that this is what the LORD says: 'You are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for this word is from Me.'" So they listened to the word of the LORD and turned back according to the word of the LORD. that this is what the LORD says:This phrase emphasizes the divine authority behind the message. In the biblical context, the phrase "the LORD says" is often used by prophets to convey God's direct communication. It underscores the importance of obedience to God's commands, as seen throughout the Old Testament, where God's word is final and authoritative. ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites.
This command highlights the unity that should exist among the tribes of Israel, despite political divisions. Historically, this refers to the period after Solomon's reign when the kingdom was divided into Israel (the northern kingdom) and Judah (the southern kingdom). The term "brothers" signifies the shared heritage and covenant relationship among the tribes, reminding them of their common ancestry and God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Each of you must return home,
This directive to return home is a call to avoid unnecessary conflict and bloodshed. It reflects God's desire for peace among His people. Theologically, it can be seen as a call to trust in God's sovereignty and timing, rather than relying on human strength or military might. This echoes other biblical instances where God instructs His people to stand down, such as in Exodus 14:14, where God tells the Israelites to be still and watch His deliverance. for this is My doing.’”
This phrase asserts God's sovereignty over the events unfolding in Israel. It reassures the people that the division of the kingdom is part of God's divine plan, as previously prophesied by Ahijah the Shilonite in 1 Kings 11:29-39. It serves as a reminder that God's purposes will prevail, even when they are not immediately understood by His people. So they listened to the word of the LORD
The response of obedience to God's word is crucial. It demonstrates faith and submission to God's will, which is a recurring theme in Scripture. This obedience is contrasted with other instances in the Bible where disobedience led to dire consequences, such as Saul's failure to fully obey God's command in 1 Samuel 15. and turned back according to the word of the LORD.
The act of turning back signifies repentance and a change of course in response to God's command. It reflects a willingness to align with God's will, even when it requires humility and the abandonment of personal or political ambitions. This obedience is a model for believers, illustrating the importance of heeding God's guidance and trusting in His plans. Persons / Places / Events 1. RehoboamThe son of Solomon and king of Judah, whose harsh policies led to the division of the united kingdom of Israel. 2. JeroboamThe first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, who led the ten tribes in rebellion against Rehoboam. 3. ShemaiahA man of God who delivered the LORD's message to Rehoboam and the people of Judah, instructing them not to fight against their fellow Israelites. 4. Judah and IsraelThe divided kingdoms after the split; Judah consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, while Israel was made up of the other ten tribes. 5. The LORDThe God of Israel, who intervenes to prevent civil war among His people. Teaching Points Obedience to God's WordThe importance of listening to and obeying God's instructions, even when they counter our own plans or desires. Value of UnityThe significance of maintaining unity and peace among believers, reflecting God's heart for His people. Divine InterventionRecognizing God's sovereignty and His ability to intervene in human affairs to accomplish His purposes. PeacemakingThe call for Christians to be peacemakers, actively seeking to resolve conflicts and promote harmony. Trust in God's PlanEncouragement to trust in God's wisdom and timing, even when His commands seem difficult or counterintuitive. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the response of Rehoboam and the people of Judah to God's command in 1 Kings 12:24 demonstrate the importance of obedience to divine guidance? 2. In what ways can we apply the principle of peacemaking from this passage to conflicts within our own communities or churches? 3. How does the division of the kingdom in 1 Kings 12 relate to the New Testament teachings on unity within the body of Christ? 4. What can we learn from Shemaiah's role as a messenger of God about the importance of delivering and receiving God's word? 5. How does the concept of divine intervention in 1 Kings 12:24 encourage us to trust in God's sovereignty over our personal and communal challenges? Connections to Other Scriptures 2 Chronicles 11:2-4This passage parallels 1 Kings 12:24, providing additional context and confirming the divine command not to engage in battle. Matthew 5:9Jesus' teaching on peacemakers can be connected to the LORD's command to avoid conflict, emphasizing the value of peace among brethren. Romans 12:18Paul's exhortation to live at peace with everyone resonates with the instruction given to Rehoboam and the people of Judah. Proverbs 16:9This verse highlights the sovereignty of God in directing human plans, as seen in the LORD's intervention to prevent war. Ephesians 4:3The call to maintain unity in the Spirit aligns with the LORD's desire to prevent division and conflict among His people. People Adoniram, Adoram, Ahijah, Benjamin, Dan, David, Israelites, Jeroboam, Jesse, Levi, Levites, Nebat, Penuel, Rehoboam, Shemaiah, SolomonPlaces Bethel, Dan, Egypt, Jerusalem, Penuel, ShechemTopics Brethren, Brothers, Depart, Ear, Fight, Hearkened, Home, Israelites, Kinsmen, Listened, Obeyed, Ordered, Purpose, Relatives, Return, Returned, Says, Sons, Thus, Turn, WarDictionary of Bible Themes 1 Kings 12:24 5606 warfare, nature of 1 Kings 12:1-24 5366 king
7245 Judah, kingdom of 1 Kings 12:21-24 7756 preaching, content Library How to Split a Kingdom
And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. 2. And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt); 3. That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, 4. Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScripturePolitical Religion
'Then Jeroboam built Shechera in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. 26. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 27. If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture "This Thing is from Me"
"Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me."--1 Kings 12:24. IT IS VERY DELIGHTFUL to read a history in which God is made prominent. How sadly deficient we are of such histories of our own English nation! Yet surely there is no story that is more full of God than the record of the doings of our British race. Cowper, in one of his poems, shows the parallel between us and the house of Israel, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 42: 1896 The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
THE ISRAELITES IN THE LAND OF CANAAN: THE JUDGES--THE PHILISTINES AND THE HEBREW KINGDOM--SAUL, DAVID, SOLOMON, THE DEFECTION OF THE TEN TRIBES--THE XXIst EGYPTIAN DYNASTY--SHESHONQ OR SHISHAK DAMASCUS. The Hebrews in the desert: their families, clans, and tribes--The Amorites and the Hebrews on the left bank of the Jordan--The conquest of Canaan and the native reaction against the Hebrews--The judges, Ehud, Deborah, Jerubbaal or Gideon and the Manassite supremacy; Abimelech, Jephihdh. The Philistines, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 6 How God Works in the Hearts of Men.
