Faith in the Face of Fear
Faith in the Face of Fear
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Like many character traits, leadership is often forged in the flames of fear. It is not that leaders are fearless; they are simply committed to a cause that transcends their personal welfare. The divided kingdom—itself a tragic consequence of faithlessness and leadership failure—was a time plagued with threats, sieges, and fear. Israel and Judah had separated into two nations with two separate governing monarchies, and the way these monarchies responded to YHWH would shape the history of that nation. In the stories of these two nations, we find that some kings respond in faith to the promises of YHWH, while others retreat to and depend on the political, monetary, or strategic tactics of the age to achieve stability and protection. Throughout the running narrative in 1 and 2 Kings, we see that leadership ultimately depends upon whom the kings of Israel and Judah would serve—themselves or YHWH as the sovereign, divine King. In this study we will turn our attention specifically to the lives of Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Hezekiah, and Josiah, and we will see both the dismal failures and soaring successes of how each of these kings approached faith in the face of fear.
Unfortunately, the responses of Judah’s and Israel’s kings to national threats were not always faithful and honoring to God, and sadly we see the same motivating vices driving too many leaders today. A quick read through 1 and 2 Kings will reveal that the same lack of faith, jealousy, pride, greed, and idolatry that plague our experiences as leaders have been corrupting past leaders for millennia. And with a piercing divine power these stories expose us for who we really are. However, these books also present powerful pictures of inspiring leaders shaped by faith, honor, and courage that continue to point us toward the goal of faithful leadership—and ultimately, the faithful Leader.
First Kings opens with a buzzing excitement of divine encounters, building projects, expanding borders, and international amazement, all focused upon the splendor of Solomon’s empire. Indeed, the period of the United Monarchy incited great hopes for Israel’s kings (2 Sam. 7). However, Lissa M. Wray Beal accurately captures the positive potential of Israel’s kings alongside the lamentable reality that came to characterize the divided kingdom:
The monarchy is given in the hope of wise and godly leadership and the kings are intended as pointers to the one they represent as co-regent. . . . The tragedy is that the life of promise too quickly degenerated to servitudes: syncretized and aberrant worship, corvée labour for monumental building projects, and the ongoing encroachment of foreign armies with the ultimate loss of national life and servitude in Babylon—a new Egypt.[1]
As part of a larger, unified portrait of Israel’s history, the books of 1 and 2 Kings present us with two contrasting “lineages,” in which we are to understand royal leadership in ancient Israel: the promise of David’s dynasty (Judah) and Jeroboam I’s sin (Israel). Both David and Jeroboam serve as royal progenitors who also come to resemble the high-water mark of leadership for subsequent generations, albeit in their own respective ways.[2] These two distinct lineages, and their ensuing commendations and indictments, also present us with an interpretive grid from the perspective of the biblical writer. Many times in OT narrative, it is not exactly clear where the characters stand morally. There are complex characters like Abraham, Samson, and even David. Some of their actions are praiseworthy and worthy of emulation, while others are quite dastardly. The book of Kings affords an opportunity for assessment, based upon how a king lines up with reference to the royal lineages of David and Jeroboam—the former affording a positive assessment and the latter a negative one.
It is difficult for Americans to appreciate the significance of a king. As people raised on a government “for the people, and by the people,” the notions of sovereignty, divine-right, and corporate solidarity do not mean very much. However, in the ancient Near East and the Old Testament the king played an enormous social and religious role. The Old Testament books of Kings and Chronicles both present something of a rationale for the exilic and postexilic situation experienced by God’s people. But when you read through the books you primarily encounter kings and a few prophets bringing indictments against them. Where are the citizens? What did they do to deserve exile from the land? As important as these question may seem to us, they were not a driving question for the authors of the biblical text. They operated in a worldview that saw the king as a representative for the people, both before God and other nations—thus, so goes the king, so goes the nation (see 1 Kings 12:16)! This idea is often referred to as corporate solidarity. The identity and outcome of the group is bound up in its leader.
The king not only maintained a unique place with regard to the populace, he also maintained a unique religious function. He was to be the faithful worshipper par excellence. He was supposed to be the model of humanity and demonstrate fidelity and trust before YHWH. John Walton states: “As in the ancient Near East, the Israelite king is the agent of the divine plan, concerned with the will of deity, and representative of divine authority. . . . The king was responsible for justice and accountable to the Deity for protecting the vulnerable.”[3] The king was an earthly sovereign, but any authority he maintained was granted from the Lord. This trust and faith, or lack thereof, necessarily affected the leaders’ relationships with foreign nations.
