Doubt twinged in his gut, casting a shadow of uncertainty over their plans. I will meet with my resents and see about raising the force. 00:13:51 Speaker 2: With their eyes. 00:13:53 Speaker 1: Ria Boham tamped down the flicker of doubt. He turned back to his advisers, but his gaze lingered on on Abijam, his son, so young, so sure. There was no hesitation in his words, no fear, no doubt. Was this what a true king looked like? Ria Boam swallowed hard, clenching his fists. If he had to carve his name into history with blood, so be it. Let the North. 00:14:22 Speaker 2: Burn, Let the whole kingdom burn. Means say, fear me again. 00:14:35 Speaker 1: While rio Boam sharpened his swords for war. Up in the north, Jeroboam paced the stone floors of his newly built palace in Shechem. It was plain, almost austere, nothing like the grandeur of Jerusalem. But power was not in the walls. Power was in control, and if Jeroboam was to keep his throne, he needed more than soldiers. He needed loyalty. He needed time, time to fortify, to build, to make the people forget the house of David. Abiel, the priest stood across from him, his brow furrowed. He had lingered after the council meeting had concluded to express his concern about the rising number of advisers and priests of other gods. To Jeroboam's annoyance, it was becoming a bit of a pattern. 00:15:32 Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes, I heard you the first time. But tell me this what happens when they long for the temple, when their hearts turned toward Jerusalem. 00:15:40 Speaker 3: Then let them go to worship as the Lord commanded. You were chosen, my king, appointed by the prophet Ahijah, by the will of the Lord. He will keep your throne secure. 00:15:54 Speaker 1: Jeroboams, stiffened, faith alone had not put him here it had been strategy, persuasion, and an understanding of the people's grievances. He would not let faith be his undoing. Jeroboham turned his back on the priest, a shadow crossing his face. 00:16:13 Speaker 2: We must give them something else. 00:16:17 Speaker 3: Is this why you've been entertaining the counsel of these pagan priests? 00:16:22 Speaker 2: You should know better. 00:16:23 Speaker 3: Don't you know your history? And did not the prophet Ahijah warn you of what would happen if you turn from the Lord. You flirt with disaster? 00:16:34 Speaker 2: My king, the prophet told me I would be king, and I am. I may not have been brought up with tutors, but I know enough of our history. Can you sound like my youngest son and adapt, always worrying and fretting like a little desert mouse clinging to my wife's hem. 00:16:51 Speaker 1: Visibly exasperated, the old priest sighed and tried a softer approach. 00:16:58 Speaker 3: You have what you wanted, Jeroboam, Do not turn from the Lord now. After all this. 00:17:04 Speaker 2: If the people must visit Jerusalem to worship, then it's more and more opportunity for Rehaboum to entice them with wealth and false promises. The temple is a threat we need one here. 00:17:17 Speaker 1: My king. 00:17:19 Speaker 3: I beg you trust the Lord to uphold what he has given. 00:17:22 Speaker 9: You. 00:17:23 Speaker 3: Do not repeat Solomon's folly. 00:17:26 Speaker 1: The Jeroboam's mind was made up. 00:17:29 Speaker 2: No, we will build our own altars, our own places of worship. 00:17:34 Speaker 1: Abel's breath hedged. 00:17:36 Speaker 3: But the ark of the covenant is in Jerusalem. Who will you build these places of worship. 00:17:42 Speaker 2: To the King? Does not beg for loyalty, He shapes it. If they long for the temple, I will give them something to bow before. 00:17:55 Speaker 1: The silence between them was deafening. Abel's body tenenced in fear, but Jeroboam's lips curved into a slow smile. By the time he was finished, they would no longer look to Jerusalem. They would kneel here in the kingdom he built for them. Back in the south, in Jerusalem, rio Boam's forces stood ready, banners unfurled, war drums pounding. His army was prepared to march north, reclaiming what had been stolen from him. Then the prophet arrived, a lone figure in the vast corridors of the palace. His name was Shamiah. The name alone was a thunderclap in the hall. A prophet of the Lord. Ria Boam stiffened in his seat. As the man entered the rooms, stilled attention deeper than battle weighed upon them. Now his general rules, his young nobles, even his own family. Each of them felt it. Shemaiah's robes were simple, but the authority in his presence was like iron. He did not kneel, he did not bow. He raised a hand, his voice booming with divine finality. 00:19:21 Speaker 8: You shall not go up and fight against your brothers. This division is from the Lord. 00:19:29 Speaker 1: The words sliced through the room like a blade. Beniah, the old warrior, exhaled sharply, his shoulders slumping as though he had just been released from death itself. His relief was palpable. My king, we can have to fight the Lord's decree. But even as the general spoke, there was a ripple of unease. The young nobles shifted, glancing at one another, their expressions darkening. Rhea Boem's jaw clenched. He could feel their eyes on him, the weight of their expectations. Abijan, his son, was the first to speak, his voice sharp and unyielding. 