mh_parser/vol_split/11 - 1Kings/Chapter 12.xml

<div2 id="iKi.xiii" n="xiii" next="iKi.xiv" prev="iKi.xii" progress="55.95%" title="Chapter XII">
<h2 id="iKi.xiii-p0.1">F I R S T   K I N G S</h2>
<h3 id="iKi.xiii-p0.2">CHAP. XII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iKi.xiii-p1">The glory of the kingdom of Israel was in its
height and perfection in Solomon; it was long in coming to it, but
it soon declined, and began to sink and wither in the very next
reign, as we find in this chapter, where we have the kingdom
divided, and thereby weakened and made little in comparison with
what it had been. Here is, I. Rehoboam's accession to the throne
and Jeroboam's return out of Egypt, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.1-1Kgs.12.2" parsed="|1Kgs|12|1|12|2" passage="1Ki 12:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>. II. The people's petition to
Rehoboam for the redress of grievances, and the rough answer he
gave, by the advice of his young counsellors, to that petition,
<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.3-1Kgs.12.15" parsed="|1Kgs|12|3|12|15" passage="1Ki 12:3-15">ver. 3-15</scripRef>. III. The
revolt of the ten tribes thereupon, and their setting up Jeroboam,
<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.16-1Kgs.12.20" parsed="|1Kgs|12|16|12|20" passage="1Ki 12:16-20">ver. 16-20</scripRef>. IV.
Rehoboam's attempt to reduce them and the prohibition God gave to
that attempt, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.21-1Kgs.12.24" parsed="|1Kgs|12|21|12|24" passage="1Ki 12:21-24">ver.
21-24</scripRef>. V. Jeroboam's establishment of his government
upon idolatry, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.25-1Kgs.12.33" parsed="|1Kgs|12|25|12|33" passage="1Ki 12:25-33">ver.
25-33</scripRef>. Thus did Judah become weak, being deserted by
their brethren, and Israel, by deserting the house of the Lord.</p>
<scripCom id="iKi.xiii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12" parsed="|1Kgs|12|0|0|0" passage="1Ki 12" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iKi.xiii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.1-1Kgs.12.15" parsed="|1Kgs|12|1|12|15" passage="1Ki 12:1-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Kgs.12.1-1Kgs.12.15">
<h4 id="iKi.xiii-p1.8">The Folly of Rehoboam. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xiii-p1.9">b. c.</span> 975.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iKi.xiii-p2">1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel
were come to Shechem to make him king.   2 And it came to
pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard
<i>of it,</i> (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon,
and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)   3 That they sent and called
him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and
spake unto Rehoboam, saying,   4 Thy father made our yoke
grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy
father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we
will serve thee.   5 And he said unto them, Depart yet
<i>for</i> three days, then come again to me. And the people
departed.   6 And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men,
that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said,
How do ye advise that I may answer this people?   7 And they
spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people
this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good
words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.   8
But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given
him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him,
<i>and</i> which stood before him:   9 And he said unto them,
What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have
spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon
us lighter?   10 And the young men that were grown up with him
spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that
spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make
thou <i>it</i> lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My
little <i>finger</i> shall be thicker than my father's loins.
  11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke,
I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips,
but I will chastise you with scorpions.   12 So Jeroboam and
all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had
appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.   13 And
the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's
counsel that they gave him;   14 And spake to them after the
counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy,
and I will add to your yoke: my father <i>also</i> chastised you
with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.   15
Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was
from the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xiii-p2.1">Lord</span>, that he might perform
his saying, which the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xiii-p2.2">Lord</span> spake by
Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p3">Solomon had 1000 wives and concubines, yet
we read but of one son he had to bear up his name, and he a fool.
It is said (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.10" parsed="|Hos|4|10|0|0" passage="Ho 4:10">Hos. iv. 10</scripRef>),
<i>They shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase.</i> Sin is a
bad way of building up a family. Rehoboam was the son of the wisest
of men, yet did not inherit his father's wisdom, and then it stood
him in little stead to inherit his father's throne. Neither wisdom
nor grace runs in the blood. Solomon came to the crown very young,
yet he was then a wise man. Rehoboam came to the crown at forty
years old, when men will be wise if ever they will, yet he was then
foolish. Wisdom does not go by age, nor is it the multitude of
years nor the advantage of education that reaches it. Solomon's
court was a mart of wisdom and the rendezvous of learned men, and
Rehoboam was the darling of the court; and yet all was not
sufficient to make him a wise man. <i>The race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong.</i> No dispute is made of Rehoboam's
succession; upon the death of his father, he was immediately
proclaimed. But,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p4">I. The people desired a treaty with him at
Shechem, and he condescended to meet them there. 1. Their pretence
was to make him king, but the design was to unmake him. They would
give him a public inauguration in another place than the city of
David, that he might not seem to be king of Judah only. They had
ten parts in him, and would have him among themselves for once,
that they might recognize his title. 2. The place was ominous: at
<i>Shechem,</i> where Abimelech set up himself (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.9.1-Judg.9.57" parsed="|Judg|9|1|9|57" passage="Jdg 9:1-57">Judg. ix.</scripRef>); yet it had been famous for the
convention of the states there, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.1" parsed="|Josh|24|1|0|0" passage="Jos 24:1">Josh.
