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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [First Kings, Chapter XII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T K I N G S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The glory of the kingdom of Israel was in its height and perfection in
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Solomon; it was long in coming to it, but it soon declined, and began
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to sink and wither in the very next reign, as we find in this chapter,
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where we have the kingdom divided, and thereby weakened and made little
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in comparison with what it had been. Here is,
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I. Rehoboam's accession to the throne and Jeroboam's return out of
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Egypt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. The people's petition to Rehoboam for the redress of grievances,
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and the rough answer he gave, by the advice of his young counsellors,
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to that petition,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:3-15">ver. 3-15</A>.
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III. The revolt of the ten tribes thereupon, and their setting up
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Jeroboam,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:16-20">ver. 16-20</A>.
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IV. Rehoboam's attempt to reduce them and the prohibition God gave to
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that attempt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:21-24">ver. 21-24</A>.
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V. Jeroboam's establishment of his government upon idolatry,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:25-33">ver. 25-33</A>.
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Thus did Judah become weak, being deserted by their brethren, and
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Israel, by deserting the house of the Lord.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Folly of Rehoboam.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 975.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to
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Shechem to make him king.
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2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was
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yet in Egypt, heard <I>of it,</I> (for he was fled from the presence
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of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)
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3 That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the
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congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,
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4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou
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the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he
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put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
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5 And he said unto them, Depart yet <I>for</I> three days, then come
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again to me. And the people departed.
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6 And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood
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before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye
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advise that I may answer this people?
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7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant
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unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them,
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and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for
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ever.
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8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had
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given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up
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with him, <I>and</I> which stood before him:
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9 And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may
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answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke
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which thy father did put upon us lighter?
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10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto
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him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake
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unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou
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<I>it</I> lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little
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<I>finger</I> shall be thicker than my father's loins.
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11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I
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will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips,
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but I will chastise you with scorpions.
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12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third
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day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the
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third day.
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13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the
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old men's counsel that they gave him;
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14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men,
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saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your
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yoke: my father <I>also</I> chastised you with whips, but I will
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chastise you with scorpions.
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15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the
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cause was from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that he might perform his saying, which
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of
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Nebat.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Solomon had 1000 wives and concubines, yet we read but of one son he
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had to bear up his name, and he a fool. It is said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:10">Hos. iv. 10</A>),
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<I>They shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase.</I> Sin is a bad
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way of building up a family. Rehoboam was the son of the wisest of men,
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yet did not inherit his father's wisdom, and then it stood him in
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little stead to inherit his father's throne. Neither wisdom nor grace
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runs in the blood. Solomon came to the crown very young, yet he was
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then a wise man. Rehoboam came to the crown at forty years old, when
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men will be wise if ever they will, yet he was then foolish. Wisdom
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does not go by age, nor is it the multitude of years nor the advantage
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of education that reaches it. Solomon's court was a mart of wisdom and
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the rendezvous of learned men, and Rehoboam was the darling of the
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court; and yet all was not sufficient to make him a wise man. <I>The
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race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.</I> No dispute
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is made of Rehoboam's succession; upon the death of his father, he was
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immediately proclaimed. But,</P>
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<P>
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I. The people desired a treaty with him at Shechem, and he condescended
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to meet them there.
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1. Their pretence was to make him king, but the design was to unmake
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him. They would give him a public inauguration in another place than
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the city of David, that he might not seem to be king of Judah only.
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They had ten parts in him, and would have him among themselves for
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once, that they might recognize his title.
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2. The place was ominous: at <I>Shechem,</I> where Abimelech set up
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himself
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+9:1-57">Judg. ix.</A>);
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yet it had been famous for the convention of the states there,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+24:1">Josh. xxiv. 1</A>.
