I had this insight yesterday as I was teaching. In the rabbinic imagination, Jeroboam is akin to Lucifer, the fallen angel known as Satan.
Why do I say this?
Because in the rabbinic imagination, Jeroboam’s major sin is pride.
It is due to pride that Jeroboam decides to embark on his mission to create golden calves (see more about that and his motivations in this post.) Jeroboam cannot stomach the thought that he might have to stand during the Hakhel ceremony, just like the common folk, while Rehoboam would be permitted to sit (as he was from the Davidic dynasty).
Jeroboam is alarmed that the people might defect back to Rehoboam. Rather than thinking about the welfare of the nation, and what is best for them- perhaps being back under a united kingdom would actually have been better- he considers what is best for himself.
But he is not beyond redemption. God sends an Ish HaElohim, a man of God, to speak to him and perform wonders. It is as if God is clutching at Jeroboam’s cloak (evocative imagery similar to Saul clutching at Samuel’s cloak) and begging him to come back, to return.
(Interestingly, even here, after the Ish HaElohim publicly upbraids him, Jeroboam attempts to salvage the situation, offering the man to come back and eat with him, and promising him a gift. He wants to control the situation- to make the optics work for him. It’s once again about pride, and wanting to maintain power or at least the illusion thereof.)
The Talmud in Sanhedrin 102a documents what comes of this.
(מלכים א יג, לג) אחר הדבר הזה לא שב ירבעם מדרכו הרעה מאי אחר אמר ר' אבא אחר שתפשו הקב"ה לירבעם בבגדו ואמר לו חזור בך ואני ואתה ובן ישי נטייל בגן עדן אמר לו מי בראש בן ישי בראש אי הכי לא בעינא
The verse states: “And after this matter, Jeroboam returned not from his evil way” (I Kings 13:33). To what event is the verse alluding, when it states: “After this matter”? Rabbi Abba says: It is after the Holy One, Blessed be He, grabbed Jeroboam by his garment, i.e., he sent prophets and implored him, and said to him: Repent, and you and I and the son of Yishai will stroll together in the Garden of Eden. Jeroboam said to Him: Who will walk in the lead? God said to Jeroboam: The son of Yishai will walk in the lead. Jeroboam said: If so, I do not wish to repent.
All throughout the rest of Tanakh, and certainly through Sefer Melakhim, the Book of Kings, Jeroboam is used as a touchstone for evil. You can see that through glancing through the verses that appear in the concordance about him. (Look at result #37 on.) Every future king is said to follow in the ways or wickedness of Jeroboam. It’s clearly not just because he built idols; according to the text, King Solomon built idols first.
So how and why does he become that touchstone for evil?
I think it’s because he had so much promise, so much capacity to unite the people- as shown through the charismatic way in which he does exactly that- but he allowed his pride to get in the way of what could have been an almost Messianic era. Imagine a Jeroboam who was devoted to God, and the kind of dedication and passion he could have inspired amongst the nation towards Him.
Due to all this, I realized that Jeroboam can be seen as similar to Lucifer in Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost.’ Especially this speech
A mind not to be chang'd by Place or Time.
The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less then he
Whom Thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n.
It’s Jeroboam’s mind that causes him all this discontent. His fear that he will be seen as lesser or lose his power based on the Israelites going to the Temple for the three yearly pilgrimages- something which has not even happened yet- that drives him to act.
And it is also his mind that will not allow him to repent. Imagine! He is offered a guaranteed chance at Paradise, and he and God and David will walk together. But because Jeroboam will be second to David, “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n!”
An excellent teaching. And doesn't it follow that we should gravely consider this as we make personal and community decisions on how we handle the looming LGBT influence, demands and mandates? Dare we support, or even tolerate, a movement, mindset and lifestyle based on pride? Pride is their war cry, pride is what they have linked their very identities: Gay Pride. Gay Pride Day. Gay Pride Festivals. They make it very clear what their foundation is built on, and what drives their actions. Can we claim we didn't know what it was about when we face an accounting for choosing pride over Torah?