The Kingdom Is Divided

DO YOU know why a man would ripe his robe to pieces? Jehovah told him to do it.This man is God's prophet  A-hi;jah. Do you know what a prophet is?  He is a person that God tells ahead of time what is going to happen.

A-hi'jah is here speaking to Jer-o-bo'am. Jer-o-bo'am is a man that Solomon put in charge of some of his building work.  When A-hi'jah meets Jer-o-bo'am on the road, A-hi'jah does a strange thing. He takes off his new robe that he is wearing and tears it into 12 pieces. He tells Jer-o-bo'am:  'Take 10 pieces for yourself.'  Do you know why A-hi'jah give Jer-o-bo'am 10 pieces?

A-hi'jah explains that Jehovah is going to take the kingdom away from Solomon.  He says that Jehovah is going to give 10 tribes to Jer-o-bo'am,  This means that only two tribes will be left for Solomon's son Re-ho-bo'am  to rule over. 

Next time: Conclusion of The Kingdom Is Divided

From the jw.org publications