Friday, February 14, 2020

Jeroboam and Ahijah the Shilonite

Many nice little books have been written to teach children Bible stories. Noah and the Ark, Jonah and the Whale, the Three Boys in the Furnace, all of these episodes are perfect for story time. One Old Testament story that has, as far as I know, never gotten its own story book is the tale of the meeting of Jeroboam and Ahijah the Shilonite, found in first Kings 11. I am thinking about this because it was the first reading at Mass this morning.
And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had clad himself with a new garment; and the two of them were alone in the open country. Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will give you ten tribes...
Solomon had sinned by promoting and participating in the worship of false gods. As a consequence, his rival Jeroboam will end up the leader of ten out of the twelve tribes of Israel, while the remaining two will stay with Solomon and his descendants. 

If someone did get around to making a storybook about the meeting of Jeroboam and Ahijah, I would certainly buy a copy and read it to the kids from our church. It would help them understand another Bible story that they are going to hear toward the end of Lent:
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and made four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom; so they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be."

The outward garment of  Ahijah was torn into twelve pieces, but the inner garment of Jesus was woven in one piece, and remained untorn. In Himself, Jesus unites the scattered children of God; He alone, the descendant of Solomon, has united the twelve tribes into one eternal kingdom.