1 KINGS 12

THE NATION OF ISRAEL SPLIT INTO TWO KINGDOMS

After Solomon’s death, Rehoboam reigns and Jeroboam returns to Israel after hiding from Solomon in Egypt.

Jeroboam confronts Rehoboam about the heavy burden of forced labor that is created under Solomon’s reign. Rehoboam takes three days to decide what to do and during that time seeks advice from two groups of people, his elders and his peers. The older men encourage Rehoboam to have mercy and lighten the workload for the laborers, but the younger men encourage Rehoboam to increase their burdens and overwork them. Rehoboam makes the cruel decision to increase the labor of the workers, who compare his leadership to the sting of a scorpion.

Because of Rehoboam’s poor leadership and unrighteousness, the Israelites rebel against him and follow Jeroboam, splitting the nation in two. Two of the tribes remain loyal to Rehoboam, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, known as the southern kingdom of Judah. The other ten tribes, led by Jeroboam are referred to as the northern kingdom of Israel.

Jeroboam worries that his people in the northern tribes would travel south to worship in the temple in Jerusalem. As an alternative, he set up golden calves as sites of worship and excluded the priests. This act of false worship was the same mistake made by the Israelites in Exodus 32.