Who Was Rehoboam In The Bible? A Character Study

Who exactly was Rehoboam in the Old Testament? Here is a Bible study about character.

Rehoboam, Successor to Solomon

Solomon had many flaws in his reign yet late in his life he returned to the Lord and sat on the throne of Israel at the zenith of her power and expanse. Never again would Israel play such a powerful role in the region and never again would Israel be such a dominant force among the surrounding nations. The decline of Israel began after Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, took over the throne after the death of Solomon. Rehoboam would be the last king to sit under a united kingdom where all twelve tribes of Israel were one. Rehoboam’s accession to the throne came at a very difficult period as Solomon had conscripted many to forced labor and had high taxation to creation a burgeoning administrative and judicial system along with an expansive building program. The people were very agitated under the heavy hand of Solomon and near the end of Solomon’s reign, there was much civil unrest. The people had hoped for some relief when Rehoboam came to the throne, but as we will read, instead they because very disillusioned.

The King’s Counsel

After Solomon’s death, “King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people” (1st King 12:6). The king’s counselors were hoping for some relief from the heavy taxation and forced labor of the people so “Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you” (1st Kings 12:3-4). “Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever” (1st Kings 12:6-7).

Unwise Counsel Leads to Division

There is wisdom in listening to Solomon’s counselors “But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him” (1st Kings 12:8). Instead of listening to King Solomon’s counselors, he listened to his friends instead. “Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions’” (1st Kings `12:10b-11). Unfortunately, Rehoboam’s friends gave him bad counsel and it would lead to the kingdom being rent into two separate nations as had been prophesied by Ahijah the Shilonite (1st Kings 11:29-33). “When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents. But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah” (1st Kings 12:16-17).

A Divided Kingdom

After Rehoboam’s stubbornness by his refusal to listen to the king’s counselors and instead, listened to the friends of his youth, Rehoboam did much like the nation of Israel had done in the past and would throughout their history; they would bounce back and forth from obedience to going their own way (which was evil before the Lord). He had such a great opportunity to make Israel even greater but instead split the kingdom into two lesser nations and it was the beginning of the end for the nation as they knew it. Never again would Israel be a major player in the kingdoms of the region. How sad because King Rehoboam ignored Solomon’s wise counselors and went against many of the proverbs that Solomon had written like: “Without counsel purposes are disappointed; but in the multitude of counsellors they are established” (Prov 15:22) and “A wise man will hear and will increase learning. And a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels” (Prov 1:5).

Conclusion

When we ignore godly counsel and do what we think is best, we are cutting off the one, true source of all wisdom and that is God. God sometimes sends us godly men and women that we should listen to but pride gets in the way and positions of power corrupt our thinking. Such was the fatal mistake of King Rehoboam.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.