Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
As a result of this lesson, we want the students to learn that God is both ultimately sovereign while still allowing people to exercise free will. God gives people freedom of choice, but still shapes events according to His own purpose.
These are not Bible stories you remember from childhood, like Jesus feeding the 5,000 or the story of Ruth and Naomi. These are not triumphant battles between good and evil, like David versus Goliath or Elijah on Mount Carmel. These aren’t even epic tales like Noah’s Ark or the saga of Samson. No. These stories are haunting, even disturbing, with no clear heroes or anyone to root for, with seemingly the wrong people winning and the wrong people dying. Through them, we’ll see God working to draw His people back to Him.
OPENING ACTIVITY: INSECURITY MEASURES
God promised Jeroboam, “If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you” (1 Kings 11:38, NIV).
It was quite a promise for someone who had no reason to ever expect he would become a king, yet Jeroboam let his insecurities get in the way of the success God had promised him. In the following activity, have your students stand up if they feel confident in the following categories, or stay seated if they don’t.
This week’s lesson starts out with one of the most incredible stories in the Bible, perhaps even all human history. It’s about a miracle that saved countless lives, yet it is easy to overlook because it doesn’t involve a visible sign like a floating axe head or the sun standing still.
In 1 Kings 12:16, all Israel except the tribe of Judah tells Rehoboam they are no longer subject to his rule. Rehoboam sends Adoram, the man in charge of forced labor for Israel, to tell the people to get back in line. The people—understandably upset about the forced labor and high taxes which began during Solomon’s reign—decide to stone Adoram to death instead. Rehoboam flees to Jerusalem. His rival Jeroboam returns from exile in Egypt, and Rehoboam gathers an army for a civil war.
The stage looks set for a bloodbath—until God sends a prophet named Shemaiah. Shemaiah delivers the Word of the Lord (verses 23-24), telling all of Israel that this split is His will and they should return home in peace. Which, astonishingly, everybody does.
Let’s take a closer look at 1 Kings 12:16-24 (NIV):
16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:
“What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son?To your tents, Israel! Look after your own house, David!”
So the Israelites went home. 17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.
18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
20 When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.
21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.
22 But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 23 “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 24 ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.
Jeroboam quickly decides that if he wants to keep his people from turning back to Judah, home of the temple, he needs to distract them with his own spin on religion. He sets up two golden calves, one at each end of the country, so that people won’t bother going back to Jerusalem to worship. Let’s take a look at 1 Kings 12:26-31 (NIV):
26 Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”
28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 29 One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.
31 Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites.
While Israelite religion emphasized trusting their faithful God, Canaanites frequently felt the need to remind the gods how to do their job. With society always one bad crop from collapse, Canaanite religion focused on fertility, using rituals that often involved sex. Canaanites would also sacrifice something of value to get their gods’ attention, from vegetables and animals to their own children. Jeroboam’s combination of religious beliefs further opened the door to idolatry in Israel.
God didn’t let all this happen without letting the people know how He felt about it. Check out 1 Kings 13:1-10 (NIV):
1 By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. 2 By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’” 3 That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”
4 When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. 5 Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord.
6 Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.
7 The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.”
8 But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. 9 For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” 10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
Here’s where the story gets even weirder. If it had ended with the prophet sauntering off, dramatic message delivered to the king with a side of signs and wonders, we might better remember the story today. Instead, it turns sobering. Let’s read 1 Kings 13:11-29 (NIV), then explore it with some questions.
Note to Teacher: If you choose to go in depth on this part of the lesson, you may wish to read the next group of verses straight through yourself rather than having students read a few verses each.
11 Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. 12 Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13 So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
“I am,” he replied.
15 So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”
16 The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”
18 The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’”
23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25 Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.
26 When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who defied the word of the Lord. The Lord has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the Lord had warned him.”
27 The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so. 28 Then he went out and found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. 29 So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him.
The Fall of the House of Jeroboam
Jeroboam’s life has been marked by unexpected encounters with prophets. It’s telling that later in life when he seeks out Ahijah, the prophet who told him he’d be king, he sends his wife in disguise so she won’t be recognized. It’s more than a little ironic that Ahijah has become blind with age, yet as a prophet, he recognizes her anyway. It’s a reminder that Jeroboam can’t hide from God or escape the consequences of his actions.
Let’s look at 1 Kings 14:1-18 (NIV).
