1 Kings 12.1-15

Introduction

Every leader, once he gets put into power, needs to decide how he will govern, lead, and provide direction. We’ve seen this mostly recently with our newly elected Prime Minister, Mark Carney. The question is, would he govern the way his predecessor did, through divisiveness and polarization? Or, would he govern in such a way that he would unify a country fractured and divided. It seems, from what we can see so far, that unity is the route he has chosen to take. Take, for example, one of his first acts was to pause/remove (you can debate that) the Carbon Tax, a very divisive policy put forward by the former Prime Minister. Or, even this week, one of his first acts was to have King Charles, the King of Canada, come to deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th Parliament of Canada; one of the intended goals, so it has been said, was to demonstrate that Canada is one unified sovereign nation (apparently, to send a message to Washington). It seems that this Prime Minister is attempting to set the tone as to how he’ll govern.

So similarly, we come to a passage this evening where a prominent rising leader, Rehoboam the son of Solomon, has a decision put before him. How will he govern a seemingly fragile yet still united kingdom? This son inherits the kingdom of Israel from Solomon and even before he’s made king by all the people, he has a challenging situation before him. We will see this evening that Rehoboam unfortunately makes a detrimental and foolish decision which resulted in the rebellion of the northern tribes of the kingdom. This once unified, glorious, prosperous, secure kingdom of Israel becomes divided, because of Rohobaom’s foolish decision. However, ultimately, we learn that this was God’s sovereign plan all along to bring about his Word to pass. It says in verse 15 of our chapter that “...the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” Through this narrative that we’ll be looking at more closely this evening, we’ll come to learn of the God of Israel that fulfills His word, even in judgment.

This evening, then, we’re going to look closely at the passage through 3 points: (1) The People’s Complaint from verses 1 to 5, (2) Rehoboam’s Foolish Decision from verses 6 to 14, and then, (3) God’s Sovereign Judgment from verse 15 . Before we begin looking more closely at this narrative, let’s pray.

(1) The People’s Complaint

Let’s begin there in verse 1 which says, “Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.” Now at this point in Kings we are introduced to a new character, Rehoboam the son of Solomon. We learn there in verse 43 of the previous chapter that this son, Rehoboam, was the designated son to reign in Solomon’s place over all Israel.

We learn here in verse 1 that Rehoboam went to Shechem, since all of Israel went there to make him king. We might not think much of this; however, this act of Rehoboam was an act of unification, at least an attempt at it. When there is a transition from one king to another, it is usually a very tumultuous period—people attempting nefarious ways to grasp at the throne, for example. We witnessed this when we look at how Solomon became king and the tension with Adonijah. We don’t necessarily see this with Rehoboam. It’s assumed that he’d be the king. However, we see that he goes north to be ordained as the king of Israel. You’d expect that this ordination would occur in the south, in Jerusalem, where the Temple of the Lord was and all the action has been thus far. It seems, however, that it was strategic for Rehoboam to head up north to Shechem to demonstrate his solidarity with the north and to show that he would be king of all Israel, north and south.

Illustration

You might imagine something similar in our Canadian context if with all the talk of Alberta separation these days, Mark Carney would go to be appointed Prime Minister by the Govenor General at a formal event, for example, in a city in Saskatchewan to show that he would govern, not just for eastern Canada, but for all of Canada, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, those that were politically different than him. So, Rehoboam, goes to Shechem, up north, for his ordination with the goal of conveying that all of Israel is one. I hope you could sense the tension. It’s not the same as when Solomon was being ordained as King; still, it’s a tension that’s brewing between the north and south.

In verse 2 of our passage, we come again to the famous Jeroboam son of Nabat. Verse 2 says, “And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt.” You might remember that Jeroboam fled to Egypt because Solomon was attempting to kill him. Well, now that Solomon is dead, he’s back on the scene. And he’s prepared, because he most certainly remembers the Word of the Lord that came to him that he’d have the 10 northern tribes which would be taken from Solomon’s son.

