God’s prophet, Ahijah, found Jeroboam in open country. Jeroboam was going to rule over 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel because of Solomon’s idolatry. Solomon heard of it and Jeroboam fled to Egypt in fear of his life.
Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, went to the ten northern tribes after king Solomon’s death to establish an understanding. The northern tribes wanted tax relief but Rehoboam decided to increase their financial burden.
Jeroboam returned from Egypt and the ten northern tribes invited him to be their new king. God’s promises to Jeroboam through Ahijah, however, were conditional. God would protect Jeroboam’s kingship but Jeroboam was to lead the ten tribes in righteousness.
The kingdom became divided. Israel was ruled by Jeroboam in the north who took the authority but not the spiritual responsibility. The southern kingdom was ruled by Rehoboam, Solomon’s son.
There were actually 13 tribes. The house of Joseph had become two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, but Levi was not counted so it remained as twelve. The ten tribes of the north become the kingdom of Israel and the tribe of Judah became the southern kingdom of Judah. Judah included most of Benjamin’s tribe plus the priestly tribe of Levi.
Rehoboam, the new king of Judah, “did not set his heart to seek the Lord” (2Chr. 12.14) and did evil. He lost the gold of God’s house as well as the treasures of Solomon’s palace to Shishak, the king of Egypt. This was Egypt’s first victory against Israel since they left Egypt under Moses.
Skirmishes between the two kingdoms continued until Rehoboem’s death. Abilah, his son, declared by a “Covenant of Salt” (2Chr. 13:5) God gave kingship over Israel to David and his sons forever and Jerobaum did not qualify as king under the Salt Covenant. Abilah brought up 400,000 men against Jeroboam’s 800,000 and “so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men.” Abilah took Bethel and several cities and grew in power while Jeroboam did not recover his power and “the Lord struck him down, and he died.”
King Abilah of Judah is not known as a “good” king on historical lists of Judah’s Kings. But he did exercise his position as king in David’s line to call upon God’s commitment to His word, the “covenant of salt”. God did according to His word!
Salt was a prominent commodity in both Israel’s religious and social economy. Salt was included in every offering made to God.
“You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” –Leviticus 2:13b
The offerings brought to God at the tabernacle and temple were for the Priests. This was their inheritance. It was important sacrifices be salted to preserve their quality until such time as they were used by the priests and their families. The tribe of Levi was excluded from having land in the promised kingdom.
“All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you (priests and Levites), and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and your offspring with you.” Numbers 18:19.
The Dead Sea is a salt sea. The cliffs on the west side of the Dead Sea are “salt rocks”. The people in Solomon’s time would pour water in the pot holes of the cliffs and extract the salt when the water evaporated.
In the middle east Salt is like green beer to the Irish except it is natural. Even in the local cultures of today the Dead Sea salt speaks to dependable friendships. Sharing salt at a person’s table is an honor. It speaks of social hospitality and fidelity with a deeper meaning than in our western culture.
The “salt” of the covenant speaks to the enduring, pure quality people bring to God’s offering. It is not enough that we bring a 10% offering but that we bring it with salt so that it will be good when it is used. It speaks to the extra attention we give to our offering and God’s program.
Jesus said to the disciples, “Have salt within yourselves, and be at peace with each other,” Mark 9:50b. Jesus was drawing upon rich history and culture the disciples understood. Their wives and moms worked in the kitchens and knew the language of salt. These Jewish family men, like their ancestors from the tribes of Jacob, salted sacrifices given to God.
Our salt is persevering in faith, preserving Christ’s life with vibrant vitality in our experience. Jesus’ Spirit is joined to our spirit (1Cor. 6:17) providing a conduit of resurrection power into our soul. “Drilling Down” into the His Word provides fodder for His Spirit to shape who we are in Him. This is the commodity of salt we sprinkle on the offering of self as we die daily.
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
-Romans 8:11
The literal resurrected Jesus is our life. It is our responsibility to bring salt to the life Jesus provides. We salt our heart and mind by exposing our soul to His word, communing with Him through our spirit/Sprit, allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to equips us with divine discernment, spiritual gifts and eternal fruit. Every person in Christ is given their measure of salt, it is a covenant of salt, a relationship with the resurrected person of Jesus Christ.
God has put us under the reign of grace writing on our hearts the righteousness of Christ. Our responsibility is to expose, by the force of our will, our heart and mind to the eternality and divine nature of His holy person. Our covenant of salt requires us to manifest His righteousness while we live in this mortal flesh.
“For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh”, 2Corinthians 4:11.
Look for Jeroboams reigning in your life, defeat them with your Covenant of Salt by nurturing the life God has provided. God is faithful, He does not change. Drill Down!
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?” - Matt. 5:13.