World English Bible
- At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick.
- Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself, so that you won’t be recognized as Jeroboam’s wife. Go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said that I would be king over this people.
- Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the child.”
- Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose and went to Shiloh, and came to Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
- The LORD said to Ahijah, “Behold, Jeroboam’s wife is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Tell her such and such; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman.”
- So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, Jeroboam’s wife! Why do you pretend to be another? For I am sent to you with heavy news.
- Go, tell Jeroboam, ’The LORD, the God of Israel, says: “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you prince over my people Israel,
- and tore the kingdom away from David’s house, and gave it to you; and yet you have 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 my eyes,
- but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods, molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back,
- therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam everyone who urinates on a wall, he who is shut up and he who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung until it is all gone.
- The dogs will eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam who dies in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat whoever dies in the field, for the LORD has spoken it.”’
- Arise therefore, and go to your house. When your feet enter into the city, the child will die.
- All Israel will mourn for him and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam will come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.
- Moreover the LORD will raise up a king for himself over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day! What? Even now.
- For the LORD will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.
- He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin.”
- Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.
- All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.
- The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
- The days which Jeroboam reigned were twenty two years; then he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
- Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.
- Judah did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done.
- For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
- There were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD drove out before the children of Israel.
- In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem;
- and he took away the treasures of the LORD’s house and the treasures of the king’s house. He even took away all of it, including all the gold shields which Solomon had made.
- King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the door of the king’s house.
- It was so, that as often as the king went into the LORD’s house, the guard bore them, and brought them back into the guard room.
- Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
- There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.
- Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in David’s city. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam his son reigned in his place.
Daily Devotional – 1 Kings 14
“Gold Traded for Bronze”
“For the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by Him deeds are
weighed.”
1 Samuel 2:3 (New International Version)
————————————————————
Key theological themes
• God’s covenant faithfulness and discipline
• The danger of counterfeit worship
• The lonely hope found in a single faithful heart
• Hollow substitutes: gold for bronze, true worship for convenience
————————————————————
Text in brief
Jeroboam’s little boy, Abijah (“Yahweh is my Father”), grows gravely
ill. Jeroboam sends his wife in disguise to the prophet Ahijah. Though
Ahijah is physically blind, he sees more clearly than any of them. He
foretells three things:
Cross-reference verses
• Deuteronomy 27-28 – covenant blessings and curses.
• Hosea 9:17 – Israel driven into exile.
• Matthew 18:2-6 – Jesus’ regard for a child; contrast with Jeroboam’s
political calculus.
Cultural note
In the ancient Near East a sick crown-prince was normally treated with
every available charm or idol. Jeroboam turns to the true prophet, yet
he covers his tracks. Disguise before men, disguise before God—how often
do we do the same?
Hebrew window
Verse 9 says Jeroboam “has cast Me behind his back.” The verb
hishlēḵ—“to toss aside”—pictures someone pitching an unwanted object
over the shoulder. A stark image of contempt.
Patristic whisper
Augustine read this story as an early warning that “the City of Man,
when it will not fear God, must be broken so that hearts may learn to
cling to the City of God.”
Calvin notes the irony: “A blind prophet sees; a seeing king is
blind.”
Personal reflection
Where am I “casting God behind my back”? God’s prophetic word still
slices through all disguises.
————————————————————
Judah, watching Israel’s idolatry, copies it. High places rise on every hill; male shrine-prostitutes (Hebrew qedēšîm) appear. The word means “set-apart ones,” a tragic twisting of true holiness into ritual immorality.
Historical footnote
Archaeologists have uncovered Asherah figurines and fertility symbols in
strata dated to this period in Judah—silent witnesses that Scripture’s
charge is sober history, not moralistic exaggeration.
Theological thread
Sin spreads when not confronted. What Israel embraced privately, Judah
adopted publicly.
————————————————————
Shishak (Sheshonq I of Egypt) invades in Rehoboam’s fifth year. The great relief on the wall of Karnak lists “the highland of David” among the conquered towns—one of the most secure synchronisms between Bible and archaeology.
Gold shields—Solomon’s trophies of peace—are carted off. Rehoboam replaces them with bronze and still stages the same royal procession. Form without substance.
Literary device
Irony drips: the nation loses precious gold yet keeps up appearances.
The story is told with sparse words, letting the weight of “gold” versus
“bronze” preach the sermon.
Application
Are there areas in my life where the splendor has departed, but I still
parade the empty shield? Only honest repentance can restore the gold
Christ intends for His saints (Revelation 3:18).
————————————————————
Wars continue, kings die, and the chronicler turns the page. The message is plain: dynasties may outlive the headlines, but not the verdict of God.
————————————————————
A dying child, a faithless king, a stolen crown—yet Scripture points to another Child, born in Bethlehem, who would die yet rise, and another King who never disguises Himself. In Jesus Christ the covenant’s curses fall on the Shepherd so that blessing may rest on the flock.
Cross-road verses
• Isaiah 53:4-6 – the Suffering Servant bears our sickness.
• 1 Peter 2:24 – “by His wounds you have been healed.”
————————————————————
————————————————————
Closing Prayer
Holy Father, You who see through every mask,
expose the bronze façades we polish for show.
Give us hearts like young Abijah’s—
hearts that please You even in a corrupt house.
Spare us the cost of stubborn pride;
lead us to the King who traded His gold for our sin,
that we might wear the true armor of light.
In Jesus’ faithful name, Amen.