The kingdoms of Israel and Judah were not isolated nations in the ancient world. The two nations rested upon a highly valued travel route between Egypt in the south and Assyria in the north. Throughout the period of the divided kingdom, both Egypt and Assyria applied enormous pressure on Israel and Judah, and eventually the Babylonian and the Persian empires would become central players in the Levant. The kings in Israel and Judah determined their nation’s foreign policy, again, which necessarily took into account the religions of other nations. International diplomacy and warfare were religious endeavors. The period of the divided monarchy presents the downward spiral and collapse of both Israel and Judah. However, these stories should not be wasted on us; there are powerful truths to be learned from the mistakes and triumphs of these ancient leaders (cf. 1 Cor. 10:6). Turning our attention to the book of 1 and 2 Kings, we will see both negative and positive examples of faithful leadership that we can apply to our lives today.
Leadership in the Divided Kingdom
Rehoboam’s Foolish Threat (1 Kings 12:1–24)
King Solomon’s death at the end of 1 Kings 11 brought about the end of his forty-year reign over Israel and signaled the beginning of a new era under his son Rehoboam. However, the dark clouds of division were already rolling in (1 Kings 11:31–35). The prophet Ahijah had already told Jeroboam that he would reign over ten of the tribes of Israel, because Solomon had turned to worship other gods (1 Kings 11:31). The only question was when and where this great monarchial rift would burst open, rendering the irreparable divide.
Chapter 12 opens with Rehoboam traveling to the hill country of Ephraim to the ancient site of Shechem (where Abimelech was anointed king in Judges 9) so that “all Israel” might make him king. The united response of Jeroboam and the people to lighten their load likely indicates that dissension had already begun to grow and fester under the reign of Solomon, due to heavy labor burdens and high taxation.[4] The people then said, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you”(v. 4). Rehoboam tells them to return in three days for his answer.
During those days the would-be king sought advice from the older men who witnessed the reign of his father. They responded by telling Rehoboam that if he will serve the people and speak good words to them, they will serve him forever. However, Rehoboam rejected this advice and desired counsel from the young men he had known from his youth. The impetuous young upstarts tell Rehoboam that these people do not need apologetic regrets but royal threats! The friends of the crown prince advise him to respond with one of the best one-liners in the Bible: “My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs” (v. 11). In essence, “You thought my father gave you heavy burdens, I will show you heavy. . . !”
When the people returned, as requested by Rehoboam, he responded as his young advisors had suggested. He threatened the people, telling them that instead of lightening their burdens he would increase their workload and intensify the punishment for noncompliance. As a result, the people rejected Rehoboam, stoned his taskmaster Adoram (v. 18), and made Jeroboam king over the northern ten tribes of Israel (v. 20). Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, and reigned only over the tribes Judah and Benjamin.
Jeroboam’s Golden Calves (1 Kings 12:25–33)
It is difficult to overstate the significance of the events that play out early on in Jeroboam I’s reign. Like many newly installed leaders, Jeroboam first moves to secure his place of dwelling by fortifying the cities of Shechem and Penuel.[5] After establishing these locations, he then turns his attention to the religious situation that must be addressed in the new nation. Being a bright and “very able young man” (cf. 1 Kings 11:28), Jeroboam recognized that the religious center of Israel’s faith was located outside the borders of his new nation. He feared that if the people were to continue to return to Jerusalem to worship, “they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah” (1 Kings 12:26).
Therefore, after receiving some bad advice, Jeroboam established two new centers for worship in the northern nation of Israel. He built two golden calves, placing one in the north at Dan and one in Bethel in the south, and proclaimed to the people of Israel, “Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28; cf. Exod. 32:4; Neh. 9:18). Whether or not the bovine structures were indeed idols of the deities or sacred mounts upon which the divine presence would have stood is debated, but most agree that the idea was in violation of the first and second commandments in the Decalogue.[6]However, there are numerous transgressions listed in the passage that indicate the seriousness of Jeroboam’s bad decision:[7]
Identifying multiple gods as the source of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt (v. 28)
Establishing places of worship on “high places” (v. 31)
Appointing priests to serve his new worship complexes who were not Levites (v. 31)
Declared changes to the calendar of religious festivals (v. 32)
Officiating personally at the altar in Bethel (v. 33)
Any one of these actions would have been a religious train wreck, and yet Jeroboam carried them all out at once. No wonder the author describes the situation in verse 30 stating, “Then this thing became a sin.”