In verse 3 we read: “3 And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam….” The they that we see in this passage are the people of Israel, predominantly of the north. They call Jeroboam, and it’s him as the representative of all the assembly of Israel that come and together they pronounce their complaint and protest to Rehoboam. This might almost remind you of a union offer with a threat to strike, similar to the Canada Post negotiations and the potential strike that is looming. So, too, the people of Israel don’t automatically submit to Rehoboam’s kingship but they put a condition in place if they were to serve him. In this case, it turns out that if the king didn’t concede to the condition it wouldn’t be a strike but a complete separation and rebellion.

And this is what they say in verse 4, led by Jeroboam, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” They claim that Solomon made their workload really hard and that they wanted things to be easier for them. Only then, they say, will they submit and serve the king. As we read of their complaint, we must wonder, is their claim legitimate? From what we can see through Solomon’s reign, he seemed to have made things pleasant for the people of Israel. You might remember that the nation was prosperous with secure borders all around. And even when there was forced labour for Solomon’s project, it wasn’t the people of Israel doing it. In chapter 9 verses 21 and 22 it says, “their descendants [Amorites, Hittites, etc.] who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction—these Solomon drafted to be slaves, and so they are to this day. 22 But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen.” While their life wasn’t obviously perfect, it certainly seems questionable to say that a heavy yoke was laid upon them.

But even then, where did they get such an idea that they’d only submit to the king-elect and serve him if he did something for them, in this case make life easier? If they were a people that wanted to submit to God and His laws, they would’ve recognized that this was God’s anointed king that they were to submit and serve him. Rather than submitting to the King-elect, they put terms to their service—terms that were self-serving, and honestly, from what we can see, perhaps even a pretext for rebellion.

Application

Brothers and sisters, aren’t we, though, so much like Jeroboam and the people of Israel in this case? There was a King-elect which they were to render service and obedience to by virtue of his office; however, rather than humbly submitting and serving, they put terms and conditions to their service and submission. Isn’t it the case sometimes that when we’re called to submit, we only aim to submit if something is done for us in return. We say to ourselves, we’ll only submit and serve if something is going to benefit me. I know that God’s word says that we should submit to those that are in authority over us, but, like that of the Israelites, we want to put terms and conditions in place before we’ll do that. And not biblical terms, but self-serving ones that we don’t derive from the word of God. So with a manager at work, we only want to submit and serve if they make our work easier. If not, then we won’t comply and we’ll complain, rebel and maybe even slander them. Others might say, I don’t want to submit and serve in a local church unless that place serves my needs, whatever those needs are. False, unbiblical reasons for submitting and serving those over us ought not to be the disposition of the people of God. We might recall that our brother Francis preached from the book of Colossians and looked at chapter 3:22 which echoes the 5th commandment of the Law and says, “Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.”

Finishing up this point, we read in verse 5 what Rehoboam tells the people: “He said to them, “Go away for three days, then come again to me.” Rehoboam sought time to be able to come up with a proper decision.

This brings us to our second point, (2) Rehoboam’s Foolish Decision.

(2) Rehoboam’s Foolish Decision

Let’s look now at the way Rehoboam went about making his decision. In verse 6 we learn that Rehoboam went to get counsel from the elders who stood before Solomon, his father, while he was alive. Surely Rehoboam would get good counsel from elders that were before the wisest man to ever live. It seems like he started off well by going to the experienced individuals that stood by his father throughout his kingship. Rehoboam asks them ““How do you advise me to answer this people?” And, wisely, they tell him, ““If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.” They tell him to take a diplomatic approach to the situation. They might have even considered the words of Rehoboam’s father from Proverbs 15.1, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