xxiv. 1</scripRef>. Rehoboam, we may suppose, knew of the
threatening, that the kingdom should be rent from him, and hoped by
going to Shechem, and treating there with the ten tribes, to
prevent it: yet it proved the most impolitic thing he could do, and
hastened the rupture.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p5">II. The representatives of the tribes
addressed him, praying to be eased of the taxes they were burdened
with. The meeting being appointed, they sent for Jeroboam out of
Egypt to come and be their speaker. This they needed not to have
done: he knew what God had designed him for, and would have come
though he had not been sent for, for now was his time to expect the
possession of the promised crown. In their address, 1. They
complain of the last reign: <i>Thy father made our yoke
grievous,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.4" parsed="|1Kgs|12|4|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>.
They complain not of his father's idolatry and revolt from God;
that which was the greatest grievance of all was none to them, so
careless and indifferent were they in the matters of religion, as
if God or Moloch were all one, so they might but live at ease and
pay no taxes. Yet the complaint was groundless and unjust. Never
did people live more at ease than they did, nor in great plenty.
Did they pay taxes? It was to advance the strength and magnificence
of their kingdom. If Solomon's buildings cost them money, they cost
them no blood, as war would do. Were many servile hands employed
about them? They were not the hands of the Israelites. Were the
taxes a burden? How could that be, when Solomon imported bullion in
such plenty that silver was, in a manner, as common as the stones?
So that they did but render to Solomon the things that were
Solomon's. Nay, suppose there was some hardship put upon them, were
they not told before that this would be the manner of the king and
yet they would have one? The best government cannot secure itself
from reproach and censure, no, not Solomon's. Factious spirits will
never want something to complain of. I know nothing in Solomon's
administration that could make the people's yoke grievous, unless
perhaps the women whom in his latter days he doted on were connived
at in oppressing them. 2. They demand relief from him, and on this
condition will continue in their allegiance to the house of David.
They asked not to be wholly free from paying taxes, but to have the
burden made lighter; this was all their care, to save their money,
whether their religion was supported and the government protected
or no. All seek their own.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p6">III. Rehoboam consulted with those about
him concerning the answer he should give to this address. It was
prudent to take advice, especially having so weak a head of his
own; yet, upon this occasion, it was impolitic to take time himself
to consider, for thereby he gave time to the disaffected people to
ripen things for a revolt, and his deliberating in so plain a case
would be improved as an indication of the little concern he had for
the people's ease. They saw what they must expect, and prepared
accordingly. Now, 1. The grave experienced men of his council
advised him by all means to give the petitioners a kind answer, to
give them good words, to promise them fair, and this day, this
critical day, to serve them, that is, to tell them that he was
their servant, and that he would redress all their grievances and
make it his business to please them and make them easy. "Deny
thyself (say they) so far as to do this for this once, and they
will be <i>thy servants for ever.</i> When the present heat is
allayed with a soft answer, and the assembly dismissed, their
cooler thoughts will reconcile and fix them to Solomon's family
still." Note, The way to rule is to serve, to do good, and stoop to
do it, to become all things to all men and so win their hearts.
Those who are in power really sit highest, and easiest, and safest,
when they take this method. 2. The young men of his council were
hot and haughty, and they advised him to return a severe and
threatening answer to the people's demands. It was an instance of
Rehoboam's weakness, (1.) That he did not prefer aged counsellors,
but had a better opinion of the young men that had grown up with
him and with whom he was familiar, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.8" parsed="|1Kgs|12|8|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Days should speak. It was a
folly for him to think that, because they had been his agreeable
companions in the sports and pleasures of his youth, they were
therefore fit to have the management of the affairs of his kingdom.
