So if you have grown up on the pews, we are coming to an account that you might have learned about in your children’s Bible classes. It is the account of the nation of Israel dividing into two nations. The northern nation would be called Israel and the southern nation would be called Judah. One of the places in the scriptures where this account is given is in 1 Kings 12. The other place we can read about this is in 2 Chronicles 10, which is our text of study today. But what we can have the tendency to do is read into one account the message of the other account. What I mean is that we can think that the author of 1 Kings 12 and the author of 2 Chronicles 10 must have the same message and are making the same points. In fact, this can be one big reason why we may not study 1 and 2 Chronicles because we think we already know this information from 1 & 2 Kings. So here is the point I want to make as we approach this study and our future studies in 2 Chronicles. It is not at all that these two accounts are in contradiction to each other. Rather, the Chronicler assumes some knowledge of the Kings account and its message and desires to teach you another message from this event. It is the same as how the Gospel of John will take the same account that is recorded in either Matthew, Mark, or Luke and teach us another message about Jesus. It is not a contradiction but another teaching message. As we come to 2 Chronicles 10 I want us to consider that there is a different teaching message being given here than in the 1 Kings 12 account. To see this teaching message, we need to go to the end of the chapter.
So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. (2 Chronicles 10:19 ESV)
This needs to be our lens as we study 2 Chronicles 10. This account is given us to show how the northern nation, Israel, has been in rebellion to the house of David, God’s king and lineage. Our focus is on how Israel did wrong in this account and what we learn from this. So we are going to look at the fork in the road that occurs in their history.
The Demands (2 Chronicles 10:1-5)
King Solomon has died and now his son Rehoboam is now king over all of the people of Israel (2 Chronicles 10:30-31). Rehoboam now goes to Shechem for a coronation ceremony. But it is notable that all the people are not coming to Jerusalem, the place of God’s name, where the Lord’s temple is, and where the king lived. Rather, Rehoboam is going to Shechem. Rehoboam is willing to come to his people and he is coming to Shechem, a place that was important in Israel’s history. Abraham and Jacob worshiped the Lord there (cf. Genesis 12:6-7; 33:18-20). Covenant renewal happened in this city in the days of Joshua (cf. Joshua 24). Other notable events also happened in this town.
We are told in verse 2 that Jeroboam heard this was happening and returned from Egypt for this event. We are reminded that Jeroboam was in Egypt because Solomon was trying to kill him when God proclaimed that some of the tribes of Israel would be ripped away and given to Jeroboam. Israel calls for Jeroboam to return and he appears to represent the interests of the other tribes of Israel as they come to Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 10:3). Now I want us to think about what happens through the lens that the Chronicler gave to us in verse 19. Jeroboam and the people come to the new, legitimate king over all these tribes. But they do not come to honor and praise the new king. Rather, they come with demands. Listen to their demands in verse 4. They state that Rehoboam’s father put a heavy yoke on them. But notice they do not make a request. They make a demand. Lighten the hard service and heavy yoke on us and we will serve you. The people are supposed to be coming to the city to acknowledge Rehoboam’s kingship. Rehoboam is the rightful king. But the people are not going to honor this unless Rehoboam does certain things for them. If you want us to serve, then you need to do some things for us. Now I want us to realize that this is not how you approach a king. You do not tell the king what to do. Further, he is the king whether you like it or not. But Jeroboam is pictured as leading the resistance against Rehoboam’s rule unless they have their demands met.
Does this remind of you times in Jesus’ life on earth when people came to Jesus making demands of him? One of the times I find the most astonishing is when Jesus is teaching the crowds and someone in the crowd declared, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me” (Luke 12:13). Jesus does not do this. You do not come to the King and tell him what to do. You do not come to the King on your terms. How many times do we try to do this with God? How many times do we think we can tell God how life is supposed to be and if it is the life we want, then we will serve him? We do not come to Jesus and tell him our demands for us to serve. But this is what the people of Israel do to Rehoboam. Rehoboam answers to come back again in three days.
The Counsel (2 Chronicles 10:6-11)
Rehoboam goes to his different counselors for advice regarding this situation. The elders who had been part of Solomon’s administration said that if you do good to the people and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever. Rehoboam seeks the counsel of the young men who had grown up with him (2 Chronicles 10:8). The counsel of the young men is the opposite. They proclaim that power is shown by exerting strength. Tell them you will add to the yoke that my father placed on you. Tell them that my father disciplined with whips but I am going to discipline with scorpions. Prove your strength by oppressing them, not by serving or doing good to them.
