What is the story of Rehoboam and Jeroboam?

Answer

Rehoboam and Jeroboam were both kings reigning in Israel’s divided kingdom. Rehoboam was one of Solomon’s sons and the king of Judah in the south. «And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.», (1 Kings 11:43). Jeroboam was one of Solomon’s former officials, an Ephraimite, and the king of Israel in the north. «And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king. », (1 Kings 11:26).

While Solomon was still alive and Jeroboam was working for him, a prophet named Ahijah told Jeroboam that God would take ten of the twelve tribes of Israel away from Solomon’s son Rehoboam and give them to Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:29-31). This judgment against Solomon’s house came because they had forsaken God and worshiped idols (verse 33). Along with the announcement that Jeroboam would be king, God gave him a conditional promise: “If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you” (verse 38). When Solomon heard that God had chosen Jeroboam to rule, the king tried to kill Jeroboam, who fled to Egypt (verse 40).

After Solomon died, his son Rehoboam became king, and Jeroboam returned from Egypt (1 Kings 12:1-2). But Rehoboam was a vain and foolish man. Jeroboam, a “mighty man of valor,” warned

King Rehoboam was advised not to repeat his father’s mistake of heavily taxing the people to support a lavish lifestyle (verses 3–4). However, Rehoboam chose to ignore the counsel and instead declared, “My father burdened you with a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will use scorpions!” «and spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your burden; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions. », (1 Kings 12:14).

In response to Rehoboam’s harshness, the people rebelled against him and appointed Jeroboam as the king of Israel (1 Kings 12:16-20). Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, while the other ten tribes supported Jeroboam. Despite gathering 180,000 soldiers to reclaim the ten tribes, King Rehoboam was stopped by God, who said, “This is my doing” «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. So they listened to the word of the LORD and turned back, according to the word of the LORD. », (1 Kings 12:24). Consequently, King Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, while Jeroboam ruled from Shechem and later from Tirzah in Israel.

After establishing himself in the northern kingdom, King Jeroboam was concerned that if the people continued to worship at the temple in Jerusalem, they might reunite with Rehoboam. To prevent this, he established worship centers in Bethel and Dan, where he erected golden calves and told the people, “It is too burdensome for you to go to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from Egypt” «Then the king consulted, and made two calves of gold», (1 Kings 12:28).

Calves of gold, and said unto them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (1 Kings 12:28). Jeroboam made shrines on the high places, installed priests who were not of the tribe of Levi, appointed a festival, and sacrificed at the altars (1 Kings 12:31-33). In spite of God’s offer to establish his dynasty in Israel, Jeroboam chose idolatry, and the prophet Ahijah told Jeroboam that his family would not endure (1 Kings 14).

As Jeroboam was turning people away from God in the northern kingdom, Rehoboam was turning people away from God in the southern kingdom. Rehoboam reigned in Jerusalem for seventeen years, but “he did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord” “And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 12:14). After Rehoboam, there were good kings and bad kings over Judah. Every other generation or so, a great king stepped forward and turned the people back to the true God. That never happened among the kings of the northern kingdom. They all followed the mold of Jeroboam. Jeroboam reigned over the ten tribes of Israel for twenty-two years and was succeeded by his son Nadab. But then Nadab was murdered after two years on the throne, and the assassin killed all of Jeroboam’s family, fulfilling Ahijah’s prophecy (1 Kings 15:25-30). All subsequent monarchs of the kingdom of Israel followed Jeroboam’s lead. Not one of them was faithful to Israel’s God.

The schism that occurred during the days of Rehoboam and Jeroboam was the end of a united Israel. This division continued during their reigns: “There was continual warfare bet

Between Rehoboam and Jeroboam” «Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. », (2 Chronicles 12:15) and for centuries afterward.