1 Kings 12

1 Kings 12:1

III. THE DIVIDED KINGDOM (Chaps. 1222) A. King Rehoboam of Judah (12:1-24)Rehoboam the son of Solomon ruled in Judah for seventeen years (931/30913 B.C.; 1Ki_12:20-24; 2 Chron. 11 and 12). 12:1-11 Rehoboam went to Shechem to be acknowledged as king. Having heard of the death of Solomon, Jeroboam returned from Egypt and also went to Shechem, along with the whole assembly of men of Israel. The Israelites delivered an ultimatum to Rehoboam"Lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you." To maintain the oriental opulence of his court, Solomon had used forced labor and taxed heavily. So they were saying in effect: “Lower the taxes with which your father oppressed us, and we will serve you. Otherwise we will revolt.” Rehoboam asked for three days to think it over. During that time he first consulted his older counselors.

They advised him to treat the people kindly and be a servant to them. His younger advisers, however, suggested the very oppositethey told him to threaten the people with still heavier demands! In that sense, Rehoboam’s little finger would be thicker than Solomon’s waist. If Solomon chastised them with whips, then Rehoboam would use scourges (probably meaning whips with sharp points). 12:12-20 When Jeroboam and the congregation of Israel returned for the decision on the third day, they were answered . . . according to the advice of the young men. Verse 15 points out that this was a turn of events brought about by the LORD to fulfill His word . . . spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite (1Ki_11:30-39). At this point the people of Israel revolted against Rehoboam, although some of them were still living in the territory of Judah. Rehoboam sent Adoram, his unpopular taskmaster over forced labor, to bring these latter Israelites under subjection, but they stoned Adoram to death. Then the people of Israel . . . made . . . Jeroboam their king. Although it says in verse 20 that only . . . the tribe of Judah . . . followed Rehoboam, we must remember that Benjamin (v. 21), Simeon (Jos_19:1 b), and most of Levi belonged to Judah. 12:21-24 Rehoboam planned to thwart this by declaring war on Israel, but he canceled his plan as a result of a divine command. Having earlier ignored the counsel of his elders, Rehoboam now heeded the counsel of the LORD and spared the lives of many Israelites. The word of the Lord decreed the split, and the word of the Lord ensured that the division was without bloodshed.

THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOMThe history of the divided kingdom begins here and continues through 2 Kings. Jeroboam reigned over the northern ten tribes, usually known as “Israel” and sometimes referred to in the prophets as “Ephraim.” This kingdom had a succession of nine dynasties, and all the kings were wicked. Rehoboam reigned over the southern kingdom, known as “Judah.” This kingdom had only one dynasty. Every king was a descendant of David. It was through this kingdom that Christ’s legal title to the throne of David is traced through Joseph, His foster father (see genealogy in Matthew 1). He was also physically a Son of David through the Virgin Mary, who was herself a descendant of David’s own son Nathan (see genealogy in Luke 3). A few of these kings were outstanding reformers, though most of them were wicked. The Kings of Israel and JudahDynastyIsraelDynastyJudah1Jeroboam1RehoboamNadabAbijam (Abijah)2BaashaAsa [good]ElahJehoshaphat [good]3ZimriJehoram (Joram)4Omri-TibniAhaziahAhabAthaliahusurperAhaziahJehoash (Joash) [good]Joram (Jehoram)Amaziah [good]5JehuUzziah (Azariah) [good]JehoahazJotham [good]Joash (Jehoash)AhazJeroboam IIHezekiah [good]Zachariah (Zechariah)Manasseh6ShallumAmon7MenahemJosiah [good]PekahiahJehoahaz (Shallum)8PekahJehoiakim (Eliakim)9HosheaJehoiachin (Jeconiah, Coniah)Zedekiah (Mattaniah)The history of the divided kingdom can be divided into four phases. First, there was a time of open conflict, extending from Jeroboam (1Ki_12:1) to Omri (1Ki_16:28). Secondly, the two kingdoms settled down to a period of detente, from Omri (1Ki_16:29) to Jehu (2 Kgs. 9). The third phase, from Jehu to the captivity of Israel by Assyria (722 B.C.), was one of relative independence (2 Kgs. 917). Finally, Judah was left as the surviving kingdom, until it was taken into captivity by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. (2 Kgs. 1825). The kingdom of Israel never returned to the land as a nation. Judah remained in captivity for seventy years, and then groups returned to Jerusalem in significant numbers, as recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah. The southern tribes thus came back to the land, under Gentile rule, approximately 500 years before the birth of Christ. At the close of OT history, the Jews in the land were subject to the king of Persia. Later, Persia was conquered by Greece, and the Jews were ruled by this world power. Finally, the Greeks were subjugated by the Roman Empire; it was this empire that was in power when the Lord Jesus appeared. In studying the divided kingdom, the student frequently comes across seeming contradictions in the dates given. Most of these chronological difficulties can be accounted for by the fact that different methods were used in calculating the length of reigns in Israel and in Judah. Another important factor is that oftentimes two kings served as coregents for a while. The whole subject of the chronology of the kings has been treated capably and in great detail in The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, by Edwin R. Thiele. We shall study the divided kingdom in the order in which the kings are listed, giving the important events in the reign of each. The dates are taken from Thiele’s book mentioned above.

1 Kings 12:25

B. King Jeroboam of Israel (12:2514:20)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, of the tribe of Ephraim, was king of Israel for twenty-two years (931/30910/09 B.C.).

1. Jeroboam’s False Religious Centers (12:25-33)12:25-30 Israel’s first king made Shechem his capital at the outset, then built Penuel, across the Jordan River. Fearing that the people of Israel would return to Jerusalem to worship on the feast days and then transfer their loyalty back to the king of Judah, he set up his own system of religion: He established Dan and Bethel as new centers of worship, setting up a golden calf in each place and declaring these idols to be the gods which delivered Israel from the land of Egypt! 12:31-33 Jeroboam made idolatrous shrines on the high places. He established a new priesthood from among all the peoplenot necessarily from the tribe of Levi, as God had ordained. He set up a new religious calendar, with a great feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, replacing the Feast of Tabernacles, which was in the seventh month. He himself usurped the office of the priest by offering sacrifices on the altar which he had made at Bethel. That many of the people of Israel accepted these changes reveals that their hearts were far from the Lord. Their fathers had worshiped a calf before and were punished for it (Ex. 32). Solomon had erected high places and lost most of his kingdom for it (chap. 11). Korah and his followers had tried to usurp the priesthood and lost their lives for it (Num. 16). These innovations by which Jeroboam sought to secure his kingdom only ensured its eventual downfall. Those who had a heart for God fled to Judah (2Ch_11:14-16), leaving their brethren to the conveniencesand consequencesof man-made religion. It has been well said that “Jeroboam did not deserve so good a post [as king], but Israel deserved so bad a prince.”