Week 18 1 Kings 11
The Lord promised Jeroboam: I will place you on the throne of Israel, and you will rule over all your heart desires. If you listen to what I tell you and follow my ways and do whatever I consider to be right, and if you obey my laws and commands…then I will always be with you. I will establish an enduring dynasty for you… So in simple terms: if you do X then the result will be Y.
(Jeroboam didn’t get any flip-side instruction. He wasn’t also told: if you don’t do X then the result will be Z. But he seems to have been a smart enough guy to realize that if doing X would result in Y then not doing X wouldn’t also result in Y.)
Anyway Jeroboam decided not to do X. His decision was complicated by his busy life. Building a new capital city. Thinking-up a brand new religious system. Constructing idols. Planning for new sacrifices with new priests & new festivals.
The Lord’s final evaluation on Jeroboam was: you have done more evil than all who lived before you.
And the outcome would be: I will burn up your royal dynasty as one burns up trash.
The upside for Jeroboam was that he was free to decide what to do. He could either do X or not do X. It was up to him.
What wasn’t up to him was the outcome. It was pretty much non-negotiable.
Note: quotes from 1 Kings 11:37-38 14:9 10 (NLT)