Jeroboam’s iniquity becomes even more severe when compared to his potential, as witnessed in the initial divine offer mediated by Ahijah in chapter 11: “And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you” (1 Kings 11:38). Jeroboam could not have demonstrated a greater propensity for ignoring the word of the Lord. Driven by fear and selfishness, he turned from the ways of the Lord and ultimately made himself lord and god over the northern kingdom. Jeroboam’s divine judgement came (1 Kings 14:9–11), but the wicked seed had been sown. Every subsequent king of Israel (the only exception being Shallum, who reigned for one month; 2 Kings 15:13–16) is described as walking in the sins of Jeroboam: Nadab (1 Kings 15:30), Baasha (1 Kings 15:34), Elah (1 Kings 16:13, “the sins of Baasha”), Omri (1 Kings 16:26), Ahab (1 Kings 16:30–31), Ahaziah (1 Kings 22:52), Jehu (2 Kings 10:29), Jehoahaz (2 Kings 13:2), Jehoash (2 Kings 13:11), Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:24), Zechariah (2 Kings 15:9), Menahem (2 Kings 15:18), Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:24), and Pekah (2 Kings 15:28). According to the biblical historian, the northern nation of Israel fell for two reasons: (1) the people walked in the ways of the Canaanite nations (2 Kings 17:7–9), and (2) “The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them” (2 Kings 17:22).[8] Jeroboam’s legacy was Israel’s tragedy.
Hezekiah’s Courageous Stand (2 Kings 18:13–19:37)
The book of Kings makes a concerted effort to demonstrate that the northern nation of Israel exceeded the southern nation in their commitment sto disobeying the word of the Lord. Without a doubt Judah experienced epic leadership failures after the initial reign of Rehoboam, for example: Abijam (1 Kings 15:3), Jehoram (2 Kings 8:18), Ahaziah (2 Kings 8:27), and Ahaz (2 Kings 16:2–3). However, just as Jeroboam’s sin was perpetuated down through the generations of Israel’s kings, the legacy of King David in Judah also had lasting effects. King Asa, the grandson of Rehoboam, is so described: “Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done” (1 Kings 15:11). Unlike Israel, Judah experienced periodic relief from the wickedness of their leaders. Consequently, the southern nation did not experience the impending destruction and exile as quickly as the northern kingdom.[9]
One of those periods of relief was under the reign of King Hezekiah (715–686 bc). Like his predecessor Asa, Hezekiah is described as doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord and trusting “in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord” (2 Kings 18:5–6a).
Hezekiah’s resolve and faithfulness found its ultimate test in 701 bc, when the Assyrian king Sennacherib surrounded the city of Jerusalem, threatening to ravage the city (also recorded in 2 Chronicles 32:1–20 and Isaiah 36:1–22). After having stripped the temple and his own house of silver to pay off Sennacherib, who was encamped in the nearby city of Lachish, Hezekiah received word from his officials that the chief spokesman of the Assyrian army was threatening the people of Jerusalem: “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand” (2 Kings 18:29). However, the people did not respond because Hezekiah had commanded them not to answer the Assyrian threats.
Once the spokesman returned to Sennacherib, the king sent another message to Hezekiah by way of letter, and when Hezekiah received it he took it to the temple and spread it out before the Lord. Verses 15–19 record for us Hezekiah’s powerful prayer of faith offered up in the middle of this immense crisis. The prayer identifies God as the sole ruler over all of the kingdoms of the earth, cries out for his divine ear and intervention, and concludes by saying, “So now, O Lord our God, save us, please from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone” (2 Kings 19:19). Immediately following the king’s prayer, we are told that the prophet Isaiah sent word to Hezekiah confirming that God had indeed heard his prayer, and that the Lord would lead King Sennacherib away from Jerusalem without taking the city. Verses 35–36 report that these words came true and that the city did not fall to Sennacherib.[10]
Josiah’s Faithful Reforms (2 Kings 23:1–27)
About forty-five years after the reign of Hezekiah, and two horrible kings later (Manasseh and Amon), an eight-year-old boy by the name of Josiah assumed the throne of Judah. Though young, Josiah was a good king who was also described as walking in the ways of his father David, and it was because of his devotion and concern for the house of the Lord that the word of God would again resonate through the land of Judah. Josiah desired to allocate money so that the temple could be repaired and as the repairs were going on one of the priests, a certain Hilkiah, discovered the Book of the Law (which many perceive to be some form of Deuteronomy [11] ).
