1 Kings 14:1-20 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.… I. THE STRICKEN KING. Abijah seems to have been heir to the throne, and to have been alike the king's and the people's hope. The father's heart was touched: the king saw the dynasty threatened, to establish which he had ventured so much. The voice of God, against which the car was closed, will be heard again in the quietness of the sick chamber, in the silence of death. God follows us through deepening sorrows, if haply we may turn ere we are overwhelmed by the waters of destruction. II. THE RESORT FOR HELP. 1. His trouble drives him towards God. It is meant to do this. It is the touching of God's hand that we may look up and live. "Eyes which the preacher could not school By wayside graves are raised, And lips cry, 'God be pitiful,' Which ne'er said, 'God be praised.'" 2. He is drawn by the remembrance of past mercy. "Behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who told me that I should be king over this people." The remembrances of mercies are cords to draw back straying hearts to God. The thought of what God has done makes a holy place for faith, and rears an altar whence may rise the incense of accepted prayer. 3. His hope is defeated by his own deceit. "Disguise thyself, that thou be not known as the wife of Jeroboam." He thought he might find help without owning and yielding his sin. How many prayers are like Jeroboam's embassy! Men wish to find mercy and yet cling to their sinful life, and imagine that because their wicked practices are kept behind their back they are not there in God's sight! 4. Gifts (ver. 3) could not make up the lack of a true, penitent heart. III. THE LORD'S ANSWER. 1. Disguise is impossible before God (vers. 5, 6). We can conceal nothing from Him; and one word of His (Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam!") is enough to rend every veil of pretence from the soul and overwhelm it with shame. We may now close the ears to the voice of accusing conscience, but we go onward, as she went, to where the Judge will name us. 2. God's name. "The Lord God of Israel." Not only will the covering be torn from the sinner's heart and life; God will be revealed. He is the mighty avenger of those who have been seduced and sinned against. 3. Jeroboam's ingratitude (vers. 7-9). He was taken from among the people, and yet he had shown no anxiety to discharge aright the duties of the high office committed to him. (1) Human patterns were despised ("Thou hast not been as my servant David"). (2) God Himself was east behind his back. 4. The doom. (1) There was deepest dishonour for him. His house was overthrown and removed as the vilest refuse. (2) There was destruction for his people. For the impenitent and all who are led by them there is, and can be, only utter and eternal ruin. IV. THE SHADOW OF FALLING JUDGMENT (vers. 17-20). 1. Abijah's death. The light of the home, the hope of the land, is taken. 2. Jeroboam's death. "The Lord struck him and he died" (2 Chronicles 13:20). The clear intellect and the strong hand are smitten and removed. Slowly but surely the word advances to its accomplishment. are there no shadows of judgment on thy path? Have no words come true that make thy heart tremble because of those other words which God's lips have also spoken? - J.U. Parallel Verses KJV: At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. |
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