Israel
After Solomon鈥檚 reign, Rehoboam briefly became king of all Israel. He believes himself to be more powerful than his father, but ends up seeing his kingdom divided. Most of the kingdom, led by Jeroboam, will be called Israel. The smaller part of the kingdom, led by Rehoboam, will be called Judah. Jeroboam didn鈥檛 want the people of Israel travelling to Jerusalem to worship God, so he set up alternate gods for the people to worship. If you were to read the next couple of chapters, you would discover that God had been ready to give Jeroboam success as king, but cursed him instead because of his worship of other gods. In the midst of a great success, Jeroboam made a decision to strengthen his victories in a way that displeased God. How often do we disobey God in the midst of success? Does a promotion lead to treating others poorly? Does lots of income lead to a lack of generosity? Does success lead to self-reliance?