1 Kings 12

CHAPTER 12

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam (12:1–24)

(2 Chronicles 10:1–19; 11:1–4)

1–5 Solomon’s son Rehoboam went to Shechem to be proclaimed king by all the Israelites (verse 1).⁶⁰ Jeroboam, meanwhile, had learned of Solomon’s death, so he returned to Israel and took part in the meeting between Rehoboam and the northern tribes. The representatives of these tribes asked Rehoboam to lift the heavy yoke of conscripted labor that his father Solomon had placed on them (see 1 Kings 11:28); only then would they agree to serve him as king (verse 4). Rehoboam said he would give them an answer after three days (verse 5).

6–11 Rehoboam consulted first with the older men who had served his father; they advised Rehoboam to lessen the taxes and labor requirements that Solomon had demanded from the northern tribes. They wisely advised Rehoboam to have the attitude of a servant and to serve the Israelites (verse 7); if he did this, then they would be sure to serve him as their king. God gives authority to kings and leaders so that they may serve others, not themselves (Mark 10:42–45; Romans 13:1,4).

That was not the advice Rehoboam wanted to hear, so he consulted with his younger advisors. They arrogantly and foolishly advised Rehoboam not to lessen the burden on the northern tribes but to increase it! Let Rehoboam inform them that his little finger was thicker than his father’s waist (verse 10)—that is, his smallest measures would be harsher than his father’s largest measures had been. Solomon used ordinary whips to punish them, but Rehoboam would use scorpions, metaltipped whips (verse 11).

Thus Rehoboam rejected the advice of his elders. To reject the counsel of one’s elders is a sign of immaturity; the mature person listens to the advice of those who are maturer and wiser than he. Many a young Christian’s service for the Lord has been compromised because they refused to accept the guidance of their elders.

12–17 When Rehoboam gave this harsh answer to the Israelites three days later, they refused to anoint him king; instead, all Israel (the ten northern tribes) announced that they would no longer have a share in the house of David and that they would establish their own kingdom in the north (verse 16). Some Israelites (northerners) who were living in Judah, however, came under the rule of Rehoboam (verse 17).

In verse 15, the writer notes that it was the Lord who brought all this to pass. The Lord had caused Rehoboam to harden his heart against the northern tribes so that they would separate from Judah and thus fulfill the words of the prophet Ahijah (1 Kings 11:29–39). In this way, the Lord carried out His punishment of the house of David because of Solomon’s sin⁶¹ (see 1 Kings 11:11).

18–20 Rehoboam immediately responded to the rebellion of the northern tribes by sending out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor (1 Kings 4:6), to conscript the rebellious Israelites into his work force. However, the Israelites rose up and stoned Adoniram to death, and they would have done the same to Rehoboam had he not quickly escaped back to Jerusalem (verse 18).

Thus began Israel’s rebellion against Judah and the house of David, a rebellion that was still going on at the time 1 Kings was written (verse 19). The Israelites made Jeroboam their new king; only the tribe of Judah—and part of Benjamin (verse 21)—remained loyal to Rehoboam and the house of David.

21–24 Back in Jerusalem, Rehoboam gathered the forces of Judah and Benjamin to make war against Israel in order to bring it back under his rule (verse 21). But a man of God (a prophet) named Shemaiah received a word from God instructing Rehoboam not to attack Israel. Surprisingly, Rehoboam obeyed God’s word. Christians also would do well to obey this word when they are tempted to go up to fight against [their] brothers (verse 24).

Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan (12:25–33)

25–27 Jeroboam fortified Shechem and lived there; he also built up Peniel (verse 25), an important and historic town east of the Jordan River (Genesis 32:31). Jeroboam felt insecure; he was worried that the Israelites would turn back to Rehoboam. He evidently did not believe Ahijah’s promise to him that if he walked in God’s ways he and his descendants would have an enduring dynasty in Israel (1 Kings 11:37–38).

28–30 Jeroboam’s main fear was that when the Israelites went to the annual festivals in Jerusalem they would be persuaded to rejoin Judah. So to prevent that, Jeroboam established two alternate sites in Israel where the Israelites could offer sacrifices closer to home: one was in Bethel,a historic town in the south of Israel (Genesis 12:8; 28:10–19); and the second was in Dan,in the far north. He had two golden calves made, one for each site. Then he announced to the Israelites: “Here are your gods” (verse 28). In doing this Jeroboam was turning against the Lord and causing his people to sin (see Exodus 20:4–6; 32:4). In his anxiety not to lose his throne, Jeroboam had cast off the one means he had of keeping it: obedience to God’s word (1 Kings 11:38).

31–33 Jeroboam did many other things in violation of God’s word: he built shrines on high places and he appointed nonLevitical priests.⁶² He instituted a festival to compete with the festival held in Judah (verse 32)—the Feast of Tabernacles. In doing all these things, Jeroboam set Israel on a course of increasing disobedience to God’s word, which would eventually result in the Israelites being driven into exile by the Assyrians two hundred years later.