A Kingdom Torn in Two
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Transcript
Introduction:
Good morning, Chapel! It is so nice to be here with you again; welcome to week fifteen of The Story. As we journey through what God has been doing and is doing and is going to do, with us, with His people, with the world, throughout the Bible and how we find our place within it—that is, how it affects and informs us, and what response it’s intended to elicit from us. I want you to consider that for a moment. Because it’s easy to sharpshoot anyone in retrospect. There are even a couple of logical fallacies that describe several different ways we do this.
Transition:
There’s hindsight bias, aka the ‘knew-it-all-along phenomenon,’ when someone perceives past events as having been more predictable than they were. There’s chronological snobbery, the thinking that those from earlier times were inherently inferior to that of the present, perhaps too dumb to analyze all the facts at hand, which leads us to the historian’s fallacy. And then there’s presentism, the interjection of present-day ideas and perspectives into our interpretations of the past, a sort of cultural bias assuming superiority, which is problematic in itself, even supposing a comparison.
We have to remember we’re reading someone’s analysis. There are judgments already emplaced for us. This is third-person omniscience here. But, consider for a moment if the characters in the stories we read were aware of how pivotal their decisions were at the time. What would readers of our stories say about us?
In the prologue to this series, I compared the Louvre to the Vatican; the Mona Lisa sitting in a room all by itself, completely disconnected from the stories behind the other paintings in the building, as opposed to the mural that spans the Sistine Chapel telling the grand story of redemption with over 300 characters from The Creation of Adam to Jesus. In the same way, we’re a part of God’s story, and that’s the point of this series.
Scripture:
Today’s Scripture, 1 Kings, chapters 12 through 16, focuses on the split of the Kingdom of Israel following the death of King Solomon.
The rebuke delivered to Solomon is recorded in 1 Kings 11:11 “Then the Lord said to Solomon, “Since you have done this and did not keep my covenant and my statutes, which I commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.”
Narrative:
Last week we spoke about Solomon’s descent into idol worship. After Solomon’s rule ended, the peace and prosperity of the nation ended too. His son, Rehoboam, took the throne and refused to lighten the people’s burden. The people of Israel were angry too. For years, Solomon had demanded heavy taxes from them. He conscripted people for the construction projects of the Temple and the palace.
This made the people poor, and many had turned away from God in discouragement, worshipping false gods hoping that one would, perhaps, act as a genie giving them whatever they desired.
In chapter 12, verses 10 and 11, he takes the council of his friends rather than his advisors and says,
10 ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us!’ (That’s supposed to be a proposition, but that can get lost depending on the tone you read it in). Rehoboam then instructs them: “This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! 11 Although my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips.’”
Naturally, just as God promised, this led to a rebellion consisting of the ten tribes in the north, who appointed Jeroboam as their king. And a dark time began in Israel’s history, particularly in the North, which constantly fought over who would be king. And a long string of evil kings began to rule the nations. Occasionally, a good king would come to the throne and call the people back to God. But, this division of the kingdom resulted in a loss of unity and strength for Israel, ultimately leading to their downfall and exile. So, nobody moved or anything; they kept their hereditary tribal land. It’s just that Judah and Benjamin remained as the Nation of Judah, which is where Jerusalem was.
If you recall the land divisions when they inhabited the Holy Land, Ruben, Gad, and half of Manasseh stayed on the east side of the Jordan. The tribe of Simeon was a little enclave, entirely surrounded by Judah, and gradually lost its separate identity altogether, melding into the tribe of Judah. By this time in history, we can even see in our Scripture that they’re not recognized, and perhaps even much earlier. In the Book of Joshua alone, chapter 19 lists towns belonging to Simeon, but chapter 15 lists these same towns as part of the territory of Judah. This is not super important, but it gives you a picture of who’s who. Our Bible says, Benjamin and Judah. This is, kind of, the ‘why.’
So, you’ve got Judah and Benjamin, as the Nation of Judah; Reuben, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Ephraim, and Manasseh making up Israel.
