I Kings Chapter 12
Please read: I Kings 12 –
Now that Solomon had passed away it was time for his son Rehoboam to take the throne. He went to Shechem the old temple site for his coronation. Jeroboam who had been told by a prophet of God that he would rule over the majority of Israel was in Egypt when the news came. He journeyed back home to make one request of the new king, and that was to lighten the burden of work on the people. But Rehoboam had ideas of grandeur and power, and he would not listen to wisdom. Instead told the people that he would make their burden even greater than his father. This led to a revolt and once again we have a split in the land of Israel. Only the one tribe of Judah stayed loyal to Rehoboam and the rest sought to make someone else their king. That someone else was Jeroboam, just as God had planned.
Let's Reflect
1. It would seem that Rehoboam did give ample time to make a wise decision about the request made by Jeroboam and the people, but where did he go wrong?
2. What did the people do to the taskmaster that Rehoboam had chosen to discipline the workers?
3. Rehoboam thought he would take power by force. He gathered 180,000 men to take control of the rest of Israel. What happened to stop him?
4. Now lest we think that Jeroboam was going to be a righteous man we learn that he was afraid of losing power when the people would travel to the temple. According to verse 28 what did he do so that they would not even need to go to the temple?
5. What does the Bible say about his plan?
6. What other disobedient things did Jeroboam do that is recorded in verses 31- 32?
7. While it is true that God had been instrumental in Jeroboam rising to power over Israel, He never told him to do such things. The last verse tells us exactly where those ideas came from. Where?
