1 Kings 12. Last week in chapter 11, we saw the death of Solomon. As well, we saw a prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite spoken to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat from the north, and that prophecy will be fleshed out here in chapter 12. So I'll just begin reading in verse 1.
And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. 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, that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 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.
So he said to them, Depart for three days, then come back to me. And the people departed. 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?
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. 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. 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?
And the young man 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. 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.
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. Then the king answered the people roughly and rejected the advice which the elders had given him. 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.
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. 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. But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah. 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. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 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. And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying, 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, 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. Amen.
Introduction
Well, as we saw last week, what would happen in terms of the kingdom was indeed a serious chastisement from the Lord God Most High. It is in accordance with 2 Samuel 7 and the Davidic Covenant where God said that He would chastise the sinning son with the blows of men, but he would nevertheless not withdraw his mercy from the house of David, specifically the tribe of Judah, as it would be from that tribe that Messiah would come. Well, chapter 12 records the beginning of that division or the division in the kingdom the rest of 1st and 2nd Kings will see that there is no reunification, there is no unified monarchy ever again. And so
Three Divisions of 1 Kings 12
let's look at chapter 12 under three specific considerations. First, the request of the northern tribes in verses 1-15. Secondly, the revolt of the northern tribes in verses 16-20. And then the requirement for the southern tribes in verses 21-24.
Request of the Northern Tribes
So let's look at the request of the northern tribes.
The Northern Appeal to Rehoboam
In the first place, they appeal to the king, to Rehoboam. Remember that Rehoboam is Solomon's son. If you go back to verse 43 in chapter 11, then Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place. So Rehoboam is the heir apparent.
He is going to be crowned king over a unified kingdom. At this point, Rehoboam does not know what is facing him. Rehoboam never really seems to get the message of how deep this rift is. I think when he sends Adoram to the northern tribes, he very much misjudges the situation.
Now it was certainly wrong for Adoram to be stoned, but you can see that the people in the north were very upset, and they were not going to broker peace with Rehoboam at this time. But notice the coronation takes place at Shechem. That's a bit of a bad omen, because all Israel should have gathered together in Jerusalem. But the fact that Rehoboam has to go into northern territory to Shechem, again indicates that not everything is well at this particular time.
So Rehoboam goes to Shechem so that he can be crowned king. Now notice the return of Jeroboam in verses 2 to 3a. Back in chapter 11 at verse 40, it says Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. Jeroboam was given the message by Ahijah, the Shilonite, concerning the division of the kingdom.
Remember that Ahijah tears his garment and hands ten pieces of the garment to Jeroboam. And he says that you will receive ten tribes. You will be the king over the north. Now, when Solomon hears this, Solomon wants to kill Jeroboam.
We saw in chapter 2 how Solomon secured the throne by eliminating the enemies to the throne. Certainly, at the end of Solomon's career, that same sort of strategy would hold good, and he wanted to kill Jeroboam. But, verse 40 tells us, Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to Shishak, king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. Now that Solomon is dead, a delegation is sent to Jeroboam and he is invited to Shechem to sort of lead the northern tribes in their appeal to Rehoboam that his reign over these northerners would be lessened, that it would be lighter.
Now note their request for concessions in verses 3b to 5. In the first place, they highlight that Solomon's yoke was indeed a heavy yoke. Now remember, this is the complaint of the North. We're not certain that it's true.
Now, when Rehoboam addresses them in verse 14, he repeats this. He says, my father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. Now, whether he means this sort of ironically, or let's just assume for the sake of argument, or if it was indeed the case that Solomon had imposed a heavy yoke upon the northern tribes. But just because they say it doesn't necessarily mean that it's true.
Nothing in chapters 3 to 10 give us a direct account of this sort of oppressive reign by Solomon over these northerners. Now, in terms of the particular burden at stake, most of the commentators favor one of two, probably both options, heavy taxation and conscripted labor, or forced labor. Now, when we look at chapter 5 and we see the North being used in this sort of forced labor, it wasn't slavery, it wasn't the way the heathen were used in terms of forced labor, They were paid, and they were rotated, and they got rest. Nevertheless, it seems that the North were not pleased.
