Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Pathway to Life | Historical Books | 1 Kings 14:1-20

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

Do you try to control God? How does God lead his people? What is the pathway to life? In today's episode, Jensen shares how 1 Kings 14:1-20 reminds us that we are not in control; God is. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Kings 14:1-20

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. And the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. If you're a parent to toddlers, or you've ever been a parent to a toddler, or you've been around a toddler recently, you'll know that they need things constantly. Some of those needs are legitimate needs, and as a parent, I'm called in a lot of ways to help tend to their needs. But a lot of things my toddlers think are needs are really just. just once. They want to watch a movie. They want to play with water in the sink. They want to eat candy for breakfast. And part of my job is to balance those ones, to not overindulge, and to also

help them satisfy their wants sometimes. They can't have everything they want, but I also want them to feel like their desires matter to me because they do. When Jude, my oldest, asked for something just extremely outrageous. I usually countered. by saying something along the lines of, man, that sounds really fun. But for whatever reason, may not be a great thing for us to do right now. So how about instead we do something else a little more tame and reasonable? And then I usually end by saying, got it? To which he usually replies, got it.

It's really cute. I want him to be a part of agreeing to the plan, but ultimately when I say, got it, we both know that this is what mom is offering, and it's about as good as it's going to I get. His got it aligns his plans with mine. But ultimately, we theoretically, all know that eating Starbursts for breakfast was never going to happen. But lately, Jude's been trying out something new. When he wants something, he comes up and just tells me exactly what he wants to happen next. Like, Mama and Jude get in the car and run to Target and get a color-changing hot wheel, always followed by a very forceful and slightly threatening, got it? See, it turns out that my toddler wasn't learning about

respecting my authority to make decisions. He was just learning a magic new phrase that gets people to do what you want. See, when Jude looks at me and says, got it, mama, you know he means business. But I also know, as the adult, with a fully formed frontal cortex, access to a wallet and the ability to drive, that Jude's plan is never going to make it out of the idea box. Parents determine what happened in our household, not toddlers. See, the magic words don't work for him the way that he wants. But I can so relate to his insistence, his desire to get what he wants, to enact his own plans. See, so often I am Jude. I'm the toddler who thinks I'm know best, who, despite God's clear commands and the wisdom laid out in Scripture, despite knowing

that God is all knowing, infinitely wiser than me, despite knowing that he created me, that he knows what is best, and that at the end of the day, he is the one who ordains my days, my paths, my plans. Despite knowing all of that, I live and act out of the belief that I am and should be in control of all things. Maybe you're like me. See, grasping for control, wanting to be God, thinking you know best is what got us humans into this whole mess all the way back in Genesis 3. So we shouldn't be surprised when we read First Kings 14 and find Jeroboam falling into the same trap. See, when Jeroboam was told by the prophet Ahijah that he was to be given the kingdom, him. He was called just like Solomon had been, to be faithful, to be like David, to not turn to

idolatry, but to obey God's commands. But as we've seen, Jeroboam has not been faithful. He wasn't satisfied with what God had given him and tried to build a new altar for his people to worship God from. But in doing so, he crafted idols. He set up altars of false worship. And God sent a messenger to him to condemn his actions and to prophesy that ultimately a king of Judah from the line of David would overturn this altar. And as a sign that this would come to pass, Jeroboam's hand shrivels up and the altar breaks apart. This is a clear warning, a clear message to Jeroboam about what happens when you turn away from God. And yet, as chapter 13 ends, we learn that these events do not turn Jeroboam's heart away from evil, which tips us off to the motivations that underlie

the actions he takes in Chapter 14. Verse 1. At that time, Abijah, son of Jeroboam became ill, and Jeroboam said to his wife, go, disguise yourself so that you won't be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahyja the prophet is there, the one who told me I would be the king over this people. Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy. So Jeroboam's wife did what he said and went to a hijah's house in Shiloh. Okay, so Jerobam's son is sick, and he wants to know what's going to happen. So he sends his wife to a hijah, the prophet who had told him that he was going to be king. He wants a hija to give them favorable news, to prophesy that the boy would live that he would be healed,

but he knows that he's living in rebellion to God. He knows that Aja is not likely to give the rebellious king good news, so he sends his wife in disguise. He's attempting to fool Ahaijah and in turn God into giving him a favorable answer about his son's condition. He's trying to manipulate and control the situation. He knows what God has said. He understands that he has rejected God,

but he is still trying to use religion, to use God's power for his own benefit. Jeroboam is not the first king to try and use a disguise to grasp for control. In 1 Samuel 28, we read about Saul doing the same thing, seeking out a favorable word from the Lord using a disguise to get it. But just like with Saul, God cannot be tricked and manipulated. The schemes of man cannot overcome the plans of God. When Jeroboam's wife enters through the door,

a hijah despite being blind in his old age, despite the disguise, has already been told by God who is standing before him and what news he is to give her. And it's grim, very, very grim. The child will die. The line of Jerobone will be wiped out, disgraced, cut off. Brutal death without the honor of burial will come to all except this child, who's given a proper burial because it says that there's something found pleasing to God in him. A small mercy for the sake of this child wrapped up in a larger message of condemnation and judgment

upon Jeroboam. And God is very clear that this judgment comes because of the evil that Jeroboam has done. He has not been like David, but he's fallen into idolatry. He has led his people away from God, and he has rejected God as God. You see, Jeroboam fell into the earliest of human sins. Just like Solomon, just like Saul, he failed to recognize. recognize God as God. He believed that as king, he could determine the ways of Israel. He could make the plans. He could be the true king. But as we will see throughout the book of first kings, God, not the king, is in control. God determines the pathway to life. And he does not withhold from the king or the nation of Israel what that pathway is. He doesn't sit back and laugh as we stumble,

relishing, punishing those who can't figure it out. No, God, God, God. God. He makes covenants. He gives his words for you and for me. He's given the entirety of Scripture. He's given us Jesus. He's given us his spirit to convict and teach and sanctify us. The pathway to life, to flourishing, to living and covenantal blessing with God is clear. Submit your heart to him. See God for who he is, a loving, compassionate, and wise God who is in control of all things. Who knows what is good. and whom you and I can trust with all that we are and all that we have. But we have to live within that belief. We cannot be like Saul and Solomon and Jeroboam.

We cannot hear the words of God and reject them, living under a different belief, the belief that we know best. We will be as aimless, as powerless, and as foolish as a toddler demanding his way before a loving and discerning parent. Proverbs 169 says in their hearts humans plan their course but the Lord establishes their steps. Psalm 139-16 says all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

God is in control. Let that be a blessing and not a burden in your life. Turn to the one who has the whole picture, who has been weaving a story of redemption and rescue for your life, from the very first moment humanity decided that they knew best. Trust him like a toddler can trust their parent to know what is good and necessary for them. And surrender to the love of a father who wants to guide you on the pathway to life.