A House Divided
One Year Bible (June 15)
I Kings 14:1-15:24
“A House Divided”
“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved-I do not expect the house to fall- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”-- Abraham Lincoln.
This is one of the most famous quotes of all time and was given by Lincoln, in Springfield, Illinois, my hometown. Did you know that in Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address which was delivered on March 4, 1865, to a nation that was divided in the grasps of the Civil War that in only 701 words, Lincoln mentioned God 14 times, quoted Scripture 4 TIMES, and invoked prayer 3 TIMES. Lincoln was a man “acquainted with sorrow and grief” whose only help came from above during his time as president of a divided kingdom.
Today, sadly we will look at another divided kingdom. King Solomon is now gone and the kingdom is no longer at peace. It has been divided by God due to Solomon’s worship of idols. In fact, God told the people who were relatives not to fight, “For what has happened is my doing!”
Out of respect to the covenant God made to his father, David, God left two tribes under the lineage of David to Solomon’s son, Rehoboam (King of Judah). God also was preserving Jerusalem for the lineage of the Messiah. As you read about The Kings of the South, (Judah) you may want to highlight them with the same color. In the margin of your One Year Bible, you can denote whether their character was Bad or Good, and also what the outcome of their life was. I will give you another hint. 12 were BAD and only 8 were GOOD.
Then there is the Northern Kingdom (Israel). God has given 10 tribes away to Jeroboam to rule over as the King of Israel. As you read through the Kings of Israel it will be interesting to note their character and the outcome of their life. You might want to highlight their names in a different color. I will give you a hint. They are the kings of the North and that stands for NASTY. There is not a good one in the entire batch. All of them were VERY BAD… Need I say more?
It is an interesting parallel that President Lincoln was speaking about the division between the North and the South. The division that we are studying in Scripture is between the Northern Kingdom (which retained the name of Israel), and the Southern Kingdom, (Named after the tribe of Judah that dominated the new kingdom).
During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was trying to point people to the right “with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right"…
The Civil War was divided: Northern opposed Slavery. They wanted Freedom while the Southern states wanted to keep their slaves.
Slavery and Freedom are also the themes of the Biblical conflict. The lines were clearly drawn. They were posted on the tablets called the Ten Commandments that were placed in The Ark of the Covenant. Here was the dividing line…“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This was commandment NUMBER ONE. The second commandment forbids the worship of man-made things that represent false gods. Nothing was to be placed BEFORE Jehovah God. NOTHING.
Worshipping God brought FREEDOM. Worshipping Idols brought SLAVERY.
Perhaps as we look back on Israel’s history we can see why God did not want the people to choose a KING to reign over them in the first place. According to the Ten Commandments HE was supposed to be KING of their lives!
Let’s take a closer look at the HOUSE DIVIDED…
“During King Rehoboam’s reign, the people of Judah did what was EVIL in the Lord’s sight, provoking his anger with their sin, for it was even worse than that of their ancestors. For they also built for themselves pagan shrines and set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. There were even male and female shrine prostitutes throughout the land. The people imitated the detestable practices of the pagan nations…” (I Kings 14:22-24)
As for Jeroboam, his sin was considered even greater as he invented a man-made system of worship changing the entire system of holy days and sacrifices. He had people worshiping golden calves.
Perhaps you remember the story of Jeroboam’s hand becoming paralyzed when he pointed at the man of God and tried to seize him. This didn’t stop him. There was also a prophet and an old man who had quite the encounter with a lion that left the man of God laying dead on the road. “Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh my!!!” (Well, maybe just Lions!)
Here is what we are told next, “But even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests from the common people. He appointed anyone who wanted to become a priest for the PAGAN SHRINES. Jeroboam did it “his way!”! Sadly, division proceeds disaster.
As Abraham Lincoln so eloquently stated, “A House Divided against itself cannot stand!”
Our generation would be wise to remember Abraham Lincoln’s famous words, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” -- Abraham Lincoln.