The Northerners, and I say Northerners, and I always feel like an American when I say that, because I think of the Civil War in America between the North and the South. That's just the same sort of thing we have there. When I say Northerners, I'm not talking about Yankees. I'm talking about you know, the northern tribes in Israel at this particular time and season in Israel's history.
But taxation and this sort of forced labor, and probably both of those things are at play. Now, to fund the great kingdom that Solomon had indeed reigned over required a lot of money. And we see that not only foreigners are bringing tribute to Solomon, but certainly the nation was taxed as well in order to provide for the nation itself. And then it was indeed the case that Solomon used Israelites to build various projects relative to his kingship.
And so probably those are the sorts of things that has gotten a bee in their bonnet and they want a lighter yoke. Notice, they want a lighter yoke and they have and express a willingness to serve. Notice in verse 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. So they're not unwilling to serve, they just don't want to do it at the high taxation of this sort of conscripted labor that they have experienced up to this particular point.
So again, we can't take everything they say as gospel truth, but at the same time we can't utterly cast it away. The point is that probably no one is absolutely right with reference to this particular division. It's not the case that the North is pure and holy and harmless and undefiled, and Solomon and Rehoboam are just evil wretches. I don't think we can conclude that, but at the same time we can't conclude that everything was rosy under Solomon's reign. up until this particular point.
But it is intriguing. If these two things are the particulars involved, heavy taxation and this conscripted labor, note the conspicuous absence of idolatry. I mean, they don't complain that Solomon has taken a thousand wives and he's now building high places for Chemosh and Molech and Ashtoreth. They don't complain about the most horrific thing that's gone on under Solomon's reign.
That would be a legitimate complaint. That would be something that we could sink our teeth into, because we would see it there in chapter 11. Solomon multiplies wives, and he loves them, and he clung to them, and they led his heart astray from Yahweh, and he starts to build these places of worship. probably first just tolerating his wife's gods, and then bowing before his wife's gods along with them, so they don't complain about the thing that is most wicked in the nation. And I think this is somewhat typical of modern citizens.
As long as taxes are manageable, and as long as we aren't conscripted into labor, a bit of idolatry really doesn't bother us. As long as everything is status quo around us, we really don't care that Molech is being worshipped, that Ashtoreth is being worshipped, that Chemosh is being bowed to. I think in many respects what we see represented here in Israel is the same sort of thing that we see represented in Canada and in America. We get upset when they raise our taxes, but somehow it doesn't bother us when idolatry runs rampant in the land.
Now note Rehoboam's response. He tells them, depart for three days, then come back to me, and the people departed. Now I think that every step of the way, up until the very end, specifically verse 24, when Rehoboam and the Judahites actually obey God, and they don't launch this military incursion on the north, every other thing Rehoboam does in this chapter is wrong. every step of the way. In fact, John Gill mentions here, he shouldn't have waited three days.
I mean, you've got an upset people that don't, you know, they're trying to get some concessions from you in order to crown you king. Don't tell them, depart. for three days, then come back to me. That's not skillful politics. And I think, as I said, every step of the way, Rehoboam shows that he is really out of his league.
He is not fit for the task. He doesn't have the savvy or the skill or the ability for the kingship over this united empire. Now
Rehoboam Seeks Counsel
notice the counsel sought by Rehoboam in verses 6 to 11. He first goes to the elders. Go back to chapter 10 and verse 8. Chapter 10 and verse 8.
Notice the Queen of Sheba's response here with reference to Solomon's wealth and wisdom. In verse 8, she says, Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom. Now go back to chapter 12, verse 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?
These were men that had benefited directly from the wisdom of Solomon. I mean, come on, Rehoboam, you should listen to these men. You should give heed to these men. You should highly value and prize their counsel.
Do not discard them, do not disregard them, do not turn them away. The elders recommend that Rehoboam make concessions to secure northern allegiance. This is good politics. This is good policy.
He's not saying, abdicate the throne, let them do whatever they want, make some concessions. They've expressed a willingness. Verse 4, "...and His heavy yoke which He put on us, and we will serve you." Proven says the king has Israelites as servants, to which they do not in principle object. But if he really wants them as servants, he must be a servant to them and demand less service.
