FRAMEWORKS:
2 Chronicles 10: Rehoboam's
Folly & Israel's rebellion against him
[Introductory
Notes: Chapter 10 explains how the nation became
divided after Solomon's [but not why]. [For that we need
to see the events in 1 Kings]. Rehoboam, a young man, foolishly
rejects the wisdom of his elders and follows the unwise counsel
of his own age group, with the result that most of the tribes
reject him leaving only Judah [and Benjamin] with him. Thus we
have from now on a divided kingdom with ‘Israel' in the north
[10 tribes] and ‘Judah' in the south [2 tribes]. As noted previously
there is nothing of the divine encounters recorded in 1 Kings
11 and the reasons for what occurs in this chapter.]
v.1-5
Rehoboam prepares to be made king; Jeroboam returns
v.1
Rehoboam
went
to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.
v.2
When
Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was in
Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from
Egypt.
v.3
So
they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went to Rehoboam
and said to him:
v.4
‘Your
father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labour
and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.'
v.5
Rehoboam
answered, ‘Come back to me in three days.' So the people went
away.
v.6,7
The elders counsel kindness
v.6
Then
King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon
during his lifetime. ‘How would you advise me to answer these
people?' he asked.
v.7
They
replied, ‘If you will be kind to these people and please them
and give them a favourable answer, they will always be your servants.'
v.8-11
The young men counsel harshness
v.8
But
Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted
the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.
v.9
He
asked them, ‘What is your advice? How should we answer these people
who say to me, “Lighten the yoke your father put on us”?'
v.10
The
young men who had grown up with him replied, ‘The people have
said to you, “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our
yoke lighter.” Now tell them, “My little finger is thicker than
my father's waist.
v.11
My
father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier.
My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”'
v.12-15
Rehoboam responds harshly to the people
v.12
Three
days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as
the king had said, ‘Come back to me in three days.'
v.13
The
king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders,
v.14
he
followed the advice of the young men and said, ‘My father made
your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged
you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'
v.15
So
the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events
was from God, to fulfil the word that the Lord
had spoken
to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
v.16
Most of the nation reject Rehoboam
v.16
When
all Israe l saw that the king refused to listen
to them, they answered the king:
‘What
share do we have in David,
what part in Jesse's son?
To your tents, Israel!
Look after your own house, David!'
So
all the Israelites went home.
v.17
Judah remain with Rehoboam
v.17
But
as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah,
Rehoboam still ruled over them.
v.18,19
Rehoboam repelled by Israel
v.18
King
Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labour,
but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however,
managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem.
v.19
So
Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this
day.
Continue
to Ch.11