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I. A REASONABLE REQUEST PREFERRED, (Vers. 3, 4.)

1. A public grievance stated. The northern tribes, through Jeroboam, complained to Rehoboam that Solomon had made their yoke grievous. Whether this was tree or not has been much debated.

(1) That it was largely used as a pretext to justify their subsequent behaviour is not without support. In the first place, it was put forward by tribes already disaffected, and through the medium of one who had formerly shown himself a traitor. Then, that Solomon, in making a levy of his subjects for carrying on his numerous buildings, was only acting in accordance with the custom of Oriental monarchs generally from Egypt to Babylon, must be conceded. Besides, it may be assumed that no more oppressive tasks were laid on the northern than on the southern tribes, from none of which complaint was heard. Further, if heavier burdens than before were placed upon the people by Solomon, that was largely inevitable from the magnificence of his court and the extensive building operations demanded by the safety as well as glory of the kingdom. And finally, if the people were heavily burdened under Solomon, they still enjoyed considerable advantages of peace and prosperity.

(2) In support of the assertion made by the tribes, attention may be called to the facts that neither Rehoboam nor his counsellors denied, but rather both undisguisedly admitted, its truth (ver. 11); that the complaint was not that of the house of Joseph alone, but of "all Israel;" and that the circumstance of Judah and. Benjamin refusing to back it up is not sufficient to demonstrate its falsehood.

2. A measure of relief demanded. "Make the heavy yoke of thy father lighter." Not only was this reasonable, but it should, have been a point in their favour, that they sought redress for their grievance by the peaceful method of conference rather than by immediately resorting to the sword. Instead, however, of granting their request, Rehoboam temporized, put them off, asked for three days to consider the matter, promising at the end of that time to give them a definite and final answer. Never before had there been in Israel's history such a critical "three days," unless, perhaps, "the three days'" start on leaving Egypt (Exodus 8:27, 28), or the three days' preparation for the conquest (Joshua 1:11). The issue of this "three days'" deliberation on the part of Rehoboam was momentous. According as it should be should likewise be the after-course of history, not for Israel alone, but for the world, Almost always dangerous, delay was in this case disastrous.

II. A GOOD COUNSEL REJECTED. (Vers. 6-8.)

1. The king's aged advisers. It argued some sense on the part of Rehoboam that he first solicited advice from the experienced statesmen of the kingdom, and the privy councillors of his late father - perhaps for a moment he was of opinion that "days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom" (Job 32:7); it proved him possessed of little sense that he closed his ears against their prudent suggestions (Proverbs 23:9).

2. The king's best course. "The accumulated wisdom of the Solomonic era recommended concession, The old councillors gave just such advice as might have been found in the Book of Proverbs" (Stanley). They advised acquiescence in the popular demand. They urged the king to win the people by kindness. The beautiful antithesis of the Book of Kings, "If thou wilt be a servant unto this people, and wilt save them... then they will be thy servants for ever" (1 Kings 12:7), is here awanting, but the sentiment is the same. The aged senators believed that kindness held the key to the human heart, and that "a soft answer turneth away wrath" (Proverbs 15:1; Proverbs 25:15) as much in nations as in individuals; they knew that one must often stoop to conquer, and that he who would be served by others should ever exhibit a readiness to serve others (Matthew 7:12); nay, that the true function of a king is to serve his people - a thought happily expressed by the Ich dien of the Prince of Wales's crest.

3. The king's consummate folly. "He forsook the counsel of the old men." Had he not been a fool, for whom wisdom is too high (Proverbs 24:7), in whose eyes his own way is always right (Proverbs 12:15), and who, as a consequence, walketh in darkness (Ecclesiastes 2:14), he might have discerned that the situation was critical, that rebellion was in the air, and that the old experienced statesmen of the last reign were the only pilots competent to steer the ship of state through the breakers. Unlike the men of Issachar, who were men that had "understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do" (1 Chronicles 12:32), Rehoboam was "a strong ass" (Genesis 49:14), impatient of control and incapable of guiding either himself or others. Some men never see the right thing to do until it is too late.

III. AN EVIL POLICY ADOPTED. (Vers. 9-11.)

1. Its proposers. "The young men that were grown up with him" - either the statesmen of the new reign whom Rehoboam had appointed from among his own companions, or young courtiers who had danced attendance on his person while heir-apparent to the crown, and now clung to the steps of the throne in the hope of preferment. Though afterwards spoken of as young (2 Chronicles 13:7), Rehoboam was at this time over forty years of age.