And I love the way the elders describe the king's responsibility. It is so contrary to the way things typically operate. Notice in verse 7, "...if you will be a servant to these people today and serve them." That's the function of a king. That's what makes our Lord Jesus Christ so glorious.
He's a servant king. He actually takes seriously the whole idea of kingship. Shepherding is serving. And what we find here is these elders, armed with this wisdom, tell Rehoboam that he needs to be a servant to these people and he needs to serve them.
Interestingly enough, in the monarchy then, and as monarchies have continued to evolve into even constitutional republics and democracies and whatnot, it becomes just the opposite. The citizenry is to be the servant to the government, and that's just not right. It's not the way it's supposed to be. They are called ministers.
What is minister? I've always been a bit bothered by that title as a title of esteem and respect. Oh, the minister. Ministers serve.
Ministers are laborers, ministers are helpers of others for their well-being, whether they be ecclesiastical ministers in terms of eldership, or they are political ministers, they are servants. That's what it's called. In America we call them civil servants. But they don't function that way.
The citizenry is the servant to the government. And so these elders are full of wisdom and they tell Rehoboam good things. But notice verse 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.
I mean, we're told at the outset, he receives an earful of good wisdom and instead of acting upon it and taking it to heart and then putting it into practice and implementing it for the good of the kingdom. You see, that's what's at stake. And I think the elders recognize that. A few concessions, a bit of a lighter load, ease up on some of the taxation, ease up on the conscripted labor, And everybody will be hunky-dory.
Everything will function swimmingly. These are not unreasonable requests on the part of these northerners. It's not unreasonable for them to desire less taxation and less conscripted labor. These are legitimate things, Rehoboam.
But wholesale, out of out of hand before he even seeks out these young men. It says, "...he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him." Now, we need to date these young men. If the elders were the ones who stood before Solomon, These young men were contemporaries of Rehoboam. I think that makes sense, doesn't it?
Consulted with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. When Rehoboam assumed the throne, he was 41. So these are 20-year-old young men. These are 40-year-old young men.
They are young, contrasted with the elders who stood with and before Solomon. So we're not dealing with teenagers here. We're not dealing with even 20-year-olds here. We're dealing with 40-year-olds that should have some more horse sense than what these guys exhibit.
Gil says they were at an age to be wiser than they appeared to be. because they certainly don't come off the page of 1 Kings 12 as wise. And if they're not wise, Rehoboam is doubly not wise for following their foolish counsel. So the statement that Rehoboam rejected the advice which the elders had given him does not bode well. The young men do not advise concessions, but they advise intimidation.
In other words, Rehoboam, the way that you deal with this northern plea for concession is with a heavy hand. It's with an iron fist. Crush them. Oppose them.
Increase the taxation. Increase the tax burden. Increase the conscripted labor. Make things more miserable for these whining, grumbling, complaining fools from the north.
That is precisely how the young man responds. respond. So Rehoboam poses the question in verse 9. Verse 10, 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 made it lighter on us. Thus you shall say to them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's waist, 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." Davis says, these younger bucks believe that nothing impresses like intimidation, nothing tames like threatening. And of course, Rehoboam is going to side with these younger men. It's one of those times where you're reading the Bible, and you're talking to the Bible, and you're saying, please, Rehoboam, don't do that. Listen to these wise old men that had benefited from the wisdom of Solomon.
You are plunging the nation into ruin. You are plunging the nation into a division from whence it will not return. This is not a wise course of conduct. Now, notice how he says, my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges.
Most of your margins probably read scorpions. I will chastise you with scorpions. Does that mean he's going to collect scorpions and whip them with them? One of the commentators says that these are many tailed whips armed with barbed points or hooks that when lashed against the intended victim felt like a scorpion sting.
So you see it's all bluster here. My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. He chastised you with whips, I will chastise you with scorpions. In other words, get back to your jobs, get back to your life, and pay the taxes to fund the kingdom.
This is the counsel of these younger men. Obviously, younger men who didn't have a clue on how to rule a kingdom.
Rehoboam's Harsh Response
Notice the response given by Rehoboam in verses 12-14. 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. Then the king answered the people roughly. You see what I'm saying?
