st Kings _Chapter 12

Roboan went to Shejian. Because all the Israelites came to Shechem to make him king.

Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had previously fled from King Solomon to Egypt and stayed there (he heard this)

The Israelites sent for him, and he and all the Israelite assembly came to Rehoboam and said to him,

Your father made us bear a heavy yoke and work hard. Now please make our hard work and heavy yoke easier, and we will serve you.

And Rehoboam said to them, Go for now, and come see me again on the third day. So the people went.

During the days of Solomon, the father of Rehoboam, there were elderly people standing before him. King Rehoboam consulted with them and said, ‘What advice do you give me so that I can answer this people?’.

The old man said to him, “If the king serves this people like a servant and answers them with good words, they will be the king’s servants forever.”.

But the king did not use the advice given to him by the elderly, and instead consulted with the young men who grew up with him and stood before him,

And he said, This people said to me, Your father has put a heavy yoke on us, please make us lighter. What idea do you give me so that I can reply to them.

The young man who grew up with him said, ‘This people said to the king,’ Your father has put a heavy yoke on us, please make us lighter. ‘. The king wants to say to them, my little thumbs are thicker than my father’s waist.

My father made you bear a heavy yoke, and I will make you bear a heavier yoke. My father will whip you with a whip, and I will whip you with a scorpion.

Jeroboam and all the people followed the words of King Rehoboam, saying, “Come back to me on the third day.” And they did indeed come on the third day.

The king answered the people with harsh words, without the advice given to him by the elderly,

According to the advice of the young men, he said to the people, ‘My father made you bear a heavy yoke, and I will make you bear a heavier yoke.’. My father will whip you with a whip, and I will whip you with a scorpion.

The king refused to obey the people, and this came from the Lord, in order to fulfill the words he had spoken to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, through Ahijah the Shilonite.

And when all the people of Israel saw that the king did not obey them, they said to the king, What part do we have with David? Not related to Jesse’s son. Go back to your own homes, O Israelites. David’s family, take care of yourself. So the Israelites all went back to their homes,

Only the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam, remained their king.

King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the servants of suffering, to the Israelites, and they stoned him to death. King Rehoboam quickly got on the carriage and fled back to Jerusalem.

So the Israelites rebelled against the house of David to this day.

When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent messengers to invite him to the assembly and make him king over all Israel. Except for the tribe of Judah, there was no one who followed the house of David.

When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he gathered all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a total of 180000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, so that he could reclaim the kingdom and return it to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

Go and tell Solomon’s son King Rehoboam of Judah, the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people,

This is what the Lord says: Do not go up and fight against your brothers Israel. Let’s go to our respective homes. Because this matter belongs to me. So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went back according to his command.

Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim and lived there. Then he went out from Shechem and built Penuel.

Jeroboam thought to himself, “Perhaps this kingdom will still belong to the house of David.”.

If this people go up to Jerusalem and sacrifice in the temple of the Lord, their hearts will turn to their lord King Rehoboam of Judah, and they will kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.

King Jeroboam made a plan and cast two golden calves, and said to all the people, O Israel, it is difficult for you to go up to Jerusalem. This is the God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

He placed one calf in Bethel and the other in Dan.

This is causing the people to sin, because they went to Dan to worship the calf.

Jeroboam built a temple at the high place and appointed all the people who were not Levites as priests.

Jeroboam celebrated the fifteenth day of the eighth month as a festival, just like the festival in Judah, where he went up to the altar to offer sacrifices. He also offered sacrifices to the calves he had cast in Bethel, and placed the priests who had been appointed as high places in Bethel.

He set a feast for the Israelites on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, which he had secretly set, and burned incense on the altar in Bethel.