We learn, however, in verse 8 “But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.” He forsook the advice that the wise elders of the land gave him. Rather than considering their counsel, he took counsel with his contemporaries who grew up with him and stood before him. Rehoboam then says to his contemporaries, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me….” Ryken notes, “Even before he makes his decision, we sense that Rehoboam will do whatever his friends tell him to do.” Notice how he speaks to them. He addresses them saying we; that is, how should we—together—go about answering this people. To the elders he simply leaves it at, how do you advise me? Perhaps you’ve had the experience when someone comes to you for advice but it’s simply just to hear what you have to say since you know that they’re committed to the advice of their closest companions; well, you’d be like the elders and the companions would be the the young men that stood before Rehoboam. We see that in an unwise and unkilled way, his fellow-young men advise him to respond harshly to them people; to make them understand who is boss; to make them understand that he will not be pushed around and that he’ll be stronger and more powerful than Solomon. They gave him foolish counsel as it says in Proverbs 15.2, “but the mouths of fools pour out folly.”

The people then return with Jeroboam after 3 days, and Rehoboam answers the people harshly, and as verses 13 and 14 say, “...forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, 14 he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men….” And he says, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” Matthew Henry comments on this and says, “but also like scorpions, metal-spiked leather whips, which raise blood with every lash. In short, he would use them as wild animals, load them harshly, and beat them as he saw fit. He did not care whether they loved him or not; he wanted to make them fear him.” Rehoboam followed after the foolish counsel of his contemporaries; which ultimately is what he was inclined towards since he identified with them and they were individuals that stood before him.

Application

At this juncture, though, we should pause and consider, how do you go about obtaining counsel for a decision that you have before you? For Rehoboam, the question was, How should I answer this people? The question for you will be different; however, there most certainly are decisions that you’ll have to make now or in the future that won’t be so clear and that you’ll need counsel on. For Rehoboam, he consulted the elders that were before Solomon the wise, yet he forsook it and followed after the people he already identified with, the young men that stood before him, those that thought and acted like him.

As Christians, we’re sometimes put in situations like Rehoboam. There isn’t necessarily a direct word from God in Scripture on the specific providential situation, and so we need wise experienced counselors that can take the principles of Scripture and help us apply them to the providence before us. Sinclair Ferguson has said, “Now, we will have experiences where the question we ask is: "Lord, what do you want me to do here?" We will find the answer to that question by growing in our understanding of Scripture and over the months and years, growing in our ability to apply the Scripture to the providential experiences that we have.... We discover the answers to our questions by applying the precepts and the patterns of Scripture to the providences of our lives.” And so, in this life, we need counselors that can help us do just this—help us to apply the precepts and patterns of Scripture to the providences of our lives; we need individuals that are closely walking with Jesus, especially those that have been faithfully doing it for decades and have lives patterned after our Lord Himself. That means that we shouldn’t just look to those that act like us, look like us, are the same age as us for counsel, since those are the people that we’ll usually look to for counsel, but we should also, and maybe more importantly, seek the counsel of biblically mature trusted Christians in the local church to be able to speak into our lives when we’re facing a fork in the road. Unlike Rehoboam, though, we don’t just want to hear it to see what the elders simply say, but we should want to warmly welcome it and be willing to submit to it if it’s consistent with the principles of the Word of God. Rehoboam’s father’s words speak to us today. Proverbs 12.15 says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” Proverbs 11.14 says, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” And as we receive counsel, we should ask the Lord for the heavenly wisdom from above which James 3.17 says is open to reason and sincere. We don’t want to be like the person Rehoboam’s father describes in Proverbs 23.9, “Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.”

Having considered Rehoboam’s foolish decision, let’s move on to our final point, (3) God’s Sovereign Judgment.

(3) God’s Sovereign Judgment

Let’s move on to our final verse which wraps it all up and provides us with the big picture. It says there in verse 15, “So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” While it was totally Rehoboam's foolishness, and he was completely free as to his own actions in the way he addressed the people which would lead to the divided kingdom, this was ultimately as our verse says, “a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord” to accomplish His word. God was sovereignly working out His holy purpose in His providence to bring about His Word to pass without, as our Baptist Confession puts it, violating “the will of the creature,” which in this case is Rehoboam’s. This Word, you might remember, came to Ahijah that the kingdom would be torn from Solomon’s son and that ten tribes would be given to Jeroboam but that his son would remain with the tribe of Judah. God brought this to pass through the narrative that we’ve been looking at this evening.

