Jeroboam was a time when he went down to Egypt and lived there to escape Solomon’s sword. There are several countries in the area, but he chose to go to the land where the Israelites had previously spent about four hundred years. Solomon had taken many Gentile women as wives and concubines, believing in the many Gentile gods they worshipped and building altars to them, and God had warned that, as a result of these sins, the nation would be divided during the generation that followed him. Then God sent a prophet to Jeroboam, through whom He promised to give him ten tribes. For this reason, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, and Jeroboam fled to Egypt.After Solomon died, his son Rehoboam became king. Upon hearing that Rehoboam had lost the people’s support, Jeroboam returned to Israel. He then established an independent nation with the ten tribes. This was the northern kingdom of Israel. After that, Jeroboam appointing priests who were not of the tribe of Levi, and making two golden calves as the Israelites had done while Moses was on Mount Sinai after the exodus. These he set up, one at Bethel and one at Dan. He did whatever he wished in order to keep hold of his political power. As a result, the people of Israel in the north fell deeply into sin, making decisions that had nothing to do with the law that God had given them. Even after the reign of Jeroboam, the kings of Israel in the north continued with this practice and in the end, the northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed before the southern kingdom of Judah. The law was established by God. The law sets boundaries and anything beyond these boundaries is sin. Even in man’s world, there are many laws, and if anyone breaks those laws, they must face the consequences. Similarly, God set the boundaries for our forefather Adam, telling him, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). By eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he crossed the boundary. As a result, he fell into sin.Also, when the Israelites had gone down to Egypt and settled there, a man by the name of Moses led them out. In the Wilderness of Sinai, God gave Moses an extremely detailed set of laws, and Moses made a record of them. These form the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The law contains things that a person may do and things that he must not do. Leviticus, in particular, explains the way in which the Israelites were to offer animal sacrifices to God. It also indicates that these sacrifices were to be carried out by men of the tribe of Levi (one of Jacob’s twelve sons) with the high priests (who were to be from the house of Aaron) at the center.Jeroboam, however, set aside the ways prescribed by God and devised a new method that was more favorable to himself and designed to increase his political powers. That became the first step to his demise and that of his descendants. This account provides a lesson not only for each of us individually, but also for the Church. This is a very important matter.Let’s turn to Joshua Chapter 9.
But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us.” verses 9:3-6
This incident took place after the death of Moses, when Joshua was leading the Israelites and made a detour around the south side of the Wilderness of Sinai intending to enter the land of Canaan by crossing the River Jordan from east to west. Wherever the Israelites waged battles to take the land of Canaan, they were victorious. Having heard that the Israelites had captured the city of Jericho, the Gibeonites came up with a scheme, convinced that they, too, would die it they did not act. They came to the Israelites dressed in rags and looking forlorn, telling them that they had come from far away, and asking the Israelites to make a covenant with them.
Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you?” But they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?” So they said to him: “From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.”’ This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.” Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord. So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them. And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim. But the children of Israel did not attack them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers. Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them. This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.” And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them.” verses 7-21
When the Israelites occupied and conquered the land of Canaan, God commanded them not to spare any of the tribes who were the original inhabitants of the land. He told them to destroy all the tribes who were in Canaan and take over the land. By human standards, God may seem cold-hearted. The Gibeonites, however, pretended to be in a sorry state: they said they had come from a far-away country, their clothes were in rags, their bread was moldy and their wineskins were old and torn. Joshua and the elders were fooled by the outward appearance of these people and promised no
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