Every step of the way, every time there is narrative dedicated to Rehoboam, it's foolishness, it's folly, it's a lack of wisdom. Solomon was known for his wisdom. It certainly wasn't passed on genetically. It certainly wasn't communicated in terms of didactic lessons given by father to son.
No doubt Solomon taught his sons the Book of Proverbs, makes it clear, but there was a great disconnect between the spoken word and what actually found its way into the head and the heart of Rehoboam. Notice. It says, "...the king answered the people roughly, rejected the advice which the elders had given him, 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." So Rehoboam chooses the path of intimidation and threatening, and he rejects the path of some simple concessions that would have greased the wheels of the kingdom and kept everything going.
Divine Sovereignty and Human Folly
Now that brings us to the theological explanation of Rehoboam's actions. Verse 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. Now you see here the interplay between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Or we might even say human stupidity.
The Lord's sovereignty does not erase the actions and the responsibility of men, nor does the actions and the responsibility of men, including their stupidity and folly, does it alter divine sovereignty. So everything that is happening here, as foolish as it is, and Rehoboam is fully responsible for that, is under the direct control of our sovereign God. This is the theological explanation. So as we read up to this point, there is a temptation to moralize the passage.
We could jump into 1 Kings 12, 6-11 and preach a sermon on how you ought to listen to your elders. But that's not the point of the passage. Or we could preach a sermon on how peer pressure can really destroy you if you're not listening to your father and listening to his advisors. That's not the point of the passage.
The point of the passage describes for us the folly of Rehoboam, but the ultimate point of the passage is to underscore that this is the fulfillment of prophecy. In other words, the word of the Lord God Most High is sure. what He has spoken in 1 Kings 11, 31-39, by Ahijah the Shilonite, to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, comes to fruition. God's Word comes to pass. That's the point here.
The king does not listen to the people. The turn of events, however, was from the Lord. The events were the fulfillment of the Lord's word spoken through Ahijah to Jeroboam in chapter 11. So there is a theological rationale.
So whenever we see the folly of men, oftentimes in governmental positions, realize that that folly, realize that that idiocy, realize that that blatant stupidity is not autonomous. That the Lord is working even in the midst of the folly of men. That the Lord is accomplishing His purposes even through the folly of men. Now that shouldn't give us license to go out and be fools.
I hope nobody goes home tonight and says, yippee, I get to be a fool because God's going to work out His sovereign rule through that. No, I'm not suggesting that. But what I am suggesting is that for the people of God, who affirm and confess a sovereign God, we ought not to fret or freak out when we see our public leaders doing foolish things. Now, I'm not saying be unconcerned, I'm not saying don't vote, I'm not saying don't pray, but I am saying don't come apart at the seams.
You see, when Rehoboam engages in one foolish act after another, it's not as if God is somehow fretting on his throne. It's not as if God is caught unawares. It's not as if God is having to consult with somebody and say, well, what do we do now because Rehoboam's made a mess out of everything. No, what Rehoboam does, this turn of events, is from the Lord in order that the Lord's prophecy concerning the division of the kingdom will come to pass.
In other words, divine sovereignty provides great comfort for the people of God. In fact, this passage, in two conspicuous places, is punctuated with that reality. Verses 15 and 24. God doesn't let us forget that whatever mess men may make of the kingdom, ultimately He is sovereign, and ultimately He is fulfilling His purposes, even through the madness and the folly of man.
It's a good thing to consider that God's will will be done, and that men cannot stop it, men cannot thwart it, men cannot frustrate it, And so, therefore, the people of God must find comfort and solace and peace and rest, not in government, but in a sovereign God who overrules all things for His glory and for the good of those who love Him, to those who are the called according to His purpose. So that's the request of the northern tribes. Now, how do you think they receive that? You think they said, oh great, now we get a more oppressive regime.
We can't wait for that tax burden to increase, and we can't wait for the conscripted labor. No, everything goes as one might expect. Rehoboam threatens. Rehoboam seeks to intimidate.
Now Jeroboam, leading the northerners, is going to say, uh-uh. We are not going to submit to this. We are not going to be privy to this power play.
Revolt of the Northern Tribes
Notice the revolt of the northern tribes, verses 16 to 20. The declaration, or the report rather, of this in verses 16 and 17. Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king saying, and it's a poetic assertion of independence here, isn't it? It's lyrical.
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.
This lyric was composed initially by Sheba in his rebellion against the house of David back in 2 Samuel chapter 20. 2 Samuel 20 verse 1, and there happened to be there a rebel whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet and said, We have no share in David, nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel. seems to be the adopted song of any would-be rebel against the southern kingdom. And that is precisely how they adopt it here.
And it's really unfortunate, and it's really sad, and it's really grievous. Because notice, in this assertion, 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. They have rejected the security of the kingdom provided by David. I mean, David did a lion's share of work to get them to this particular point. David did an immense amount of battle against a whole host of enemies in order to provide a stable environment for Israel.
It is to disregard the work of Solomon. Solomon wasn't Rehoboam. Solomon had the ability to unify the kingdom, to govern the kingdom, to do it in a way that the kingdom itself expanded and increased and grew. When I mentioned back in chapter 12 at verse 3, this is what they said, but it's not necessarily gospel truth.
As John Gill points out, They had no right to complain. Under Solomon's reign, silver was not anything special. Silver was just a common metal that became like a copper penny today. It wasn't anything that important.
So they had benefited greatly from David, they had benefited greatly from Solomon, and now they are repudiating all of that. not suggesting that they should have just took everything that Rehoboam had to say, but it really is a sad state of affairs when a fool like Rehoboam can divide a kingdom that was so difficult to work for and secure by both David and Solomon. I think that, if anything, we ought to learn from 1 Kings 12, we don't pick men for government that are out of their league. I mean, you get that sense with a certain prime minister in a certain country. He's out of his league.
He's out of his depth. He just doesn't have the ability and the wherewithal to do what is asked of him in this particular situation. If that's offensive, I'm sorry. I'm a citizen of this country, and I have a freedom to say what I need to say.
It just feels like he doesn't have the savvy and the wherewithal to properly govern. Remember, way back in 1 Samuel 16, God does not look upon men the way that men do. God isn't looking for the tallest among them, or the best hair among them, or the most handsome smile among them. God's looking for a man after his own heart.
And you see, political savvy is a gift from God. If building the tabernacle or building the temple is a gift given by God, then certainly the government over nations is a gift given by God. Rehoboam did not possess this gift at all. And it's an unfortunate reality that he listens to these younger men and he goes with this, you know, brash and brazen machismo attitude and says, this is the way things are going to be now.
And so the northerners say, forget it. We don't want any part of it whatsoever.
Adoram Sent and Stoned
Now, Rehoboam, or the whole situation is aggravated, it's exacerbated in verse 18. Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue. Now, this is an interesting translation that the New King James has, and the King James has. He was in charge of the revenue.
Most every other version says he was in charge of the forced labor. Most other versions relate this Adoram to the Adoniram that is mentioned in chapter 4 at verse 6. Not uncommon for a name to be indicated a different way. Adoram, Adoniram, you feel the sense, you see the similarity.
Well, in 4.6, Adoniram is the head of the labor force. So I don't think it's a stretch to see this as that Adariah who was in charge of the labor force. In the Hebrew here, revenue is forced labor. Again, I didn't have the time to sort of trace down or track down or look and see where the variants were, but why the King James tradition translates it revenue instead of forced labor, I'm sure the answer's out there, I just don't have it.
But either way, If the two problems were taxation and forced labor, whichever reading we adopt with reference to this Adora, he was either in charge of taxation or forced labor. Do you see how unwise it was for Rehoboam to send him? I mean, they have just said, we don't want anything to do with you in the South because we don't like this tax burden and we don't like this conscripted labor. So Rehoboam, in all of his wisdom, sends the chief tax collector or the head of the conscripted labor force.
This can't go well. This can't end well at this particular juncture. Adoniram is walking into a trap. He is walking into a hotbed of political revolution, and he is going to be the scapegoat and the target.
