King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 9 notes
1And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
2And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, ( for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)
3That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,
4Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
Rehoboam... I wonder why the kingdom had to fall under his watch ⌚.
Obviously he did not have any personal leanings and covenant with Jehovah for him to obtain mercy, or at least a deferment of judgements.
He lost ten tribes, and there was found no pardon nor ransom to help stay the judgements of God. He did not have relationship.
5And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
6And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
These stood before Solomon, so possessed much wisdom and understanding of the times.
They knew that due to the power, wealth and influence of Solomon, he could afford to put the people under burdensome labour and still wield control over his kingdom.
Not so with his son Rehoboam. He was not Solomon; the times had changed and the old men knew it...
Lord, give me wisdom to know and understand the times and seasons of life. So I know what I ought to do.
7And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
8But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:
9And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?
10And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins.
11And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.
13And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him;
14And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
He lacked understanding and discernment, but not good counsel.
He got good counsel from the old men, but because he lacked discernment he chose the counsel of the young men rather.
Even if he lacked understanding, which he did, else he would have heeded the old men, but had discernment, which he did not,
He would have used his discernment to heed the old men, though he might not agree nor understand why they counseled thus.
He did not know that his kingdom was a shaky one and he needed others to make the kingdom stand.
He likely thought to supersede the achievements of his father and make a name also for himself.
He thought his father's kingdom was rock solid and established.
Unlike David his father, who left a good inheritance and preparation and a good transition for his son Solomon,
Solomon could or did not do the same for his son, so right from the beginning of his reign,
Rehoboam lost 90 percent of the kingdom.
The other one percent was even because of David.
15Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
The Lord is very active in watching his word to come to pass.
He was involved in giving foolish counsel to Rehoboam, in order to divide his kingdom.
I believe that Rehoboam himself hated the Lord, else the Lord would have exempted him from this division, but as we will see later, he worshipped other gods.
16So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
17But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
18Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
19So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
20And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
21And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
A strange alliance.
How time changes and flies. Judah and Benjamin, of Saul of Kish, in alliance.
I guess because there was a time when the 10 tribes were of Benjamin, in that Benjamin reigned over Israel and David over Judah.
Likely they wanted their property back.
22But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
God could directly send men to the kings and directly interfere in matters of the kingdom.
Sadly, it is not so anymore in our times.
23Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
24Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.
25Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
26And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
27If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
28Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Ah, 🤬 these golden calves have appeared here also.
After all these centuries, after the precedence set by Aaron,
That same image rears its head up again.
The error once made could not be undone,
Somewhere in the psyche of the people the golden calf stayed.
Now to counter it, the Lord destroyed the image and the people involved and made them drink of it.
So that whenever the image of the calf appears, the due punishment of God also comes alongside.
29And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.
30And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
31And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
32And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made.
33So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
ABOMINATION
That is exactly what he had done: created a god of his own imaginations and heart.