Ahijah the Prophet

Ahijah the Prophet counseled Jeroboam, the first king of Israel after it rebelled against Judah. While Solomon was still king, Ahijah met Jeroboam leaving Jerusalem. Ahijah tore his brand-new cloak into twelve pieces, giving Jeroboam ten and saying he would rule over ten tribes of Israel. He offers Jeroboam the same deal God made with the patriarchs and the kings: follow my commands and do what is right, and I will be with you.

Jeroboam became king, but he very much did not follow God. Years later, Jeroboam’s son, Abijah, was sick, and he sent his wife to Ahijah for advice—apparently too cowardly to go himself. Ahijah gave her a horrific prophecy: God will “burn up the house of Jeroboam” (1 Kings 14:10), and her child Abijah will die the moment her feet enter the city on her way home. And so he did. Two years after Jeroboam dies, a man named Baasha kills his entire family, fulfilling the prophecy.

Ahijah’s visions are recorded in yet another lost book, The Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite.