1 Kings chapter 12 and reading
from verse 1. And Rehoboam went to Shechem
for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. 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, that they sent and called him.
And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spake unto
Rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous. So they're
speaking about Solomon now. 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. And he said
unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me,
and the people departed. 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? 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. 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. 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? And the young men that were grown
up with him speak unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this
people that speak 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. And now, whereas my father did
laid 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. So Jeroboam and all the people
came to Rehoboam the third day and the king as the king had
appointed saying come to me again the third day. And the king answered
the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they
gave him, 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. Wherefore
the king hearken not to 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. 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. And then just moving over to
chapter 14, I want to read some verses from verse 21. And Rehoboam, the son of Solomon,
reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when
he began to reign, and reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city
which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel to
put his name there. And his mother's name was Namah
the Ammonitess. And Judah did evil in the sight
of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins,
which they had committed above all that their fathers had done. For they also built the high
places and images and groves on every high hill and under
every green tree. And there were also sodomites
in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the
nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. And it came to pass in the fifth
year of King Rehoboam that Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against
Jerusalem, and he took away the treasures of the house of the
Lord and the treasures of the king's house. He even took away
all, and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon
had made. Amen. Well, let me just read
verse 31. And Rehoboam slept with his fathers
and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his
mother's name was Namah the Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in
his stead. Now we'll say Amen. So today
we're going to meet this man, Rehoboam. Kind of a little bit
confusing because there's a Rehoboam and a Jeroboam and well we're
going to give more attention to Jeroboam next week but today
we're thinking about this man who was the son of Solomon. And we've been thinking for some
time now about the kings of Israel. First there was Saul. Then there
was David. Then there was Solomon. And on
Solomon's death, his son Rehoboam is the heir and successor. And it's interesting because
we might think it's strange that with, well, what was it we were
told last week? 700 wives and 300 concubines. and yet Solomon had only one
son, or so it appears. Rehoboam was born to an Ammonite
girl, so she was from a foreign nation and she had given birth
to Rehoboam when Solomon was very young himself. so that Rehoboam
was now 41 years old when he ascended to the throne. And as
we read there at the end of the chapter, he reigned for 17 years. Now despite being the son of
Solomon who was famous for his wisdom, Rehoboam does not seem
to have been a wise man. In fact, he appears to have been
rather foolish and a man with an inflated sense of his own
importance and his own entitlement. David had combined the kingdoms
of Judah and Israel, and Solomon's greatness and Solomon's wisdom
had held these two kingdoms together. And no doubt, the building of
the temple and the centralizing of worship to Yahweh, to God
in Jerusalem, helped to maintain that union in the nation. However, there seems always to
have been an underlying suspicion and even a jealousy among the
tribes. And when Rehoboam sought the
acknowledgement of the leaders of the northern tribes so that he might reign and continue
to reign over the combined nation, the tribes asked to meet in Shechem
rather than Jerusalem. Now this might have been a warning
to Rehoboam that all was not well. And Rehoboam's ascension
to the throne, it would have to be a negotiation with these
tribes rather than simply a coronation. And the people showed that they
were critical of Solomon. They complained about the taxes
that he had levied. They complained about the weight
of labor that he had imposed upon them. And they said that
they would make it a condition of serving Rehoboam that he lifted
these weights from their shoulders. Now actually, their protest doesn't
seem to be particularly genuine. We're told that through the reign
of Solomon that Israel was very wealthy, that there had been
peace, that there had been prosperity, that there had been free trade.
And we're told that Solomon made silver to be as stones in Jerusalem. So the implication is that there
was great wealth in Israel at this time. It was actually the
remnant of the Canaanite people who did most of the heavy work
and the difficult work as well. So that the tribes really don't
seem to have had too much to support their argument, be that
as it may. What they did not complain about
was Solomon's idolatry. And this might have been a legitimate
concern for a spiritual people, which unfortunately, they did
not seem to be. So that it seems that at least
some of these people were simply looking for a reason to reject
Rehoboam and bring an end to what they perceived as Judah's
control over them, the continuing reign of the House of David.
And this view that there was this unhappiness in the nation
is reinforced by the calling back of Jeroboam to Israel. Jeroboam was living in Egypt
at this time and he was a man who had rebelled against Solomon
and he had fled to Egypt. So why bring him back? Why call
him back? Why make him a spokesman for
the northern tribes if their intentions in speaking to Rehoboam
were honest and open? Rehoboam asked for three days
to consider the people's demands. And he sought advice from the
old advisors of Solomon. They urged the new king to accept
the terms to placate the tribes and preserve the peace, which
also meant preserving the kingdom. But these younger men who had
grown up with Rehoboam, they disagreed, and they thought it
better to threaten and to frighten and to intimidate the 10 tribes
into submission. And that was the course of action
that Rehoboam settled upon. And as a result, all possibility
of compromise and accommodation was quickly dashed. He accepted
this foolish advice. and everything blew up in his
face. He threatened the people of Israel with even more oppression
than ever Solomon had imposed because he wanted to frighten
them and the plan backfired. So that the agitators amongst
the people shouted that they wanted their independence and
the two sides partied in anger. Rehoboam tried to restore order
by sending his tax collector to resume negotiations. But the people stoned him to
death. And that was enough for Rehoboam.
