Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 211
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SAMUEL–KINGS
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Then the Lord raised up Hadad the Edomite, a member of Edom’s royal
family, to be Solomon’s adversary. Years before, David had defeated Edom.
Joab, his army commander, had stayed to bury some of the Israelite soldiers who had died in battle. While there, they killed every male in Edom.
Joab and the army of Israel had stayed there for six months, killing them.
But Hadad and a few of his father’s royal officials escaped and headed for
Egypt. (Hadad was just a boy at the time.) They set out from Midian and
went to Paran, where others joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and
went to Pharaoh, who gave them a home, food, and some land. Pharaoh
grew very fond of Hadad, and he gave him his wife’s sister in marriage—
the sister of Queen Tahpenes. She bore him a son named Genubath. Tah
penes raised him in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s own sons.
When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that Dav id and his commander Joab were both dead, he said to Pharaoh, “Let me return to my
own country.”
“Why?” Pharaoh asked him. “What do you lack here that makes you
want to go home?”
“Nothing,” he replied. “But even so, please let me return home.”
God also raised up Rezon son of Eliada as Solomon’s adversary. Rezon
had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah, and had become the
leader of a gang of rebels. After David conquered Hadadezer, Rezon and
his men fled to Damascus, where he became king. Rezon was Israel’s bitter adversary for the rest of Solomon’s reign, and he made trouble, just as
Hadad did. Rezon hated Israel intensely and continued to reign in Aram.
Another rebel leader was Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s own
officials. He came from the town of Zeredah in Ephraim, and his mother
was Zeruah, a widow.
This is the story behind his rebellion. Solomon was rebuilding the supporting terraces and repairing the walls of the city of his father, David.
Jeroboam was a very capable young man, and when Solomon saw how
industrious he was, he put him in charge of the labor force from the tribes
of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph.
One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from
Shiloh met him along the way. Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two
of them were alone in a field, and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was
wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take
ten of these pieces, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am
about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of
the tribes to you! But I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant
David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the
tribes of Israel. For Solomon has abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth,