מלכים א, פרק י״ד, פסוק כ״ב

The spiritual and moral decline of the Kingdom of Judah reaches an unprecedented low, marked by a complete disregard for the gravity of their actions. The people sin without even noticing or taking their behavior to heart [רש״י]. Their actions directly provoke, anger, and taunt God, a reaction sparked primarily by their widespread embrace of idol worship [רלב״ג]. The severity of their offenses surpasses anything committed by their ancestors, eclipsing even the periods of rebellion during the era of the Judges [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The root of this widespread corruption stems directly from the leadership. The wickedness of King Rehoboam and his turn toward idolatry trickles down, pulling his ministers and the entire nation into the same destructive path. The people begin to blindly imitate the abominable practices of the ancient nations that God had previously driven out of the land. In their spiritual blindness, they fail to realize that these very actions will inevitably cause the land to expel them as well, exactly as it had expelled the inhabitants before them [אברבנאל].