1 Kings 12:1-24
The Revolt Against Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 10:1–19; 11:1–4)
1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. 2 So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in Egypt, for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt), 3 that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”
5 So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”
7 And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”
8 But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. 9 And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”
10 Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! 11 And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!’”
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.” 13 Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him; 14 and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!” 15 So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from the LORD, that He might fulfill His word, which the LORD had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:
“What share have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
To your tents, O Israel!
Now, see to your own house, O David!”
So Israel departed to their tents. 17 But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.
18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
20 Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
21 And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, 24 ‘Thus says the LORD: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.”’” Therefore they obeyed the word of the LORD, and turned back, according to the word of the LORD.
Jeroboam the servant of Solomon who rose up against the king then fled to Egypt to escape execution and had been told by the prophet Ahijah that he would rule after Solomon, this valiant man was asked to return by the son of Solomon, Rehoboam who reigned as king by succession but not by divine decree. Jeroboam asked Rehoboam to ease up on the people because he thought Solomon had ruled with an iron fist, but bad youthful counsel swayed Rehoboam to clamp down even more harshly than his father, resulting in a revolt against him with misused authority. He listened to his friends instead of God’s leading through Jeroboam as the prophet Ahijah had predicted. This was the catalyst the LORD set in place to split the kingdom of Judah under Rehoboam from the other tribes of Israel who rebelled against his authority which they saw as oppressive compared to Jeroboam who now led Israel. This is why Israel had been in rebellion against the house of David to the time of this account and for a long time afterwards as predicted to David after his sin with Bathsheba that began this downward spiral. Most of Israel, except the people of Judah, rejected any part of their inheritance in David the son of Jesse, ironic since Judah was the line of the Messiah to come which the majority of the people of God had rejected. When Rehoboam gathers the army of Judah to attack the other tribes of Israel who revolted, the LORD stopped him with His word and they obeyed. Nevertheless, the consequences of sin echoed down through time with reverberations of rebellion and destruction caused by revolt resulting from bad counsel, yet God’s plan was not interrupted or swayed from the predetermined path He set and prophetically announced to the people by His prophets that culminated in the arrival of (Hebrews 1:1-2) His Son as the ultimate prophet and anointed King Messiah. He would redeem the promises to all His people by faith as of Abraham (Romans 4:1, Galatians 3:6) who trusted the God of the plan as the Seed by David (John 7:42, Romans 1:3-4) through whom the lineage according to the flesh came to pass in Bethlehem. Our rebellion against God since Eden has been acquitted by the work of Jesus the Christ as prophetically promised to all who went before us, whom we now receive by repentance from our spiritual revolt against Him as we by faith turn to Him for a promised new united kingdom under His sovereign rule according to His predetermined plan since (2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:2-3, 1 Peter 1:20) before time began. Good counsel of the gospel now unites us.
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