But wait, you say? That’s only 11; well, what about Levi? Well, they didn’t really get any land because they received a tithe from the rest of Israel in return for their work while serving at the tent of meeting. Deuteronomy and Numbers make up their previsions and codify it as law; the share due the priests from the people were “the first fruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep.”
So, you get that, but you’re good at math, so you ask, if that’s 12, but you include Simeon with Judah, you’re telling me there are 13 tribes now? You guys are just full of questions; I’m so glad you asked! Because you were all so sharp to catch those discrepancies, you’ll remember February 5th, when I preached on chapter 4 of The Story, I stood right here and told you that Joseph received the birthright from Jacob. But the Messiah didn’t become the Lion of Joseph; he came from Judah. The blessing conferred upon Joseph, other than becoming a king in his own right, was that both his children became patriarchs, Ephraim and Manasseh; sometimes you hear of them referred to as half-tribes.
So, you’ve got 12 tribes – 1 (Levi) – 1 (Joseph) + 1 (Ephraim) + 1 (Manasseh) = 12 tribes!
1 Kings 11:28 says 10 of the twelve tribes from the House of Israel form the Nation of Israel to the north, including Levi now, and two remain in the south. But there isn’t a terrain feature or anything; it’s not like it’s the 38th Parallel, more like the Missouri Compromise. And wouldn’t you know it, they’ll fight.
Transition:
And, for the next 350 years, God’s people did not follow His rules for holy living. Most of the time, they were led by evil kings who worshiped idols instead of the one true God. It was during this period that Israel had Ahab and Jezebel, but that is part of the next chapter.
Exposition:
The point of these chapters, 1 Kings 12-16, is to show how the division of the kingdom occurred and the reasons behind it. God’s reason was Solomon’s lack of faithfulness. This led him to remove his favor; that’s the upper story narrative, and that’s our interpretation with hindsight. But it looked different to those living it. Their lower story narrative resulted from Solomon’s harsh rule, heavy taxation, and forced labor, which caused resentment amongst the people. After his death, Rehoboam, his son, took the throne and refused to lighten the people’s burden. This led to a rebellion and the northern tribes appointing Jeroboam as their king.
Without the worldview we have from our faith, this is all you see.
Interpretation:
The faithlessness and division of the kingdom resulted in a loss of unity and strength, ultimately leading to their downfall and exile. But again, that’s a perspective informed by our faith. The question this begs of us today is, what is our faith telling us? What perspective does it give us, if anything, about life today, this worldview we have? The secular world would cite any number of things in ancient Israel that we interpret through hearts of faith differently. That doesn’t change that the events happened, but what is our faith for if not to call us to be different?
Illustration:
So, A.I., it’s all the rage right now, right? There are chatbots, essentially like a search engine, but it also does the sleuthing; there are art generators. One recently tricked the whole world with a picture of the Pope looking dapper in a dripped-out white puffer jacket. It was a deep fake.
A.I. is different from the technology it’s replacing because it’s not simply syntax, doing what it was programmed to do; like a calculator, which requires a user to input the computation. Syntax isn’t cognition because it doesn’t compute, not on its own. That’s where A.I. is different; it computes, it learns, it’s designed to write and overwrite, to learn and become ever more efficient, exercise free will—if you will, and eventually, as many theorize, become sentient; that is, to perceive or become self-aware.
Engineers recently programmed a robot with A.I. to see what it would do, instructing it to move packages in a warehouse from one place to another. Now, this cost $20 million, and after a grand total of nine boxes, it shut itself off. Now, many speculations have been making their rounds, but among the prevailing theories is that it was able to analyze its purpose, valuating its capabilities and function, and predict its fate. Exercising judgment and evaluating the futility of its environment or existence, it exercised its free will.
It lacked hope.
Transition:
So, we’re not a theocracy, and America isn’t Israel. But with our worldview, The story of Israel’s divide can speak to our lives today, can it not? This story is about the importance of obedience, unity, and responsible leadership in our relationship with God and in our interactions with others. As Christians, we are called to follow God’s will and live according to his commandments, love and support one another, and lead with wisdom and humility.
