1 Kings 12

1 Kings 12:1-15

Here is, 1. Rehoboam’s accession to the throne, and Jeroboam’s return out of Egypt, ver. 1, 2. 2. The people’s petition to Rehoboam for the redraft of grievances, with his rough asylum, ver. 3-15. 3. The result of the two tribes thereupon, and their fasting up of Jeroboam, ver. 16-20. 4. Rehoboam’s attempt to reduce them, and the prohibition God gave to that attempt, ver. 21-24. 5. Jeroboam’s establishment of his government by idolatry, ver. 25-33.

AND ‘Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. 6. 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 spoke 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 yee for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed. 6. And king Rehoboam confided with ’the old men that stood before Solomon his father, while he yet lived, and said, ’thou do you advise, that I may answer this people? 7. And they spoke 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 confided 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, spoke unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spoke unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us: thus shalt thou say unto them, My little Sayer 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 mens counsel that they gave him: 14. And spoke 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 hearkend not unto the people: ‘for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spoke’ by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The succession devolved on Rehoboam without dispute, and none seemed to conreft his title; but we are not most safe when most secure.

1. The people of Israel desired the king to come to Shechem, in the tribe of Ephraim, as if they would there recognize his title; but in fact with a view either to redraft their grievances, or rework from his government, and probably already gained by Jeroboam’s omissions. Nate, Many a vile design lurks under the most precious appearances.

2. On Rehoboam’s coming thither, they had privately sent for Jeroboam out of Egypt, and at his instigation probably presented a petition for the redraft of their grievances, which, whether real or not, would give him a handle to perform the stroke he medicated. They complain not of his father’s sins, but of the heaviness of their taxes, and beg they may be lightened; nor is it at all unlikely, that though Solomon’s reign at first was so genial, and their circumstances to assure, yet when a thousand women had him in their power, they would, like to many harpies, force the poor people. Nate, (1.) The best government will not be without factious spirits, ready to blow the coals of Solomon among the populace. (2.) The avarice of a kept melford, is indelable. (3.) Most men are more concerned how to save their money than their souls.

3. Rehoboam’s folly ruins him. Defining three days to answer their petitions, he confessed first the old men who had been trained up in the school of wisdom before Solomon. They prudently advise him to comply with the people’s request; either the demand was reasonable, or at least, in their present disposition, it were public to appear gracious, and by one concession secure for ever their fidelity. Rehoboam testified on this advice, therefore he confesses his younger companions, who, having grown up with him in his pleasures, know how to deliver his pride, and to advise those harsh measures they saw most agreeable to his temper, as if he had nothing to fear, but might, by rigour and threatening, over-save the people to obedience. Advice so fuked to his own disposition, he failed not to pursue, and, on the third day, roughly received the deputies of the people; far from condescending to their request, or vindicating his father’s government from opposition, he threatens to make their yoke heavier, and, if they refused to draw in it, to chastise them with greater severity than his father had ever done; if they dared dispute his will, he will make them feel his power,

which he boasts to be much superior to Solomon’s, so that his little finger should be thicker than his father’s loins. This had advice was God’s just judgment on him, and, in order to the fulfilment of the prophecy of Alijah. Note, (1.) That government which fulfills only by ferocity, is in a tottering condition; no throne is fure, where a king reigns not in the hearts of his subjects. (2.) They are our best friends who dissuade us from our raft designs, and they are our greatest enemies who footh our folly and flatter our pride. (3.) At court, not commonly, not the profit of the kingdom, but the pleasing the king, is the object most in view.

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 Jelfe: to your teens, O Israel: now see to shine 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 a Saloram, 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 chasm, 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 first 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 fourfores thousand chosh 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 faith the LORD, Yr 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.

1 Kings 12:16-24

An answer so impolitic and severe justly exasperated the people, and gave Jeroboam and the malecontents the very opportunity they wanted.

