Ray Stone
The subject: The dividing of God’s Kingdom after Solomon’s rule, into the Northern ten tribes (Israel) and the Southern two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The two kings of the tale: Rehoboam and Jeroboam. “In the right place at the right time”: A description of each of them in turn. The real question: How did they each handle the opportunity?
The story starts in 1 Kings 11:1-4, the account of Solomon’s sorry propensity in his old age of letting his foreign wives “turn away his heart after other gods.” He set up idolatrous High Places for the worship of Chemosh, Molech, principle gods of the heathen peoples of his wives, and led God’s people into worship of Ashtoreth and Milcom, among others (1 Kings 11:33). It’s a sorry record of one who once had been the wisest of kings allowing himself to be led so far astray.
Verses 9-13 is the record of God’s response to Solomon’s sin of bringing idolatry into Israel: “I will surely rend the kingdom from thee and will give it to thy servant.” That servant is identified in v. 26 as Jeroboam, at that time overseeing one of Solomon’s construction projects. In the lineage of David, Solomon’s son and heir was Rehoboam, to whom rightly belonged the throne at the death of the old king (Mnemonic device to keep them straight: Rehoboam = Rightful heir). But God said, “I will rend (the kingdom) out of the hand of thy son” (v. 12), although at the same time promising one tribe for Rehoboam’s domain.
There are several things to note here, before we even get into the story itself:
1) This is a powerful lesson about choosing a life mate wisely. If that mate does not share your spiritual beliefs, there will inevitably be conflict and perhaps difficult decisions to be faced as time goes on. The apostle Paul says, even in the best of marriages, “He that is married is careful for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and is divided” (1 Cor. 7:33). A religiously mixed marriage may well come down to this: Give preeminence to your faith, or to your marriage—you may not be able to do both. It isn’t sinful for a Christian to marry a non-Christian (1 Cor. 7:12-13), but it isn’t the wisest thing in the world either. You can save yourself a lot of grief by marrying a fellow believer.
2) God Himself was responsible for the split kingdom. It was not an accident, nor was it the result of mismanagement of Solomon’s heir after his death. God through His providence deliberately brought it about to cleanse the kingdom of idolatry.
3) God fully expected Jeroboam, the servant-turned-king, to be an able and faithful monarch for the northern 10 tribes. He even promised him, as He had done with kings before, “If thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in My ways…I will be with thee, and will build thee a sure house… and will give Israel unto thee” (1 Kings 11:38).
As the story unfolds, God used the prophet Ahijah to inform Jeroboam of His intentions. Ahijah employed an indelible “visual aid” to convey God’s message: He tore his coat into 12 pieces and said to Jeroboam, “Take thee 10 pieces; for thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give 10 tribes to thee…” (1 Kings 11:30). But He wouldn’t do it in Solomon’s lifetime (vv. 34-35), but “out of his son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, even 10 tribes.”
Solomon died, and his son Rehoboam determined to succeed his father on the throne of Israel. So, he scheduled an inauguration ceremony in Shechem (1 Kings 12:1). Jeroboam and his followers attended (v. 3), and it seems they were willing to give Rehoboam, as the rightful heir to the throne, a chance. They proposed, “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” (1 Kings 12:4).
Now, that’s the nature of governments of all kinds: They don’t produce anything of marketable value but must rely on taxing their population for funds with which to operate. This is nothing to complain about; it’s the only way a government—any government—can exist. God set up the tithe contribution to Israel’s priests for that same reason: They provided a vital service but had to rely on the other tribes for their support and sustenance; so also must their monarchy. Besides, God had warned the Israelites long before of the demands a king would necessarily make. Read it in 1 Samuel 8:11-18. That pretty much describes the system Solomon had imposed upon them. It comes with the territory of having a king.
But, more importantly, notice carefully what we don’t read—any mention of rooting out the idolatry that Solomon had introduced, nor closing the altars to false gods he had erected. They didn’t have a leg to stand on in their demands for lighter taxation, but they had every right to stand up against the idol worship permeating the country. They didn’t say (as they should have) “Restore the Temple and worship of Jehovah, and we’ll stay with you.” They were so inured to the sin, they apparently didn’t care if the nation worshiped God or Moloch or nobody—as long as they got some tax relief. That is a sad commentary on the state of their spirituality.
So, Rehoboam was the first to be “in the right place at the right time.” He was presented with an opportunity to make a difference, to restore the nation to its former greatness: Just reduce Solomon’s admittedly heavy tax burden, so gaining the support of the people, and he would find himself in a position to make the sweeping changes so desperately needed to return the nation to favor with God. But, here, too, is where he made his fatal mistake. Two sets of advisers gave him opposite counsel. The old men urged him to meet the demands of the populace: “Serve them, answer them, speak good words to them, and they will be thy servants forever” (1 Kings 12:7). But the younger men, as the young often do, saw it as a matter of pride, of authority. They said, “You’re the king; you don’t have to compromise with these people. Show them who’s boss; don’t reduce their tax burden—increase it!” And that’s the advice Rehoboam followed. “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions” (1 Kings 12:14).
As might be expected, all that did was to ignite a full rebellion against him. Rehoboam sent a mediator to the people to try and reason with them, but he foolishly chose Adoram, the very one in charge of collecting those taxes in the first place, and all he got for his trouble was to be stoned to death (1 Kings 12:18). At this show of violence, Rehoboam retreated to Jerusalem in the south, abandoning the 10 northern tribes to their own desires. And so the historic split of the kingdom of Israel into the southern two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, ruled by Rehoboam and the northern ten, continuing with the name Israel with Jeroboam on their throne, was accomplished.
And now Jeroboam found himself “in the right place at the right time” even as Rehoboam before him—for God offered him the same promise He had to all the kings of Israel: “Keep My commandments and My statutes, and I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house…and will give Israel to thee” (1 Kings 11:38). Jeroboam was in a position to go down in history as the king who saved Israel from division and destruction, who brought the people back to faithful followers of God once again, redeemed from the idolatry Solomon had allowed. What a heritage was within his reach! Would he do it? Well, you know the story.
Jeroboam had no confidence—not in his own abilities, not in the people’s loyalty, not even in God’s promises. He showed jealousy bordering on paranoia of Rehoboam in the south, in control of Judah, Jerusalem, and the Temple of God there. He said to himself, “This division can’t last; they’re all going to abandon me!” As the Bible records it, “If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again unto their (rightful) Lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me…”
(1 Kings 12:26). In spite of God’s assurances that this was of Him, that Jeroboam was on the throne by God’s decree, that all he had to do was follow God’s ways and God would bless him and his reign, in spite of all, he just couldn’t believe it. God had already stopped an invasion planned by Rehoboam before it ever got started (1 Kings 12:21-24) and would continue to protect him—if he would just be the leader God wanted him to be and knew he could be.
But Jeroboam didn’t think so and took things into his own hands. Rather than ridding Israel of the trappings of idolatry, he added to them. 1 Kings 12:28-33 records that he
…made 2 calves of gold; and he said unto them (Israelites), 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. And he set the one up in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan (opposite ends of his kingdom, convenient for all). And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, that were not of the sons of Levi (God’s appointed priestly tribe—see Hebrews 7:11-14 for a commentary on such an error)…
Simply put, Jeroboam set up a substitute false religion entirely of his own making, complete with its own places of worship, priesthood, rituals, and holy days. This has to be the ultimate example of a golden opportunity being blown by the one “in the right place at the right time” but with the wrong actions.
You never know how things will work out. The most fascinating thing about this whole episode is this: Jeroboam, brought to the throne by God to preserve His ways of righteousness, failed miserably in that endeavor, even furthering the sin of idolatry; whereas Rehoboam, he of stern threats and mean-spirited decisions, not only didn’t follow through on his threat to increase their tax burden, but actually oversaw much needed reforms in the religion of God (2 Chron. 11:13-16). The Levitical priests in the Northern kingdom, rejected by Jeroboam, flocked to the Southern kingdom of Judah, where they were employed as they should have been, ministering at the Temple and to all the people. Verse 17 concludes, “So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years; they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.” Inside-out results—who could have foreseen it?
God dealt with Jeroboam as he deserved. That confrontation is recorded in 1 Kings 14:10-14. God said, “I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam…I will utterly sweep it away, as a man sweepeth away dung, till it be all gone…I will raise up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam…” In effect, God said, “I put you on the throne, and I can take you off!”
1 Kings 15:33 states, “In the 3rd year of Asa king of Judah (Rehoboam’s son) began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel (Northern kingdom).” [On a side note, could this be the son of that faithful prophet who had first approached Jeroboam with God’s charge? Perhaps, perhaps not. There was an Ahijah among David’s warriors generations before (1 Chron. 11:26) and an Ahijah in Nehemiah’s day generations after (Neh. 10:26), so it must have been a common name. Still, the possibility is intriguing]. So God removed the bloodline of Jeroboam from the throne in favor of Baasha. But history reveals to us it was to no avail. Baasha was followed by some 16 consistently evil kings through the next 150 or so years, the northern 10 tribes of Israel finally being carried off into oblivion by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:22-23).
So what do we learn from Jeroboam?
1) To do anything of a spiritual nature on your “own authority” is folly to the nth degree. Jeroboam “devised things of his own heart” (1 Kings 12:33). He consecrated “whosoever would” to the priesthood (1 Kings 13:33), and, in doing so, “cast God behind his back” (1 Kings 14:9). The entire nation under his rule paid the price.
2) Trust God, take Him at His word when He promises to take care of His faithful. He will–in eternity if not before. Count on it.
3) It isn’t enough just to be “in the right place at the right time.” In such a circumstance, you must also “do right.” Queen Esther personifies that principle, as her cousin Mordecai appeals to her to intervene in the king’s edict to destroy the Jews under his rule: “Who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Est. 4:14). The right place and the right time must be matched by the right action—or it’s all for nought.
Learn from Jeroboam.
