And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:
The meeting took place when Ahijah the Shilonite encountered Jeroboam alone in the field outside Jerusalem. He seized the new garment that was on himself and tore it into twelve pieces, acting out in visible form God's prediction of division. The twelve pieces symbolized the twelve tribes and the rending of Israel's kingdom. The sign meant that the Lord God of Israel would rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give ten tribes to Jeroboam. Solomon himself would remain prince all his life for the sake of David, who kept God's commandments and statutes, with the kingdom to be taken out of his son's hand.
The reason for the rending was that Israel had forsaken God and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They had not walked in God's ways to do what is right and to keep His statutes and judgments, as David had done. The tearing belongs to Ahijah's prophecy concerning Jeroboam and Israel, which foretold both that Jeroboam would become king and the ruin that would follow apostasy. Because of its idolatry and the sins by which Jeroboam led the people away from God, the kingdom would be uprooted and scattered.
The meeting took place when Ahijah the Shilonite encountered Jeroboam alone in the field outside Jerusalem. He seized the new garment that was on himself and tore it into twelve pieces, acting out in visible form God's prediction of division. The twelve pieces symbolized the twelve tribes and the rending of Israel's kingdom. The sign meant that the Lord God of Israel would rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give ten tribes to Jeroboam. Solomon himself would remain prince all his life for the sake of David, who kept God's commandments and statutes, with the kingdom to be taken out of his son's hand.
The reason for the rending was that Israel had forsaken God and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They had not walked in God's ways to do what is right and to keep His statutes and judgments, as David had done. The tearing belongs to Ahijah's prophecy concerning Jeroboam and Israel, which foretold both that Jeroboam would become king and the ruin that would follow apostasy. Because of its idolatry and the sins by which Jeroboam led the people away from God, the kingdom would be uprooted and scattered.