1Kings
12:1 ¶ And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for
all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. 2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the
presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;) 3 That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam
and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, 4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now
therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke
which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. 5 And he said unto them, Depart yet for
three days, then come again to me. And the people departed. 6 And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men,
that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye
advise that I may answer this people? 7
And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this
people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to
them, then they will be thy servants for ever. 8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men,
which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up
with him, and which stood before him: 9
And he said unto them, 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? 10 And the young men
that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto
this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but
make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger
shall be thicker than my father’s loins. 11
And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to
your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you
with scorpions. 12 So Jeroboam and all
the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying,
Come to me again the third day. 13 And
the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that
they gave him; 14 And spake to them
after the counsel of the young men, 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. 15
Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from
the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the
Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
Rehoboam
will now make sure that Ahijah’s prophecy will be fulfilled by his arrogance
and foolishness. This was not the way to introduce your rule over the people.
Mercy would have been called for but presumption and folly was given instead.
1Kings
12:16 ¶ So when all Israel saw that the
king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What
portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of
Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel
departed unto their tents. 17 But as
for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam
reigned over them. 18 Then king Rehoboam
sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with
stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his
chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So
Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. 20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard
that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the
congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed
the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. 21 And when Rehoboam was come to 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 the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the
man of God, saying, 23 Speak unto
Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah
and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, 24 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, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.
God
prevents what seems like an inevitable civil war by announcing that the split
in the kingdom of Israel between Judah and Benjamin on one side and the other
ten tribes on the other was His own will. Jeroboam, the rebel, is given the
kingship of Israel. Rehoboam has Judah and Benjamin.
1Kings
12:25 ¶ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in
mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now
shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the
house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again
unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill
me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and
said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods,
O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other
put he in Dan. 30 And this thing became
a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto
Dan. 31 And he made an house of high
places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the
sons of Levi. 32 And Jeroboam ordained a
feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the
feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in
Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel
the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 So he offered upon the altar which he had
made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month
which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children
of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
But
this Shechem already existed, did it not?
Joshua
17:7 And the coast of Manasseh was from
Asher to Michmethah, that lieth before Shechem; and the border went along on
the right hand unto the inhabitants of Entappuah.
Joshua
20:7 And they appointed Kedesh in
Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which
is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.
Joshua
21:21 For they gave them Shechem with
her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer
with her suburbs,
According
to John Gill, apparently from ancient Jewish sources, Jeroboam repaired the
walls, fortified it, and built a palace there to live in. We might say instead built
it up. He did the same with Penuel, which Gideon had brought down, probably for security reasons.
He
wants to keep his people from going to Jerusalem to worship at Solomon’s
temple. This is for purely political reasons. He proceeded to set up two golden
calves to worship; one in Bethel and one in Dan, appointed unlawful priests,
and mimicked holy days with sacrifices to compete with the Jews. In this short
period after Solomon this wicked king had totally perverted the religious faith
of those people he ruled over and for purely political reasons.
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