1. Connection of this chapter with the preceding. Augustine's similitude of a good and bad rider. Question answered in respect to the devil. 2. Question answered in respect to God and man. Example from the history of Job. The works of God distinguished from the works of Satan and wicked men. 1. By the design or end of acting. How Satan acts in the reprobate. 2. How God acts in them. 3. Old Objection, that the agency of God in such cases is referable to prescience or permission, not actual operation. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Use to be Made of the Doctrine of Providence.
Sections. 1. Summary of the doctrine of Divine Providence. 1. It embraces the future and the past. 2. It works by means, without means, and against means. 3. Mankind, and particularly the Church, the object of special care. 4. The mode of administration usually secret, but always just. This last point more fully considered. 2. The profane denial that the world is governed by the secret counsel of God, refuted by passages of Scripture. Salutary counsel. 3. This doctrine, as to the secret counsel of …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion The Upbringing of Jewish Children
The tenderness of the bond which united Jewish parents to their children appears even in the multiplicity and pictorialness of the expressions by which the various stages of child-life are designated in the Hebrew. Besides such general words as "ben" and "bath"--"son" and "daughter"--we find no fewer than nine different terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life. The first of these simply designates the babe as the newly--"born"--the "jeled," or, in the feminine, "jaldah"--as in Exodus 2:3, 6, 8. …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life The Instrumentality of the Wicked Employed by God, While He Continues Free from Every Taint.
1. The carnal mind the source of the objections which are raised against the Providence of God. A primary objection, making a distinction between the permission and the will of God, refuted. Angels and men, good and bad, do nought but what has been decreed by God. This proved by examples. 2. All hidden movements directed to their end by the unseen but righteous instigation of God. Examples, with answers to objections. 3. These objections originate in a spirit of pride and blasphemy. Objection, that …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion The Twelve Minor Prophets.
1. By the Jewish arrangement, which places together the twelve minor prophets in a single volume, the chronological order of the prophets as a whole is broken up. The three greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, stand in the true order of time. Daniel began to prophesy before Ezekiel, but continued, many years after him. The Jewish arrangement of the twelve minor prophets is in a sense chronological; that is, they put the earlier prophets at the beginning, and the later at the end of the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Of Civil Government.
OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. This chapter consists of two principal heads,--I. General discourse on the necessity, dignity, and use of Civil Government, in opposition to the frantic proceedings of the Anabaptists, sec. 1-3. II. A special exposition of the three leading parts of which Civil Government consists, sec. 4-32. The first part treats of the function of Magistrates, whose authority and calling is proved, sec. 4-7. Next, the three Forms of civil government are added, sec. 8. Thirdly, Consideration …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Travelling in Palestine --Roads, Inns, Hospitality, Custom-House Officers, Taxation, Publicans
It was the very busiest road in Palestine, on which the publican Levi Matthew sat at the receipt of "custom," when our Lord called him to the fellowship of the Gospel, and he then made that great feast to which he invited his fellow-publicans, that they also might see and hear Him in Whom he had found life and peace (Luke 5:29). For, it was the only truly international road of all those which passed through Palestine; indeed, it formed one of the great highways of the world's commerce. At the time …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life The Figurative Language of Scripture.
1. When the psalmist says: "The Lord God is a sun and shield" (Psa. 84:11), he means that God is to all his creatures the source of life and blessedness, and their almighty protector; but this meaning he conveys under the figure of a sun and a shield. When, again, the apostle James says that Moses is read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day (Acts 15:21), he signifies the writings of Moses under the figure of his name. In these examples the figure lies in particular words. But it may be embodied …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 1 Kings 12:24 NIV1 Kings 12:24 NLT1 Kings 12:24 ESV1 Kings 12:24 NASB1 Kings 12:24 KJV
1 Kings 12:24 Commentaries
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