#481 Hypothetic Apathy

At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.

3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.

4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

5 And the Lord said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.

6 And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,

8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;

9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:

10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the Lord hath spoken it.

12 Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

14 Moreover the Lord shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.

15 For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger.

16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.

17 And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;

18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.

19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.

23 For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.

24 And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:

26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house.

28 And it was so, when the king went into the house of the Lord, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.

31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead. 1 Kings 14 KJV

No matter what we may think of the sins of another, we should take heed, and not shut off those natural compassions, such empathy for their loss. There is a time when I won't mourn, for some feelings are themselves a sin, but the tenderness of a child, those most divine affections, the pain you feel when they are sick. You are reading the story of a father, not someone whose favorite car is broken, whose football team is losing, for then I don't care so much. This is the apple of his eye, the joy of his house, the light of his name, but it's torch has grown dim. He remembers Ahijah the prophet, he has brought me good news before, he told me that I would be king. He is God's prophet though, so he does not go himself, for he knows that he has betrayed the God of Israel, it was not far off to guess that he had come to detest the God Who would not honor his approach, who disrespected his position. This is more than the shriveling of the hand, this is his son now, but rather than go himself he sends his wife. Now if you are expecting this same prophet to know what the outcome of your son will be, then how do you so detest that same reason that should see through your wife's disguise? If he should be able to look so far as to the son in your house, what will he make of the woman before him.? He is a blind old man but can see your wife before she arrives. The bread, the honey, it does not matter what we send when we refuse to come ourselves. This is the story of his life, I accept the appointment to the throne, but I hold back my heart. I will thank God for it, but I shall worship Him in my own way, and I will maintain control of my own people through control of their religion. 

He took the kingdom from the house of David, His servant David, who you have not lived up to, yet you were given the chance. I have more respect now for David then ever I did when I first started this, for who among the kings was ever so broken before the Lord? He came more and more to see his wickedness, and his despair was not against his God, but against his sin. He accepted the Lord's judgments, sought the Lord's forgiveness, he was miserable over the Lord's honor, but was able to receive much rebuke toward himself. Jeroboam, even now, I know how much anguish he must feel, but still he chooses his own way. He will send his wife to approach God's prophet, hoping that he will see and yet not see, hoping that he be just a fortune teller this time and not the mouth of God, for what would God say to me? I would rather not know. No, my honor, my pride is not worth this much. What must I do to be saved? What can you tell me of my state, and what can be done to correct this? Jeroboam does not make it thus far, and if he did he is the sort that would try to lay the condition upon God, that He heal his son or else. You want me to serve You, then do this thing for me. What comes out of the mouth of God's true prophets, lets men know, that He does not need me to serve Him, it is an honor, it is a blessing not owed. If He needs any to serve Him or to praise Him, He can make the rocks to cry out and to become children unto Abraham. Those who think God shall have so much to answer for, the death of loved ones, the loss of youth, their own grave, pain and suffering, you are in a worse state than Jeroboam, for you can read his story, and all the rest of the counsel of God that states what you are owed. You really want God to answer for sin? I don't want Him to settle the books, not like men do, not like true Holiness should either. The child goes as she touches the threshold and what seems like robbery now is also a blessing, because it is as the prophet has said, and he also spoke of God's favor toward this child, for He had found some light in this frail figure. Lord, please save my children, place that name upon their foreheads, that light within their chest.

She knows well now, that this kingdom will fall and someday Israel will find itself in captivity. When we come to serve the gods of other nations, we shall become a gift to those nations as well. This is also the story of the king of Judah, and he has come as historians put it, to take the house of his father and grandfather, "from gold to bronze", in less than a generation. So fast is the fall of this place, those who looked light upon silver, now buy knock offs to maintain appearance. He is like the man who dresses for success, raised upon the shoulders of giants, he thought himself to be that tall. This is the product of the wisest man in the world, the offspring of his unequal union. He was raised in the greatest courts, but has fallen more for the pomp, the rites, the rituals and the state, then to know a heart after God. Neither cry out in anguish over their sins, and both have much to lament. Rehoboam's kingdom is full of idolatry, unsanctioned altars, groves and the mingling of sexual perversions with the articles of religion. Was this David's vision when he wanted to build the temple? Both kings have led their people into a battle, but on the other side of the field, stands the Lord.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

31 Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Romans 1:16-32