Chapter 6—Rehoboam’s Arrogance: The Rending of the Kingdom
“Solomon slept with his fathers, ... and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.” 1 Kings 11:43.
(SS 46.1)
Soon after his accession to the throne, Rehoboam went to Shechem, where he expected to receive formal recognition from all the tribes. “To Shechem were all Israel come to make him king.” 2 Chronicles 10:1. Among those present was Jeroboam, who during Solomon’s reign had been known as “a mighty man of valor,” and to whom the prophet Ahijah had delivered the startling message, “Thus saith the Lord, ... I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee.” 1 Kings 11:28, 31.
(SS 46.2)
The Lord through His messenger had spoken plainly to Jeroboam. This division must take place, He had declared, because Solomon “has forsaken Me, ... and has not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My ordinances, as David his father did.” 1 Kings 11:33, RSV. Yet Jeroboam had also been instructed that the kingdom was not to be divided before the close of Solomon’s reign: “I will make him prince all the days of his life for David My servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept My commandments and My statutes: but I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.” 1 Kings 11:34, 35.
(SS 46.3)
Although Solomon had longed to prepare Rehoboam to meet with wisdom the crisis foretold by the prophet of God, he had never been able to exert a strong influence for good over his son, whose early training had been grossly neglected. Rehoboam had received from his mother, an Ammonitess, the stamp of a vacillating character. At times he endeavored to serve God, but at last he yielded to the evil influences that had surrounded him from infancy. In the mistakes of Rehoboam’s life and in his final apostasy is revealed the fearful result of Solomon’s union with idolatrous women.
(SS 46.4)
The tribes had long suffered under the oppressive measures of their former ruler. Extravagance had led Solomon to tax the people heavily and to require much menial service. Before the coronation of a new ruler, the leading men determined to ascertain whether it was the purpose of Solomon’s son to lessen these burdens. “Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to Rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.”
(SS 47.1)
Desirous of taking counsel with his advisers before outlining his policy, Rehoboam answered, “Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed. And King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people? And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them they will be thy servants forever.” 2 Chronicles 10:3-7.
(SS 47.2)
Dissatisfied, Rehoboam turned to younger men with whom he had associated during his youth: “What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?” 1 Kings 12:9. The young men suggested that he deal sternly with his subjects and make plain to them that he would brook no interference with his personal wishes.
(SS 47.3)
Thus it came to pass that on the day appointed for Rehoboam to make a statement concerning his policy, he “answered the people roughly, ... saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” Verses 13, 14. Rehoboam’s expressed determination to add to the oppression of Solomon’s reign was in direct conflict with God’s plan for Israel. In this unfeeling attempt to exercise power, the king and his counselors revealed pride of position and authority.
(SS 48.1)
There were many who had become thoroughly aroused over the oppressive measures of Solomon’s reign, and these now felt that they could not do otherwise than rebel against the house of David. “When all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? ... to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.” Verse 16.
(SS 48.2)
The breach created by the rash speech of Rehoboam proved irreparable. The twelve tribes of Israel were divided, Judah and Benjamin composing the southern kingdom of Judah, under Rehoboam; while the ten northern tribes formed a separate government, the kingdom of Israel, with Jeroboam as ruler. Thus was fulfilled the prediction of the prophet concerning the rending of the kingdom. “It was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord.” Verse 15, RSV.
(SS 48.3)
When Rehoboam saw the ten tribes withdrawing allegiance from him, he was aroused to action. Through Adoram, one of the influential men of his kingdom, he made an effort to conciliate them. But “all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died.” Startled, “King Rehoboam made speed to get him up into his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.” Verse 18.
(SS 48.4)
At Jerusalem “he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam ... . But the word of God came unto Shemaiah, ... Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from Me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord.” Verses 21-24.
(SS 48.5)
For three years Rehoboam tried to profit by his sad experience, and in this effort he was prospered. He built fortified cities “and made them exceeding strong.” 2 Chronicles 11:12. But the secret of Judah’s prosperity during the first years of Rehoboam’s reign lay in recognition of God as the supreme Ruler. It was this that placed the tribes of Judah and Benjamin on vantage ground. “From all the tribes of Israel,” the record reads, “those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came ... to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.” 2 Chronicles 11:16, 17, RSV.
(SS 49.1)
But Solomon’s successor failed to exert a strong influence for loyalty to Jehovah. He was naturally headstrong, confident, self-willed, and inclined to idolatry; nevertheless, had he placed his trust wholly in God, he would have developed steadfast faith and submission to the divine requirements. But as time passed, the king put his trust in the power of position and in the strongholds he had fortified. Little by little he gave way to inherited weaknesses until he threw his influence wholly on the side of idolatry. “When Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.” 2 Chronicles 12:1.
(SS 49.2)
The people whom God had chosen to stand as a light to the surrounding nations were seeking to become like the nations about them. As with Solomon, so with Rehoboam—the influence of wrong example led many astray.
(SS 49.3)
God did not allow the apostasy of Judah’s ruler to remain unpunished. “In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt ... . And he took the fortified cities of Judah, and came as far as Jerusalem.”
(SS 50.1)
“Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, You abandoned Me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” Verses 2-5, RSV. In the losses sustained by the invasion of Shishak, the people recognized the hand of God and for a time humbled themselves. “So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold which Solomon had made; and King Rehoboam made in their stead shields of bronze ... . And when he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction; moreover, conditions were good in Judah.” Verses 9-12, RSV.
(SS 50.2)
But as the nation prospered once more, many turned again to idolatry. Among these was King Rehoboam himself. Forgetting the lesson that God had endeavored to teach him, he relapsed into the sins that had brought judgments on the nation. After a few inglorious years, “Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.” Verse 16.
(SS 50.3)
At times during the centuries that followed, the throne of David was occupied by men of moral worth, and under the rulership of these sovereigns the blessings resting on Judah were extended to the surrounding nations. But the seeds of evil already springing up when Rehoboam ascended the throne were never to be wholly uprooted, and at times the once-favored people of God were to fall so low as to become a byword among the heathen.
(SS 50.4)
Notwithstanding these idolatrous practices, God in mercy would do everything in His power to save the divided kingdom from utter ruin. And as the years rolled on and His purpose concerning Israel seemed utterly thwarted by men inspired by satanic agencies, He still manifested His beneficent designs through the captivity and restoration of the chosen nation.
(SS 51.1)
The rending of the kingdom was but the beginning of a wonderful history, wherein are revealed the long-sufferance and tender mercy of God. And the worshipers of idols were at last to learn the lesson that false gods are powerless to uplift and save. Only in allegiance to the living God can man find rest and peace.
(SS 51.2)