Great wits have not always the most wisdom; nor are those to be
relied on as our best friends that know how to make us merry, for
that will not make us happy. It is of great consequence to young
people, that are setting out in the world, whom they associate
with, accommodate themselves to, and depend upon for advice. If
they reckon those that feed their pride, gratify their vanity, and
further them in their pleasures, their best friends, they are
already marked for ruin. (2.) That he did not prefer moderate
counsels, but was pleased with those that put him upon harsh and
rigorous methods, and advised him to double the taxes, whether
there was occasion for so doing or no, and to tell them in plain
terms that he would do so, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.10-1Kgs.12.11" parsed="|1Kgs|12|10|12|11" passage="1Ki 12:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10, 11</scripRef>. These young counsellors
thought the old men expressed themselves but dully, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.7" parsed="|1Kgs|12|7|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. They affect to be witty
in their advice, and value themselves on that. The old men did not
undertake to put words into Rehoboam's mouth, only counselled him
to speak good words; but the young men will furnish him with very
quaint and pretty phrases, with pointed and pert similitudes: <i>My
little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins,</i> &amp;c.
That is not always the best sense that is best worded.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p7">IV. He answered the people according to the
counsel of the young men, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.14-1Kgs.12.15" parsed="|1Kgs|12|14|12|15" passage="1Ki 12:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>. He affected to be
haughty and imperious, and fancied he could carry all before him
with a high hand, and therefore would rather run the risk of losing
them than deny himself so far as to give them good words. Note,
Many ruin themselves by consulting their humour more than their
interest. See,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p8">1. How Rehoboam was infatuated in his
counsels. He could not have acted more foolishly and impoliticly.
(1.) He owned their reflections upon his father's government to be
true: <i>My father made your yoke heavy;</i> and therein he was
unjust to his father's memory, which he might easily have
vindicated from the imputation. (2.) He fancied himself better able
to manage them, and impose upon them, than his father was, not
considering that he was vastly inferior to him in capacity. Could
he think to support the blemishes of his father's reign who could
never pretend to come near the glories of it? (3.) He threatened
not only to squeeze them by taxes, but to chastise them by cruel
laws and severe executions of them, which should be not as whips
only, but as scorpions, whips with rowels in them, that will fetch
blood at every lash. In short, he would use them as brute beasts,
load them and beat them at his pleasure: not caring whether they
loved him or no, he would make them fear him. (4.) He gave this
provocation to a people that by long ease and prosperity were made
wealthy, and strong, and proud, and would not be trampled upon (as
a poor cowed dispirited people may), to a people that were now
disposed to revolt, and had one ready to head them. Never, surely,
was man so blinded by pride and affectation of arbitrary power,
than which nothing is more fatal.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p9">2. How God's counsels were hereby
fulfilled. It was <i>from the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.15" parsed="|1Kgs|12|15|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. He left Rehoboam to his own
folly, and <i>hid from his eyes</i> the <i>things which belonged to
his peace,</i> that the kingdom might be rent from him. Note, God
serves his own wise and righteous purposes by the imprudences and
iniquities of men, and snares sinners in the work of their own
hands. Those that lose the kingdom of heaven throw it away, as
Rehoboam did his, by their own wilfulness and folly.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iKi.xiii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.16-1Kgs.12.24" parsed="|1Kgs|12|16|12|24" passage="1Ki 12:16-24" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Kgs.12.16-1Kgs.12.24">
<h4 id="iKi.xiii-p9.3">Revolt of the Ten Tribes. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xiii-p9.4">b. c.</span> 975.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iKi.xiii-p10">16 So when all Israel saw that the king
hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What
portion have we in David? neither <i>have we</i> inheritance in the
son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house,
David. So Israel departed unto their tents.   17 But <i>as
for</i> the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah,
Rehoboam reigned over them.   18 Then king Rehoboam sent
Adoram, who <i>was</i> over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him
with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to
get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.   19 So
Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.   20
And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come
again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and
made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the
house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.   21 And when
Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of
Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand
chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of
Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
  22 But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God,
saying,   23 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of
Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the
remnant of the people, saying,   24 Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xiii-p10.1">Lord</span>, 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xiii-p10.2">Lord</span>, and returned
to depart, according to the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xiii-p10.3">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p11">We have here the rending of the kingdom of
the ten tribes from the house of David, to effect which,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p12">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> <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.16" parsed="|1Kgs|12|16|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.14" parsed="|Jer|2|14|0|0" passage="Jer 2:14">Jer. ii. 14</scripRef>. 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> (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.19" parsed="|1Kgs|12|19|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>)
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
<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.13.5-2Chr.13.8" parsed="|2Chr|13|5|13|8" passage="2Ch 13:5-8">2 Chron. xiii. 5-8</scripRef>. To
this God refers, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.8.4" parsed="|Hos|8|4|0|0" passage="Ho 8:4">Hos. viii.
