Was Jeroboam's Rebellion Right?

1 Kings 14:2 KJV

And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.

It has always been pointed out to me that the northern kingdom's rebellion against Judah was never justified, no matter what the circumstances that led to that rebellion. The proof of that assertion is that they never had even one godly king and when they were defeated by the Assyrians, three hundred and sixty years after the original rebellion, they were so decimated that there was no record left of them. Those Jews who are of the northern tribes have no way of knowing what tribe they are from because the record of their lineage was destroyed. (Of course God has kept His own record).

But a man asked me recently about Jeroboam;

• Wasn't he instructed of the prophets to lead the northern kingdom?
• Couldn't he have been a good king?
• Wasn't his sin not originally in leading the rebellion but in turning from God after the rebellion?

First, God's promise to David held despite the sin of Solomon

The royal family was the Davidic family. The lineage from which Christ would come was the Davidic line. Jeroboam was used of the Lord to chasten Solomon's disobedience in a manner similar to the Lord's use of Nebuchadnezzar to chasten Jerusalem. In neither case was the man right in his actions. His unrighteous act was simply used for God's good purpose. Perhaps the most remarkable and most misunderstood quality of God is His turning what men meant for evil into His meaning for good.

But Jeroboam was offered grace even despite the rebellion.

He could have chosen to serve the Lord in his new found kingdom. He didn't have to rebel against God in his rebellion against the Davidic kingdom. I suspect that God warned him not to rebel in the same fashion as He warned Solomon not to turn aside from God; knowing that was what he would do.

God's grace is available to anyone in any circumstance. We may have done terribly wrong. We might look back and think we have tragically blown it. But

• There is always a preacher placed in our way to set us on the path of righteousness
• There is always a Bible available somewhere to light our way back to God
• There is always a church whose doors are open to provide us a means of serving and worshipping the Lord

If we will but obey the Lord we may be blessed of the Lord regardless of our past sins.