Big Wine Bottle History (PDF) - Living the dream, what it is really like ...

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lighten the burdens which his father had placed upon them. No sooner had
Roboam imprudently and harshly rejected their petition than ten of the tribes
withdrew their allegiance to the house of David and proclaimed Jeroboam their
king, only the tribes of Juda and Benjamin remaining faithful to Roboam.
Jeroboam established his headquarters at Sichem, and soon added to the
political also a religious schism. Fearing lest the pilgrimages to the temple in
Jerusalem prescribed by the Law might be an occasion for the people of the
Northern Kingdom to go back to their old allegiance, he determined to provide
for them places of worship within their own boundaries, and for this purpose he
set up two golden calves to be worshipped, one in Bethel and the other in Dan.
He also built temples in the high places and had them served by priests drawn
from the lowest of the people (III Kings, xii). The prophet Abias announced the
Divine vengeance that was to come upon the house of Jeroboam because of
these evil deeds (III Kings, xiv), and in the sequel of Israelitish history the worst
doings of the kings are always referred to as like unto the wickedness of
Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who caused Israel to sin. He died in 954 (or in 917)
after a reign of twenty-two years.
JEROBOAM II was the twelfth successor of the preceeding and the fourth king of
the dynasty of Jehu. He succeeded his father Joas in 824 (or 783) and reigned
forty-one years. In 802 Rammanirar III, King of Assyria, undertook a campaign
into the "West lands", and the Kingdom of Israel (Land of Amri), together with
Syria and Phoenicia, was placed under a heavy tribute. Jeroboam, however,
taking advantage of the weakened condition of Syria, re established toward the
north and in other directions the ancient boundaries of Israel (IV Kings, xiv, 25).
The military and patriotic successes of Jeroboam had been foretold by Jonas, son
of Amathi (ibid.), and the Sacred Writer adds that the Lord saved the Israelites
by the hand of Jeroboam, son of Joas. From the political standpoint, Jeroboam
was an intelligent and energetic ruler, but with regard to his religious activities,
his reign is resumed in these words: "He did that which was evil before the Lord.
He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nabai who made Israel to
sin" (IV Kings, xiv, 24). Evidences of the religious decay during his otherwise
prosperous reign are found in the writings of the prophets Amos and Osee, his
contemporaries, who frequently inveigh against idolatry and its many
concomitant evils and moral degradation. Jeroboam II died in 783 (or 743).
Rehoboam
Rehoboam comes from a very large bowl, bottle container, as per the 1950
unabridged Webster dictionary. It may also mean 'enlarged'. Or, staying with the
biblical theme: Rehoboam was the son of Solomon (King of Judah, 922-908 BC).
Some more detailed history of Rehoboam:
THE GURDIES
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