We see that this is worldly wisdom and not godly wisdom. Worldly wisdom says if you have strength or power, then use it for your own good. Do what you want. Use your power against others. Do what is best for you. How dare these people challenge you and make demands of you! You need to show them! This is all worldly wisdom and sinful decision-making. But before we leave this paragraph I want us to see the heart of God in verse 7. If you will do good to them and say good words to them, then they will be your servants forever. This is how our God has come to us. Our God has come to us with good words. He has given us the good news and does good to us. There is an obvious, right response to his goodness toward us. We should be his servants forever.
Rehoboam has come to a critical fork in the road. Will he listen to worldly wisdom or godly wisdom? Will he listen to what seems right to himself or what is right to God? We are presented with the same fork in the road decisions regularly in our lives. The example of Jesus was not just him displaying his own goodness and righteousness. The example of Jesus was to be followed by his followers.
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (Romans 12:17-18 ESV)
Power and strength are not by pushing back and retaliating, but doing good. You will be at a fork in the road when someone does something and you must decide how you are going to respond. Jesus never repaid evil for evil. Jesus continued to do good with the hope that everyone would respond by serving him forever.
The Rejection (2 Chronicles 10:12-19)
But Rehoboam does not make that decision. In verse 13 we read that Rehoboam answered the people harshly. In verse 8 and verse 13 we are told that Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the elders who belonged to Solomon’s administration. But there is an important reminder given to us in verse 15. Yes, the king did not listen to the people and he did answer them harshly. Rehoboam did not follow godly wisdom, but followed worldly wisdom. But look carefully at the rest of verse 15. It was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word. This prophetic message is not recorded by the Chronicler. But it is recorded in 1 Kings 11. This rejection was not outside of God’s foreknowledge. This rejection was not outside of God’s plan. Rather, God is going to use Rehoboam’s response to fulfill the word he gave to Solomon because of Solomon’s heart being turned away from him.
Look at verse 16. When all Israel saw that the king did not listen, they reject Rehoboam. But they are not just rejecting Rehoboam. Notice that they are rejecting God’s promise to David. They say that they have no share with David. They have no part in any of these kings. They say they have no inheritance with the son of Jesse. They are throwing away the messianic promise to David. At the end of verse 16 the people of Israel proclaim that they will go to their own homes and David and his king line will need to take care of their own house. They want no part of David’s kingdom. They want no part of the promises. They want no part of what God is going to do through David’s lineage of kings. Their rejection is so strong that when Rehoboam tries to send Hadoram to restore order, the people of Israel stoned him to death (cf. 2 Chronicles 10:18). So Rehoboam returns to his place and Israel remained in rebellion to the house of David to this very day. Israel completely rejects David, the inheritance, and the promises. The foreshadowing of the rejection of Jesus is clear. Israel has rejected the dynasty of David and will continue to do so. In fact, even the rejection of God’s messengers is also foreshadowed through the stoning of Hadoram. Further, the king will return to his own place in the face of their rejection three days later. All of elements of this scene are foreshadowing Israel’s consistent rejection of God’s plan.
The Fork In The Road
Here is the message I want us to focus on from this message. The reason Israel rejected God and his promises and lost out on the inheritance is because they had some demands that were not met. In particular, they wanted their lives to be a little bit easier. They wanted their load lightened rather than being willing to do what was necessary to belong to this kingdom. Friends, there are going to be time when life will be hard. There are going to be times when you are in the storm. There are going to be times where you are rowing in life and getting nowhere. There are going to be times when you are hurting. There are going to be times when you are in pain. There are going to be times when you are confused. We are going to be tempted to stand at the fork in the road and demand that God make life easier if we are going to continue with him. We are going to be tempted to give up on God and his promises because life has become burdensome and it does not appear that anything is getting any easier. Jesus did not hide the fact that following him would be hard. Jesus said that we would need to deny ourselves and take up our crosses to be able to follow him (cf. Matthew 16:24). Jesus did not pretend that following him would be comfortable. We are building our lives on sand when we throw away the promises of God because we think God is the problem. We are building our lives on sand when we cast away the inheritance God has given to us because God does not answer our prayers the way we want them answered. God does not do for us what we expect him to do for us. God does not make our lives easier. Friends, following Jesus is going to make your life harder. The question is: when that decision comes and you are standing at the fork in the road, will you throw away God’s faithful love and promises to make your life a little easier today?