So when verse 18 tells us that King Rehoboam sent Adoram, now some suggest that he sent him in order to try and broker a deal, in order to try and make peace. I think it's more likely that He sent him to show that what He had said in verses 13 and 14, He meant business. In other words, in verses 13 and 14, he says, you want a lighter yoke? I'm going to give you a heavier yoke.
You want to have easy street, or you want to have no problems? I am going to make it far more difficult. I think that's the sense in which he sends Adoniram there, is to show them who's boss. Now, Proven makes a very interesting observation that in some sense, Jeroboam functions as a Moses type of a person.
Not type in terms of type and typological and anti-type and all that. But Jeroboam lives in Egypt and he comes to bring the north Israel out of bondage. And the bondage is unfortunately inflicted by their own king. So Jeroboam from Egypt comes into Israel to ask, let my people go.
And Rehoboam is functioning as the pharaoh who wants to increase the burden and make things harder and more difficult for the nation of Israel. But he also shows that Jeroboam not only functions as a Moses-like figure, but also like an Aaron-like figure. Because the last part of chapter 12 is when Jeroboam institutionalizes idolatry. And there he functions as sort of like an Aaron, remember?
Aaron said, you know the people gave me this gold, I threw it in and out popped this calf! Oh, really? Calfs just pop out? No, you shaped it and formed it and said, this is Yahweh, your God.
So you see, there is some, I think, some interesting parallels going on there, and I'm thankful that I read that in Proven, but I think back to Adoniram, that's the point. Rehoboam sends him as a show of force. Rehoboam sends him as a show of muscle. You got a problem with taxes?
Meet Adoniram. You got a problem with your conscripted labor? Meet Adoniram. Again, whichever reading we adopt, whatever he was in charge of, the endgame is the same.
He was the wrong guy to send. He was the absolute wrong guy. I feel sorry for Adoniram at this point. But all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died." Again, we can't justify it.
We can't say, well, you know, he had it coming to him. But you're kind of watching Rehoboam walk this poor man into his death. I mean, he goes and he threatens the north, and then he sends a henchman to the north? You think the north is going to say, oh, well, Adoniram's here.
Let's just give more money. Let's just work hard. No. They stone him and he dies.
So then King Rehoboam realizes now, I don't think he had realized the depth of the problems, but now he does. And Gill notes, this is the first time in scripture that we see a king of Israel riding a chariot. I think it was Gill. Therefore, King Rehoboam mounted his chariot and aced a fleet of Jerusalem.
That makes good sense, doesn't it? I mean, look how they treated Adoniram. We don't have the sort of thing that we thought we had. He thought a little intimidation, he thought a little threat would cause these people to knuckle under, suck it up, and get back to work.
But that's not what happened. And Rehoboam now senses, feels, knows in the very fiber of his being that that didn't happen. So he mounts his chariot in haste, he flees to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
And then there is a description of this situation in verse 20. 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. You see, Jeroboam received the northern tribes in accordance with that prophecy given by Ahijah the Shilonite to him. It was the word of the Lord.
But remember that that prophecy given by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam stipulated what? that Jeroboam tow the line. In other words, I'm giving you the northern tribes, but you need to follow in the footsteps of David. You need to be an obedient king. That's what it says in chapter 11, verses 37 and 38.
So I will take you and you shall reign reign over all your heart desires, you shall be king over Israel. Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. So that's great. Everything is going according to plan, as prophesied by Ahijah the Shilonite, until we get to verse 25.
We'll pick that up next week. But what's Jeroboam's first order of business? Let's institutionalize idolatry. Let's build golden calves, put them in Dan and put them in Bethel.
Let's put them there and let's invite the people to bow before these calves. So we have to conclude that things aren't going to go well in the North either. I mean, he was told to follow David. Why was David a good king?
Not because he was perfect, not because he was sinless, but because he was wholly devoted to Yahweh. So we don't even get out of the chapter, and Jeroboam, with the newfound power that he has, begins a course of institutional idolatry.
Requirement for the Southern Tribes
Now note, finally, the requirement for the southern tribes. In light of all that has occurred, verses 21 to 24, what's Rehoboam do? comes to Jerusalem, he assembles all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, so those are the two tribes in the southern kingdom. You've got Judah, you've got Benjamin. He has 180,000 chosen men who are warriors to fight against the house of Israel that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.