00:20:13 Speaker 3: The Lord's degree. 00:20:17 Speaker 10: The Lord's degree is that my father should be key over all Israel, as is our right, as the house of David. 00:20:25 Speaker 1: There were murmurs of agreement to that. The nobles stirred, their loyalty, fueled by fury, by ambition, by the intoxicating hunger for power. Macha touched Ria Boham's arm gently, her voice smooth, coaxing. 00:20:43 Speaker 9: The prophet is wrong, my love. The Lord does not divide his people. Would he truly let rebels steal what is yours, what was David's? 00:20:55 Speaker 1: But then his mother Neamar spoke. She stood judas stone, her dark eyes locked onto Shemaiah with something close to contempt. 00:21:07 Speaker 10: The throne of Israel is yours, my son. Will you surrender it without even a fight. We have been praying to Milcom day and night, readying for war. Don't throw away his favor like this. 00:21:21 Speaker 1: The room was turning, voices rising. The young nobles pounded the table. 00:21:28 Speaker 2: We should go to war. 00:21:29 Speaker 3: Let us take back what is ours. 00:21:32 Speaker 1: Ria Boham's fingers dug into the arms of his throne. He wanted to believe them, needed to believe them. And yet the prophet's gaze was unwavering, unshaken. His father's god, the god who had spoken to Solomon, the god who had made David's throne unshakable. A chill coiled around Ria Boham's spine. His vision blurred with rage, But deep inside, beneath his pride was something else, fear. His voice, when it came, was tight, reluctant, almost strangled. 00:22:14 Speaker 8: Withdraw the troops. 00:22:16 Speaker 1: The words fell like a hammer into the silence. The nobles stiffened. Abijam's nostrils flared, his fists tight with fury. A murmur rippled through the ranks, but none dared disobey. The war was over before it began, And as Riar Boam sat there, his father's throne beneath him, but a divided kingdom beyond him, he knew one thing with certainty. They would not forget this moment, and neither would he. In Jerusalem, Riar Boam sat in his own room, stewing over his failure. He had lost the north, lost his people, and now, with no war to fight, he turned inward to his father's wealth, his father's women, his father's indulgences. The nation was fractured, and two distinct identities emerged, Israel to the north and Judah to the south. The kingdom David had fought to unite, was divided. What Solomon had built was torn apart by his son. But even as Riar Boham drowned in self pity in the north, Jeroboam was sealing his own fate. In the ancient, storied city of Bethel, torches flickered against the night sky. The scent of burning incense clung to the air, mingling with the hummer voices. Before the gathered priests and tribal leaders, Jerobol Poems stood tall and commanding. He raised his arms, his voice ringing bold with the certainty of his decision. 00:24:08 Speaker 6: Behold your gods, o Israel, here are the gods who brought you out of Egypt. 00:24:16 Speaker 1: A hush fell over the crowd. For a moment, silence held its breath. Then shock waves rippled through the assembly. Some cheered, desperate for a kingdom fully severed from Jerusalem's rule. They raised their hands, bowed their heads, grateful for this new order Jeroboam had created. But others hesitated. The words had been spoken once before, in a time of wilderness, in a time of calves and golden idols and ruin. At the edge of the gathering, Abiel felt his stomach twist. 00:24:55 Speaker 3: He really doesn't know our history. This is the golden calf. 00:25:01 Speaker 1: Abiel had feared this. He had warned Jeroboam that power alone could not hold a kingdom together. They needed the guidance of their God, for the Lord's relationship with Israel as what set them apart from the rest of the world. And now before his eyes, the new king had crossed the line. The firelight cast grotesque shadows against the gleaming golden calves. 