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Rehoboam, we may suppose, knew of the threatening, that the kingdom
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should be rent from him, and hoped by going to Shechem, and treating
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there with the ten tribes, to prevent it: yet it proved the most
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impolitic thing he could do, and hastened the rupture.</P>
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<P>
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II. The representatives of the tribes addressed him, praying to be
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eased of the taxes they were burdened with. The meeting being
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appointed, they sent for Jeroboam out of Egypt to come and be their
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speaker. This they needed not to have done: he knew what God had
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designed him for, and would have come though he had not been sent for,
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for now was his time to expect the possession of the promised crown. In
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their address,
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1. They complain of the last reign: <I>Thy father made our yoke
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grievous,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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They complain not of his father's idolatry and revolt from God; that
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which was the greatest grievance of all was none to them, so careless
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and indifferent were they in the matters of religion, as if God or
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Moloch were all one, so they might but live at ease and pay no taxes.
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Yet the complaint was groundless and unjust. Never did people live
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more at ease than they did, nor in great plenty. Did they pay taxes?
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It was to advance the strength and magnificence of their kingdom. If
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Solomon's buildings cost them money, they cost them no blood, as war
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would do. Were many servile hands employed about them? They were not
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the hands of the Israelites. Were the taxes a burden? How could that
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be, when Solomon imported bullion in such plenty that silver was, in a
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manner, as common as the stones? So that they did but render to Solomon
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the things that were Solomon's. Nay, suppose there was some hardship
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put upon them, were they not told before that this would be the manner
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of the king and yet they would have one? The best government cannot
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secure itself from reproach and censure, no, not Solomon's. Factious
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spirits will never want something to complain of. I know nothing in
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Solomon's administration that could make the people's yoke grievous,
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unless perhaps the women whom in his latter days he doted on were
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connived at in oppressing them.
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2. They demand relief from him, and on this condition will continue in
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their allegiance to the house of David. They asked not to be wholly
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free from paying taxes, but to have the burden made lighter; this was
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all their care, to save their money, whether their religion was
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supported and the government protected or no. All seek their own.</P>
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<P>
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III. Rehoboam consulted with those about him concerning the answer he
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should give to this address. It was prudent to take advice, especially
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having so weak a head of his own; yet, upon this occasion, it was
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impolitic to take time himself to consider, for thereby he gave time to
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the disaffected people to ripen things for a revolt, and his
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deliberating in so plain a case would be improved as an indication of
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the little concern he had for the people's ease. They saw what they
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must expect, and prepared accordingly. Now,
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1. The grave experienced men of his council advised him by all means to
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give the petitioners a kind answer, to give them good words, to promise
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them fair, and this day, this critical day, to serve them, that is, to
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tell them that he was their servant, and that he would redress all
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their grievances and make it his business to please them and make them
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easy. "Deny thyself (say they) so far as to do this for this once, and
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they will be <I>thy servants for ever.</I> When the present heat is
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allayed with a soft answer, and the assembly dismissed, their cooler
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thoughts will reconcile and fix them to Solomon's family still." Note,
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The way to rule is to serve, to do good, and stoop to do it, to become
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all things to all men and so win their hearts. Those who are in power
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really sit highest, and easiest, and safest, when they take this
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method.
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2. The young men of his council were hot and haughty, and they advised
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him to return a severe and threatening answer to the people's demands.
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It was an instance of Rehoboam's weakness,
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(1.) That he did not prefer aged counsellors, but had a better opinion
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of the young men that had grown up with him and with whom he was
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familiar,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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Days should speak. It was a folly for him to think that, because they
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had been his agreeable companions in the sports and pleasures of his
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youth, they were therefore fit to have the management of the affairs of
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his kingdom. Great wits have not always the most wisdom; nor are those
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to be relied on as our best friends that know how to make us merry, for
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that will not make us happy. It is of great consequence to young
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people, that are setting out in the world, whom they associate with,
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accommodate themselves to, and depend upon for advice. If they reckon
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those that feed their pride, gratify their vanity, and further them in
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their pleasures, their best friends, they are already marked for ruin.
