#479 The Scorpion King

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 of it, (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 for 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, and 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 it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger 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 also 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 Lord, that he might perform his saying, which the Lord spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

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 have we 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 as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

18 Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was 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, an 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 Lord, 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 Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the Lord.

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 Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even 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 of 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 Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.

30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

31 And he made an 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 is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even 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. 1 Kings 12 KJV

Solomon's son is now going to take the throne of his father, who has relinquished it by the way all men will one day have to. Israel is there for the inauguration, but the man who Solomon wanted dead is also there as their speaker. Now the kingdom had never known such riches as it did under the rule of Solomon, but this is the pretense of their willingness or unwillingness  to be governed, not the sins of Solomon against God, but rather how much they pay in taxes. You wanted a king, and with such comes this liability, unto Caesar what is Caesar's, but you are not so worried as unto the Lord. I don't care that Solomon has so many wives, I like that about him, our king looks more powerful and successful than all the rest, but guess where your tax money is going? It is not wrong for them to bring this up, and especially now at the beginning of what will be his son's reign, but how will his son handle this proposition. They are willing to be ruled by him, but not grievously. He goes to the older men for counsel, and they give him the advice fitting to a public servant, that he should address their grievance. Take a look at your kingdom, is their room for reform? Your father sinned against God in so much and God has made known to him the like. You could tear down the high places of your step mothers, return to the law of kings, ask of God a clean heart and good conscience in your rule. Ask for help to find such moderation that will not be so heavy to carry. Their advice to him is simple and open, but I don't think he is of integrity or desires to be the king of all people by way of justice and honor. So many make this mistake and it becomes clear by way of who he goes to next. To rule over all justly is to represent all well. You have to listen to all sides, and you must not represent only one group. He goes to his friends, his mates, his buddies, and they who are not so affected by his judgments, and they give him a harsh line of advice. Tell the people, tough, you think my father was harsh, well get ready to dig deep into those pockets. He likes their advice, it feeds his and their egos, and this government of his fathers is so large, and if he is to add to or maintain it, then this will be the only way. He does not have his father's wisdom, so he will have to raise the tax, but his buddies are ok with it because it represents them well. He is no longer the king of Israel, but rather of the few, the oligarchy. It is cute though, because men still play out their game of chess upon the board, they will waltz across the floor, say it wonderfully and with much conviction. It sounded so cool, whips, scorpions, and executive decisions, but it was all wrong. Even if the people were unjustly accusing his father, or their was room here on both sides, he elevates it to the extreme, and removes the ability to reason. In essence, I am the king, you will bow, you are not important. I don't care to hear your reasons, there is nothing to discuss. He goes through all of this for nothing, because God has already decided to divide the kingdom. Israel leaves, Rehoboam sends the tax collector to the people, and they stone him. He gathers an army together, as he should in normal circumstances, but for all their pomp and circumstance, God has already spoken. He has already divided it so that David has only these two parts. Rehoboam has a big army, lineage on his side, the people have murdered one of his employees, but God sends Shemaiah and tells Judah not to go up to battle. Rehoboam might have won some more ground, or Israel may have destroyed David, but that's not where God had drawn the line, and so He keeps His word, something that men, even kings cannot seem to do. 

So now Jeroboam sets up his government and God has told him the same thing, do right by me and I will do right by you. Easy peasy. We saw what the past administration did wrong, so don't do that, don't add to that, and we saw what they did right, don't throw that away. If you're not certain, refer to the Mosaic law and the law of kings, pray and seek Godly wisdom. Or, be afraid that if the people go up to worship at the temple, where God has shown His presence, at the mercy seat, this may somehow undermine your authority. If they do right by God, you may in someway be diminished, or your outward fear is that they may be drawn back to the Davidic dynasty. They are a fickle people after all. So, rather than give them what they need, give them what they want, appeal not to God, Whom they will have to face, but rather to their comfort and ease. They want to worship, but they want it their way, so point out what a burden it is to go to the temple at Jerusalem. Give them some places to worship, that look holy, make them some idols, but call them God's idols. It's ok as long as you say the bulls represent the one true God, regardless of the second commandment. At least you're not as bad as Solomon, he went up with his wives and worshiped other gods with them. He was too wise to think anything of it probably, but it was still a stumbling block, and it was disobedience. You now ordain men whom God has not called, and here is one of the best reasons for separation of church and state, that the state does not lead the people astray, that the church stands up to question the state. God reserves the right to call good and evil, men will only muck it up. Jeroboam could have appealed to God's wisdom, but instead he took the counsel of his own insecurity, satisfied with a form of godliness but denying the power and authority thereof. 

Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers and sisters[a] with me,


To the churches in Galatia:


3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
No Other Gospel


6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!


10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1: 1-10