Day 174 (1 Kings 12-14) - The Bible Recap Kids

Summary3 min read

The Bible Recap Kids – Day 174 (1 Kings 12–14)

Host: Miss Emily
Date: June 23, 2026

Episode Overview

In today’s episode, Miss Emily guides young listeners through the dramatic transition of Israel after King Solomon's death, focusing on the split of the kingdom and the actions and consequences faced by King Jeroboam (“King Jerry”). The reading covers 1 Kings 12–14, highlighting themes of obedience, trust in God, and the mystery of suffering—especially when bad things happen to good people.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Kingdom Splits: Two Kings, Two Kingdoms

After Solomon dies, his son Rehoboam (“Rei”) becomes king.
The prophet Ahijah had previously told Jeroboam (“Jerry”) he would be king.
Jeroboam returns from Egypt and leads a successful plan resulting in Israel splitting:
- King Jerry: Rules the 10 northern tribes (Northern Israel)
- King Rei: Rules the 2 southern tribes (Judah)

2. Jeroboam’s Disobedience and False Worship

King Jerry fears his people will return to Jerusalem’s temple, so he builds unauthorized temples, golden idols, and altars to false gods.
He invents his own religious calendar and feast days, ignoring God’s instructions completely.
Miss Emily calls out his actions:

“He even makes his own religious calendar with new feast days, doing whatever he wants and completely ignoring God's ways. Yikes. Not wise, right Bible readers?” [01:06]

3. Consequences and God’s Justice

Because of Jerry’s disobedience, “there are great consequences for him” ([01:15]).
Consequences are not just for Jerry, but for his whole family.

4. The Death of Jeroboam’s Son

Ahijah’s prophecy to Jeroboam’s wife:

“Go on home, and when you enter the city, the child will die. All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only member of your family who will have a proper burial. For this child is the only good thing that the Lord, the God of Israel sees in the entire family of Jeroboam.” [00:29]
Miss Emily reflects:

“God can be trusted with life and he can be trusted with death. Jerry's son is the only one in the family who God found good in, but he dies anyway. Death is really hard to understand, especially when the person who dies is young or good.” [01:23]
Comfort for listeners:

“Jerry’s son surely found comfort since he left the wicked world ruled by his earthly father to go to the peaceful home of his heavenly father. Jerry's son found joy with God because he's where the joy is.” [01:37]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Jeroboam’s new religion:

“He even makes his own religious calendar with new feast days, doing whatever he wants and completely ignoring God's ways. Yikes. Not wise, right Bible readers?” — Miss Emily [01:06]
On trusting God in life and death:

“God can be trusted with life and he can be trusted with death.” — Miss Emily [01:23]
On the comfort in God’s justice:

“Jerry's son surely found comfort since he left the wicked world ruled by his earthly father to go to the peaceful home of his heavenly father. Jerry's son found joy with God because he's where the joy is.” — Miss Emily [01:37]

Practical Takeaways

Disobedience to God, especially by leaders, has serious consequences for many people, not just themselves.
Sometimes good people suffer or die, and it doesn’t always make sense, but believers can have hope that God sees the good and offers eternal comfort.

Helpful Resource Mentioned

Miss Emily directs listeners to the TBR Kids help page for support with questions about Bible reading:

“The help page of our website is a great resource for you as you help the kids in your life with TBR… you can either search by category or type your question into the search bar.” [02:04]

Episode Flow & Timestamps

[00:00] Introduction & Bible verse (1 Kings 14:12–13)
[00:29] Ahijah’s prophecy to Jeroboam’s wife
[00:50] Background: Solomon’s death, two kingdoms formed
[01:06] Jeroboam’s disobedience and false worship
[01:15] Consequences for Jeroboam
[01:23] The death of Jeroboam’s son and trusting God with death
[01:37] Hope and comfort for Jeroboam’s son
[02:04] Resource: TBR help page

This episode uses clear, simple language and caring encouragement to help younger listeners understand that God’s plans and judgments are always good—even when life’s events are hard to understand.

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[00:00]
A
Hey Bible readers, I'm Ms. Emily and this is the Bible recap for kids. Today's bible verse in 1 Kings, chapter 14, verses 12 and 13, Ahijah says to Jeroboam's wife, go on home and when you enter the city, the child will die. All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only member of your family who will have a proper burial. For this child is the only good thing that the Lord, the God of Israel sees in the entire family of Jeroboam. After Solomon dies, his son Rei becomes king. But the prophet Ahijah had told Jerry that he would be the king. So Jerry returns from Egypt and hatches a plan. The plan works in dividing the people and Israel is split into two kingdoms. King Jerry is in charge of the 10 tribes in the north or northern Israel. King Rey is in charge of the two tribes in the south or southern Judah. King Jerry is worried his people will want to go back to the temple in Jerusalem. So he builds his own temples, complete with golden idols and altars to false gods. He even makes his own religious calendar with new feast days, doing whatever he wants and completely ignoring God's ways. Yikes. Not wise, right Bible readers? Because of Jerry's disobedience, there are great consequences for him. God can be trusted with life and he can be trusted with death. Jerry's son is the only one in the family who God found good in, but he dies anyway. Death is really hard to understand, especially when the person who dies is young or good. But Jerry's son surely found comfort since he left the wicked world ruled by his earthly father to go to the peaceful home of his heavenly father. Jerry's son found joy with God because he's where the joy is. The help page of our website is a great resource for you as you help the kids in your life with tbr. We've compiled lots of questions about troubleshooting, how to get started, and how to get more out of your TBR journey. You can either search by category or type your question into the search bar. So when you have a question, check out thebiblerecap.com help or click the link in the show Notes.