So he wants to gather these military forces in order to suppress northern rebellion. Again, sounds a lot like what happened in the in the US, only it kind of was the other way around. The northerners wanted to suppress the southern rebellion. But that's what's happening.
Rehoboam's response to this is warfare. Let's gather forces, launch a military incursion into the northern tribes and show them who's boss.
Word of the Prophet Shemaiah
Now note the word of the prophet in verses 22 to 24. But, this is just beautiful in the book of 1st and 2nd Kings. This is the kind of stuff you get. All this mayhem, all this trouble, all these things falling down around everybody.
But, the Word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying, God's involved every step of the way. He's not going to let these people just, you know, utterly destroy themselves. And I love to think about that in our own lives. He's not going to let us utterly destroy ourselves, because we would if we could, but the Word of God comes to us through the Word of God.
Notice, it came through this man, Shemaiah, the man of God, as we saw with Ahijah. No long description, there was a man by the name of Shemaiah, he had a wife, he had three kids, they had a cat, they had a summer home. They don't tell us about the prophets, because the prophets aren't important. It's the message of the prophets, which is the Word of God, that's what's important.
You don't get these elaborate descriptions of who these prophets were. You were simply told that they were in order to be the vehicle to bring the Word of God to bear upon a particular situation. So what is Shemaiah's word to Rehoboam? God says in verse 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, 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." So God prohibits civil war. God forbids civil war. Now, the theological explanation is there underscored, for this thing is from me. The Northern Rebellion, this whole turn of events, all of this stuff, the division, it happened as a result, covenantally, 2 Samuel 7, practically Solomon's idolatry in 1 Kings 11.
Right? You with me? You're looking confused. Like 2 Samuel 7 is where I will chastise with the blows of men.
That's what I mean by that. Practically, we see Solomon's sin in 1 Kings 11. But notice, with reference to this theology, John Gill says, it was according to the will of God, as Josephus rightly says, it was by his ordination and appointment. though Jeroboam and the people sinned in the way and manner in which they brought it about. And therefore, to fight against Israel in order to regain the kingdom would be fighting against God, and so to no purpose." So you see, the Lord says, do not do this because it's from me.
If you do this, then you are going against me, so don't do that. Now, for the first time in his short But very illustrious career. Rehoboam actually does what he's supposed to. We can end this night with sort of a two hands up for Rehoboam.
Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord and turned back according to the word of the Lord. That's actually surprising in 1st and 2nd Kings. The typical response to the word of the Lord is that they disobeyed it. They rejected it.
They didn't do what God said. So enjoy verse 24. for a short time, because that ain't going to be the rest of first and second kings. That's not the majority report on the part of the people. In fact, let me read it again.
Therefore, they obeyed the word of the Lord and turned back according to the word of the Lord. That's a beautiful thing, but it doesn't last. Chapter 14, verse 30. Chapter 15, verse 6 and 16.
Both the North and the South are at war with one another.
Conclusion
Well, what do we learn in conclusion? First, I hope we see the faithfulness of God's Word. You know, I think it's easy to see the faithfulness or the veracity or the truthfulness or the consistency of God's Word in times of blessing. You know, we look at good things and we say, wow, God's favor is upon us.
But we need to appreciate it in cursing as well. You know, whenever one of those curses in Deuteronomy 28 comes to pass, that's proof of God's faithfulness. In other words, the Word would be broken and it would be untrue if the curses of the covenant didn't come to pass. So we rejoice in God's faithful Word, one way or the other.
Secondly, the restraining influence of God's Word. That's the lesson in verses 21 to 24, isn't it? Rehoboam goes back, gathers the troops, wants to head to the north and bust some heads. God restrains through the prophet Shemaiah.
God keeps Rehoboam from doing something even more foolish. And we ought to praise God for the restraining influence of His Word. I used to tell my kids when they got caught in sin, I would tell them, praise God you got caught. Because if you didn't get caught, you would get further hardened in it, you would get better at it, and you would become more deceptive and more evil.