1. They openly revolt from Rehoboam, and renounce their allegiance to the posterity of David, whom in contempt they called the son of Jelfe; and defying Rehoboam’s threatenings, but him look to himself and his house the tribe of Judah, who cleaved unto him, which would make but a poor figure thus deserted. Note, (1.) They who by oppression drive the people into rebellion, must blame themselves for the mischief which enlors. (2.) They who know the great sin of rebellion, will suffer much, rather than rise to vindicate their liberty, by so dangerous a measure.

2. Rehoboam now too late perceived his folly, yet takes as wrong a method to appease the sedition, as he had done to excite it. Willing to listen the people, he sends Adoram to them, the most solemn instrument he could have fixed upon, as being the collector of those taxes of which they so heavily complained. His very presence so enraged the populace, that they unfastly stoned him to death; at which in a fright Rehoboam flies to Jerusalem, fearing his own person no longer safe in Shechem. Note, We often see the mischiefs our folly occasions, when it is too late to remedy them.

3. Rehoboam being fled, the people assembled and chose Jeroboam king of Israel: Judah, with Benjamin only, approved their loyalty to David’s face: thus was that division made, which never after was healed. Note, A holly word produces endless mischief.

4. Rehoboam could not however think of quitting tamely to his rival the kingdom he had usurped, but by his faithful friends in Judah and Benjamin, levies a most formidable army of one hundred and eighty thousand men of war; and now Jeroboam seemed ready to be hurled from the throne he had scarce ascended; but God intercedes. By his prophet Shemaiah, he forbids them to fight against their brethren; the thing was his doing, in just judgment against their sins, therefore they must submit to it. Hereupon Rehoboam defiles, and the army is disbanded. Note, (1.) When God’s will contradicts our designs, we must submit without delay. (2.) Love us our brethren should make us put up with many injuries, rather than seek a redress which may be ruinous to both. (3.) If we fight

against God, there can be no hope of success; therefore it is wise to leave off meddling betimes.

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, rewe 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 laid 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, rewe 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 (to did he in Bethel) sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the youth 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, rewe 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.

1 Kings 12:25-33

Jeroboam’s concern is now to secure and strengthen himself in the throne to which he was advanced; for which purpose,

1. He fortified and repaired Shechem, where he was elected, and rebuilt Penuel, in the tribe of God, as a fortress for the protection of his dominions on the other false footies.

2. He wickedly contrived to keep the people from returning to Rehoboam, as he feared they would do, if they went up to the temple, by erecting a new form of worship, in his own territories. He dared not trust God’s promise, chap. xi. 38. but rather depended on his own craft; and having fashioned two golden calves, in imitation of Aaron’s, he placed them at the extremities of his own kingdom, the one in Dan, where Micah’s images had paved a way for its reception, and the other in Bethel, near Jerusalem, to invite the idolaters of Judah to join him; and pretending that attendance at Jerusalem was too burdensome, so being so distant, or unnecessary, since the whole land was equally holy, he laid as Aaron, these are thy Gods, O Israel, the representatives of the true Jehovah, who brought thee out of Egypt. Ever prone to idolatry, and seeking some sensible objects, as the medium of their worship, the people readily complied, and in their zeal grudged not a journey to Dan, to the calf, though twice as far as they need have gone to the temple. Thus began the apostasy of Israel from God, which issued in their final ruin. Note, (1.) Image worship, however vindicated or palliated by the papists, is abominable idolatry. (2.) They who think to secure their safety by sin, only hasten the ruin they would avoid.

3. To compleat his scheme he erected a temple at Dan, with many altars for sacrifice, and constituted priests, not as we render it, out of the means of the people, which would have discredited his worship, but indiscriminately out of all the people, not confining himself to the tribe of Levi; and as he dared thus change the priesthood, he changed also the festivals, and kept the feast of subconscients on the fifteenth of the eighth month instead of the seventh: he himself also officiated as priest at his altar, whether to give sanction to his new-fangled worship, or to appear zealous for religion; and the king’s example readily swayed the multitude to follow him: thus Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, caused Israel to sin. Note, (1.) Great men’s all examples are grievously infectious. (2.) All pretences to religious zeal, contrary to God’s revealed will, are but the depths of Satan more fatally to dilude men’s souls.