2. Its proposals. Not concession, but coercion, should be the order of the day. Their complaints should be silenced, not removed. Their appeal for lighter service should be answered by a heavier yoke. For Solomon's whips they should have Rehoboam's scorpions. Other rulers besides Rehoboam have tried to still the complaints of their subjects by more and heavier oppression; e.g. Pharaoh (Exodus 5:15-19), and the Stuarts of England, not to mention others.

3. Its pursuance. Rehoboam hearkened to the counsel of the young men, and at the close of the stipulated three days answered Jeroboam and his co-deputies "roughly," in the terms put into his mouth by his hot-headed advisers. "It was the speech of a despotic tyrant, not of a shepherd and ruler appointed by God over his people" (Keil). It undid in a moment the work of centuries. It shattered the kingdom which David's sword and Solomon's wisdom had built.

IV. A DIVINE COUNSEL FULFILLED. (Ver. 15.)

1. The Divine purpose. The division of the kingdom. Foretold by Ahijah (1 Kings 11:31), the hour had struck for its accomplishment. Jehovah doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth (Daniel 4:35). Yet all the free actions of men have their places in his world-embracing plan. Man's actions may seem contingent; God's purposes are not. What he determines he can effect.

2. The Divine instrumentality. The foolishness of Rehoboam. Not that Rehoboam was under any internal or supernatural compulsion to act as he did any more than were Pharaoh (Exodus 14:4; Romans 9:17) and Judas (Matthew 26:25) to act as they did. Simply, Jehovah decreed to permit Rehoboam's folly as a means of furthering his own designs. Divine sovereignty and human freedom not contradictory, though mysterious.

V. A NATIONAL REVOLT CONSUMMATED. (Vers. 16, 17.)

1. With popular enthusiasm. "All Israel," with the exception of those members of the northern kingdom who dwelt in Judaean cities, joined in the cry, "What portion have we in David," etc.? The unanimity of the movement showed that it was not without ground.

2. With fierce indignation. The cry which had once before been heard in Israel (2 Samuel 20:1) expressed the people's sense of wrong in being cast off by Rehoboam, treated no longer as free subjects, but as conquered slaves. It proclaimed the deep-seated contempt they now cherished for the son of Jesse, as they now designate the dynasty of David.

3. With implacable resentment. "Struck by the king's words as by an iron hammer, and grieved at them," the people rejected his friendly overtures for reconciliation conveyed through Hadoram. If this was the son of David's tribute officer (2 Samuel 20:24), he must have been at this time an old man about eighty. Hence he was probably the Adoniram, son of Abda, who was over the levy (1 Kings 4:6). Though not likely that he advanced towards the people with a small force as if to enforce submission (Bertheau, Ewald), but rather that he approached them alone (Josephus), a more unfortunate selection of one to act as ambassador could scarcely have been made. Most likely one of the older counsellors who recommended moderation, Hadoram was yet the man who was "over the tribute," i.e. was the tax-collector of Rehoboam, and as such could hardly fail to be obnoxious to the angry multitude. Regarding him as an enemy, they sprang upon him with murderous fury: "they stoned him with stones till he died," thus inflicting on him a death usually reserved for traitors and blasphemers. This was the one dark spot which marked what would otherwise have been a bloodless revolution.

4. With final decision. The murder of his plenipotentiary convinced Rehoboam that the opportunity for parley was over, that fair speeches would no longer suffice to quell the insurrection, and that the revolt of Israel was an accomplished, most likely a permanent, fact. Mounting his chariot in haste, and with alarm for his safety, the king who had come to Shechem to obtain a crown returned to Jerusalem, having lost a kingdom.

LESSONS.

1. The danger of oppression (Ecclesiastes 7:7).

2. "In the multitude of counsellors is safety" (Proverbs 11:14), only when all are wise (Proverbs 12:5), and he who is counselled is not a fool (Proverbs 12:15).

3. He that hesitates is lost - exemplified in the case of Rehoboam.

4. The rashness of youth - shown in the second company of the king's advisers.

5. Quem dens vult perdere prius dementat.

6. "Better is a wise child than a foolish king" (Ecclesiastes 4:13).

7. Good men often suffer for the sins of others, and even lose their lives when working for the good of others - illustrated in Hadoram.

8. Wicked men would often like to flee from the sight, and much more from the consequences, of their own wickedness. - W.

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KJV: And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to Rehoboam, saying,

WEB: They sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came, and they spoke to Rehoboam, saying,