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(2.) That he did not prefer moderate counsels, but was pleased with
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those that put him upon harsh and rigorous methods, and advised him to
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double the taxes, whether there was occasion for so doing or no, and to
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tell them in plain terms that he would do so,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:10,11"><I>v.</I> 10, 11</A>.
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These young counsellors thought the old men expressed themselves but
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dully,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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They affect to be witty in their advice, and value themselves on that.
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The old men did not undertake to put words into Rehoboam's mouth, only
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counselled him to speak good words; but the young men will furnish him
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with very quaint and pretty phrases, with pointed and pert similitudes:
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<I>My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins,</I> &c.
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That is not always the best sense that is best worded.</P>
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<P>
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IV. He answered the people according to the counsel of the young men,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
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He affected to be haughty and imperious, and fancied he could carry all
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before him with a high hand, and therefore would rather run the risk of
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losing them than deny himself so far as to give them good words. Note,
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Many ruin themselves by consulting their humour more than their
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interest. See,</P>
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<P>
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1. How Rehoboam was infatuated in his counsels. He could not have acted
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more foolishly and impoliticly.
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(1.) He owned their reflections upon his father's government to be
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true: <I>My father made your yoke heavy;</I> and therein he was unjust
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to his father's memory, which he might easily have vindicated from the
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imputation.
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(2.) He fancied himself better able to manage them, and impose upon
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them, than his father was, not considering that he was vastly inferior
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to him in capacity. Could he think to support the blemishes of his
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father's reign who could never pretend to come near the glories of it?
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(3.) He threatened not only to squeeze them by taxes, but to chastise
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them by cruel laws and severe executions of them, which should be not
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as whips only, but as scorpions, whips with rowels in them, that will
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fetch blood at every lash. In short, he would use them as brute beasts,
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load them and beat them at his pleasure: not caring whether they loved
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him or no, he would make them fear him.
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(4.) He gave this provocation to a people that by long ease and
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prosperity were made wealthy, and strong, and proud, and would not be
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trampled upon (as a poor cowed dispirited people may), to a people that
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were now disposed to revolt, and had one ready to head them. Never,
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surely, was man so blinded by pride and affectation of arbitrary power,
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than which nothing is more fatal.</P>
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<P>
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2. How God's counsels were hereby fulfilled. It was <I>from the
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Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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He left Rehoboam to his own folly, and <I>hid from his eyes</I> the
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<I>things which belonged to his peace,</I> that the kingdom might be
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rent from him. Note, God serves his own wise and righteous purposes by
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the imprudences and iniquities of men, and snares sinners in the work
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of their own hands. Those that lose the kingdom of heaven throw it
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away, as Rehoboam did his, by their own wilfulness and folly.</P>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki12_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Revolt of the Ten Tribes.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 975.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>16 So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto
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them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we
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in David? neither <I>have we</I> inheritance in the son of Jesse: to
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your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So
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Israel departed unto their tents.
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17 But <I>as for</I> the children of Israel which dwelt in the
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cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
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18 Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who <I>was</I> over the tribute;
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and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore
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king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to
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Jerusalem.
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19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
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20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was
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come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation,
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and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed
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the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
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21 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all
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the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and
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fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight
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against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to
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Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
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22 But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God,
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saying,
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23 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and
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unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of
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the people, saying,
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24 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Ye 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. They hearkened therefore to the
|
|
word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and returned to depart, according to the word
|
|
of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the rending of the kingdom of the ten tribes from the
|
|
house of David, to effect which,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The people were hold and resolute in their revolt. They highly
|
|
resented the provocation that Rehoboam had given them, were incensed at
|
|
his menaces, concluded that that government would in the progress of it
|
|
be intolerably grievous which in the beginning of it was so very
|
|
haughty, and therefore immediately came to this resolve, one and all:
|
|
<I>What portion have we in David?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
They speak here very unbecomingly of David, that great benefactor of
|
|
their nation, calling him <I>the son of Jesse,</I> no greater a man
|
|
than his neighbours. How soon are good men, and their good services to
|
|
the public, forgotten! The rashness of their resolution was also much
|
|
to be blamed. In time, and with prudent management, they might have
|
|
settled the original contract with Rehoboam to mutual satisfaction. Had
|
|
they enquired who gave Rehoboam this advice, and taken a course to
|
|
remove those evil counsellors from about him, the rupture might have
|
|
been prevented: otherwise their jealousy for their liberty and property
|
|
well became that free people. <I>Israel is not a servant, is not a
|
|
homeborn slave; why should he be spoiled?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:14">Jer. ii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
They are willing to be ruled, but not to be ridden. Protection draws
|
|
allegiance, but destruction cannot. No marvel that <I>Israel falls away
|
|
from the house of David</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>)
|
|
|
|
if the house of David fall away from the great ends of their
|
|
advancement, which was to be <I>ministers of God to them for good.</I>
|
|
But thus to rebel against the seed of David, whom God had advanced to
|
|
the kingdom (entailing it on his seed), and to set up another king in
|
|
opposition to that family, was a great sin; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+13:5-8">2 Chron. xiii. 5-8</A>.
|
|
|
|
To this God refers,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+8:4">Hos. viii. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>They have set up kings, but not by me.</I> And it is here mentioned
|
|
to the praise of the tribe of Judah that they <I>followed the house of
|
|
David</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:17,20"><I>v.</I> 17, 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, for aught that appears, they found Rehoboam better than his word,
|
|
nor did he rule with the rigour which at first he threatened.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Rehoboam was imprudent in the further management of this affair,
|
|
and more and more infatuated. Having foolishly thrown himself into a
|
|
quick-sand, he sunk the further in with plunging to get out.
|
|
|
|
1. He was very unadvised in sending Adoram, who was <I>over the
|
|
tribute,</I> to treat with them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
The tribute was the thing, and, for the sake of that, Adoram was the
|
|
person, they most complained of. The very sight of him, whose name was
|
|
odious among them, exasperated them, and made them outrageous. He was
|
|
one to whom they could not so much as give a patient hearing, but
|
|
<I>stoned him to death</I> in a popular tumult. Rehoboam was now as
|
|
unhappy in the choice of his ambassador as before of his counsellors.
|
|
|
|
2. Some think he was also unadvised in quitting his ground, and making
|
|
so much haste to Jerusalem, for thereby he deserted his friends and
|
|
gave advantage to his enemies, who had gone to their tents indeed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
|
|
|
|
in disgust, but did not offer to make Jeroboam king till Rehoboam had
|
|
gone,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
See how soon this foolish prince went from one extreme to the other. He
|
|
hectored and talked big when he thought all was his own, but sneaked
|
|
and looked very mean when he saw himself in danger. It is common for
|
|
those that are most haughty in their prosperity to be most abject in
|
|
adversity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. God forbade his attempt to recover by the sword what he had lost.
|
|
What was done was of God, who would not suffer that it should be undone
|
|
again (as it would be if Rehoboam got the better and reduced the ten
|
|
tribes), nor that more should be done to the prejudice of the house of
|
|
David, as would be if Jeroboam got the better and conquered the two
|
|
tribes. The thing must rest as it is, and therefore God forbids the
|
|
battle.
|
|
|
|
1. It was brave in Rehoboam to design the reducing of the revolters by
|
|
force. His courage came to him when he had come to Jerusalem,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
There he thought himself among his firm friends, who generously adhered
|
|
to him and appeared for him. Judah and Benjamin (who feared the Lord
|
|
and the king, and meddled not with those that were given to change)
|
|
presently raised an army of 180,000 men, for the recovery of their
|
|
king's right to the ten tribes, and were resolved to stand by him (as
|
|
we say) with their lives and fortunes, having either not such cause, or
|
|
rather not such a disposition, to complain, as the rest had.
|
|
|
|
2. It as more brave in Rehoboam to desist when God, by a prophet,
|
|
ordered him to lay down his arms. He would not lose a kingdom tamely,
|
|
for then he would have been unworthy the title of a prince; and yet he
|
|
would not contend for it in opposition to God, for then he would have
|
|
been unworthy the title of an Israelite. To proceed in this war would
|
|
be not only to <I>fight against their brethren</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
whom they ought to love, but to fight against their God, to whom they
|
|
ought to submit: <I>This thing is from me.</I> These two considerations
|
|
should reconcile us to our losses and troubles, that God is the author
|
|
of them and our brethren are the instruments of them; let us not
|
|
therefore meditate revenge. Rehoboam and his people <I>hearkened to the
|
|
word of the Lord,</I> disbanded the army, and acquiesced. Though, in
|
|
human probability, they had a fair prospect of success (for their army
|
|
was numerous and resolute, Jeroboam's party weak and unsettled), though
|
|
it would turn to their reproach among their neighbours to lose so much
|
|
of their strength and never have one push for it, to make a flourish
|
|
and do nothing, yet,
|
|
|
|
(1.) They regarded the command of God though sent by a poor prophet.
|
|
When we know God's mind we must submit to it, how much soever it
|
|
crosses our own mind.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They consulted their own interest, concluding that though they had
|
|
all the advantages, even that of right, on their side, yet they could
|
|
not prosper if they fought in disobedience to God; and it was better to
|
|
sit still than to rise up and fall. In the next reign God allowed them
|
|
to fight, and gave them victory
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+13:1-22">2 Chron. xiii.</A>),
|
|
|
|
but not now.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki12_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki12_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki12_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki12_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki12_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki12_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki12_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki12_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki12_33"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jeroboam's Idolatry.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 975.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt
|
|
therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
|
|
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return
|
|
to the house of David:
|
|
27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again
|
|
unto their lord, <I>even</I> unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they
|
|
shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
|
|
28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves <I>of</I>
|
|
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.
|
|
29 And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.
|
|
30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went <I>to
|
|
worship</I> before the one, <I>even</I> unto Dan.
|
|
31 And he made a house of high places, and made priests of the
|
|
lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
|
|
32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the
|
|
fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that <I>is</I> in
|
|
Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el,
|
|
sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in
|
|
Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made.
|
|
33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the
|
|
fifteenth day of the eighth month, <I>even</I> in the month which he
|
|
had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the
|
|
children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt
|
|
incense.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the beginning of the reign of Jeroboam. He built Shechem
|
|
first and then Penuel--beautified and fortified them, and probably had a
|
|
palace in each of them for himself
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
the former in Ephraim, the latter in Gad, on the other side Jordan.
|
|
This might be proper; but he formed another project for the
|
|
establishing of his kingdom which was fatal to the interests of
|
|
religion in it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. That which he designed was by some effectual means to secure those
|
|
to himself who had now chosen him for their king, and to prevent their
|
|
return to the house of David,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:26,27"><I>v.</I> 26, 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
It seems,
|
|
|
|
1. He was jealous of the people, afraid that, some time or other, they
|
|
would kill him and go again to Rehoboam. Many that have been advanced
|
|
in one tumult have been hurled down in another. Jeroboam could not put
|
|
any confidence in the affections of his people, though now they seemed
|
|
extremely fond of him; for what is got by wrong and usurpation cannot
|
|
be enjoyed nor kept with any security or satisfaction.
