These verses move the focus from Jeroboam's time all the way forward to the end of the northern kingdom and the deportation of its population to Assyria. Thus, God makes it clear that the new ruling line will not bring redemption from the sins of Jeroboam, but the quickly changing royal families will be equally rebellious, following in the footsteps of Jeroboam.
The result of this continuing rebellious idolatry will lead the Lord to strike Israel with judgment in a manner in which Israel will be as feeble as the reed being moved by the motion of the water that it cannot resist. God will give up Israel
to its enemies because they have provoked him to anger by idolatrous worship that follows the pattern of sin begun in the reign of Jeroboam.
In speaking of Israel’s idolatry, the Lord points to the making of Asherim. Asherah was a false goddess of the ancient Near East (Phoenicia, Assyria, and Babylon). It is also noteworthy that by some people it was conceived as the female consort of Baal. Asherim
is the plural form that the Bible uses here. Indeed, God tells us here that those who make multiple images are giving to the goddess the only reality that it possesses: mere wooden idols.
The important point that the Lord makes is that Jeroboam is responsible for all that follows in his path. From this time on, Scripture speaks of him in the words of 1 Kings 14:16, that it was he who made Israel to sin.
15 L'Eternel frappera Israël, et il en sera de lui comme du roseau qui est agité dans les eaux; il arrachera Israël de ce bon pays qu'il avait donné à leurs pères, et il les dispersera de l'autre côté du fleuve, parce qu'ils se sont fait des idoles, irritant l'Eternel.