00:25:29 Speaker 9: What have you done? 00:25:31 Speaker 1: Jeroboam did not look at him, He did not waver. His decision had been made, and neither he nor Rear Boham could see it yet, But their choices would lead them both to ruin. 00:25:52 Speaker 5: What does fear do to people? Today's story shows us the worst it can do, and it makes someone act in the least godly way possible. But it didn't have to be that way, chosen by God. Jeroboam had established his kingdom in the north with the ten tribes, but he was afraid, and he ruled in fear. What was he so afraid of? Well, Jeroboam was afraid of the Israelites and his kingdom going to Jerusalem, especially for the biblical festivals. But fearful of going to Jerusalem. That doesn't make so much sense, does it. Why would he fear that? Well, Jeroboam worried that his people in the north would come in contact with the Temple in all of its glory and with Rahoboam, the King of Judah. So Jeroboam had no problem breaking multiple biblical laws just to keep his people from visiting Jerusalem. To keep them from developing an allegiance to Hobom, he set up two spiritual centers in the north and placed a golden calf, the very symbol of idolatry and rebellion against Moses, in the desert. In each of those spiritual centers, he even uttered the same words as the people did as they danced around the original golden calf in the desert. He said, this, here are your gods, o Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Here we have it yet again, someone whose ego and less for power blinded him to the evil that he was perpetrating. But for Jerobom, his actions brought the ultimate punishment, and that was exile from the Holy Land. But I have a question, why did the people accept this shocking departure from the proper path. Well, some of our sages suggests that the opulence and general prosperity during Solomon's reign caused them to focus on material matters a lot more than spiritual ones. They neglected the study of the Torah. There's an important expression, who's meaning. The people ignored the land of Israel without the Torah is like a body without a soul. Once they had abandoned the Torah, the Bible we are studying right now, they were taken by the shining gold of the golden calves of Idolatry. As we've seen again and again, God is always open to a sinner's tshuva, to a sinner's repentance. Even though God sent a prophet to admonish Droobom, he still didn't repent. Jewish tradition gives Droboam the worst condemnation. He's condemned as one who sins and causes others to sin. It's one thing to go off track yourself, but to bring a whole community of ten tribes along with you. Can you imagine anything worse than that? Yet again we see the concept of sincere and pious leadership being so important to the chosen people because we see where the leader goes, so go those that they are leading. And at the end of today's story, Aijah the prophet delivers a blistering prophecy to the Northern Kingdom in general and to Drobam's family specifically. In short, both the Northern Kingdom and Drobam's family would suffer complete and total destruction. This isn't comfortable for us to read or to hear, but it points to had another truth that the Bible has shown us over and over again, even if this truth is pretty brutal. It's that our existence in the Holy Land is dependent upon following God's laws and even more specifically, not descending into a idolatry. Our world today might not be gripped like the days of the Bible were by the temptation of idolatry, but we have plenty of other temptations that draw us away from God, don't we, And just as the Chosen people did in Bible times, we look towards our spiritual leaders, our pastors, and our rabbis for guidance and to act as role models for us, and we pray that, unlike the kings we met today, that our leaders are worthy and that they help us to be worthy in the eyes of God. There's something heartbreaking and watching a people divided, because once we were twelve sons, twelve tens, one camp in the wilderness, with one flame above us. But here in this episode it all slips away. The sons of Jacob pull apart. It's not exile, not yet, but it's the beginning of the Chosen People's unraveling. Jeroboam thought a new altar would secure his throne, but altars built on fear will always betray us. And Rahaboam thought war would prove that he was worthy, but violence cannot restore what pride destroyed. 00:31:20 Speaker 2: Maybe you're in. 00:31:21 Speaker 5: A season where something has been torn apart, a relationship, a ministry, a dream that you built that's now scattered, and maybe you're standing in that rubble, like Jeroboam or Roboam, asking how do I hold this all together? My friends? Let me tell you the strength to lead well does not come from controlling outcomes. It comes from listening, from stopping, from surrendering your own expectations and trusting in God. So let's be a people who listen to Him and lead not by force but faith. 00:32:01 Speaker 1: You can listen to The Chosen People with Yle Eckstein ad free by downloading and subscribing to the Prey dot com app today. This preydog comproduction is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabarger and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Leshinsky, and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. Special thanks to Bishop Paulineer, Robin van Ettin, Kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, Rabbi Edward Abramson, and the team at Dad International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear more prey dot com productions on the Prey dot Com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, please rate and leave a review.