Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vols. 13–63

God threatened Solomon, on account of his setting up other gods, that He would tear away a great part of the kingdom from him and that He would set up another king in his place.

1 Kings 11:40-43. Solomon sought, therefore, to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David, his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place. After great mountains there usually come low hills. After Solomon comes Rehoboam. Grace does not run in the blood, we may be sure, for even human wisdom does not descend from father to son. There is no necessary transmission of gifts and talents, much less of Grace, from one generation to another.

1 Kings 12:1-3. And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt), that they sent and called him. It was a sure sign of great discontent when the people sent for a rebel to be their spokesman!

3, 4. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, Your father made our yoke grievous. Now, therefore, make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve you. This was a very natural request. These Oriental monarchs took their thrones as by a kind of Divine right and there was a tendency among the people to demand something like a constitution, some regulations by which they should not be so heavily oppressed. I do not know whether they had been oppressed by Solomon or not. Certainly, the realm as a whole was greatly enriched under his government, but the wisest ruler must not expect that he will have the uniform love of the people—there will be come discontented ones in every community.

5. And he said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed. One commentator says that it is the only sign of wisdom that there was in Rehoboam, that he took three days to consider the answer to this question. Perhaps if he had answered it rightly, it would have been better if answered immediately. Still, it is a good rule, when there is an important question before you, to take time to consider it. The mischievous point is that Rehoboam did not wait upon God for guidance in this emergency. Had he been like his grandfather, David, those three days would have been spent with God in prayer—and he would have come back with a greater wisdom than even his father, Solomon, possessed, to answer the people in this thing. We often blunder over very ample matters when we speak without asking guidance of God. But in the most intricate circumstances our course will be perfectly clear if we commit our way to the Lord.

6-8. And King Rehoboam consulted with the old men that stood before Solomon, his father, while he yet lived, and said, How do you advise that I may answer this people? And 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 good words to them, then they will be your servants forever. But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that had grown up with him, and which stood before him. He was probably a man 40 years of age and, therefore, no longer young, but he had, all the while, been playing the part of a young man. He had not been old in wisdom when he was young in years—it would have been well for him if he had been.

9-11. And he said to them, What counsel give you that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying Make the yoke which your father did put upon us lighter? And the young men that had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, Thus shall you speak to this people that spoke to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but make you it lighter to us; thus shall you say to them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. And now whereas my father did load you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father has chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. Old men are not always wise and young men are not always wise—he who consults with only men shall yet learn the truth of this verse, "Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord." Among Rehoboam's counselors, the old men had no real principle to guide them. They said to the king, in effect, "Just butter these people with soft words, delude and deceive them with the idea that you are going to yield to them and then, when you once get the reins into your own hands, you can govern the nation as you like."

This was a wicked policy, but the young men said to the king, "No, no, no! Do not pretend that you will listen to the people. There is nothing like putting a bold face on it and just letting the people know that you will not yield to them. They will be startled by what you say—have you not the authority and example of your father, Solomon? Nobody ever dared speak a word of this kind to him, so put it down at once and be bold." There is no principle, you see, about the advice in either case—it is all policy, but the latter policy is sure not to succeed. I counsel you, Brothers—no, I will give you no counsel except that I counsel you to take counsel of God! Wait upon Him, for He knows what you should do in every difficulty that may arise. If Rehoboam had only had wits enough and Grace enough to lay this case before his God, He would have given him somewhat of the largeness of heart and the wisdom which He gave to His father, Solomon.

12-15. So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him; and spoke 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. Therefore the king hearkened not to the people; for the cause was from the LORD. The great, deep, mysterious Providence of God was quietly working even behind the folly and the domineering pride of this foolish man!

15, 16. That He might perform His saying, which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Ne-bat. So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not to 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 your own house, David. So Israel departed to their tents. He that speaks roughly must expect to be answered roughly. Let us learn from this incident as one might who sees the warning light of a beacon and tacks his ship to avoid the rock on which it is placed.

17, 18. But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute. Having made trouble, the king tried to make peace. He selected one of the ancient officers of his father, Solomon, to be his ambassador, but he selected the very worst that he could have found, "Adoram, who was over the tribute." The man who had been a leader in exactions from the people, or who had been thought to be so, was not the one to act as peace-maker!

