by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n
In any secular history book, Jeroboam II would look like a successful king. He reigned for 41 years in an age when the length of a reign correlated with political power. Militarily, he was one of the greatest commanders among the monarchs of Israel. During his reign, he brought the seesaw wars between Israel and Syria to a victorious conclusion. By the time he was done, Jeroboam II had conquered not only the Syrian capital of Damascus but even the city of Hamath, 100 miles further north. Not since the reign of Solomon had Israelite power reached so far.<\/p>\n
However, there was a problem. Even though God had used Jeroboam II to deliver Israel from Syrian oppression, he himself was not a righteous man. I Kings 14:24 reports that he was every bit as idolatrous as his namesake, Jeroboam the son of Nebat.<\/p>\n
As a result, even though Jeroboam II’s success was impressive, it wasn’t lasting. His son and successor Zechariah only reigned for six months before being assassinated in a palace coup. None of the subsequent kings of Israel came close to Jeroboam II’s success, and during the reign of Hoshea, the Assyrians carried the Israelites off into captivity. Under Jeroboam II, Israel prospered for a time, but because they didn’t build on a foundation of godliness, they did not endure.<\/p>\n
We do well to remember that this same principle applies today. Everywhere around us, we see people and institutions that are apparently prospering despite their rejection of God’s will. Men who love money more than anything else build thriving businesses. Churches that have abandoned the New Testament have thousands of people in attendance on Sunday mornings. Those within our nation who advocate turning our backs on God appear to be growing more powerful every year.<\/p>\n
However, as was the case with Jeroboam II, success without God only sows the seeds of later disaster. Men who sacrifice their families on the altar of business ambition generally come to regret it on their deathbeds if not before. Churches that thrive because of a charismatic pastor and a fast-and-loose approach to the Scriptures hardly ever continue to prosper after the pastor exits the pulpit. Similarly, those in our nation who take their stand against the Lord will do no better than similar challengers have for millennia.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, it’s hard for us to bear with the success of the wicked, especially when in our own judgment, we ourselves aren’t succeeding nearly as well. However, a longer-term perspective will reveal the truth. As Psalm 1 puts it, the wicked are like chaff that the wind drives away. Only the righteous will endure like a tree planted beside a stream. At best, the wicked can hope to be like Jeroboam II, but even being like Jeroboam II isn’t very good.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Matthew W. Bassford In any secular history book, Jeroboam II would look like a successful king. He reigned for 41 years in an age when the length of a reign correlated with political power. Militarily, he was one of the greatest commanders among the monarchs of Israel. During his reign, he brought the seesaw…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1242,411,987],"class_list":["post-54245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-character","tag-jeroboam","tag-wickedness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49974,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/abijahs-brief-reign\/","url_meta":{"origin":54245,"position":0},"title":"Abijah’s Brief Reign","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Chronicles 13 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Abijah succeed Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, as king of Judah - II Chronicles 13:1-2 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This same king is call Abijam in I Kings 15:1-8. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not much is mentioned of him I Kings other than there was constant war between Abijah\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38147,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/because-of-the-sins-of-jeroboam\/","url_meta":{"origin":54245,"position":1},"title":"Because of the Sins of Jeroboam","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 5:13-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Few credit the influence we have on the lives of those around us. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The things we do and say impact the lives of those we come in contact. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes our influence spreads to people we may not have seen. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The example of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87740,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jeroboams-golden-calves\/","url_meta":{"origin":54245,"position":2},"title":"Jeroboam\u2019s Golden Calves","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clay Gentry Imagine God handing you immense power, a kingdom, and a divine promise of an enduring legacy. What would you do to keep it? Would you trust His word, or would you take matters into your own hands, even if it meant compromising the truth? This isn't a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54969,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/against-the-odds\/","url_meta":{"origin":54245,"position":3},"title":"Against the Odds","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gary W. Summers What war tactic has usually proven successful? The ambush. Joshua had used it, at God's instruction, with great success in the second attack on Ai. Once the men of that city were lured out into the open, by what they undoubtedly considered would be another route\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53036,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jehus-reformations\/","url_meta":{"origin":54245,"position":4},"title":"Jehu’s Reformations","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Kings 12:25-33 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After the northern tribes separated from Judah, the kingdom they established was never ruled by a good king. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The very first king, Jeroboam, sought to stabilize his country by establishing his own religion - I Kings 12:25-33 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He feared defection if the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-ahab-humbled-himself\/","url_meta":{"origin":54245,"position":5},"title":"When Ahab Humbled Himself","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton It might seem odd, but I love it when a student in a Bible class asks a deep question -- you know, a question that shows the student was thinking far beyond the immediate lesson. This morning, a student was working on a lesson about greed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54245\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}