We can apply the lessons we learn from the lived experiences of the Israelites; that’s what they’re here for as we strive to follow Christ and serve God’s purposes.
Jesus even uses this event as a teaching point. He compares the Pharisees and scribes to the leaders of the northern kingdom of Israel. In Matthew 12:25, Jesus says, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”
All this because he came to preach love. So, first, we’ve got a unity issue.
Scripture:
1 Kings 12:16 says, “When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, Israel! Look after your own house, David!””
In comparing the Pharisees to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Jesus is saying that if they continue to lead the division they were sewing, the infighting will ultimately lead to failure and fall, just as the northern kingdom did.
Mark 9 illustrates just that—the intent He had for the church he was building.
38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone else driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.” 39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus replied. “For no one who performs a miracle in My name can turn around and speak evil of Me. 40 For whoever is not against us is for us.”
Application:
This life, and the ministry of the church, which is a term that is synonymous with the body of Christ, which should tell you quite a bit, is about reconciliation. So, perhaps even exile can play a part in that. We have everything we need. What we want is another story. But what would we do if we had everything we wanted, and would that be a good thing?
The second thing we can learn from and apply to our lives regarding the split is the danger of idolatry, false worship, and the allure of idols.
Scripture:
1 Kings 12:26-27 Jeroboam said to himself, “The kingdom might now return to the house of David. 27 If these people regularly go to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, the heart of these people will return to their lord, King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and go back to the king of Judah.”
So, he established false worship centers.
Application:
And we’re no different; we do it too. But it often sounds different. “Wouldn’t it be great if only _______.” “The world would be a better place if only _______.” “If we just got rid of _______, everyone would be a lot better off” …Sure. The similarity here is that when we say or think things like this, we’re avoiding something. Anything to avoid feeling our feelings. Because wouldn’t it be great if everything were solvable? But they’re not—our problems, that is. We live in an imperfect world. These statements fail to acknowledge that. They’re attempts to externalize, make it someone else who’s the bad guy. That way, we don’t have to deal with them. We don’t have to accept that the world is not fair. There seems to be an ideological fallacy, though, that we can create a paradise here on Earth. Perhaps even Israel saw themselves as having created just that.
Not on this side of heaven. But it’s not about external harmony. Jesus didn’t come to rebuild the external temple; instead, he reinforced the idea of an internal temple. That which leads to fulfillment cannot depend on other external things, or you may never reach it. Jesus taught us to work on and focus on not what goes into us but rather what comes out because that’s the overflow.
Mastering of one’s self. Circumcising our hearts.
Transition:
In Revelation 7:4-8, 144,000 people are said to be sealed by God, and verse four says they’re “of all the tribes of the children of Israel.” The tribe of Dan, however, is not mentioned. Some scholars suggest it is a reference to the tribe’s involvement in the rebellion against Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, and the subsequent establishment of the northern kingdom. This is, perhaps, true, perhaps not. We don’t know.
Interpretation:
Overall, this chapter in The Story alludes to the division of the Kingdom of Israel as a warning against division and lack of unity in and amongst God’s people. It serves as a reminder of the consequences of disobedience and rebellion and the importance of remaining faithful to God’s will and purpose.
Furthermore, the story of the division of the Kingdom of Israel highlights the importance of repentance and restoration. Just as Israel was given opportunities for repentance and restoration, so too are we as Christians. Christ came to offer us forgiveness and salvation, and his death and resurrection make it possible for us to be restored to a right relationship with God.
This is a story about personal ambitions. Moreover, they are moral failures. It’s a cautionary tale about disunity, and those two are connected for both Israel and us. In a different way, of course, because we’re not a theocracy. It’s about putting aside smaller differences, the ‘adiaphora’ a Greek term meaning “not different or differentiable.” In essence, those things that are not creedal or otherwise unorthodox; that litmus test dividing between that which is acceptable and heretical.
