1 Kings 12
12
Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam
2Ch 10:1–11:4
1#2Ch 10:1–19And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. 2#1Ki 11:40When Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was still in Egypt, heard of it (for he had fled from King Solomon and stayed in Egypt), 3they called and sent for him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4#1Sa 8:11–18; 1Ki 4:7“Your father made our yoke unbearable. Now, therefore, make the grievous service to your father and the heavy yoke he put upon us lighter, and we will serve you.”
5He said to them, “Depart for three days, and then come back to me.” And the people departed.
6#Job 12:12; 32:7King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who advised his father Solomon while he was still alive and asked, “How do you advise me to answer the people?”
7#Pr 15:1And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to this people this day and will serve them and answer them and speak kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
8But he rejected the advice that the old men gave him and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and who stood before him, 9and he said to them, “What advice do you give on how we should answer this people, who have spoken to me saying, ‘Make the yoke your father put on us lighter’?”
10And the young men who grew up with him said, “Thus shall you answer this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger will be thicker than my father’s loins! 11Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your burden. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions!’ ”
12#1Ki 12:5So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had appointed, saying, “Come to me again the third day.” 13The king answered the people roughly and forsook the counsel the old men gave him, 14and instead spoke to them following the advice of the young men. He said, “My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your burden. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” 15#1Ki 12:24; Dt 2:30Thus the king did not listen to the people, for the cause was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His saying, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16#2Sa 20:1So when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people responded to the king, saying,
“What portion do we have in David?
We also do not have an inheritance in the son of Jesse.
To your tents, O Israel,
and see to your own house, David!”
So the people of Israel departed to their tents. 17#1Ki 11:13; 11:36But the people of Israel living in the cities of Judah were ruled over by Rehoboam.
18#1Ki 4:6; 5:14Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. As a result, King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. 19#2Ki 17:21So Israel rebelled against the house of David, and it remains so even to this day.
20#1Ki 11:13; 11:32When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him before the congregation and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.
21#2Ch 11:1–3When Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah along with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel and to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
22#2Ch 11:2But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying: 23Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the remnant of the people, saying, 24#1Ki 12:15“Thus says the Lord: You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers the children of Israel. Every man is to return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” They listened therefore to the word of the Lord and turned to depart, according to the word of the Lord.
Jeroboam’s Golden Calves
25#Jdg 8:17; 8:8Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim and lived there and went out from there and built Peniel.
26Jeroboam said in his heart, “The kingdom will return to the house of David. 27#Dt 12:5–7; 12:14If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
28#Ex 32:4; 32:8At that point, the king got some advice and made two golden calves and said to the people, “It is too difficult for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 29#Ge 28:19He set one in Bethel, and he put the other in Dan. 30#1Ki 13:34; 2Ki 17:21This was a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even all the way in Dan.
31#1Ki 13:32–33; 2Ki 17:32He also made houses on high places and appointed priests from among all the people who were not Levites. 32#1Ki 8:2; 8:5Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast in Judah, and he offered sacrifice on the altar. He did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places he had made. 33#1Ki 13:1; Nu 15:39So he made offerings on the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a holiday he imagined in his own heart, and ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and he sacrificed on the altar and burned incense.
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Military Bible Association
1 Kings 12
12
The northern tribes of Israel rebel against King Rehoboam
Some of the people rebel against Rehoboam
(2 Chronicles 10.1-19)
1Rehoboam went to Shechem where everyone was waiting to crown him king.
2Jeroboam son of Nebat heard what was happening, and he stayed in Egypt,#12.2 he stayed in Egypt: Hebrew; two ancient translations “he returned from Egypt” (see also 2 Chronicles 10.2). where he had gone to hide from Solomon. 3But the people from the northern tribes of Israel sent for him. Then together they went to Rehoboam and said, 4“Your father Solomon forced us to work very hard. But if you make our work easier, we will serve you and do whatever you ask.”
