April 13, 2025 – 1 Kings 12

Lesson Date: April 13, 2025

Focal Scripture Passage: 1 Kings 10:23; 11:4-12, 38; 12:1-33

AIM: To lead students to discover that Israel’s kings foolishly sinned away God’s blessings, and to examine themselves to see if they might be doing the same thing.

 

Before class: Read the notes on 1 Kings 12 found in the Sunday School Teacher Book.

 

INTRODUCTION (Create Learning Readiness): Tell the students that we sometimes hear about a gifted high school athlete who is recruited to play at one of the nation’s top college football programs.  Tell them that the sports community is abuzz with talk about the young athlete’s promising future, and that he will undoubtedly be a highly-paid star in the NFL one day.  Tell the class that sadly, we sometimes later learn that the promising young athlete got involved in drinking and drugs, was convicted of drug and gun crimes, and ended up in prison.

Ask: “What’s your reaction when you hear of something like that?” (we wonder why the young man would be so foolish as to throw away the blessings of a bright and lucrative future).

Tell the students that similarly, we sometimes hear about a successful and beloved pastor with a beautiful family who has an affair and ends up losing his family and his ministry.

Ask: “What’s your reaction when you hear of something like that?” (we wonder why the pastor would be so foolish as to throw away God’s blessings for the fleeting pleasures of sin).

Tell the class the title of today’s lesson is Don’t Sin Away God’s Blessings.  Tell them we will discover that the kings described in this lesson foolishly sinned away the blessings of God, and we will use their experience as a warning to not follow their examples.

 

HEART OF THE LESSON (Bible Study):

