1Ki 14: "The sin of Jeroboam was that he perverted the divine
worship -- and not that he directly opposed it. He neutralised the spirit of
David and Solomon within the nation, by tampering with and weakening the
principle of worship. The festivals, sacrifices, sabbaths, etc, of the Law
continued in the northern kingdom (Hos 2:11; 6:6; 8:13; 9:4). Tithes, etc, were
brought to the temple at Bethel (Amos 4:4; 5:21-22). The Psalms of David were
heard (Amos 5:23; 6:5), but the people were deterred from worshipping at
Jerusalem (Deu 12:11). There was an encouragement to ignore the fundamentals of
Faith, and to ignore those who were valiant for the Truth in times past. There
was a deliberate change of policy to allow a greater liberty of expression, and
political pressure on those who desired to uphold the things of the past. Now
sickness and death strike at Jeroboam's family, the premonition of greater
tragedy to come.
"So the prophet Ahijah was instructed to convey the divine
warning to Jeroboam (vv 1-16); but the appeal of the king was to no avail, for
the child died (vv 17,18), and this was followed by the death of Jeroboam (vv
19,20). Meanwhile, in Judah to the south, Rehoboam's reign brought an evil
environment (vv 21-24). Then came the invasion of Shishak of Egypt (vv 25-28),
concluding with the death of Rehoboam (vv 29-31). It was a sad story of failure
by a nation that ignored its pioneer spirit of former times" (GEM).
MALE SHRINE PROSTITUTES: "Sodomites" (AV). " 'Qadhesh'
denotes properly a male temple prostitute, one of the class attached to certain
sanctuaries of heathen deities, and 'consecrated' [the Heb rt word means lit,
and sarcastically, 'holy'!] to the impure rites of their worship. Such gross and
degrading practices in Yahweh's land could only be construed as a flagrant
outrage; and any association of these with His pure worship was abhorrent (Deu
23:17,18): The presence of Sodomites is noted as a mark of degeneracy in
Rehoboam's time (1Ki 14:24). Asa endeavored to get rid of them (1Ki 15:12), and
Jehoshaphat routed them out (1Ki 22:46). Subsequent corruptions opened the way
for their return, and Josiah had to break down their houses which were actually
"in the house of the Lord" (2Ki 23:7). The feminine 'qedheshah' is translated
'prostitute' in Gen 38:21,22; Hos 4:14; Deu 23:17 (the KJV mg has 'sodomitess';
the RV mg simply transliterates). The English word is, of course, derived from
Sodom, the inhabitants of which were in evil repute for unnatural vice"
(ISBE).