4</scripRef>. <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> (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.17 Bible:1Kgs.12.20" parsed="|1Kgs|12|17|0|0;|1Kgs|12|20|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:17,20"><i>v.</i> 17, 20</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p13">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,
<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.18" parsed="|1Kgs|12|18|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.16" parsed="|1Kgs|12|16|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>) in disgust, but did not offer to make Jeroboam king
till Rehoboam had gone, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.20" parsed="|1Kgs|12|20|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p14">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, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.21" parsed="|1Kgs|12|21|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. 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> (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.24" parsed="|1Kgs|12|24|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:24"><i>v.</i>
24</scripRef>), 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 (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.13.1-2Chr.13.22" parsed="|2Chr|13|1|13|22" passage="2Ch 13:1-22">2 Chron. xiii.</scripRef>), but not now.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iKi.xiii-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.25-1Kgs.12.33" parsed="|1Kgs|12|25|12|33" passage="1Ki 12:25-33" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Kgs.12.25-1Kgs.12.33">
<h4 id="iKi.xiii-p14.5">Jeroboam's Idolatry. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xiii-p14.6">b. c.</span> 975.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iKi.xiii-p15">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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xiii-p15.1">Lord</span>
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 <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.30" parsed="|Dan|30|0|0|0" passage="Dan. 30">Dan.   30</scripRef> And this thing became a sin: for the
people went <i>to worship</i> before the one, <i>even</i> unto <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.31" parsed="|Dan|31|0|0|0" passage="Dan. 31">Dan.
  31</scripRef> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p16">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 (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.25" parsed="|1Kgs|12|25|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>),
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 class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p17">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,
<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.26-1Kgs.12.27" parsed="|1Kgs|12|26|12|27" passage="1Ki 12:26,27"><i>v.</i> 26, 27</scripRef>. 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> (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.11.38" parsed="|1Kgs|11|38|0|0" passage="1Ki 11:38"><i>ch.</i> xi. 38</scripRef>); 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 class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p18">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 class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p19">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 class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p20">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, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.28" parsed="|1Kgs|12|28|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>. 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 freed 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 class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p21">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, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.28" parsed="|1Kgs|12|28|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>. 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,
<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.18.30-Judg.18.31" parsed="|Judg|18|30|18|31" passage="Jdg 18:30,31">Judg. xviii. 30, 31</scripRef>.
<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 class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p22">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> (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.30" parsed="|1Kgs|12|30|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>), 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 (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.13.19" parsed="|2Chr|13|19|0|0" passage="2Ch 13:19">2 Chron. xiii. 19</scripRef>), 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
(<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.32.34" parsed="|Exod|32|34|0|0" passage="Ex 32:34">Exod. xxxii. 34</scripRef>), 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 class="indent" id="iKi.xiii-p23">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 (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.32" parsed="|1Kgs|12|32|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>) 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 (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.31" parsed="|1Kgs|12|31|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>), 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, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.8.11" parsed="|Hos|8|11|0|0" passage="Ho 8:11">Hos. viii. 11</scripRef>.
<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 (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.32" parsed="|1Kgs|12|32|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>),
to attend the public service. (3.) The feast of tabernacles, which
God had appointed on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, he
adjourned to the fifteenth day of the eighth month (<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.32" parsed="|1Kgs|12|32|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>), <i>the month which he
devised of his own heart,</i> to show his power in ecclesiastical
matters, <scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p23.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.33" parsed="|1Kgs|12|33|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>. The
passover and pentecost he observed in their proper season, or did
not observe them at all, or with little solemnity in comparison
with this. (4.) He himself assuming a power to make priests, no
marvel if he undertook to do the priests' work with his own hands:
<i>He offered upon the altar.</i> This is twice mentioned
(<scripRef id="iKi.xiii-p23.7" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.32-1Kgs.12.33" parsed="|1Kgs|12|32|12|33" passage="1Ki 12:32,33"><i>v.</i> 32, 33</scripRef>), as
also that he burnt incense. This was connived at in him because it
was of a piece with the rest of his irregularities; but in king
Uzziah 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, [1.] Jeroboam
sinned himself, yet perhaps excused himself to the world and his
own conscience with this, that he did not do so ill as Solomon did,
who worshipped other gods. [2.] He <i>made Israel to sin,</i> drew
them off from the worship of God and entailed idolatry upon their
seed. And hereby they were punished for deserting the thrones <i>of
the house of David.</i> The learned Mr. Whiston, in his chronology,
for the adjusting of the 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 measured till Jehu's
revolution and no longer, so that during this interval eleven years
of the annals of Judah answer to twelve in those of Israel.</p>
</div></div2>