- Why Shechem?
- Northern site, far from Jerusalem in the south
- Suggestive of a brewing storm. Issues have been building steadily over the years, but no one wanted to challenge Solomon
- Solomon is to blame for his mismanagement of the people
- Also, for his greed (666 tons of gold a year, but did not slack off the gaining of gold), desire for power (chariots and gold shields), and lust (which brought foreign gods into Israel)
- 1 John 2:15-17 (NIV) Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
- It does have historical significance
- The people's complaint?
- Taxation and forced labor (the hard labor was only for non-Israelites living in the land or conquered land, but there could have been light forced labor which impacts earning potential)
- Quite possible that Judah was exempt (another reason for the meeting in the north)
- The people promise to serve if Rehoboam would lighten the load
- What do we learn about Solomon's elders?
- They are well-chosen -- possibly wiser than Solomon was during his later years
- Their advice?
- If you will be a servant (attitude)
- (if you will) serve them (action)
- (if you will) answer them favorably (tactfulness)
- Then (the result or consequences), they will serve you
- What are the consequences to Rehoboam of lightening the load?
- It would reduce his riches (income) and his status (size of forces). Would not seem to affect lust -- using the 1 Jn 2:16 relationship
- Why does Rehoboam pursue a second opinion?
- Rehoboam has already rejected the advice of the elders
- Rehoboam pursues a second opinion to find one that agrees with what he has already decided to do
- APPLICATION: We do the same thing. We keep looking for counsel until we find the one that agrees with what we wanted to do all along
- What do Rehoboam's friends suggest and why do they suggest it?
- What? Don't make it easier, make it harder -- put your foot down
- Why?
- Young, inexperienced, and stupid
- Because they are his friends, they know what he wants to hear. So they tell him what he wants to hear. Besides, he is the king, and they want to remains friends with the king. Friendship with the king promises a full and rich life
- APPLICATION: Sometimes, so-so friends will do exactly the same thing in order to curry favor. True friends are willing to tell you what you do not want to hear
- Verse 12 shows us Jeroboam's standing with the people.
- How does verse 13 (Rehoboam rejecting advice and answering harshly) with verse 15 (this turn of events was from the Lord)?
- I don't know how it all fits together. I do know that God is sovereign and man has free will. Additionally, God sees the future and intervenes where appropriate. Actually, to allow bad things to happen is easy -- just let people be people and listen to Satan's lies. Doing good is a little more difficult and probably requires more intervention
- Verse 18 gives us some insight into Rehoboam's cluelessness
- He sends Adoniram out (Solomon used him) and he is stoned
- Rehoboam himself is almost killed as well
- Rehoboam did not hear the message from the people. He thought everything was as it had been. Not only was he unwise and stupid, he had no perception
- In order to figure out these verses, we need to examine a lot of things
- How is the map arranged? Benjamin is south of Judah -- all of the other tribes are north of Judah
- Why is only Judah loyal to the house of David? Because he is of their tribe. Why not Benjamin? They would be the least loyal because of what happened to Saul, but they have no choice
- So, by default, even though it is not loyal, Benjamin is joined to the Southern kingdom
- Most of the 185K soldiers are probably from Judah
- Also, as we shall see, most of the Levites will relocate to Judah. The Levites did not have a particular area of land
- Shemaiah warns the soldiers, after they are gathered, to not fight against Israel. Why does Rehoboam listened?
- To disobey a prophet's command would have hurt Rehoboam even more
- Also, Benjamin wasn't really into it anyway, as evidenced by verse 20
- History on relations:
- 57 years of antagonism;
- 33 years as allies;
- 119 years of antagonism (Constable, 2010)
- There is so much wrong with these verses. What was the single biggest event of the Exodus?
- The rebellion of Israel by creating the golden calf
- God was ready to abandon the nation. In the end, the presence of God, the tabernacle, wasn't within the nation, but was outside of the area because of this sin
- So Jeroboam doubles down on the sin by creating two golden calves
- Note: he also goes for advice, but it is obvious the advice is not godly wisdom but world wisdom
- He places one in Bethel (house of God from Jacob/Israel's day) and Dan
- What is Jeroboam's reasoning?
- He was afraid of his life -- i.e., he does not trust God
- Where does he get the priests?
- He appointed priests from all sorts of people. In other words, individuals who had no upbringing in the sanctity and holiness of the priestly system
- Also, the all sorts suggests a great diversity of worship, and of gods
- Another verse suggests that the priests were anyone who wanted to be a priest
- What day did he pick for the festival?
- He chose his own day
- He also picked a day and month unrelated to any of Israel's religious festivals
- APPLICATION: Jeroboam essentially creates his own religious system. And it is a free-for all system where anyone can worship whatever god they choose. The problem is that they had a covenant with God, and that covenant did not allow diversity of worship
- Today's situation is different. I do not believe that the US is in a covenant relationship with God. I do believe there is only one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ. But in the new covenant, no one is forced to believe the truth, although they forfeit eternity by disbelief. But to enter God's kingdom and become a part of God's family, and God's body, the church, one must believe in Jesus Christ. A church is not a Christian church who does not accept these truths
Constable Chart, pg 42
1 Kings 12:1-11 (NIV) Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."
5 Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me." So the people went away.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.
7 They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."
8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"
10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'"
1 Kings 12:12-19 (NIV) Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." 13 The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, 14 he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:
"What share do we have in David,
what part in Jesse's son?
To your tents, O Israel!
Look after your own house, O David!"
So the Israelites went home. 17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.
18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
1 Kings 12:20-25 (NIV) When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.
21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin — a hundred and eighty thousand fighting men — to make war against the house of Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.
22 But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 23 "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 24 'This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.'" So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.
25 Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.
1 Kings 12:26-33 (NIV) Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam."
28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." 29 One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there.
31 Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. 32 He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. 33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.
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