Question 1

Who is Rehoboam in this passage, and how long did he reign?

Accepted Answer

Rehoboam is the son of Solomon and the king of Judah in this passage. He begins to reign when he is forty‑one years old and rules for seventeen years in Jerusalem. He does not rule over all the tribes, but over Judah (and Benjamin), after the kingdom has been split. The text also points out that he reigns in Jerusalem, the city God chose for his name and worship, which makes his later unfaithfulness and the sins of the people even more serious.

Question 2

Why is it important that Rehoboam reigned in Jerusalem, the city God chose?

Accepted Answer

Jerusalem is called the city God chose from all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. This means God had set it apart for his worship, with the temple and sacrifices centered there. Because of this, Rehoboam and the people of Judah had every chance to know and follow God’s ways. Their choice to turn to idols and copy the nations around them is worse because it happens right where God’s presence and worship are meant to be honored.

Question 3

What does it mean that Judah did evil and provoked the Lord to jealousy?

Accepted Answer

When the passage says Judah did evil in the Lord’s sight, it is talking mainly about their idol worship and sexual sins. To provoke God to jealousy means they treated him like an unfaithful spouse would treat a husband, turning from their covenant with him to serve other gods. God’s jealousy here is his holy, rightful claim on his people. They did not just stumble in small ways, but went further into sin than their fathers, in full view of the God who had chosen and blessed them.

Question 4

What are the high places, images, and groves mentioned in this passage?

Accepted Answer

High places were worship sites built on hills or elevations. After the temple was established, these places became centers of false worship. Images were carved or molded idols, made to represent false gods. Groves were groups of trees or sacred poles set up as part of idol worship, often linked with sexual practices. Judah built these on every high hill and under every green tree, copying the worship patterns of the nations around them instead of keeping to the worship God had commanded at his temple.

Question 5

Who are the sodomites in the land, and what were they doing?

Accepted Answer

The sodomites mentioned in this passage are people involved in sexual acts that go against God’s design, especially same‑sex acts between men. Their name links back to the sins of Sodom. These practices often went along with idol worship, happening in or around the places and groves set up for false gods. The verse says they did according to all the abominations of the nations God had cast out, meaning they were copying the same shameful acts that brought judgment on the Canaanites before them.

Question 6

Why does the passage compare Judah’s sins to the nations God cast out?

Accepted Answer

The text says Judah did according to all the abominations of the nations the Lord cast out before Israel. This ties Judah’s behavior to the Canaanites, whose sins had brought God’s judgment when Israel first entered the land. Instead of learning from that history, Judah repeats the same idol worship and sexual sins. This shows how far they have fallen, and it hints that they cannot expect to be safe if they live like the people God had already judged in that very land.

Question 7

How does this passage show the link between leadership and the people’s sin?

Accepted Answer

Rehoboam reigns in Jerusalem where God’s temple is, yet under his rule Judah quickly turns aside. The passage does not spell out every choice Rehoboam made, but it clearly joins his reign with Judah’s drift into idolatry, high places, and sexual sin. This shows that when a leader is careless about faithfulness to God, the people often follow. His background, including his mother from a people known for idol worship, also hints that his household’s influences helped open the door for these sins in Judah.

Question 8

What does this passage teach about God’s view of idolatry and sexual sin?

Accepted Answer

This passage shows that God sees idolatry and sexual sin as serious, not small or private issues. Judah is said to provoke God to jealousy with these sins. They build high places and images, and there are sodomites in the land, copying the abominations of the nations God had removed. God is not indifferent when his people mix his name with false worship or twist his design for sexuality. These actions grieve him and put his people on the same path as those who were judged before.

1 Kings 14:21

¶ And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

Rehoboam Reigns in Judah

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1 Kings 14:21

¶ And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

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Rehoboam Reigns in Judah

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