Hearing the word of the Lord, Josiah tore his clothes and immediately commanded the priests and servants to inquire a word from the Lord as to whether or not his wrath would come against them because of their fathers’ disobedience and neglect. God spoke to Josiah through the prophetess Huldah and told the king that his wrath would not be diverted from Jerusalem because of the idolatry of the nation. However, God told Josiah, “because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants . . . and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you . . . and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place” (2 Kings 22:19–20).
In the following chapter, we read that Josiah gathered all the people of Judah at the house to the Lord and read this newly rediscovered book to the nation. He then made a covenant with the Lord before all the people that he would walk in accordance to God’s laws, and the people covenanted along with him. The young king commanded the priests to rid the temple of the vestiges of Baal worship and the Asherah; he removed the high places from throughout the land, and destroyed the temple at Bethel constructed by Jeroboam I. Josiah carried out numerous religious changes in Judah, and the thoroughness of the reforms powerfully reveals the depths to which the nation had fallen and the significance of his faithful cleansing.
Theology of Leadership in the Divided Kingdom
A theology of leadership from the divided kingdom must begin by addressing the fundamental theological question: what do these texts reveal to us about God? While this seems utterly elementary when stated, our Western, individualistic, kneejerk reaction to Old Testament narratives is often to treat these stories as a biblical version of “Aesop’s Fables,” thus asking, “What is the moral lesson to be learned?” and “Do I follow this example, or not follow this example?” It is not that these questions are wholly inappropriate, for Paul tells us that many of Israel’s stories were given to us as a warning against moral and religious failure (see 1 Cor. 10:6–11). And in fact, these questions of moral character will be discussed further below. However, the Bible is a theological and historical revelation that is—at its core—a revelation of God’s redemptive plan for his people. Thus, a theology of any topic or book must begin with God. Perry W. H. Shaw helpfully ties this theological reality into the leadership discussion: “Overwhelmingly through the Scriptures the ideal model is not that of democracy or autocracy but theocracy; leaders see themselves as, first and foremost, servants and followers under the authority and leadership of God, and from that position lead others”[12]
The Word of the King
In the midst of the downward spiral that characterizes the divided monarchy, the word of the true King of Israel remains constant and sure. Burke Long writes of the divine word in Kings, “[T]he divine word not only comes true, it seems to push and motivate the actors in the drama, announce the turns, and shape of the tale (e.g., 17:1–6; 18:1–2). Prophecy is a history-creating force.” [13] The word of the Lord is described as being fulfilled, established, or confirmed five times in the Solomon narrative (1 Kings 2:4, 27; 6:12; 8:26, 56). Even the events surrounding the division of the kingdom under Rehoboam are attributed to the sovereign hand of YHWH: “So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat” (1 Kings 12:15).
Biblically rooted leadership recognizes and submits to the authority of the Sovereign Leader of the universe. God is at work in the world revealing himself and his plan of redemption through his chosen people Israel, and those leaders who recognize the divine word and work of the true Leader of Israel are portrayed as good and faithful leaders of God’s people. King Hezekiah prays, “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. . . . So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone” (2 Kings 19:15, 19). Yet even provided this portrait of Hezekiah’s piety, this does not appear to be the primary justification for delivering the city from the forces of Assyria. The Lord proclaims through the prophet Isaiah, “For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David” (2 Kings 19:34). YHWH works through the faithfulness of Hezekiah to deliver Jerusalem for the sake of his glory and because of the covenant he made with David.
Longing for a Perfect King
God would indeed keep his promise concerning his covenant with David. Despite the numerous negative examples of faithlessness, unrighteousness, and folly revealed in the divided monarchy, each failed attempt to reign would eventually serve as a foreboding foil for the coming King in God’s great narrative of salvation. Each failed reign points more directly to the high stakes of human rebellion and the desperate need for a king to come and represent the people in righteousness and justice. Theologically reflecting on the leaders found in the books of 1 and 2 Kings drives us in anticipation toward the great Leader of God’s people—Jesus the Christ. Consequently, in a post-incarnation and postresurrection world, the decided mark of true leadership is not measured by material productivity or institutional effectiveness but fidelity to the King—the Son of David—who reigns on high and will one day rule all the nations with a rod of iron.