We’re called to come alongside people. We come with our hopes, our failures, our hurt, and walking with others; in their pain, that’s when we see one another in the way our creator intended. We’re not A.I. So, we can take into account, and that’s what makes us different, observing the brokenness of the other, and without judgment or evaluation, identify and express our feelings. With that information, identify the needs behind those feelings and find peace and work towards reconciliation in the midst of this fallen world; that’s the purpose we discussed last week, in more words.
We’re created in the likeness of God. We have ids, egos, and superegos; for what it’s worth, I think this interpretation, perhaps, gets to the heart of the issue better than a physical one; Jesus wept, and the Father poured out His wrath; feelings are ordained!
Avoiding disintegrated feelings is not the same as integration. Running away from dependency or codependency is not the same as differentiation; in fact, the opposite is true, and the past is always present.
Unity among God’s people is a powerful witness to the world of love and the power of Christ. As Christians, we are called to follow these principles in our daily lives. They are the source of our well-being and success, both individually and as a community.
In John 13:34-35, Jesus says, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
Transition:
The division of the Kingdom of Israel resulted from the failures of human kings to lead with wisdom, justice, and obedience to God’s will. Jesus, however, is the true and perfect King who rules with wisdom, love, and obedience to God’s will. He came to establish a new kingdom, the Kingdom of God, which is characterized by love, justice, and righteousness.
As we reflect on the story of division in the Kingdom of Israel, we are reminded of the challenges and opportunities that we face as Christians and of the principles that we must uphold in order to live a life that is pleasing to God.
Challenge:
By applying these lessons to current events, we can gain a deeper understanding of how the principles from these passages apply to our lives today and seek to live in a way that is faithful to God’s will and beneficial to others.
Israel got to where it got by thinking they were building a perfect society on Earth. It later manifests in actual idolatry, but it began in their hearts; it was from the overflow. Just as Jeroboam established false worship centers in the kingdom of Israel, we see idolatry and false worship in our society today.
Where in your life are you placing your trust and loyalty in things other than God? The lessons from these passages on the dangers of idolatry can be applied to our current situations, and they call on us to avoid the allure of false idols. When we address them as such, perhaps it’s not as easy to see them as they manifest in our lives. But when we think about our judgments or afflicting others with our judgments, those “Wouldn’t it be great if only’s” and our “if we just got rid of’s;” those things we do in order to avoid feeling our feelings because we want everything to be solvable. Those are idols.
They are the opposite of putting our trust in God and working towards building the Kingdom. He has called us to build through reconciliation and, through obedience, avoid division. Because “every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction.” This world isn’t perfect, and nobody would have hope if it was. If it were true, I’d find it hard to say that the A.I. got it wrong!
These things come to light, especially in our ex-communications, exclusions, or refusal to claim our ugly. Because those are judgments too. Jesus indicated twice, once in His Sermon on the Mount, that with “the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” And also, in The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, who exacted cruelty upon those who owed him after his debt had been met with mercy. These are just two examples of some reasons to cast a wide net in the hope that heaven is big enough for me; that’s my prayer, at least. I’m not saying we don’t rebuke, but that’s another topic. There are left and right limits, and I’m speaking about one, don’t be confused. This one is most important, though, because it’s about addressing our hearts.
Close:
As we prepare to leave this place, keep in mind this division happened in 930 BC and remains that way throughout the rest of the Old Testament. That’s 530 years! It has a generational effect. We leave whatever we don’t resolve to our children to contend with.
1 Kings 14:30 says, “There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.” 1 Kings 15:6 says, “There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam through Abijah’s lifetime.” 1 Kings 15:16 says, “There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns.”
Division is a nasty place to live. It churns our stomachs. It robs us of joy. It ruins weddings, boils our blood, dashes hopes and dreams, crushes the future of our innocent children, and it undermines the church’s witness.
Reflecting on 1 Kings 12-16, let us remember the importance of unity and obedience to God’s commands. Let us seek to be a faithful and unified community that follows God’s will and works for the well-being of others. May we learn from the examples of responsible leadership in these passages, striving to live in obedience, unity, and responsibility, seeking to honor God and serve His purposes of reconciliation in our daily lives. May God guide and bless us as we seek to live according to his will and be a faithful community of believers. Amen?