Jeroboam I


 * This article is about the founder of the Kingdom of Israel. For the member of the House of Jehu, see Jeroboam II.

Jeroboam I ("Name means::he pleads the people's cause"), (r. 975-954 BC by Ussher, or 930-909 BC by Thiele ), was originally a ranking officer and master builder for King Solomon. Inspired by a prophet of God, he led the revolt of the Ten Tribes of Israel and the first King of the Kingdom of Israel. Sadly, he squandered his opportunity with his evil ways and ultimately died, leaving behind a son who would lose the kingdom within a year.

Family
Jeroboam I was the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite, and of Zeruah,  who had outlived Nebat at the time of the revolt. The year of his birth cannot be determined, because his age at accession is not given.

The Prophecy
Early in his career, Solomon made him superintendent of all the forced laborers in his building program. But one day, in the thirty-first year of Solomon, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam along the road. In a graphic demonstration of Divine intent, Ahijah took off his robe, tore it into twelve pieces, and invited Jeroboam to take any ten. Solomon issued a warrant for Jeroboam's arrest and execution, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt and sought asylum under Pharaoh Shishak (probably Thutmose III).

The Revolt
At length, Solomon died, and Solomon's son Rehoboam prepared to take the throne. The people of every tribe except those of Judah (tribe) and Benjamin (tribe) sent messengers to Egypt asking for Jeroboam to come back and rule over them.

Representatives of all the tribes met at Shechem for the coronation. Jeroboam, as spokesman for the ten tribes, sought out Rehoboam and made a simple plea for relief from the burden of taxation and forced labor. Rehoboam asked him to wait three days. Three days later, Rehoboam gave his answer: Jeroboam wasted no time. He led the representatives of the ten tribes in a walkout from the coronation. Later, when Rehoboam sent his chief tax collector to collect the annual tribute, Jeroboam's new subjects answered by stoning him to death. Rehoboam climbed back into his chariot and fled all the way back to Jerusalem. There Rehoboam conscripted an army one hundred eighty thousand strong, but nothing came of this. The prophet Shemaiah warned Rehoboam to desist, and he did. Nevertheless, the Northern Kingdom was in a constant state of war with the Southern Kingdom during the entire time of Jeroboam's reign.

Jeroboam fortified the city of Shechem in the early days. But in later years he moved his capital, by first building a new capital of Penuel and then building a third capital, Tirzah.

A new religious system
Jeroboam was not satisfied with his kingship. He feared that if his people continued to go up to Jerusalem (here "up" means "to a higher elevation" and not "north"), they might revolt against him and reestablish the United Kingdom. Therefore he did two things that would provoke God's vengeance. First he threw out all the Levites from his country, and appointed his own priestly class. Then he set up two golden calves, exactly like the infamous Golden Calf that Moses destroyed centuries ago. He set up one in Dan and one at Bethel. The Levites fled, and so too did all members of the Ten Tribes who still wanted to worship the One True God. Jeroboam does not seem to have cared: he set up "high places," altars of Baal, and Asherah poles all over his kingdom. He even ordained his own feast, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the year, exactly one month later than the Feast of Tabernacles.

One day, an unnamed prophet came to Bethel from the Southern Kingdom to speak a prophecy against Jeroboam. He declared that one day, centuries later, another king named Josiah would burn on that very altar the bones of the priests of Jeroboam's false religion. He then said that as a sign that God meant what He said, the altar would break apart and spill its ashes. Jeroboam raised his hand in anger to order the prophet's arrest, and the hand immediately shriveled up, and the altar split apart exactly as the prophet had predicted. Jeroboam begged the prophet to intercede with God so that his hand would be restored. It was. Jeroboam then offered the prophet food and drink, but the prophet indignantly refused, saying that God had commanded him neither to eat nor drink in the Northern Kingdom land.

Sadly, that prophet came to a bad end. Another prophet, who lived in Bethel, stopped this prophet and told him the lie that an angel from God had revoked the no-food-and-drink order. The first prophet then took food and water in the second prophet's house. Then the second prophet received a true message from God saying that, because the first prophet had disobeyed God, his dead body would not return to the tomb of his ancestors. That proved true, because the first prophet was killed by a lion before he could get out of the Northern Kingdom. The prophet who had lured him into that disobedience later found his body and gave it an honorable burial.

Jeroboam did not retreat from his apostasy. Indeed, his very name became a proverb in the Northern Kingdom for regal apostasy and "evil-doing in the sight of the LORD."

The Battle of Zemaraim

 * Main Article: Battle of Zemaraim

In the nineteenth year of his reign, Jeroboam fought a major battle with King Abijam of Judah. Despite a two-to-one numerical advantage, he lost half a million men--sixty-two-and-a-half percent of his fighting force. He never recovered his military strength from that disaster.

Sickness and Death of his Son
Toward the end of his reign, his son Abijah fell ill. Jeroboam asked his wife to go to Shiloh and seek Ahijah the Shilonite for advice. Jeroboam's wife went there in disguise, but Ahijah recognized her anyway and told her the harsh truth: that not only would Abijah die, but Jeroboam's family would be cut off after his death. Jeroboam's wife returned to her house, with her son in her arms, and as soon as she set foot in her own house again, the child died.

Death and Succession
Jeroboam did have another son, Nadab. After his twenty-two-year reign, Jeroboam died, and Nadab succeeded him, but only briefly.