Significance of Leadership in the Divided Kingdom
While the period of the divided kingdom certainly involves more examples of positive and negative leadership than the previously discussed episodes, these central figures serve to illustrate many of the foundational leadership principles found when surveying Kings. These individuals and events point to both the tragic consequences of poor leadership among the people of God and the preserving power of faithfulness and courage of great leaders.
Faithful Loyalty to YHWH
As mentioned in the earlier part of this chapter, the king was to function as the example of a faithful worshipper par excellence. In fact, in Israel and Judah, this was the primary means by which the biblical historian assessed the quality of a king’s reign. Positive portrayals of leadership are centered upon loyalty to YHWH as the one true God. This is illustrated negatively through the idolatrous worship of the northern kings following in the patterns of Jeroboam. Jeroboam and the northern kings did not walk in the ways of the Lord, and consequently lead the people into sinful idolatry. While the account of Josiah reminds us that the king and the people were not inseparable in God’s perspective (see 2 Kings 22:15–20), the overall pattern of leadership depicts the universal truism: People go where their leaders take them.
While Jeroboam and the kings of north demonstrate the consequences of disloyalty to YHWH, Hezekiah and Josiah reveal the fibers of faithfulness woven throughout the Davidic line. Not only does Hezekiah demonstrate his religious fervor by removing the high places, cutting down the Asherah, and breaking the bronze serpent (2 Kings 18:4), he recognizes that faithful cultic worship is linked to faithful foreign policy. Unlike his wicked father Ahaz—who sought deliverance from the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III, even after he received a word from the Lord (cf. Isa. 7:1–25)—Hezekiah refuses to serve the foreign Assyrian king.
For the king, loyalty to YHWH includes walking in his ways with regard to worship and rule. The two are not to be separated. In Kings, the political maneuverings of the king should to lead the people toward a holistic understanding of YHWH’s sovereignty over the nations of the earth—certainly, including his chosen people. Josiah leads the people in covenanting with the Lord and points them toward divinely sanctioned worship. Consequently, he receives the commendation: “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to the Law of Moses” (2 Kings 23:25). There is no such thing as “secular leadership” for the people of God. There is no realm of life to which God’s reign does not extend, therefore leadership must always be first and foremost loyal to the reign of God.
Humility & Wisdom
Wisdom and humility frequently coincide among the great leaders of the Bible. These characteristics are woven together in Proverbs 3:7, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, turn away from evil” and resonate with King Josiah’s divine commendation because he humbled himself before the Lord after being told about the Book of the Law (2 Kings 22:19). However, humility must also extend to the realm of earthly relationships as well. Exercising humility and wisdom often looks like responding properly to others. This is where Rehoboam fails as a leader. He is instructed by the old counselors, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever” (1 Kings 12:7). Like many leaders presented in the Bible, Rehoboam rejects the notion that leadership involves service; he demands that he be served instead. His proud heavy-handed power grab reveals his insensitivity, insecurity, and incompetence as responsible leader.
Rehoboam’s leadership strategy is captured nicely in a work written over a thousand years later—Nicholi Machiavelli’s The Prince. He writes: “And here comes in the question whether it is better to be loved or feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.”[14] Rehoboam’s pride prompts his refusal to listen to the requests of the people he is serving. As theologian Kevin Vanhoozer writes, “Pride does not listen; it knows.”[15] While Rehoboam did seek counsel from others, in the end he listens to the foolish advice of the young yes-men he surrounded himself with, instead of heeding the words of the people he was leading.
Unlike Rehoboam, who refused to humble himself before the people and the wise counsel of the elders, Hezekiah humbles himself before the word of the Lord delivered through the prophet Isaiah. However, even before responding to the word of Isaiah, he sought out the word of Isaiah. When Hezekiah received the threats of Sennacherib, he tore his clothes, went to the temple, and sent for the prophet of the Lord. His leadership reflex was to turn to YHWH when crisis hit. When he received confirmation from Isaiah, he responded in faith, going a second time to the temple to pray for God to protect him and the city from this mighty enemy.
