1Kings chapter 12

 

Memory verse: 1Kings 12:19

 

God did not want Israel to have a king besides Him (1Sam 8:7). He certainly provided leadership for them in the law of Moses, judges, and prophets; but He wanted to be their King. The last judge was Samuel. When he was old, the people knew his time was almost over. His sons were wicked, and not qualified to lead. So the people went to Samuel and asked him to appoint a king (1Samuel 8). God knew all along this day would come, so He made some stipulations about it (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). This is like divorce and servanthood in the Bible. God does not like either one, but He knows the heart of man. So He placed conditions to at least control them under the Old Testament until Christ came to bring fulfillment of  the righteousness of the law (Matthew 3:15, Matthew 5, Romans 8:4, Galatians 3:24). One of the conditions placed on the king was that he was not to have multiple wives. David had multiple wives (2Samuel 3:2-5, 2Samuel 5:13). His son Solomon did not follow his own advice (Proverbs 1-9), nor that of the law of Moses (Exodus 23:28-33, Exodus 34:11-16, Numbers 33:55-56, Deuteronomy 7:1-6, Joshua 23:11-33, Judges 2:1-3, and Judges 3:1-7).  He had 700 wives, and 300 concubines (1Kings 11). Not only was this a violation of marriage the way God intended it (Matthew 19:1-9), his wives were pagans who turned him away from God in his old age. He built idols right within sight of the temple he had built for God. He provoked the anger of God, who told him that He would send division in the nation of Israel in the days of his son, Rehoboam. Ten of twelve t ribes would break away. He chose Jeroboam to be the king over the other part of the nation, and he was anointed by a prophet. Solomon tried to have Jeroboam killed, but he fled to Egypt. After Solomon died, Jeroboam returned to Israel. The time had come for the fulfillment of the word of God.

 

Day 1 – make thou the grievous service of thy father… lighter

Verses 1-5

Rehoboam went to Shechem to be anointed king. Shechem means shoulder. The shoulder is where the responsibility of leadership is placed (Isaiah 9:5, Isaiah 22:22). Shechem was where the incident with Jacob’s daughter occurred (Genesis 34). It was where Jacob’s sons were feeding their flocks when Joseph went to see them (Genesis 37:12-14). It was a city of refuge where someone who accidentally killed someone could flee from the avenger (Joshua 20:7). It was also a city that was given to the Levites to live in (Joshua 21:20-21). Joshua gave his “as for me and my house” speech there (Joshua 24:1). Joseph was buried there (Joshua 24:32). Abimelech was from Shechem (Judges 9). Jeroboam was well known in Israel before he fled from Solomon (1Kings 11:28). They called him back to Israel. Whether or not they knew the prophecy about him, they were ready for him to come back and lead them out from under the tax burden the government of Solomon had placed on them. He led a delegation to ask Rehoboam to lower the heavy taxes Solomon had put on the people. Solomon had fulfilled the prophecy of Samuel (1Samuel 8:11-18). He had done many public works projects including the building of the temple and the palace (1Kings 4:22-1Kings 10:29, Ecclesiastes 2:2-9). He also built many idol worship sites in his old age (1Kings 11). All of these things cost money, at least part of which he raised through taxes. There is no such thing as government money. Politicians don’t pay for their projects. The people do through taxes. Some people rejoice when the government offers them “free” things. There are no “free” things. Someone pays. Either the people pay for them themselves directly or indirectly, or people get things someone else payed for. When that happens, they become dependent on the government, and are not “free”. Rather they become enslaved financially and otherwise. Also, then neither the government nor the people are applying Biblical financial principles, which are the true way to financial blessing and freedom. Jeroboam and the people offered to serve the Rehoboam administration if he would lower the taxes. Although it seems counter-intuitive, lower taxes actually lead to more revenue. When people get to keep the money they earned, they will spend some of it. When people spend money, businesses do well. When businesses do well, they pay more taxes and hire more people who pay more taxes. Also, people and businesses don’t spend so much effort avoiding heavy taxes either with evasive financing, or by moving to places where the taxes are lower. Those who try to validate big government or a welfare state by the Bible are not honestly studying its financial principles. They are quite simple. In summary, they are paying tithe and offerings (Malachi 3:8-12), being diligent to earn your income (74 references in Proverbs to money and 33 to diligence versus laziness, Ephesians 4:28, 2Thessalonians 3:10), and being a good steward (Luke 12:42, Titus 1:7). The Bible certainly teaches us to have compassion on the suffering, but it does not teach a government subsidy of irresponsibility forced by taxing the working to allow the non-working to be lazy. Private voluntary acts to help the truly unfortunate, especially temporarily, are what we find in the Bible. These principles also have spiritual application.

