Rebellion against Rehoboam
(1 Kings 12:1–15)
Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 1Ch 12:381Ch 3:101Ki 12:1-201Ki 4:1Gen 12:6Gen 37:12-13Jdg 9:1Jos 20:7 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he returned from Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon. 1Ki 11:401Ki 11:261Ki 11:281Ki 12:2 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel came to Rehoboam and said, 1Ki 12:3 “Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you should lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” 1Ki 12:41Jn 5:31Ki 4:201Ki 4:251Ki 5:151Ki 9:221Sa 8:11-18Exo 1:13-14
Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days.” So the people departed. 1Ki 12:5Pro 3:28
Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked. Job 32:72Sa 16:202Sa 17:5-6Jer 42:2-5Jer 42:20Job 12:12-13Job 8:8-9Pro 12:15
They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.” Pro 15:11Ki 12:7Gen 49:212Sa 15:2-6
But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him. 2Sa 17:14Pro 1:252Ch 25:15-16Ecc 10:16Ecc 10:2-3Isa 30:1Pro 13:20Pro 19:20 He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to these people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” 2Ch 10:62Sa 17:5-61Ki 22:6-8
The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you should make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! 1Ki 12:10-112Sa 17:7-13Isa 19:11-13Pro 10:14Pro 13:16Pro 14:16Pro 18:6-7Pro 21:30 Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’” 1Sa 8:18Exo 1:13-14Exo 5:18Exo 5:5-9Isa 47:6Isa 58:6Jer 28:13-14Luk 10:19
After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.” 1Ki 12:12-152Ch 10:5 And the king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders 1Ki 20:6-111Sa 25:10-112Ch 10:8Exo 10:28Gen 42:30Gen 42:7Pro 15:1Pro 19:27 and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, 1 I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.” 2Ch 10:10-112Ch 22:4-5Dan 6:7Ecc 10:16Ecc 2:19Ecc 7:8Jas 3:14Pro 12:5
So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from God, in order that the LORD might fulfill the word that He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. 1Ki 11:29-391Sa 2:252Ch 25:16-20Act 2:231Ki 12:151Ki 12:241Ki 22:20Isa 19:14
The Kingdom Divided
(1 Kings 12:16–19)
When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered 2the king: 2Ch 10:192Sa 20:11Ch 17:141Co 15:251Ki 11:131Ki 11:34-391Ki 12:16-171Sa 20:27
“What portion do we have in David,
and what inheritance in the son of Jesse?
To your tents, O Israel!
Look now to your own house, O David!”
So all the Israelites went home, but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah. 1Ki 11:361Ki 12:172Ch 11:1
Then King Rehoboam sent out Hadoram, 3 who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem. 1Ki 5:141Ki 4:62Ch 24:21Act 7:57-58 So to this day Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David. 1Ki 12:19-202Ch 10:162Ch 13:5-72Ch 5:92Ki 17:21-23Ezr 9:7Jos 4:9Psa 89:30