Lesson 7 – The Kingdom Divided

¹Our attention now turns to Jeroboam. We know a little about him. He was of the tribe of Ephraim and the city of Zeredah. His father was named Nebat and his mother Zeruah, but at this point in his life his father had died and his mother was a widow. Verse 26 gives us a summary of his story when it says that he opposed Solomon.

Jeroboam served Solomon as one of the forced laborers who worked on Solomon’s great building program. He was a skilled man. His management qualities were noticed and he was repeatedly promoted. At the time we meet him, he was over all of the forced laborers from Ephraim and Manasseh (the tribes that descended from Joseph).

²While traveling outside of Jerusalem, Jeroboam met the prophet of God named Ahijah. The prophet told him that God had selected him to rule over ten of the tribes of Israel. Ahijah gave a summary of God’s judgement of Solomon and that he was the man who would be king over the tribes that God would remove from Solomon’s dynasty. Ahijah illustrated this prophecy by tearing his robe into twelve pieces and instructing Jeroboam to pick ten to symbolize the ten tribes he would receive.

³Eventually Solomon learned of this prophecy. As a jealous king, he did not want Jeroboam to disenfranchise his own son. Solomon put a price on Jeroboam’s head and tried to have him killed. Ultimately Jeroboam was forced to flee Israel and go to Egypt to escape Solomon’s reach.

⁴When Solomon died and his son Rehoboam took the throne, the people were weary of all the labor Solomon had forced them to do. They were hoping for a break from all the work. So when Rehoboam came to meet them, they had one question for him, “Will you make us work as much as your father, or will you give us a break?”

⁵Rehoboam asked his older advisors, the ones who had worked with his father, how he should answer the people’s question. They suggested that if he backed off on the forced labor program the people would love him and would follow him wherever he wanted to lead them. However this meant slowing down the building program and being seen as a less prosperous king than his father.

⁶The younger advisors, young men who had been his friends and grown up with him advised him to say the exact opposite. They advised him to further dominate the people and levy even more work on them. They advised him to compare his little finger to his father’s thigh and say that even his little finger would be thicker. The implication was that he wanted to be known as an even greater builder than his father and would surpass his father’s dignity and glory.

⁷Rehoboam chose to follow the advice of his young friends. When the people of Israel gathered again to hear his answer, he spoke harshly to them. He told them that however harsh his father had been, he would be dramatically more demanding. His answer reflected a perspective that he had ultimate authority and could say or do whatever he wanted, while the people would have no choice but to do what he said.

8Today it seems amazing that a young ruler would be so self-sure and tone deaf. However, his path was determined by God. Jeroboam had already received God’s promise that he would become king over ten of the tribes. Rehoboam’s choice was part of God’s sovereign plan to bring this development to life. Ahijah’s prophecy would come true.

When the people heard Rehoboam’s answer, they rejected his authority and rule. “What portion do we have in David,” essentially means, “David is nothing to us, we don’t need to follow his dynasty.” It was their way of saying that they were withdrawing from the kingdom and would find their own way with a new leader.

Interestingly, Rehoboam seemed unable to do anything about the people’s choice. After they said this, they left and went back to their homes. Rehoboam tried to send the next task master to organize the work, and the people killed him. In the face of this rebellion, Rehoboam hurried back to Jerusalem with his tail between his legs.

⁹With ten tribes no longer recognizing Rehoboam as king, they needed to choose a new ruler. They didn’t even consider going back to the prophet / judge system. They automatically wanted another king, but one who would not treat them so harshly.

When they heard that Jeroboam had returned from Egypt, they turned to him. Jeroboam’s reputation was so strong they knew he would be able rule them effectively. He also came from humble beginnings and understood their dislike of the forced labor. They thought he would be a more sympathetic ruler than Rehoboam.

¹⁰The only tribes that remained loyal to Rehoboam and David’s dynasty were Judah and Benjamin. Judah was David’s tribe. His dynasty was their dynasty. So it makes sense that they would remain loyal to him. The tribe of Benjamin was small, and seemed to be closely aligned with Judah.

¹¹We gain insight into the reign of Jeroboam through the words of Ahijah the prophet. He described Jeroboam as “not like my servant David” and “you have done evil above all who were before you”. This is not the picture of a king who honored God and followed His commandments. Jeroboam worshipped idols and made the ten tribes of his kingdom follow him in idolatry. Because of this he was worse than any of the kings who had reigned until that time.

Because of his unfaithfulness, God promised that his son would die, which was the direct subject of the conversation. Even more, the entire dynasty of Jeroboam would be killed and would not establish themselves as a long-term ruling family.

¹³Under Rehoboam’s leadership, Judah did evil in the sight of God. They ran after and worshiped idols instead of God. This became so bad, that God became jealous. In Exodus 20:4, when He gave the 10 Commandments, God said that He was a jealous God and would not stand by and let the worship due to Him be given to idols. Rehoboam’s idolatrous worship displeased God greatly.

God took Israel as His people and commanded them to be different. They were to worship Him exclusively and follow His laws. This would make them different from the people around them. But Rehoboam led the people in all the same practices of the nations that surrounded them. They became indistinguishable from the heathens. This was a sad state of affairs for God’s people.

¹⁴Shishak brought his army up from Egypt and attacked Judah and Jerusalem early in Rehoboam’s reign. Based on the outcome, it’s clear that he defeated Rehoboam’s forces. As the victor, he carried off everything of value from the Temple and the royal house. All of the wealth that Solomon had accumulated in gold and silver was taken by the Pharaoh.

¹⁵In order to maintain an appearance of the same majesty that his father had enjoyed, Rehoboam replaced golden shields with brass replicas. Instead of leaving them in the Temple, he kept them under lock and key and only brought them out when he visited the temple.

Considering his initial desire to be greater than his father, Rehoboam suffered nothing but shame. He lost ten of the tribes his father had ruled. He was defeated by kingdoms who had made marriage alliances with his father. Former allies conquered him and took the fabulous wealth of gold and silver that his father had collected. The sin of Solomon was coming home to roost.