18-20. 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. So Israel rebelled against the house of David to this day. And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. See what mischief may be done by one foolish man! And, let me add, see what evil may come of the ill conduct of a wise man! Some think that Rehoboam was Solomon's only son, though he had a multitude of wives. That I cannot tell, but it is an amazing thing that so wise a man should have but one son mentioned, here, and that he should be such a foolish one. Yet what could be expected to come out of such a family as Solomon's? He whose own house is so disorderly as his was must expect that those who come after him will be no better than they should be. Blessed is that home where the Lord is the Master, where His Law is loved and His Word is obeyed!

21-24. And 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. But the Word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying Speak to Reho-boam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, Thus says the LORD, You 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. It is a very striking fact that this one Prophet did but speak in God's name and that vast host disbanded in obedience to his word! It gives us some hope concerning Rehoboam, yet we cannot be sure that it was he who was thus obedient to the Prophet—the people may have been better than their king. At any rate, they did not fight against their brethren, but they went their way. Oh, that God's servants in these days could speak with anything like such power as Shemaiah possessed!

25-27. Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from there, and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: if 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. Jeroboam is moved by policy, you see. It is very hard, I believe, to be a ruler over men and yet to be a servant of God. There seems to be connected with politics in every country something that besmears the mind and defiles the hand that touches it. The king of Judah had but little wit and this king of Israel has too much cunning—he is a far-seeing man and perceives that if the people go up to Jerusalem to worship—they may, by-and-by, return their allegiance to the house of David.

28. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel which brought you up out of the land of Egypt! Truly, history repeats itself—only if it is bad history, it is apt to grow worse! "Behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt." This is almost exactly what they said in Aaron's days when he made the ox which Scripture sarcastically calls a calf, the Egyptian image of strength. Jeroboam makes not merely one calf, but two—and he speaks of them in nearly the same language as they used concerning the golden calf in the wilderness—"Behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt."

29, 30. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Daniel. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even to Dan. I suppose that Jeroboam did not mean to draw them away from worshipping Jehovah, but he would have Jehovah worshipped under some visible image, and not according to the rule which God had laid down. That is just where mischief often begins, both in the Church and in the world. Men are willing to worship God if they are allowed to have a ritual and symbols which they have themselves devised and so, instead of the Divine simplicity of the New Testament, they have many things added, things to please the taste, aesthetic, beautiful, sensuous—all of which take the mind off from that sublime worship of the invisible God which alone can be acceptable before Him. It is not for us to determine how we will worship God—we are to worship Him after His own manner, for His Commandments are still in force—"You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make to you any engraved image, or any likeness of anything that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth: you shall not bow down yourself to them nor serve them." "Well, but the Cross," someone says, "surely that is a truly venerable symbol?" Let it be as venerable as you please, but we must not use it in Divine worship! The ox was supposed to set forth strength—surely it was an admirable emblem of the Almighty—yet God pours contempt upon it when He bids His Inspired servants to speak of it as the image of an ox that eats grass, as if that could be any symbol of the Most High! "This thing became a sin."

31. And he made an house of high places and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. For the sons of Levi went over to Judah and remained faithful to God. And the better sort of people probably dreaded to assume the office to which God had called the sons of Levi—none would undertake it but the very lowest of the people.

32. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like to the feast that is in Judah. He shifted the month, but retained the day—the fifteenth day of the eighth month instead of the seventh. "That was quite unimportant," say some. I do not agree with them, for nothing is unimportant that has to do with the Law of God's House! Disobedience may be more plainly seen in some of the non-essentials than in an essential thing. At all events, we have no right to alter jot or tittle of the Divine command.

32, 33. And he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart. It is a strong condemnation of anything in religion if it is devised by a man's own heart. We are to do what God bids us, as God bids us, when God bids us and because God bids us. But that which is merely of our own free will, ordained and manufactured by ourselves, is practically the worship of ourselves and not the worship of God.

33. And ordained a feast to the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense. Thus Israel was led astray at the very beginning. She came to the crossroads and took the wrong turn. And she went from bad to worse. God save all of us from following her evil example, but may we all serve the one living and true God, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.