We left Solomon with the “promise” of a divided kingdom beginning with his son:

GOD said to Solomon, “Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I’m going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else. But out of respect for your father David I won’t do it in your lifetime. It’s your son who will pay—I’ll rip it right out of his grasp. Even then I won’t take it all; I’ll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem.” (1 Kings 11.11 – 13, MSG)

And it happens in 1 Kings 12. Solomon dies at the end of chapter 11, and the whole nation comes to crown Rehoboam king at the beginning of chapter 12. The people asked that he be a little easier on them than Solomon was – all those building projects! Rehoboam rejects the counsel of the elders who encouraged him in servant leadership, listening instead to arrogant young men like himself:

King Rehoboam talked it over with the elders who had advised his father when he was alive: “What’s your counsel? How do you suggest that I answer the people?” They said, “If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they’ll end up doing anything for you.” But he rejected the counsel of the elders and asked the young men he’d grown up with who were now currying his favor, “What do you think? What should I say to these people who are saying, ‘Give us a break from your father’s harsh ways—lighten up on us’?” The young turks he’d grown up with said, “These people who complain, ‘Your father was too hard on us; lighten up’—well, tell them this: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. If you think life under my father was hard, you haven’t seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I’ll beat you bloody with chains!’ ” (1 Kings 12.6 – 11, MSG)

And the kingdom is split:

Rehoboam turned a deaf ear to the people. GOD was behind all this, confirming the message that he had given to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah of Shiloh. [See 1 Kings 11.26 – 39] When all Israel realized that the king hadn’t listened to a word they’d said, they stood up to him and said, Get lost, David! We’ve had it with you, son of Jesse! Let’s get out of here, Israel, and fast! From now on, David, mind your own business. And with that, they left. But Rehoboam continued to rule those who lived in the towns of Judah. (1 Kings 12.15 – 17, MSG)

From now on, as we read the rest of 1 and 2 Kings as well as the parallel passages in 2 Chronicles, beginning with 2 Chronicles 10, we’re reading about two different kingdoms. Here is an important summary to keep in mind:

Northern Kingdom: “Israel”

• Capital city: Samaria (beginning in 1 Kings 16)
• Many dynasties
• No good kings
• Scattered by the Assyrians, as recorded in 2 Kings 17

Southern Kingdom: “Judah”

• Capital city: Jerusalem
• One dynasty: David (see 1 Kings 11.13, above)
• A few good kings
• Taken to Babylon in captivity, as recorded in 2 Kings 25 and 2 Chronicles 36)

Back to Rehoboam, it appears that his father, Solomon, hadn’t mentored him as David had Solomon OR he tried to mentor him without success (after all, Proverbs is filled with instructions to listen to your father). At any rate, Rehoboam had no fear of God, no humility. Back to instructions for kings which Solomon and then Rehoboam ignored:

This is what must be done: When he sits down on the throne of his kingdom, the first thing he must do is make himself a copy of this Revelation on a scroll, copied under the supervision of the Levitical priests. That scroll is to remain at his side at all times; he is to study it every day so that he may learn what it means to fear his GOD, living in reverent obedience before these rules and regulations by following them. He must not become proud and arrogant, changing the commands at whim to suit himself or making up his own versions. If he reads and learns, he will have a long reign as king in Israel, he and his sons. (Deuteronomy 17.18 – 20, MSG)

This is as good a paragraph as any on the importance to all of us of daily Bible reading so that we may:

• Learn to fear God
• Live in reverent obedience to the Word
• Not become proud and arrogant