The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 357

HOMILETICS. Ver. 29.-The Punishment of Jeroboam's Sin. We have alreadyconeidered the true character of J eroboam's sin (pp. 274 sqq.) It now remains for ue to observe, first, the punishment which it provoked, and secondly, its workings in later genera- tions. And its punishment was so great and so varied that it will of itself occupy the rest of this homily. But let u~ remen:ber, in the first place, that there were two parties to this sin. Jeroboam smne_d himself and also "made Israel to sin." King and people alike were invol·rnd m the schism. If the one suggested it, the other embraced it. Originating with the former, it was approved and perpetuated by the latter. There were two parties, consequently, to the punishment. That was impartially shared between sovereign and subjects. We have to consider, therefore- !. THE RETRIBUTION WHICH BEFELL THE ROYAL HOUSE. IL THE RETRIBUTION WHICH OVERTOOK THE PEOPLE AT LARGE. I. And in considering the pain and loss in which this sin involved those who sa.te upon the throne of Israel, we must discriminate between Jeroboam and his successors. Jeroboam was the prime, but not the only offender. If he was the author, Sllbseqnent kings were continnatore of the schism. And as he had hie punishment, so they had theirs. Let us therefore take account first of the sorrows and sufferings of the heresiarch, Jeroboam. Amongst these were the following: 1. The foreknowledge that his kingdom would be overthrown. This dismal foreboding must have clouded all his reign, for it dated from the day of that first sacrifice at Bethel Then he learnt that a child of David's house should cover hie schemes and memory with disgrace. He knew that the dynasty be had founded should not endure, and moreover that he was the author of ite ruin, and he knew that others knew it too. "Uneasy lies the bead that weare a crown." What shall we say of the crowned head disquieted by euch forebodings as these? 2. The foretaste of the destruction of his family. As he had learnt from the man of God of the triumph of his rival and the dishonour of his priesthood, eo he learnt from Ahijah of the excision of his family. This ambitious prince knew that his posterity would be swept away like dung, would be devoured like carrion. And he was assured of this, not only by prophetic word and by signs following, but he had an earnest thereof in the death of his firstbom. He knew that that was but "the beginning of the end." It wae a eharp pang, but it wae the lightest part of his punishment (eh. :xiv. 13). 8. Remorse and vexation. He could not fail to compare the two messages of Ahijah (chs. xi. 81-39 ; xiv. 7-16). The first gave him dominion over ten tribes. The second left him neither subject nor survivor. God had promised to " build him a sure house.'' God now threatens him and his with annili.ilation. And why this change? He knew why it wae. "The gine and calling of God are without repentance." It was because of the calves (eh. xiv. 9). How he muet have repented that piece of folly and faithlessness: how be must have cursed his infutuation-the more inexcusable, as he had the example of Solomon before him. It is possible tlrnt this remorse was eo poignant that it shortened his days; that it wa.s thus "the Lord struck him, and he died" (2 Chron. xiii. 20). 4. The ahameful murder of hiB family. We can readily believe that aparvem.. like Jeroboam, a servant who had raised himself to the throne, would have been content to suffer for the rest of his days, if thereby he could have averted the dishonour of his name and the destruction of his posterity-of all evils the greatest in the eyee of a Jew. But no ; he foresaw that butchery awaited his nearest and dearest, and he had not slept long in his grave before the knife of Baasha was at his children's throats. And this murder of his posterity, though after the manner of Eastern despotisms, would seem to have been marked by circumstances of peculiar cruelty (eh. xvi. 7). It wae so truculent that it brought down vengeance on the instrument. Our history gives no details, but it is easy to picture the divans dripping with blood, the corridors choked with the corpses of Jeroboam'e wife and VB. xv. 25-XVI. 28.] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 8M