5“Give me three days to think about it,” Rehoboam replied, “then come back for my answer.” So the people left.
6Rehoboam went to some leaders who had been his father's senior officials, and he asked them, “What should I tell these people?”
7They answered, “If you want them to serve and obey you, then you should do what they ask today. Tell them you will make their work easier.”
8But Rehoboam refused their advice and went to the younger men who had grown up with him and were now his officials. 9He asked, “What do you think I should say to these people who asked me to make their work easier?”
10His younger advisers said:
Here's what we think you should say to them: “Compared to me, my father was weak.#12.10 Compared…weak: Hebrew “My little finger is bigger than my father's waist.” 11He made you work hard, but I'll make you work even harder. He punished you with whips, but I'll use whips with pieces of sharp metal!”
12Three days later, Jeroboam and the others came back. 13Rehoboam ignored the advice of the older advisers. 14He spoke bluntly and told them exactly what his own advisers had suggested: “My father made you work hard, but I'll make you work even harder. He punished you with whips, but I'll use whips with pieces of sharp metal!”
15-19When the people realized that Rehoboam would not listen to them, they shouted: “We don't have to be loyal to David's family. We can do what we want. Come on, people of Israel, let's go home! Rehoboam can rule his own people.”#2 S 20.1.
Adoniram#12.15-19 Adoniram: Two ancient translations (see also 4.6 and 5.14); Hebrew “Adoram”. was in charge of the forced labour, and Rehoboam sent him to talk to the people. But they stoned him to death. Then Rehoboam ran to his chariot and hurried back to Jerusalem.
So the people from the northern tribes of Israel went home, leaving Rehoboam to rule only the people from the towns in Judah. Ever since that day, the people of Israel have opposed David's family in Judah. All this happened just as the LORD's prophet Ahijah had told Jeroboam.
20When the Israelites heard that Jeroboam was back, they called everyone together. Then they sent for Jeroboam and made him king of Israel. Only the people from the tribe of Judah#12.20 Israelites…Israel…Judah: From this time on, “Israel” usually refers to the northern kingdom, and “Israelites” refers to the people who lived there. The southern kingdom is called “Judah”. remained loyal to David's family.
Shemaiah warns Rehoboam
(2 Chronicles 11.1-4)
21After Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he decided to attack Israel and take control of the whole country. So he called together one hundred and eighty thousand soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
22Meanwhile, God told Shemaiah the prophet 23to give Rehoboam and everyone from Judah and Benjamin this warning: 24“Don't go to war against the people from Israel—they are your relatives. Go home! I am the LORD, and I made these things happen.”
Rehoboam and his army obeyed the LORD and went home.
King Jeroboam of Israel makes two gold statues of calves
25Jeroboam rebuilt Shechem in Ephraim and made it a stronger town, then he moved there. He also fortified the town of Penuel.
26-27One day, Jeroboam started thinking, “Everyone in Israel still goes to the temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD. What if they become loyal to David's family again? They will kill me and accept Rehoboam as their king.”
28Jeroboam asked for advice and then made two gold statues of calves. He showed them to the people and said, “Listen everyone! You won't have to go to Jerusalem to worship any more. Here are your gods#12.28 Here are your gods: Or “Here is your God”. who rescued you from Egypt.”#Ex 32.4. 29-30Then he put one of the gold calves in the town of Bethel. He put the other one in the town of Dan, and the crowd walked out in front as the calf was taken there.#12.29,30 the crowd…taken there: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. What Jeroboam did was a terrible sin.
31Jeroboam built small places of worship at the shrines#12.31 shrines: See the note at 3.2. and appointed men who were not from the tribe of Levi to serve as priests. 32-33He also decided to start a new festival for the Israelites on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the one in Judah.#12.32,33 the one in Judah: This probably refers to the Festival of Shelters. On that day, Jeroboam went to Bethel and offered sacrifices on the altar to the gold calf he had put there. Then he assigned the priests their duties.#Lv 23.33,34.
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