2 Chronicles 10

2 Chronicles 10:1

II. THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM (Chap. 10)10:1-5 Perhaps to conciliate the northern tribes, Rehoboam decided to go to Shechem for his inauguration. The people promised to serve him if he would lighten the heavy yoke which Solomon had placed on them. “All Israel” (v. 3) means representatives from all the northern tribes. Rehoboam asked for three days to consider the people’s request. 10:6-11 First King Rehoboam checked with the elders who had served his father Solomon. They told him to listen to “these” people. He next turned to the young men for advice, rejecting the elders’ counsel, and heard what was more appealing to him. They urged him to speak roughly to the people. 10:12-19 When the people returned after three days and heard the king’s threats, they rebelled, under the leadership of Jeroboam. The kingdom was divided, fulfilling the word of the Lord through Ahijah (1Ki_11:29 ff.). After the murder of Hadoram the tax collector, Rehoboam retreated to Jerusalem, where he reigned over Judah and Benjamin. Williams comments: This fulfillment of the prediction of Ahijah affords an instance, similar to many others in the Scriptures, of prophecies being accomplished by the operation of human passions, and in the natural course of events. Men think that they are obeying their own wills and carrying out their own plans, unconscious that the matter is of God, and permitted and overruled by Him for the performance of His Word.