June 23 — Divided Hearts, Divided Kingdom
SCRIPTURE READING:
1 Kings 12-14
SCRIPTURE:
Passage: 1 Kings 12
¹ 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 put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
⁵ And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
⁶ And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
⁷ And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
⁸ But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:
⁹ And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?
¹⁰ And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.
¹¹ And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.
¹³ And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him;
¹⁴ And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
¹⁵ Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
¹⁶ So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
¹⁷ But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
¹⁸ Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
¹⁹ So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
²⁰ And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
²¹ And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
²² But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
²³ Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
²⁴ 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. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.
²⁵ Then Jeroboam built Shechem 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 gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
²⁹ And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
³⁰ And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
³¹ And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
³² And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
³³ So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
Passage: 1 Kings 13
¹ And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
² And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
³ And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
⁴ And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
⁵ The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
⁶ And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
⁷ And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
⁸ And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:
⁹ For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.
¹⁰ So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
¹¹ Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
¹² And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
¹³ And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
¹⁴ And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
¹⁵ Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
¹⁶ And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
¹⁷ For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
¹⁸ He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
¹⁹ So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
²⁰ And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:
²¹ And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,
²² But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
²³ And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
²⁴ And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
²⁵ And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
²⁶ And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.
²⁷ And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.
²⁸ And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.
²⁹ And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.
³⁰ And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!
³¹ And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:
³² For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
³³ After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
³⁴ And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.
Passage: 1 Kings 14
¹ At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
² And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.
³ And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.
⁴ And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
⁵ And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.
⁶ And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.
⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,
⁸ And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast 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 mine eyes;
⁹ But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:
¹⁰ Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.
¹¹ Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it.
¹² Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.
¹³ And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
¹⁴ Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
¹⁵ For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.
¹⁶ And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
¹⁷ And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;
¹⁸ And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.
¹⁹ And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
²⁰ And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.
²¹ And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
²² And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.
²³ For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
²⁴ And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
²⁵ And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:
²⁶ And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
²⁷ And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house.
²⁸ And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.
²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
³⁰ And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
³¹ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.
DEVOTIONAL:
The division of the kingdom in 1 Kings 12 is a disaster born of pride, fear, and bad counsel. Rehoboam rejects the elders’ wisdom and chooses harshness, treating people as a means to prove strength. The result is fracture. Scripture is not romantic about politics or leadership; it shows how arrogance can tear a community in two. Even when God’s sovereign purposes are at work, human sin remains truly sinful and truly destructive.
Jeroboam’s response exposes another layer of the tragedy. Instead of seeking the LORD, he manufactures a convenient religion. He sets up golden calves, declares new worship centers, and appoints priests apart from God’s commands. This is a replay of Israel’s earlier idolatry, and it shows how quickly hearts trade obedience for convenience. Jeroboam fears losing power, so he builds a counterfeit altar.
Chapters 13 and 14 show that God does not leave such rebellion unaddressed. A prophet confronts the altar, and judgment is announced. Yet even these confrontations include glimpses of mercy, because God warns before He destroys. The LORD is calling His people back to covenant faithfulness, refusing to let them drift into idolatry without resistance.
This narrative also teaches that spiritual leaders and families are not insulated from consequence. Rehoboam’s household and Jeroboam’s household both experience the pain of sin’s ripple effect. When worship is distorted, the harm spreads beyond the palace to the people. Scripture is pressing a truth we often resist: private idolatry becomes public suffering.
Jesus is the King who heals division at the deepest level. He does not gather people by manipulation, and He does not preserve His reign by false worship. He rules by truth, and He unites Jew and Gentile into one new man through His cross. The broken kingdom of Israel points forward to our need for a righteous Son of David who can reconcile sinners to God and sinners to one another.
In daily life, examine where pride is making you harsh or defensive. Seek counsel with humility, and do not despise wisdom because it comes from elders or from Scripture that confronts you. Refuse counterfeit worship that offers convenience without obedience. In the church, pursue unity rooted in truth, remembering that false peace built on compromise is not the peace of Christ.
In U.S. civic life, the virtue of humility expressed through listening can prevent needless fracture. Pray for leaders to serve rather than dominate, and pray for communities torn by distrust to find paths of reconciliation. Christians should show up as peacemakers who refuse idolatry of power and who keep worship of the true God at the center of their public witness.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What does Rehoboam’s rejection of the elders’ counsel reveal about the danger of pride in leadership?
How does Jeroboam’s counterfeit worship show the connection between fear and idolatry?
Where are you tempted to choose convenience over obedience in your own spiritual life?
How does Jesus’ kingship offer hope for unity that is deeper than political agreement?
PRAYER:
ADORATION:
LORD, You are the true King whose rule is righteous and whose counsel is wise. You alone deserve worship, and Your ways lead to life.
CONFESSION:
I confess my pride and my desire to control outcomes. I have sometimes chosen harshness over service and convenience over obedience. Forgive me and turn my heart back.
THANKSGIVING:
Thank You that You warn before judgment and that You pursue Your people even when they drift. Thank You for Jesus, who reconciles and reigns with truth and mercy.
SUPPLICATION – GENERAL:
Make me humble, teachable, and faithful in worship. Give me wisdom to listen, courage to obey, and grace to pursue unity grounded in truth. Strengthen our church to resist idolatry and to live as one body in Christ.
SUPPLICATION – U.S. / CIVIC:
Grant humility and servant-hearted wisdom to leaders in our communities. Heal divisions that are fueled by pride and fear. Make Christians steady peacemakers who refuse idolizing power and who honor You in the public square.
SCRIPTURE: And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever. 1 Kings 12:7