Single lesson
Ahijah's Message to Jeroboam's Wife
1 Kings 14:1–20
This lesson helps students follow a hard Bible story carefully. They will sequence what happened, notice the choices made by Jeroboam and his household, and observe how the passage presents God’s knowledge, words and judgement.
Before you teach
In this passage, Jeroboam’s son is sick. Jeroboam sends his wife in disguise to Ahijah the prophet to ask about the child. Before she arrives, Yahweh tells Ahijah why she is coming and gives him a message about Jeroboam, his family and Israel. The passage ends with the child’s death and a brief note about Jeroboam’s reign.
Students will be able to retell the sequence of 1 Kings 14:1–20 and identify how the passage connects Jeroboam’s actions with God’s announced judgement.
Welcome: map the characters and the problem
5 minIntroduce the three main figures named in the passage: Jeroboam, his wife and Ahijah. Explain that the story begins with sickness in Jeroboam’s family and a plan to seek an answer. Tell students they will track what each person does, what God says, and what happens next, without softening the hard parts of the text.
1 Kings 14:1, 1 Kings 14:2, 1 Kings 14:3, 1 Kings 14:4
Read and explain: the disguise and God’s knowledge
10 minRead verses 1 to 6 aloud. Point out that Jeroboam tells his wife to disguise herself and go to Ahijah with bread, cakes and honey. Then show the contrast: Ahijah cannot see because of age, yet Yahweh tells him who is coming and why. When she arrives, Ahijah names her before she speaks.
1 Kings 14:2, 1 Kings 14:3, 1 Kings 14:4, 1 Kings 14:5, 1 Kings 14:6
Discuss: why the message is heavy
10 minRead verses 7 to 16 in smaller parts. Guide students to list what Yahweh says he had done for Jeroboam and what Jeroboam had done in response. Observe the repeated ideas of being given a place of leadership, doing evil, making other gods, and leading Israel into sin. Note that this section announces judgement on Jeroboam’s house and on Israel.
1 Kings 14:7, 1 Kings 14:8, 1 Kings 14:9, 1 Kings 14:10, 1 Kings 14:11, 1 Kings 14:12, 1 Kings 14:13, 1 Kings 14:14, 1 Kings 14:15, 1 Kings 14:16
Make and respond: sequence and cause-and-effect cards
10 minStudents work in pairs to make a simple set of sequence cards from the passage, using brief phrases from the text such as ‘the child became sick’, ‘disguise yourself’, ‘Yahweh said to Ahijah’, ‘heavy news’, ‘the child died’, and ‘all Israel mourned’. Then they arrange the cards in order and draw arrows showing which actions or words lead to later outcomes.
1 Kings 14:1, 1 Kings 14:2, 1 Kings 14:5, 1 Kings 14:6, 1 Kings 14:12, 1 Kings 14:17, 1 Kings 14:18
Closing: what this passage teaches
5 minFinish by summarising only what the passage itself shows. God knows what people try to hide. God speaks through Ahijah. Jeroboam’s wrongdoing is named plainly, and the announced word comes true when the child dies and is mourned. Invite students to write one sentence beginning, ‘This passage shows…’ and share if they wish.
1 Kings 14:5, 1 Kings 14:6, 1 Kings 14:9, 1 Kings 14:12, 1 Kings 14:17, 1 Kings 14:18
Questions to explore
What details show that Jeroboam wanted the visit to Ahijah hidden?
Look for the instructions about disguise and the plan for Jeroboam’s wife to go without being recognised, then compare that with what Yahweh already tells Ahijah.
1 Kings 14:2, 1 Kings 14:5, 1 Kings 14:6
According to Ahijah’s message, what had Yahweh done for Jeroboam, and how had Jeroboam responded?
List the actions Yahweh says he took for Jeroboam, then list the actions Jeroboam is accused of doing instead.
1 Kings 14:7, 1 Kings 14:8, 1 Kings 14:9
Which parts of the ending show that Ahijah’s message was fulfilled?
Trace the instruction about returning home, the moment at the threshold, and the report that all Israel buried and mourned for the child according to Yahweh’s word.
1 Kings 14:12, 1 Kings 14:17, 1 Kings 14:18
Make, think or respond
Sequence and Cause Cards
What you’ll need
- Plain paper or index cards
- Pens or pencils
- Bible text
- Optional markers
Try it together
- Write 6 to 8 short events or message points from the passage on separate cards.
- Place the cards in order from the child’s sickness to the report of mourning and burial.
- Add arrows or notes to show links between a choice, God’s message and an outcome.
- Share the sequence with a partner and explain one cause-and-effect connection from the passage.
This activity helps students follow the order of 1 Kings 14:1–20 and see how the passage connects words, choices and outcomes.
Adapt for your group
- For younger or less confident readers, prepare the event phrases for them and ask them only to order the cards and explain two links.
- For older or more confident students, add a second colour for direct speech from Yahweh and a third colour for narrative outcomes, then compare how the two interact.
An optional closing prayer
‘God, help us listen carefully to your word, speak truthfully about what it says, and learn from this passage with humble hearts. Amen.’
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
1 Kings 14
1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick.
2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself, so that you won’t be recognized as Jeroboam’s wife. Go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said that I would be king over this people.
3 Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the child.”
4 Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose and went to Shiloh, and came to Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
5 Yahweh said to Ahijah, “Behold, Jeroboam’s wife is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Tell her such and such; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman.”
6 So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, Jeroboam’s wife! Why do you pretend to be another? For I am sent to you with heavy news.
7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you prince over my people Israel,
8 and tore the kingdom away from David’s house, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in my eyes,
9 but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods, molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back,
10 therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam everyone who urinates on a wall, he who is shut up and he who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung until it is all gone.
11 The dogs will eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam who dies in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat whoever dies in the field, for Yahweh has spoken it.” ’
12 Arise therefore, and go to your house. When your feet enter into the city, the child will die.
13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam will come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.
14 Moreover Yahweh will raise up a king for himself over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day! What? Even now.
15 For Yahweh will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking Yahweh to anger.
16 He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin.”
17 Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.
18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.
19 The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
20 The days which Jeroboam reigned were twenty two years; then he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.