He got on his chariot and he rode home to Jerusalem. And the
nation was divided. In fact, it was divided never
to be reunited. And from now on in the history
of Israel, we will be thinking about a nation that is divided. The rebel Jeroboam was declared
king over the 10 tribes, and Judah, the tribe of David with
some of the men from Benjamin, stayed loyal to Rehoboam. They raised an army to fight
Israel. But God's prophet, Shemaiah,
warned against going to battle with their brethren. And this
prevented the immediate conflict from taking place. But Israel
and Judah, or should I say, let me say it like this, Judah and
Israel, Rehoboam and Jeroboam, The southern kingdom and the
northern tribes were never again reconciled. And from now on,
there is trouble, there is strife, and there is simply an uneasy
truce between the two peoples. Rehoboam continued to reign in
Jerusalem. Remember we said that he reigned
there for 17 years, but just as God had foretold, the glorious
kingdom of David and Solomon was broken and it was gone. Rehoboam encouraged idolatry
and immorality in Judah. And a few years later, the king
of Egypt, who was actually Jeroboam's father-in-law, attacked Judah
and sacked Jerusalem. He removed all the gold that
Solomon had laid up in the temple. It seems largely without a fight.
Judah effectively became servants to Egypt and the people of Judah
under Rehoboam sank more and more into moral and spiritual
ruin. Rehoboam followed his father's
lustful example. He had 18 wives, well not the
700 and 300 that Solomon had, but he had 18 wives, he had 60
concubines, he had 28 sons, he had 60 daughters. And when he died at 58 years
of age, he had lost the kingdom. He had humbled Judah. He had
degraded the temple. And he was buried with his fathers
in the city of David. Verse 31 told us that he was
succeeded by his son Abijah. His son Abijah. Here's a few
lessons that I think we can learn from Rehoboam's life. Nothing in this man's example,
nothing in his conduct suggests he at any time feared the Lord
or had any true concern for worship. And how sad that is. Many of
us who are older have concerns for our family's spiritual well-being. And here was Rehoboam, the only
child of Solomon. Solomon who had built God's temple. Solomon who was visited twice
by the Lord, who possessed great wisdom and wrote three books
in our Bible, it would appear. Yet his son was foolish, proud,
immoral, and rebellious towards God. How sad that is. We're reminded hereby that salvation
does not run in families. What did this man's life amount
to? He enjoyed all the pleasures
life could offer, but he had no time for the Lord in his life. And we have no reason to assume
other than that today this man is still separated from God and
he is in hell. If you're a young person listening
to me today, it's probably because your parents have taught you
about the Lord Jesus and encouraged you to worship the Lord. Solomon was not the best father. He made mistakes. But I say to
you, someday soon, you will no longer be under the care and
direction of your parents. And you will have to make up
your own mind, make your own decision about following the
Lord or not, worshipping Him or not. Rehoboam had no time
for the Lord. I hope that isn't you. Solomon
told his son, remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth
while the evil days come not. Rehoboam ignored that advice
and he is lost. I hope that you don't ignore
it. Another lesson that we learn
is this. We are told on several occasions in this passage that
what happened here in the life of Rehoboam was of the Lord. Now what does that mean? It means that the breakup of
the kingdom was of the Lord. The taking of the 10 tribes from
Rehoboam was of the Lord. The rebellion of Jeroboam and
Judah staying faithful to David's grandson, the instruction to
the men of Judah by the prophet Shammaiah not to go to war with
their brethren, it was all of the Lord. The lesson is this,
that the Lord was not taken by surprise in these matters. And what it means is simply this,
God is always in control of the affairs of men and the outcomes
of this world. Even though men and women and
boys and girls act like they are making their own decisions
and doing their own will. Whether they get it right or
whether they get it wrong. Rehoboam took the advice of the
old men and then rejected it. And he took the advice from the
young men and he did what he wanted to do. And yet his foolishness
and his willfulness, even we might say his wickedness, was
all the time bringing to pass and accomplishing what God had
foretold and what God willed. We can never outrun God. If you
trust and follow him, you will only be doing what he has enabled
you to do. And if you despise and reject
him, you will only be doing what he has permitted you to do. The
cause is of the Lord. God is showing us here how fickle
and sinful men are, even those who have been greatly honoured
by Him. The Lord showed Israel many favours
and blessings during the time of David and during the time
of Solomon. He promised to bless them further
if they would be faithful to Him, but they couldn't do it. and they paid the price of their
sinfulness when their prosperity and their security came tumbling
down around them. These are warnings for us all.
And whether we are younger or older, if we try to go it alone
and cut the Lord Jesus out of our lives and out of our thinking,
we shall sooner or later crash and burn. just like Judah and
just like the northern tribes Israel. Just as God had foretold. But let me just in closing show
you something interesting. Even in all the shambles of the
kingdom breaking up and fragmenting, of the Egyptians invading and
the temple being ransacked and pillaged, God kept his eye on
the tribe of Judah and on the family of David. Why might that
be? Because he looked forward to
the time when the Lord Jesus would spring from the tribe of
Judah as God promised David he would do. This world our nations,
our governments, our economies, our societies, they all might
appear to be in chaos to one extent or another but God is
accomplishing his purpose and he is saving his people and his
people will be redeemed. His church will be gathered. His son, Jesus Christ, will be
honoured. And all for whom Christ died
will be saved and taken home to glory. We can trust the Lord
Jesus for that. May we do so. Amen.