2 Chronicles 10

CHAPTERS 1012THEME: The division of the kingdom under RehoboamWe have come now to the second and final division of the Book of 2 Chronicles. The first nine chapters were devoted to the reign of Solomon. Now Solomon is dead, and his son Rehoboam comes to the throne. The stupidity of Rehoboam leads to the division of the kingdom. The northern kingdom, composed of ten tribes, becomes known as Israel. The southern kingdom of two tribes takes the name of Judah. God puts the emphasis on the kingdom of Judah because this is the line of David which leads to Christ. In this section of the nation’s history are five periods of revival. These are enlarged upon in Chronicles, as we are seeing them from God’s viewpoint.

2 Chronicles 10:1

REHOBOAM COMES TO THE THRONEThe Book of 2 Chronicles does not tell us this, but back in Kings we are told that this man Jeroboam had attempted to lead a rebellion even before the death of Solomon. He was forced to flee for his life and had gone down into the land of Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Solomon. Now he has returned with the intent of raising up a rebellion in the kingdom. If Rehoboam had been wise in his judgment and had been a little more mild and modest, he could have prevented the splitting of the kingdom; but he did not. Now Jeroboam is back in the land, and we read:

2 Chronicles 10:3

Taxes were the cause of the dissension. Probably the single thing that has caused more revolution and rebellion has been this matter of taxes. It has been the downfall of many nations. It brought the Roman Empire to its knees, and excessive taxation to support the royalty was responsible for the French Revolution. Also it produced the American Revolution. Taxation without representation brought about the Boston Tea Party and the incidents which led to the revolution.

If our taxes keep going up as they are, we may have another tea party, because high taxation will ultimately wreck any nation. Unfortunately, our representatives in the state and national government don’t seem to think that it is a problem. Taxes were the problem in Rehoboam’s time. Solomon had carried on a tremendous building program. It was very impressive. Not only had he built the temple, but we are told in Kings that he built all sorts of palaces and buildings.

Such a big building program had to be paid for, and as a result there had been an enormous increase in taxes. This gave Jeroboam a lever whereby he could make a protest. He gathered with Israel and said to Rehoboam, “Now look here, your father made our yoke grievous.” Actually, Jeroboam was very mild in his approach. He said to Rehoboam that if he would reduce the taxes, he would go along with him. If Rehoboam had done that, there would not have been a rebellion.

2 Chronicles 10:5

What they had asked was really a fair thing. Rehoboam would have had an opportunity to look at the indebtedness and decide what was the wise thing to do. The wise thing would have been to reduce taxes.

2 Chronicles 10:6

Rehoboam definitely showed poor judgment. He should have followed the wisdom of the older men who had been counselors during the reign of Solomon. They knew the situation. Unfortunately, he turned to the young men.

2 Chronicles 10:10

The young men advised, “Don’t ease up. We want this picnic to continue. All of us have public jobs, and those of us who are not eating out of the public trough would like very much to get in the trough. Don’t reduce the taxes. Increase them!” This was probably the most foolish thing that young Rehoboam could have done. The older men conceded that Solomon did overtax the people. They advised that it was time to stop the building program. It was time to put a lid on all the government spending. The time had come to reduce taxes. By the way, have you ever heard of any government which has reduced taxes? Our politicians go into office saying they will reduce taxes. I think in my lifetime I have voted for half a dozen presidents and every one of them was going to reduce taxes. I have been voting for governors and for mayors, and they all promise to reduce the taxes. Yet our taxes continue to increase. Rehoboam will follow this policy also.

2 Chronicles 10:12

Rehoboam delivers verbatim to the people the heartless and insensitive judgment of the young men.

2 Chronicles 10:15

The prophecy to which this refers is given in 1Ki_11:9-39.

2 Chronicles 10:16

Israel refers to the ten tribes. Judah refers to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. However, the name Israel sometimes will refer to the southern kingdom also because God regards them as one people.

2 Chronicles 10:17

King Rehoboam sent a tax gatherer to gather taxes and the people stoned him to death. Rehoboam just hadn’t realized how incensed these people were. So Israel rebelled against the house of David. “Unto this day” means up to the time when 2 Chronicles was written.