 

Day 2 – he forsook the counsel of the old men

Verses 6-11

Rehoboam asked the old men who had been his father’s advisors how to respond to Jeroboam. They told him that if he served the people, they would serve him forever. Rehoboam then asked his young friends what their advice was. They said he should answer that his little finger would be thicker than his father’s thighs, that he would raise instead of lower their taxes, and that Solomon punished them with whips, but he would do it with scorpions. Years do not always equal wisdom (Job 32:1-12), but we should honor those who have gone before us and their experience. It is noteworthy that the people who usually vote for big government are young people. They have not learned and earned yet. They have not accrued assets through hard work over the years. They are not looking forward to retiring soon, and needing all they worked for. They are not thinking about children they do not have. Many of them change their views when they get older and understand how things really work. They don’t want the government taking away what they now have. They realize they are now the ones paying for everything that others are getting without working for it. They understand the unfairness and injustice of that system of beliefs. They understand how hard it is to run a business with excessive government regulation and taxation. The Bible does not teach socialism. Property rights were an important part of the law of Moses, and of Israel living in the promised land. Big government supporters are happy to give money to people as long as it is not theirs. Liberals are far stingier than conservatives, especially religious ones, when it comes to charitable giving of their own money. They are only liberal with your money through taxation and redistribution. The best place for charitable giving is the true church. The money goes to support the kingdom of God, and there is little or no overhead. The money goes directly to the need without waste or abuse. It is voluntary. It honors Biblical principles, so God can bless it and prosper it.

 

 

 

Day 3 – Israel rebelled against the house of David

Verses 12-19

Rehoboam had told the people to give him three days to decide. The time was up, and they were there for his answer. Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders, and gave the answer the young men recommended. Ten of twelve tribes of Israel revolted. Now Israel was divided into two nations – the southern kingdom of Judah which was the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the northern kingdom of Israel which was the other ten tribes. This was not a blessing to the people, but a curse which came as a judgment from God for sin. They never really recovered from this, especially the northern kingdom which never had a righteous king again. They descended into sin and idolatry until the Assyrians destroyed them (2Kings 17). The southern kingdom had the descendants of David as kings, so God gave them some grace because of His covenant with him (2Samuel 7:11-16, 1Kings 11:12-13 & 33-39, 2Kings 8:19, 2Chronicles 23:3). Some of their kings were good, and some were not. Eventually the southern kingdom fell to the Babylonians (2Kings 24-25). Rehoboam sent the tax collector to the northern tribes, and they killed him. Rehoboam ran for his life.

 

Day 4 – ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren

Verses 20-25

The northern tribes made Jeroboam their king. Rehoboam gathered his army together to take the northern tribes back by force. A prophet told him not to go against his brethren, because the situation was from the Lord. Rehoboam listened to the prophet, and the army returned. Jeroboam made Shechem his home city. Sometimes we want to force the issue, but that should be a red flag. There are times when we need to press into the promises of God (Matthew 11:12, Luke 11:8, Luke 16:16, Luke 18:1-8). There are also times when we need to commit things into the hands of God, and just leave them there (Ecclessiastes 3:1-8). We need the wisdom of God to know which is which. There are times to take a stand and fight, and there are times to just let things go. Confusing the two is one of the most common and greatest mistakes people make. It takes real prayer and the word of God to know. We should not make any major decisions without prayer, the scripture, and good advice from sound spiritual leadership. We should never be at odds with our spiritual family in the church (Matthew 5:21-26, Matthew 18). That does not mean there will never be a disagreement. It means we must always be seeking peace, unity, and a resolution (Psalm 34:14, Romans 12:18, Hebrews 12:14, 1Peter 3:11). We must look beyond our personal issue to the greater cause of the kingdom of God, and prioritize that. Selfishness has ruined many relationships. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9).”

 

Day 5 – behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt

Verses 26-33

Jeroboam became afraid. He realized the temple was in Jerusalem, and that the worshippers would have to go to the realm of Rehoboam. He was afraid that the northern tribes would rejoin the southern ones, and he would be killed. God had chosen him to be king. God had promised him that if he kept His commandments, He would establish his house like He did for David (1Kings 11:29-39). Rehoboam had already accepted the loss of the ten tribes. Jeroboam failed to trust that God could do what He said. He decided he had to address his perceived threat himself. He made two golden calves like they did at Mount Sinai, and told Israel that it was too much to go all the way to Jerusalem to worship. Actually the distance had not changed one inch. Jerusalem and the temple were the same distance away they always were. Jeroboam actually used the same words they did at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 32:4). Nobody seemed to notice. He called the idols the gods that brought them out of Egypt. It wasn’t bad enough to make idols and worship them instead of God. He attributed the miracle deliverance of God to a piece of metal. He put one idol in the northernmost part of Israel in city of Dan, and one in the southernmost part of Israel in the city of Beersheba. The people went to worship them, and sinned. Jeroboam turned it into an alternate religion to the one God gave them. He made substitute priests and substitute holidays. The Passover was on the fifteenth day of the first month, and the feast of tabernacles was on the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Leviticus 23:6 & 34). Jeroboam made up a feast on the fifteenth day on the eighth month. Israel never overcame this sin, and it lead directly to their destruction (2Kings 17:22). It is referred to 20 times in 1 and 2Kings. Instead of leaving a legacy that would be compared to that of David, he left one of sin, backsliding, unbelief, idolatry, his own devices, judgment, and destruction. He not only lost out himself, he led a whole nation of God’s people away from him, and they never recovered. We need to realize the impact of our choices, and put our trust in God to keep His word by keeping His commandments.