We usually prefer the passages that describe how God fulfills His word positively towards us and His people; for example, the way He promises to be with us, care for us, uphold us; but this passage is sobering because it’s God fulfilling His word in judgment. Brothers and sisters, we should be sure that the same God that fulfills His word positively towards us in His care of us is the same One that fulfills His word in judgment. It’s not something that we think about very much; however, it’s plain for us this evening from this narrative. The Lord God, in His divine Providence, brought about the events we see to fulfill His word in judgment on the people of Israel because of Solomon’s grave sin. So yes, God is faithful to His word, amen—even to the praise of His glorious judgment.

Application

Now, what might we gather from this verse? What we can see here as the people of God is that God’s judgment can result in people doing foolish things, like Rehoboam, and even sinful things. For example, in Romans 1 we learn that God’s judgment or wrath is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness of men. This wrath and judgment manifests itself in God giving them up to the lusts of their hearts, to debased minds, and dishonourable passions. So then, we can learn that when God’s judgment visits a people, we can be sure to witness ungodly, foolish and disturbing things.

If you’re an unbeliever this evening, you must take note of this word of judgment that God has fulfilled in our narrative. The judgement is lesser in comparison to the eternal just wrath of God against sinners. God promises justice to those that are found in their sin and not found in the safe saving arms of the Lord Christ Jesus. If you’re not trusting and resting completely on Jesus in His death for sin and resurrection for your salvation, you presently stand under his wrath and judgment. And in that state, should you perish, you will face His justice in hell for eternity because of your sin. And as we see from our passage, God is faithful to His word, even when it’s for judgment. He will surely accomplish His word.

Yet, even when we consider that this fulfilled word is one of judgment, we ought to remember that God’s sovereignty manifests itself in grace. As we read and see how the Lord in His providence brought about the events in our narrative, we see the same God active in His providence in the redemption of sinners. In Acts 2.23 we read, “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” The same God that brought about the turn of events with Rehoboam for judgment is the same God that brought the turn of events in Jesus for redemption. And in this climactic event of history, orchestrated by God Himself, we have God Himself—God the Son—take on the full judgment and wrath of His people on the cross. And the same God that promises justice to the sinner also promises mercy and forgiveness to that same sinners because He, Himself, in the person of the Son, took on the judgment that sinners deserve. So, unbeliever, would you flee to Christ Jesus to find grace, mercy and forgiveness.

The Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 3.9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” God is actively, even at this moment exercising patience towards you that you should reach repentance. The command of the gospel is that you would forsake your sin, turn away from it, and trust wholly and completely in Jesus that died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and rose again from the grave to guarantee eternal life for all those that would trust in Him. God commands you, unbeliever, to go to Christ His Son for forgiveness and eternal life that you would not see His justice in hell for eternity. Go to His Son today, this evening, calling upon the name of Jesus Christ confessing your sins to Him.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, would we remember this powerful truth: God's faithfulness in judgment strengthens our awe of His character and our gratitude for the judgment that was laid upon our Saviour in the gospel. Verse 15, in saying that, “it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord” can also be applied to the same gospel by which we’re saved and redeemed. In seeing the sovereignty of God throughout this narrative, even through the people’s complaint, the foolish counsel of the young men, through Rehoboam’s foolish decision, we can confess with the hymn that we’re about to sing that “Whate’er my God ordains is right,” even when his ordaining is for judgment. But as people that have been saved by this sovereign God through the gospel of Christ, we can sing that we won’t be forsaken, that we won’t be abandoned, and that our “Father’s care is round me there He holds me that I shall not fall.”

And even this evening, as we come, believers, to participate in the Lord’s Table, as we celebrate that Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands, we approach this Table with joy as we fellowship with the Christ that took on the eternal judgment that each one of us deserves. That because of Him, because of our Beloved, there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. May we be a people that marvel in the God that ordains all things, even judgment, while we delight and celebrate the mercy and grace found in the gospel.