The family line of David ultimately became the rulers of Judah. Our previous post mentioned the division of the kingdom into two. The Southern Kingdom consisting of Judah and Benjamin remained committed to the house of David. The family line of David produced women who either worked for the successful reigns of their husbands or worked against the reigns of their husbands. Because of the marriage pattern of Solomon, women from other nations were introduced to the royal family. These different women brought along with them their religion and their gods. Most of these women had lived experiences of wickedness and managed to extend their evil into the lives of God's people. In both the Southern and Northern Kingdoms, women from other nations who were married into the royal family fueled idolatry and became personal sponsors of the worship of foreign gods. In this post, we shall consider two women: Naamah and Maakah.
Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. (1 Kings 14:21)
Solomon's thousand women included an Ammonite Princess known as Naamah. The Ammonite wife of Solomon was a worshipper of Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. Solomon in his quest to satisfy his wives built a high place for Molek in Jerusalem (see 1 King 11). Naamah gave birth to Rehoboam who succeeded Solomon. 1 Kings 14:21 states that "Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite." Rehoboam's refusal to listen to the words of counsel from the elders was the trigger to the division of the kingdom. Naamah's religion would have been known to Rehoboam. He might have followed his mother to offer sacrifices to Molek.
and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah daughter of Abishalom. (1 Kings 15:2)
Another woman who became influential and ultimately led the people astray is Maakah. She was the wife of Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11: 20-22) and the daughter of Abishalom (variant of Absalom). Maakah was the mother of Abijah, the successor of Rehoboam. Her son Abijah reigned for only three years in Jerusalem (1 Kings 15:2). 2 Chronicles 11:20-22 gives more details about Maakah: "Then he [Rehoboam] married Maakah daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. Rehoboam loved Maakah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maakah as crown prince among his brothers, in order to make him king." Maakah was the beloved wife of Rehoboam and because of his love for Maakah, Rehoboam made Maakah's son the heir. Unfortunately, Abijah's short reign was a culmination of evil and wickedness. Abijah might have been influenced greatly by his mother Maakah who was into idolatry.
and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maakah daughter of Abishalom. (1 Kings 15:10)
When Maakah's grandson Asa became the king, he changed the narrative. Unlike his father Abijah, "Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done" (1 Kings 15:11). Asa did something his father Abijah couldn't do. Asa deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron Valley (1 Kings 15:13). Thus, the evil worship of Asherah was fueled by Maakah.
Naamah and Maakah were women of influence but their religious orientation led the people of Israel away from God. They welded power, control and support of their husbands and used that power to promote the worship of other gods. Both Molek and Asherah were detestable gods and promoted vile and wicked lifestyles.
Whoever you marry will ultimately become your ministry partner. If you marry a man or woman on fire for God, you become a man or woman on fire for God. If you marry someone who is cold and lacks passion for the things of God, you might end up cold and without passion for the things of God. If you marry a worshipper of idols, your entire generation and beyond would be baptized into idolatry until there is a saviour. Choose wisely… marriage is not for fun, it is for life or death!
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