1 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, 2 and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so you won’t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there—the one who told me I would be king over this people. 3 Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” 4 So Jeroboam’s wife did what he said and went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh.
Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age. 5 But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else.”
6 So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense? I have been sent to you with bad news. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. 9 You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me.
10 “‘Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free. I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone. 11 Dogs will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country. The Lord has spoken!’
12 “As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die. 13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the Lord, the God of Israel, has found anything good.
14 “The Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. Even now this is beginning to happen. 15 And the Lord will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused the Lord’s anger by making Asherah poles. 16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”
17 Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the Lord had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.
APPLICATION
God has called each one of us to lives of service, integrity, and faithfulness. Jesus promised that if we “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, [then] all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33, NIV). God promises to bless us—not necessarily with worldly wealth and success, but in immeasurable spiritual ways, now and for eternity.
With that in mind, how then should we live? How should such a perspective shape our everyday actions and choices?
As a result of this lesson, we want the students to learn that fear focuses us on our own abilities and can lead to decreased faith. However, faith in God leads to fearlessness and obedience.
OPENING ACTIVITY: LISTENING TO ADVICE
Choose a volunteer to leave the room and put on a blindfold. Choose another volunteer to be the guide who will direct the blindfolded student to find a pre-chosen chair and sit down without touching the chair at all. The blindfolded person will need to trust the guide to keep them from falling onto the ground when they expect to sit in a chair.
The guide will leave the room with the student to be blindfolded and will help them secure their blindfold. While they are out of the room, tell the remaining students that they will be giving fake instructions to the blindfolded student, directing them away from the chair. They are to intentionally confuse and distract the blindfolded student. However, no one is allowed to touch the blindfolded student except for the guide. At the last moment the guide may touch the blindfolded student or the chair to keep them from falling.
Have the blindfolded student enter the room. Tell them to listen well to their guide so they will not be led astray. Have the guide give the directions as the rest of the students try to drown out the guide with misinformation. Once the blindfolded student is seated in the chair, debrief with them.
Through the prophet Ahijah, God called Jeroboam to be the king of the ten tribes of Israel. However, rather than trusting God, Jeroboam felt compelled to take matters into his own hands. As Ellen White puts it, “Jeroboam’s greatest fear was that at some future time the hearts of his subjects might be won over by the ruler occupying the throne of David. He reasoned that if the 10 tribes should be permitted to visit often the ancient seat of the Jewish monarchy, where the services of the temple were still conducted as in the years of Solomon’s reign, many might feel inclined to renew their allegiance to the government centering at Jerusalem” (Prophets and Kings, p. 99).
Jeroboam was chosen by God to do something important in a very specific way. He was given careful instructions on how to govern, lead, and even how to choose and equip priests. All these directions were designed to protect the king and the people of the tribe of Judah. Rather than trusting and having faith in God’s plan, Jeroboam became fearful and self-centered. His faithless fear created generations of pain and destruction.
Jeroboam became fearful and that fear drove him to make some poor choices that were directly opposite to God’s instructions.
Let’s read the story in 1 Kings 12:26-30 (NIV).
26 Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”
28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 29 One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other (NIV).
Let’s read what God said in Exodus 20:2-4 (NIV).
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Let’s go back to our story and see what else Jeroboam did in 1 Kings 12. This time let’s read verses 31 and 32 (NIV).
31 Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. 32 He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. 33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.
Now let’s see what happened in 1 Kings 13:1-6 (NIV).
1 By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. 2 By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’” 3 That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”
4 When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. 5 Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord.
6 Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.
And now, let’s read verses 11-22 (NIV).
11Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. 12 Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13 So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
“I am,” he replied.
15 So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”
16 The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”
18 The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’”
APPLICATION
Print out the PDF attached with this lesson, fold it in half, and give one to each student. Provide pens/pencils for each student. Tell them to leave the paper folded until you say go. Have a small prize available for the student who finishes first. Tell them you are giving them three minutes to complete the sheet. Make a sound to indicate the start of the activity.
At the end of three minutes (or when someone thinks they have won and hands in their paper), make the sound again to signify the end of the activity.
If someone actually followed the directions and only completed #1, ask:
If no one did the activity correctly, ask:
When everyone is finished with the activity, ask:
Ask the students to think about the upcoming week and pray for God to show them a specific way they can follow His leading in their lives.