|
|
|
|
2. He was distrustful of the promise of God, could not take his word
|
|
that, if he would keep close to his duty, <I>God would build him a sure
|
|
house</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:38"><I>ch.</I> xi. 38</A>);
|
|
|
|
but he would contrive ways and means, and sinful ones too, for his own
|
|
safety. A practical disbelief of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom
|
|
of all our treacherous departures from him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The way he took to do this was by keeping the people from going up
|
|
to Jerusalem to worship. That was the place God had chosen, to put his
|
|
name there. Solomon's temple was there, which God had, in the sight of
|
|
all Israel, and in the memory of many now living, taken solemn
|
|
possession of in a cloud of glory. At the altar there the priest of the
|
|
Lord attended, there all Israel were to keep the feasts, and thither
|
|
they were to bring their sacrifices. Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Jeroboam apprehended that, if the people continued to do this, they
|
|
would in time return to the house of David, allured by the magnificence
|
|
both of the court and of the temple. If they cleave to their old
|
|
religion, they will go back to their old king. We may suppose, if he
|
|
had treated with Rehoboam for the safe conduct of himself and his
|
|
people to and from Jerusalem at the times appointed for their solemn
|
|
feasts, it would not have been denied him; therefore he fears not their
|
|
being driven back by force, but their going back voluntarily to
|
|
Rehoboam.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He therefore dissuaded them from going up to Jerusalem, pretending
|
|
to consult their ease: "<I>It is too much for you</I> to go so far to
|
|
worship God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is a heavy yoke, and it is time to shake it off; <I>you have gone
|
|
long enough to Jerusalem</I>" (so some read it); "the temple, now that
|
|
you are used to it, does not appear so glorious and sacred as it did at
|
|
first" (sensible glories wither by degrees in men's estimation); "you
|
|
have greed yourselves from other burdens, free yourselves from this:
|
|
why should we now be tied to one place any more than in Samuel's
|
|
time?"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He provided for the assistance of their devotion at home. Upon
|
|
consultation with some of his politicians, he came to this resolve, to
|
|
set up two golden calves, as tokens or signs of the divine presence,
|
|
and persuade the people that they might as well stay at home and offer
|
|
sacrifice to those as go to Jerusalem to worship before the ark: and
|
|
some are so charitable as to think they were made to represent the
|
|
mercy-seat and the cherubim over the ark; but more probably he adopted
|
|
the idolatry of the Egyptians, in whose land he had sojourned for some
|
|
time and who worshipped their god Apis under the similitude of a bull
|
|
or calf.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He would not be at the charge of building a golden temple, as
|
|
Solomon had done; two golden calves are the most that he can afford.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He intended, no doubt, by these to represent, or rather make
|
|
present, not any false god, as Moloch or Chemosh, but the true God
|
|
only, the God of Israel, the God that brought them up out of the land
|
|
of Egypt, as he declares,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
So that it was no violation of the first commandment, but the second.
|
|
And he chose thus to engage the people's devotion because he knew there
|
|
were many among them so in love with images that for the sake of the
|
|
calves they would willingly quit God's temple, where all images were
|
|
forbidden.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He set up two, by degrees to break people off from the belief of
|
|
the unity of the godhead, which would pave the way to the polytheism of
|
|
the Pagans. He set up these two at Dan and Beth-el (one the utmost
|
|
border of his country northward), the other southward, as if they were
|
|
the guardians and protectors of the kingdom. Beth-el lay close to
|
|
Judah. He set up one there, to tempt those of Rehoboam's subjects over
|
|
to him who were inclined to image-worship, in lieu of those of his
|
|
subjects that would continue to go to Jerusalem. He set up the other at
|
|
Dan, for the convenience of those that lay most remote, and because
|
|
Micah's images had been set up there, and great veneration paid to them
|
|
for many ages,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:30,31">Judg. xviii. 30, 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Beth-el</I> signifies <I>the house of God,</I> which gave some
|
|
colour to the superstition; but the prophet called it <I>Beth-aven, the
|
|
house of vanity,</I> or iniquity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. The people complied with him herein, and were fond enough of the
|
|
novelty: They <I>went to worship before the one, even unto Dan</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
to that at Dan first because it was first set up, or <I>even</I> to
|
|
that at Dan, though it lay such a great way off. Those that thought it
|
|
much to go to Jerusalem, to worship God according to his institution,
|
|
made no difficulty of going twice as far, to Dan, to worship him
|
|
according to their own inventions. Or they are said to go to one of the
|
|
calves at Dan because Abijah, king of Judah, within twenty years,
|
|
recovered Beth-el
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+13:19">2 Chron. xiii. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
and it is likely removed the golden calf, or forbade the use of it, and
|
|
then they had only that at Dan to go to. <I>This became a sin;</I> and
|
|
