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Royalty and Ruin
from repenting, Jeroboam not only sinned greatly himself, but “made
Israel sin”; and “this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so
as to exterminate and destroy it.”
1 Kings 14:16
;
13:34
.
God’s Judgment on Jeroboam
Toward the close of a troubled reign of twenty-two years, Jer-
oboam met with disastrous defeat in a war with Abijah, the successor
of Rehoboam. “Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days
of Abijah; and the Lord struck him, and he died.”
2 Chronicles 13:20
.
The apostasy introduced during Jeroboam’s reign finally resulted
in the utter ruin of the kingdom of Israel. Even before the death
of Jeroboam, Ahijah, the aged prophet who many years before had
predicted Jeroboam’s elevation to the throne, declared: “The Lord
will ... uproot Israel out of this good land. ... And He will give Israel
up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel
sin.”
1 Kings 14:15, 16
.
Yet the Lord did all He could to lead Israel back to allegiance to
Him. Through long, dark years when ruler after ruler boldly defied
Him, God sent message after message to His backslidden people.
Through His prophets He gave them every opportunity to return to
Him. Elijah and Elisha would live and labor, and the tender appeals
of Hosea, Amos, and Obadiah would be heard in the land. Never
was the kingdom of Israel left without noble witnesses to the mighty
power of God to save from sin. Through these faithful ones the
eternal plan of Jehovah was finally to be fulfilled.
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