Hezekiah’s wisdom is also highlighted in the way he leads his people to deal with the Assyrian officials. The strategy of the official was to create such a sense of fear and panic that the people of Jerusalem would do the fighting for him. If he could create a panic with his rather serious threats (which had been confirmed in previous attacks not to be mere threats), the people would turn on Hezekiah and give him up to the Assyrians as a way of saving their own lives. However, it appears in 2 Kings 18:36 that Hezekiah was not caught off guard: “But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was ‘Do not answer him.’ ” Wisdom and silence are steady companions in the Old Testament (e.g., Prov. 11:12; 17:28; Eccl. 9:17; Isa. 7:4), and wise leadership looks like foreseeing scenarios that could produce panic and interjecting calm. In fact, Isaiah tells Hezekiah’s father Ahaz to do just this: “be calm, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint” (Isa. 7:4). Hezekiah obeys the words given to his father better than he did, and the city and its people were blessed through his leadership.
Courage in the Midst of Difficulties
The famous French revolutionary leader Napoleon Bonaparte held such contempt for human nature that his biographers recorded him saying, “There are two levers for moving men—interest and fear.”[16] Truly, there is not a more accurate or succinct assessment of the leadership motivations that appear to lie behind the actions of Rehoboam and Jeroboam. They simply feared the people they were leading, instead of the God they were serving. Once the kingdom divided and Jeroboam saw that people would have to return to Jerusalem to worship, he knew their allegiance would falter and they would turn back to Rehoboam the king of Judah. His fear drove him to spiritually compromise in ways that had enormous consequences for the northern nation of Israel. Interestingly, what Jeroboam’s motivations reveal is that he had been practicing idolatry long before the golden calves were ever constructed. His fear revealed his real love. It is no consequence or mistake that YHWH continually commands his people to fear him and love him only (see Deut. 10:12). Our worst fears often reveal our deepest affections. In his fear of losing his life, his kingdom, and his position, Jeroboam reveals that his kingdom and position are the objects of worship in his life, not the Sovereign Lord of Israel.
Having received the word of the Lord, Jeroboam had no reason to fear. He had the testimony of God’s faithfulness to Israel from the Patriarchs, to the Exodus, to the Promised Land. However, we have an even greater testimony of God’s love and faithfulness. God’s love has been demonstrated to us in that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Paul tells Christians that they have nothing to fear, for nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:31–39), and that coming to a right understanding of God’s perfect love for us in Christ drives out fear (1 John 4:18). There are times when we will need to embrace the promises of God, and walk into the face of bad odds, low profit margins, and political ruin in order to faithfully lead in a biblical manner. This takes courage, and any leadership decision rooted in a fear of losing status, prestige, position, and power is not embracing the “Spirit of adoption as sons” that we have in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion
The divided kingdom was a dark period in the history of God’s people. However, like many periods of human history, the bleakness of the time allowed the character of certain leaders to shine forth. The faithlessness and fear of Jeroboam truly make the trust and courage of Hezekiah and Josiah stand out all the more. Ultimately, a good leader during the divided kingdom was a leader who responded faithfully to the promises of God. The faith of men like Josiah and Hezekiah, in the face of challenging circumstances, separates them from the foolishness and idolatry of leaders like Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
Nearly three thousand years after the division of the kingdom of Israel, we are still living under the reign of a son of David—only our King is the King of kings. And like the religious leaders in the Gospels, twenty-first-century leaders must answer the question, “Who is this Jesus?” The Divine Word (the Logos) has come into world enacting a much greater salvation than Hezekiah would ever experience, and we must decide whether or not we are going to acknowledge this great redemptive work or build our own kingdoms, set up our own festivals, and worship our own images. As members of God’s kingdom, made up of royal priests (1 Peter 2:9) and vice-regents, leadership in our vocations, families, and churches must reveal our faith-filled dependence upon the one true God, the ultimate source of all authority. When our faith is rooted in the promises of God, we are free to lead—like the Hezekiah and Josiah of old—with courage and humility in the face of fear, living out the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me” (Jer. 9:23–24).
Reference information
[Benjamin K Forrest (2018). (p. 141). Biblical Theology for the Church: Biblical Leadership: Theology for the Everyday Leader. Retrieved from https://app.wordsearchbible.com]
