1 Kings 12:1 - Meaning and Application

Solomon had 1,000 wives and concubines, yet we read of only one son who carried on his name, and that son was a fool. As Hosea says, “They will give themselves to sin, but they will not increase” (Hosea 4:10). Sin is a poor way to build a family.

Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, the wisest of men, did not inherit his father’s wisdom. So it mattered little that he inherited his father’s throne. Wisdom and grace do not pass through blood lines. Solomon became king when he was young, but he was wise then. Rehoboam became king at forty, when people are wise if they ever will be, yet he was foolish then. Age does not guarantee wisdom, and neither do many years or a good education.

Solomon’s court was a center of wisdom and a meeting place for learned men, and Rehoboam was the favorite there. Still, all of that was not enough to make him wise. “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Rehoboam’s right to the throne was not disputed. When his father died, he was at once proclaimed king.

The people asked to meet with him at Shechem, and he agreed to go there. They claimed to be making him king, but their real aim was to weaken him. They wanted a public crowning in a place other than the city of David, so he would not seem to be king of Judah alone. Since they had ten tribes, they wanted him among them for once, so they could recognize his rule.

The place itself was a warning. Shechem was where Abimelech, a former ruler who seized power for himself, had set himself up (Judges 9). Yet Shechem was also famous as the place where the nation gathered in covenant before God (Joshua 24:1). Rehoboam may have known that the kingdom had been threatened with division, and he may have hoped that going to Shechem and meeting the ten tribes there would prevent it. Instead, it was the worst possible move, and it helped bring the break sooner.

The representatives of the tribes came to him and asked to be relieved of the heavy taxes they had been carrying. Since the meeting was arranged, they sent for Jeroboam, who had been living in Egypt, to speak for them. They did not need to send for him. He knew what God had planned for him, and he would have come anyway, because now was the time for him to expect the promised kingdom.

In their appeal, they complained about the last reign: “Your father made our yoke heavy” (1 Kings 12:4). They did not complain about Solomon’s idolatry and turning away from God. That greatest burden meant nothing to them. They were so careless about religion that they acted as if God and Molech, a false god, were the same, so long as they could live comfortably and pay fewer taxes.

Even so, their complaint was unfair. They had never lived more comfortably or in greater abundance. If they paid taxes, it was to strengthen and beautify their kingdom. If Solomon’s building projects cost them money, they did not cost them blood, as war would have done. If many servants worked on those projects, they were not Israelites. If the taxes felt heavy, how could that be when Solomon brought in so much wealth that silver was almost as common as stones? They were simply giving Solomon what belonged to Solomon.

And even if there had been some hardship, they had already been told that this would be the kind of king they would have, yet they still wanted one. The best government cannot keep itself from criticism, not even Solomon’s. Troublemakers will always find something to complain about. Nothing in Solomon’s rule seems to have made the people’s burden truly heavy, unless perhaps the women he loved in his later years were allowed to oppress them.

They asked for relief from him, and on that condition they said they would remain loyal to David’s family. They did not ask to be free from taxes altogether, only to have the burden reduced. That was all they cared about, saving their money, whether worship was supported or the government protected or not. Everyone seeks his own advantage.

Rehoboam then asked for advice about how to answer them. It was wise to seek counsel, especially since he had such a weak mind of his own. But in this case, taking time was not politically wise, because it gave the discontented people time to prepare for revolt. His delay would also make it seem that he did not care much about the people’s comfort. They saw what to expect and got ready for it.

The older men in his council gave him sound advice. They urged him to answer kindly, to speak good words, and to serve the people on that critical day. In other words, he should tell them he was their servant, promise to fix their grievances, and make it his concern to please them and ease their burden. “Deny yourself,” they said, “far enough to do this now, and they will be your servants forever.” When a soft answer calms the crowd and they go home, their calmer thoughts may still hold them to Solomon’s family. The way to rule is to serve, to do good, and to lower oneself in order to help others. Those in authority really sit highest, safest, and most comfortably when they take that path.

But the young men in his council were proud and harsh, and they advised him to answer with threats. This showed Rehoboam’s weakness. He did not choose the older counselors, but trusted the young men who had grown up with him and were familiar to him (1 Kings 12:8). Older people should speak first. It was foolish to think that because these men had been pleasant companions in his youth, they were therefore fit to manage the kingdom. Great ability does not always mean great wisdom, and people who can make us laugh are not always the people we should trust.

This is a serious lesson for young people starting out in life. The company they keep, the people they listen to, and the advisers they depend on matter greatly. If they count as their best friends the people who flatter their pride, feed their vanity, and help them enjoy their pleasures, they are already on the road to ruin.

Rehoboam also failed because he did not choose moderate advice. He preferred counselors who pushed him toward harsh and strict measures. They urged him to raise the taxes, whether there was any need or not, and to say plainly that he would do it (1 Kings 12:10, 1 Kings 12:11). These young advisers thought the older men spoke too plainly and weakly (1 Kings 12:7). They wanted to sound clever and valued themselves for it. The older men only told Rehoboam to speak good words, but the young men gave him sharp, showy phrases, including this boast: “My little finger will be thicker than my father’s loins.”

That is not always the best thought that is best spoken. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, answered the people by following the advice of the young men (1 Kings 12:14-15). He tried to seem proud and harsh. He thought he could force everyone to obey him, and so he would rather risk losing them than speak kindly and lower himself.

Many people ruin themselves by following their own temper more than what is best for them. Rehoboam acted with complete bad judgment. He could not have chosen a worse or less wise course.

First, he admitted that the people were right about his father’s rule: “My father made your yoke heavy.” In saying that, he was unfair to his father’s memory, since that charge could have been answered more fully. Second, he thought he was stronger and more able than his father, Solomon, to control the people and keep them in line. He did not stop to think that he was much less capable than Solomon. How could he hope to cover up the flaws of his father’s reign when he could not come close to its greatness?

Third, he threatened not only to burden them with taxes, but also to punish them with harsh laws and severe punishments. He said his discipline would be like scorpions, meaning whips with sharp points that cut and sting at every lash. In short, he planned to treat them like brute animals, loading and beating them as he pleased. He did not care whether they loved him. He wanted them to fear him.

Fourth, he gave this harsh answer to a people who had grown wealthy, strong, and proud through long peace and success. Such people would not quietly accept being crushed, as a poor and broken people might. They were already ready to rebel, and they had a man prepared to lead them. No one was ever more blinded by pride and the desire for absolute power, and nothing is more dangerous than that.

In all this, God’s purpose was carried out. It was “from the Lord” (1 Kings 12:15). God left Rehoboam to his own foolishness and hid from him the things that would have brought peace, so the kingdom would be torn away from him. God uses the foolish choices and sins of men to carry out his own wise and righteous purposes. He traps sinners in the work of their own hands. In the same way, those who lose the kingdom of heaven throw it away themselves, just as Rehoboam threw away his own kingdom, through willfulness and folly.