Today’s passage: 1 Kings 14:1-20
Helpful thoughts:
- Abijah’s name means, my Father is Yahweh. Evidently, he took his name to heart (Verse 13).
- When hardship and sickness are the only things that drive us to the Lord, we are making a grave mistake. Jeroboam’s desire to hear from the Lord’s prophet was sadly not a sign of repentance.
- Jeroboam’s attempt to disguise his wife from a man who he believes will know whether his son will survive is an evidence of his misunderstanding, but also of his desperation.
- Jeroboam just wanted to know about his one son. His wife now had the terrible task of bringing home much more bad news.
- The bad news covered everything from their sick son to the fall of Israel!
Questions to consider:
- What was the reason for this judgment from God? What had Jeroboam done with the responsibility of service God had entrusted to him?
- What was Israel to learn through this revelation and judgment? What can we still learn today?
- Is it beyond the realm of possibility that churches today could still alter our worship and practice in order to align with or benefit national interests? How might that look in the church today? What would be the consequences? How would we start to measure “righteousness”?