Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

1 Kings 14 Devotional

No Disguise Before God

“All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. For this is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will receive a proper burial, because only in him has the LORD, the God of Israel, found any good in the house of Jeroboam.”1 Kings 14:13 (BSB)

Jeroboam's son falls ill, and the king sends his wife in disguise to the prophet Ahijah (14:1-2). The disguise is useless twice over. Ahijah is blind with age, and the LORD has already told him who is coming (14:4-5). Before she says a word, he greets her as the wife of Jeroboam (14:6). Then comes a heavy message: God had raised Jeroboam up, but he made other gods and turned his back on the LORD (14:7-9).

In the middle of the judgment lies one tender detail. The sick boy will die, and he alone in Jeroboam's family will be mourned and properly buried, because the LORD found something good in him (14:13). God's eyes miss nothing, neither a disguised visitor nor the small good in one child. Hebrews says that everything lies open before God (Hebrews 4:13). That truth is searching, but for those who come to him through Christ it is also a comfort. You are fully known by the One who does not overlook even the smallest good.

To think about: What would it mean for you to come to God today through Christ, fully known and without hiding?

About 1 Kings 14: Ahijah’s Word Against Jeroboam

Jeroboam’s wife visits the blind prophet Ahijah in disguise to ask about their sick son and hears God’s judgment on Jeroboam’s family and on Israel; the boy dies as foretold. In Judah, Rehoboam’s people turn to idolatry, and Egypt’s king Shishak plunders Jerusalem, taking Solomon’s gold shields.

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