II Chronicles 10, Solomon's Kingdom is Divided

Solomon has died. The Chronicler, having devoted half of his scroll (1 Chronicles) to the history of the Davidic dynasty, has spent another considerable portion (nine chapters in 2 Chronicles) to the glory of Solomon, with an emphasis on the power and majesty invested in the Temple. Now we move on to the results after Solomon's death (about 930 BC) and will begin to move relatively rapidly through the next four centuries.

Solomon's heir to the throne is Rehoboam. After the death of Solomon, Rehoboam has some decisions to make.

2 Chronicles 10: 1-2

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt.

Rehoboam goes to Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, center of the northern tribes. There he expects to be crowned king, not just of Judah but of all Israel. (His grandfather David 

Jeroboam, a former leader in Solomon's kingdom, had been a thorn in Solomon's flesh and at one point fled to Egypt. Now hearing that Solomon has died, Jeroboam returns to Israel. Jeroboam has plans....

2 Chronicles 10: 3-5, A heavy yoke?

So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."

Rehoboam answered, "Come back to me in three days." So the people went away.

 

Up to now, we have heard much about the glory, wisdom and power of Solomon's golden age. But apparently that glory came with a heavy yoke, a yoke of conscripted labor and high taxes. The Israelites, nudged by Jeroboam, ask Rehoboam to relax that yoke a little.

2 Chronicles 10: 6-11,

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.

They replied, "If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."

But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 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'?"

The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell the people who have said to you, `Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'--tell them, `My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. 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.'"

The elder advisors suggest that Rehoboam agree to a lighter yoke, resulting in the support of the people. But Rehoboam goes to the young elites who have grown up with the prince and asks "What should we say?" These young privileged members of the aristocracy give a rash arrogant answer, one reflecting their insulation within the palace. Their greedy response is essentially, "We have the power and wealth. We will show you what we can do!" This misreads the mood of the common people and also fails to recognize an ambitious rebel leader who has returned home.

2 Chronicles 10: 12-15, Scourge with scorpions!

Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." The king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders, 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."

So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

Rehoboam rejects the wise advice of the elders in his council and give the arrogant response suggested by his young friends. But Rehoboam has been insulated and this is not the right answer. (This is not the first -- nor will it bne the last -- time that a wealthy monarch misreads the mood of the common people.)

Solomon had disobeyed the decrees of Deuteronomy 17: 16-20 (not to focus on gold, horses, wives) and this arrogance is magnified by his son.

The Chronicler points out this had been God's plan all along -- a response to Solomon's late idolatry. According to 1 Kings 11:9-13 , God tells Solomon that because of his idolatry, idolatry promoted in Israel through his many wives, the kingdom will be torn apart after his death. Following this up, 1 Kings 11: 26-40 tells the story of a prophet Ahijah meeting Jeroboam outside of Jerusalem and taking Jeroboam's cloak and tearing it into twelve pieces. Ahijah then says that Jeroboam would get ten of the twelve parts of the cloak of Israel. The Chronicler expects his audience to know that story although it is not included in the scroll of Chronicles.

2 Chronicles 10: 16-17, To your tents!

When all Israel 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, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!" So all the Israelites went home.

But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.

Rehoboam gives the answer that Jeroboam wants to hear. Those of the northern tribes announce that they are done with David and David's kingdom. Rehoboam, grandson of David, can lead Judah if he wants, but the rest of Israel will go home.

2 Chronicles 10: 18-19, Adoniram sent out

King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam cannot believe the rebellion of the tribes and sends out Adoniram to make amends. As Payne points out, Rehoboam's tone deaf response demonstrates his naivety -- the people have complained about the force labor (among other things) and so the one in charge of bullying the people is sent in response. Adoniram discovers that the discontent is more serious than he or his king imagine.

The rebellion is permanent. But the Chronicler, writing after the Babylonian exile, seems to say that the rebellion continued to "this day". Whatever is meant by that, the rest of the scroll of Chronicles, unlike the scroll of Kings, will focus on the kingdom of Judah.