1. Review.
   • Remind everyone that we are studying the Old Testament book of 1 Kings.
   • Ask: “What was last week’s lesson about?” (How’s Your Heart?; we learned that even though Solomon was the richest and wisest king who ever lived, he foolishly ignored God’s warnings about protecting his heart, and suffered terribly for it).
   • Ask if any volunteer would recite last week’s suggested memory verse (Matthew 22:37).
2. Solomon Sinned Away God’s Blessings.
   • Tell the students that we are going to begin by reminding ourselves how King Solomon handled God’s blessings.
   • Ask a volunteer to read 1 Kings 10:23.
   • Ask: “In what ways did God bless Solomon?” (he had more wealth and wisdom than any other king on earth).
   • Say: “Let’s remind ourselves what Solomon did with God’s blessings.”
   • Read 1 Kings 11:4-8.
   • Ask: “How did Solomon sin against God?” (he turned from following the Lord and turned instead to worship many false gods).
   • Ask a volunteer to read 1 Kings 11:9-12.
   • Ask: “What did God promise to do as a result of Solomon’s sin?” (tear the kingdom out of his son’s hand).
   • Tell the class that like the promising football star or the beloved pastor mentioned in the introduction of this lesson, Solomon foolishly sinned away God’s blessings.
   • Summarize: God blessed Solomon with more wealth and wisdom than anyone on earth, but he foolishly sinned away those blessings by turning his heart toward false gods.
3. Rehoboam Sinned Away God’s Blessings.
   • Read 1 Kings 12:1-3.
   • Explain the following:
     • Rehoboam was Solomon’s son and heir to the throne (1 Kings 11:43).
     • He went to Shechem for his coronation ceremony (locate Shechem on the Map of Israel).
     • Shechem was located about 30 miles north of Jerusalem, in the territory allotted to the northern tribe of Ephraim.
     • The fact that Rehoboam wanted to be crowned king in Shechem instead of the capital city of Jerusalem reveals that there was already tension between the ten northern tribes and the two southern tribes.
     • He needed the support of the northern tribes to solidify his rule.
     • Throughout this chapter, the words “all Israel” refer to the ten northern tribes.
   • Ask: “According to verse 3, who did the northern tribes send for?” (Jeroboam, who had previously revolted against Solomon and fled to Egypt; 1 Kings 11:26, 40).
   • Ask a volunteer to read 1 Kings 12:3-4.
   • Ask: “What did the ten northern tribes ask of Rehoboam, and how did he respond?” (they asked him to lighten the heavy burden of taxation and service Solomon had placed on them; Rehoboam told them to come back in three days for his answer).
   • Read 1 Kings 12:5-11.
   • Ask: “What did the older men who had advised his father Solomon tell Rehoboam to do?” (grant their request and ease their burden; they said if Rehoboam did those things the people would serve him forever).
   • Ask: “What did the younger men who had grown up with Rehoboam advise him to do?” (ignore their request and assert his power by adding to their burden and treating them harshly).
   • Ask a volunteer to read 1 Kings 12:12-14.
   • Ask: “Whose advice did Rehoboam follow?” (the advice of the younger men).
   • Tell the class that Rehoboam rejected the wise godly counsel of the older, more experienced counselors, choosing instead to follow the advice of the younger, more brash and foolhardy counselors.
   • Read 1 Kings 12:16-19.
   • Ask: “What happened as a result of Rehoboam’s foolish choice?” (the northern tribes rebelled against him and the house (dynasty) of his grandfather, King David).
   • Tell the class that like the promising football star or the beloved pastor mentioned in the introduction of this lesson, Rehoboam foolishly sinned away God’s blessings.
   • Summarize: God blessed Rehoboam by putting him on the throne of Solomon’s great and wealthy kingdom, but he foolishly sinned away that blessing by ignoring godly counsel and trying to make himself appear strong and powerful.
4. God Used Man’s Foolish Actions to Carry Out His Plan.
   • Ask a volunteer to read 1 Kings 12:15.
   • Ask: “How did God use Rehoboam’s foolish choice?” (to fulfill the promise made by the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam).
   • Explain the following:
     • In 1 Kings 11:29-31, Ahijah told Jeroboam that God would tear ten tribes away from the hand of Solomon and give them to Jeroboam.
     • God used Rehoboam’s foolishness to accomplish that very purpose.
     • In the words of Charles Spurgeon, “This text also shows that God is in events that are produced by people’s sin and stupidity.”[i]
   • Read 1 Kings 12:20-24.
   • Explain the following:
     • The ten northern tribes made Jeroboam their king.
     • The wealthy and powerful kingdom of Israel that had been ruled by David and Solomon was now divided into two smaller, less wealthy, and less powerful nations.
     • Rehoboam prepared to launch an attack to try to bring the northern tribes back under his rule, but a prophet from God warned him to stop.
   • Ask: “According to verse 24, why was Rehoboam not supposed to attack?” (because God said of the division of the kingdom, “for this thing is from me.”
   • Explain that Charles Spurgeon also said, “We know not how it is, but it is an undoubted fact that a thing may be from God and yet it may be worked, as we see in this case, by human folly and wickedness.”
   • Summarize: Rehoboam’s foolish decisions moved the northern tribes to rebel against the house of David, fulfilling God’s planned judgment on Solomon’s sin.
5. Jeroboam Sinned Away God’s Blessing.
   • Tell the class that the rest of the chapter tells about Jeroboam’s rule over the ten northern tribes, known as the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
   • Read 1 Kings 12:25-30.
   • Ask: “According to verse 27, why was Jeroboam afraid to let his people go back to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple?” (he knew their hearts would turn back to Rehoboam and they would kill Jeroboam).
   • Ask: “What did Jeroboam do to keep them from going back to the Temple in Jerusalem?” (he made two golden calves and set up one at Bethel in the south and one at Dan in the north; locate Bethel and Dan on the Map of Israel).
   • Ask: “According to verse 28, what did Jeroboam say about these golden calves?” (“behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt;” the same words Aaron spoke in Ex. 32:4 about the golden calf he made).
   • Ask: “What does verse 30 say about this idolatry?” (it was a sin).
   • Ask a volunteer to read 1 Kings 12:31-33.
   • Tell the class that Jeroboam also made a temple, selected priests, and established holy days for his new idol-worshiping religion.
   • Ask everyone to look back at chapter 11, and read 1 Kings 11:38.
   • Ask: “What had God promised Jeroboam?” (if Jeroboam would walk in God’s ways and obey His commands like David did, then He would be with Jeroboam, establish through him a long-lasting dynasty, and give Israel to him to rule).
   • Stress the fact that God chose Jeroboam to rule over the northern kingdom, and promised to bless him as He had blessed David.
   • Ask: “Did Jeroboam obey God?” (no, he threw away God’s promises in favor of sin and idolatry).
   • Tell the class that like the promising football star or the beloved pastor mentioned in the introduction of this lesson, Jeroboam foolishly sinned away God’s blessings.
   • Summarize: God promised to bless Jeroboam with His presence and a long-lasting dynasty, but he foolishly sinned away those blessings by worshiping false gods.

 

PERSONAL APPLICATION: Remind the students that the title of today’s lesson is Don’t Sin Away God’s Blessings.  Tell them we learned about some kings who foolishly sinned away the blessings of God.  Tell them we also learned that God is sovereign and He can even use our foolish mistakes to accomplish His ultimate purpose.

Ask: “How did Solomon sin away God’s blessings?” (by taking many foreign wives, following them into idolatry, building places for idol worship, and worshiping idols himself).

Ask: “How did Rehoboam sin away God’s blessings?” (by foolishly following the advice of his friends and trying to appear tough, instead of listening to his father’s wise advisors.

Ask: “How did Jeroboam sin away God’s blessings?” (by leading his new kingdom into idolatry).

Ask: “What life lesson should we take from today’s study?” (be aware of and grateful for the blessings of God, and don’t foolishly sin away His blessings).

Ask everyone to bow their head and close their eyes.  Ask: “Are you foolishly sinning away God’s blessings?  Are there sins in your life that take away or block out God’s blessings?  What do you need to change to get back to living in a way that God can bless?”  Allow a moment for silent prayer, and then voice a closing prayer.

 

CONCLUSION: Ask everyone to beware of sinning away God’s blessings this week.  Tell them that next Sunday is Easter, and urge everyone to bring a friend to church with them.

 

[i] KJV Spurgeon Study Bible, Copyright © 2018 by Holman Bible Publishers.