I would count every time you get caught as a mercy from God speaking to you that you need to knock it off and repent and get things in order. But we see that restraining influence of God's Word. And Davis makes this very perceptive observation. So Rehoboam, when confronted with northern rebellion, wants to fix it, right?
I mean, that's a natural response. Isn't that how we react? Something doesn't go according to plan in our kingdom, and we want to fix it. Dispatch troops.
God says stand down. Well, Davis makes this observation, for some reason we think there must be some way to fix everything, a band-aid for every dilemma. But most sinful and thoughtful believers know that sometimes their choices, their folly, their bull-headedness or their hard-heartedness have landed them in a network of circumstances they simply cannot undo. Their lives are riddled with gaping cracks that can't be cocked or with irreversible consequences that can't be righted.
What can one do but listen to the word of Yahweh at that point and go on living in the kingdom as grace enables to do so? Is that mere weakness or is it finally wisdom? I think that's a great observation. Rehoboam finally does what's right.
He finally engages in a bit of wisdom and just submits to God. I think that's important for us to appreciate. We can't fix everything. Sin messes everything.
And it's not always the case that we can tie everything off and make it into a neat little package. We just need to submit. to God's government over us, be content and seek to thrive as grace enables us to do. Thirdly, we ought to appreciate the sovereignty of God and the foolishness of men. I don't mean we ought to appreciate the foolishness of men.
The relationship betwixt the two. The relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. The former, divine sovereignty, does not destroy the latter, human responsibility. And the latter, human responsibility, cannot alter the former.
God has caused it to work in harmony. Now, He is sovereign. His decree stands. It's the foundation and the cause of second causes.
But these second causes, men act responsibly. Men act according to their own choice, really. I mean, nobody forced Rehoboam to be an idiot in this passage. He willingly and happily embraced that particular course of thought.
So Davis again makes this observation, and I think it affords comfort. Verse 15, that theological explanation, testifies that human hubris never catches God by surprise. He uses it. Big men, especially royal arrogant ones, are simply little servants of God's Word.
Contrary to our fears, human stupidity is not running loose, but is on the leash of God's sovereignty." That's encouraging. As foolish as men may be, it doesn't throw God off the throne. And then finally, just a real practical in terms of sort of where we're going, the division of the kingdom really wrecked things for Israel. I think we can all appreciate that.
But the separate entities never experienced the prestige achieved by David and Solomon. I mean, Solomon's reign in chapters 3 to 10 was glorious, wasn't it? Just amazing. They'll never get that back.
Secondly, the two kingdoms are more vulnerable to foreign attack. They've got problems with Egypt. Trade with Tyre is going to be greatly diminished. Syria becomes impossible to control and becomes a constant threat, or at least a regular threat in the north.
Judah couldn't hold Annan or Philistia, and only Moab continued to pay tribute money. Paul House concludes, each part of the divided kingdom had to face the future with less income from trade, with more external threats from small and large countries, and with turmoil between each other. A difficult future lay ahead for them. I mean, we don't feel the full weight of it at this point.
It's just reporting the division. You're going to see as we move through 1st and 2nd Kings, it's just not a good situation. And then finally, the institutionalized idolatry of Jeroboam certainly introduced a new difficulty into Israel's religious life. Keeping covenant becomes very difficult when the crown is institutionalizing revolt against God.
So all of that as divine chastisement for human sin, but realizing that the promise that was embedded, that was unconditional in 2 Samuel 7, will indeed be realized in the person and in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word, and we see, God, the folly of sin, and we see its consequences and repercussions in the the kingdom of Israel, and we see as well that you are sovereign over even these things and that you overrule all things for your glory and for the good of your people. God, at times we confess it's difficult to see how this can be. It's difficult to make heads or tails, especially in our own lives, but give us faith, God, to believe the promise of Romans 8.28. Give us faith to believe all the Scripture concerning your divine sovereignty and give us that peace and that comfort and that rest that comes with such a such a great doctrine.
As well, our Father, thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that Solomon was a type, but he was only typical of one much greater, and we thank you for his reign and his rule and for his most blessed and gracious kingdom. We ask that you would go with us now and watch over us in the remainder of this week. Be with all of our brothers and our sisters, and we pray through Christ our Lord.
Amen.