GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 10:1-5
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10:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2 Now Jeroboam son of Nebat was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon. When he heard this he returned from Egypt. 3 So the people sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said: 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now, lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5 Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days.” So the people went away.
Why was the crowning at Shechem? It was located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, 30 or so miles north of Jerusalem as the crow flies. Joseph’s tomb was there, as well as the Well of Jacob (John 4:6). Abimelech, the anti-judge, tried to have himself crowned at Shechem (Judges 9:6) but was killed there in a battle (Judges 9:53-55). However, no other coronation or attempted coronation took place there. David had been proclaimed king at Hebron (2 Samuel 5:3). Solomon was anointed at Jerusalem at the Gihon spring (1 Kings 1:38). And before them, Saul had been anointed by Samuel the prophet at Gibeon, also called Zuph (1 Samuel 9:14-16; 10:1).
The question is cleared up if we consider that Rehoboam may have already been anointed king in Jerusalem shortly after Solomon’s death, but that he wanted the northern tribes to show their allegiance. We learn from this account that the northern tribes were already restless on account of Solomon’s harsh treatment. Shechem was an excellent central location for all of the tribes north of Judah
I think that when Rehoboam summoned the leaders of the nine or so tribes (that is, all the tribes apart from Judah and Simeon, and perhaps not from Levi, either), word was also sent to Egypt for Jeroboam to return right away. He was there because Solomon had tried to kill him. This is told in 1 Kings 11, but briefly it is this: When Solomon began to be turned to idolatry by his many wives, the Lord became very angry with him, and decided to tear away ten of the tribes from him. A prophet (Ahijah from Shiloh, one of Solomon’s chroniclers) was sent out to meet Jeroboam, one of Solomon’s officials, outside the city, probably on the road going north from Jerusalem to Shiloh. The prophet took off his new cloak and tore it into twelve pieces, giving Jeroboam ten of them and telling him that he was going to be king of ten tribes after Solomon’s death, and that if he was faithful to the Lord, God would make his family into a lasting dynasty to humble the kings of Judah and David’s line. This must have happened late in Solomon’s reign, in the last twelve or thirteen years, when Shishak was Pharaoh, because Jeroboam ran away from Solomon to Shishak when Solomon tried to kill him. At least a few people from the north must have found out about this (perhaps through Ahijah) and wanted Jeroboam back once again.
So Jeroboam himself was present and was one of the spokesmen who brought their complaint before the new king. What escaped the notice of the Israelites also escapes the notice of some commentators here: Jeroboam was “in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph” (1 Kings 11:28). In other words, it was not Solomon, but Jeroboam, who had been so cruel to them with such a hard yoke of service. But as so often happens, the people got their own story wrong, because more often than not the average person is not interested even in their own history, but is far more interested with their own opinion, or in whatever news or rumor they have heard.
Rehoboam asked for time to think about this. His request was one of only about two wise things that Rehoboam ever did. By taking his time, he was able to control his own feelings or temper, and he was also able to go and seek the advice of his counselors. We will listen in on their advice in the verses to come.
Perhaps there is some foreshadowing of the coming Christ here, on account of the results of this meeting. The details I’m considering are these:
1, An unexpected ruler is called forth by God’s own prophet as a legitimate king.
2, He will take people from the old kingdom and make them his own.
3, He is promised blessings from God if he remains faithful.
4, After three days, his kingdom which was previously promised comes into being.
These things, of course, are not about Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, but about Jeroboam, his rival. If this is a foreshadowing of the coming of Christ, we see in Jeroboam a man who is called to be king over against the established rule (or, Christianity being called into being as the inevitable result of Judaism), the blessing of God on his divine work and reign, and the three days in the tomb resulting in the beginning, on Pentecost, of the Holy Christian Church.
This says nothing of Jeroboam’s failures, but it is not wrong to look for Christ in the pages of the Old Testament. What in the Old Testament is concealed is in the New Testament revealed.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 10:1-5 Come back in three days