a great sin it was, against the express letter of the second
|
|
commandment. God had sometimes dispensed with the law concerning
|
|
worshipping in one place, but never allowed the worship of him by
|
|
images. Hereby they justified their fathers in making the calf at
|
|
Horeb, though God had so fully shown his displeasure against them for
|
|
it and threatened to visit for it in the day of visitation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+32:34">Exod. xxxii. 34</A>),
|
|
|
|
so that it was as great a contempt of God's wrath as it was of his law;
|
|
and thus they added sin to sin. Bishop Patrick quotes a saying of the
|
|
Jews, That till Jeroboam's time the Israelites sucked but one calf, but
|
|
from that time they sucked two.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. Having set up the gods, he fitted up accommodations for them; and
|
|
wherein he varied from the divine appointment we are here told, which
|
|
intimates that in other things he imitated what was done in Judah
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>)
|
|
|
|
as well as he could. See how one error multiplied into many.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He made a house of high-places, or of altars, one temple at Dan,
|
|
we may suppose, and another at Beth-el
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
and in each many altars, probably complaining of it as an inconvenience
|
|
that in the temple at Jerusalem there was but one. The multiplying of
|
|
altars passed with some for a piece of devotion, but God, by the
|
|
prophet, puts another construction upon it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+8:11">Hos. viii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Ephraim has made many altars to sin.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He made priests of the lowest of the people; and the lowest of the
|
|
people were good enough to be priests to his calves, and too good. He
|
|
made priests <I>from the extremest parts of the people,</I> that is,
|
|
some out of every corner of the country, whom he ordered to reside
|
|
among their neighbours, to instruct them in his appointments and
|
|
reconcile them to them. Thus were they dispersed as the Levites, but
|
|
<I>were not of the sons of Levi.</I> But the priests of the high-laces,
|
|
or altars, he ordered to reside in Beth-el, as the priests at Jerusalem
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>),
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to attend the public service.
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(3.) The feast of tabernacles, which God had appointed on the fifteenth
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day of the seventh month, he adjourned to the fifteenth day of the
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eighth month
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>),
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<I>the month which he devised of his own heart,</I> to show his power
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in ecclesiastical matters,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
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The passover and pentecost he observed in their proper season, or did
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not observe them at all, or with little solemnity in comparison with
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this.
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(4.) He himself assuming a power to make priests, no marvel if he
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undertook to do the priests' work with his own hands: <I>He offered
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upon the altar.</I> This is twice mentioned
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:32,33"><I>v.</I> 32, 33</A>),
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as also that he burnt incense. This was connived at in him because it
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was of a piece with the rest of his irregularities; but in king Uzziah
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|
it was immediately punished with the plague of leprosy. He did it
|
|
himself, to make himself look great among the people and to get the
|
|
reputation of a devout man, also to grace the solemnity of his new
|
|
festival, with which, it is likely, at this time he joined the feast of
|
|
the dedication of his altar. And thus,
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[1.] Jeroboam sinned himself, yet perhaps excused himself to the world
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|
and his own conscience with this, that he did not do so ill as Solomon
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|
did, who worshipped other gods.
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[2.] He <I>made Israel to sin,</I> drew them off from the worship of
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|
God and entailed idolatry upon their seed. And hereby they were
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|
punished for deserting the thrones <I>of the house of David.</I> The
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|
learned Mr. Whiston, in his chronology, for the adjusting of the
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|
annals of the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel, supposes that Jeroboam
|
|
changed the calculation of the year and made it to contain but eleven
|
|
months, and that by those years the reigns of the kings of Israel are
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|
measured till Jehu's revolution and no longer, so that during this
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|
interval eleven years of the annals of Judah answer to twelve in those
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|
of Israel.</P>
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