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Imagine a young leader who has just taken over from his father. The people come to him and tell him his father worked them very hard; if he makes life easier for them, they will serve him. His older advisers tell him to serve the people and speak kindly to them, and they'll follow him for good. His friends tell him to show the people who's boss and be even tougher than his dad.
Whose advice would you take? This is a real story from 1 Kings 12, and the choice that king made split God's people in two. It's the last stop on Israel's road from Egypt, and the saddest one. But watch for what God does, even here.
What you'll learn
- How Solomon's divided heart led to a divided kingdom
- Why Israel ended up in exile, and how it connects to everything since Egypt
- How Jesus is a completely different kind of king
Solomon's divided heart
David's son Solomon started well. He asked God for wisdom, built the temple, and Israel became rich and famous. It looked like God's promise to David was coming true. But:
"For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been." (1 Kings 11:4)
Solomon married hundreds of foreign wives to make political alliances, and they led him to build shrines to their gods. The king was meant to lead Israel in keeping the first commandment, and he broke it himself.
So God said he would tear the kingdom away from Solomon's son. But he would leave one tribe for David's sake (1 Kings 11:11–13). Even when David's family failed, God kept his promise to David.
A kingdom torn in two
After Solomon died, his son Rehoboam became king, and the people asked him for a lighter load. The older advisers gave him wise counsel:
"They replied, ‘If you will be a servant to these people and serve them this day, and if you will respond by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.’" (1 Kings 12:7)
Rehoboam rejected it. He listened to his friends and threatened to be even harsher than his father (1 Kings 12:13–14). So ten of the twelve tribes walked away. From then on there were two kingdoms:
| Israel (north) | Judah (south) | |
|---|---|---|
| Tribes | Ten tribes | Judah (and Benjamin) |
| First king | Jeroboam | Rehoboam |
| Capital | Shechem at first, later Samaria | Jerusalem |
| Temple? | No, so Jeroboam built his own shrines | Yes, the temple Solomon built |
| David's family? | No | Yes |
Jeroboam, the new northern king, was worried. If his people kept going to the temple in Jerusalem, they might turn back to Rehoboam. So he made two golden calves:
"After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, ‘Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’" (1 Kings 12:28)
Where have you heard words like that before? At Mount Sinai, when Israel made the first golden calf (Exodus 32:4). After hundreds of years, Israel was right back where it started: worshipping a calf and calling it the god who rescued them from Egypt.
Why it happened
For about 200 years, the northern kingdom had king after king, and the books of Kings say almost all of them did evil. God sent prophets such as Elijah, Elisha, Amos and Hosea to warn them. Finally, in 722 BC, the Assyrian empire captured Samaria and carried the people away into exile (2 Kings 17:6).
2 Kings 17 explains why, and it reads like a summary of everything since Egypt:
"All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods" (2 Kings 17:7)
| 2 Kings 17 | What it says | Where we've seen it before |
|---|---|---|
| v. 7 | The LORD had brought them out of Egypt. | The burning bush, the Passover, the sea |
| vv. 12, 16 | They served idols and made two calves. | The Ten Commandments: no other gods, no idols |
| v. 13 | God warned them through prophets to keep his law. | The Ten Commandments |
| v. 14 | They were stubborn like their ancestors, who didn't trust God. | Judges: the cycle of rebellion |
| v. 15 | They rejected his covenant. | The covenant at Sinai |
| v. 16 | They worshipped Baal. | Judges: the generation that forgot |
| v. 18 | God removed them from his presence. | The tabernacle, in reverse |
Verse 18 is the opposite of the tabernacle. God rescued his people so he could live with them, and they pushed him away again and again. Exile was God giving them what they kept choosing. And it wasn't sudden: God had been patiently warning them for about 200 years.
The southern kingdom of Judah did no better (2 Kings 17:19). In 586 BC, Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and Judah went into exile too (2 Kings 25).
Hope in the dark
Was that the end of God's promises? No. Even with the kingdom in ruins, God promised through the prophet Ezekiel that he would bring his scattered people back together under one king from David's line:
"My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes." (Ezekiel 37:24)
The rescue road: sign 8
| Where? | What did God do? | How does it point to Jesus? |
|---|---|---|
| The divided kingdom and exile (1 Kings 11–12; 2 Kings 17) | Warned his people again and again, then removed them from the land, but kept his promise of a King. | Jesus is the true King who came to serve and to gather God's scattered people (Mark 10:45). |
The road started with slaves in Egypt and ends with exiles in Assyria and Babylon. Israel couldn't keep themselves close to God. But every sign on the road points to someone who can.
Key words
- Exile: being forced to leave your home country.
- Divided kingdom: the two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, after Solomon.
- Idolatry: worshipping idols or anything in place of the true God.
- Ransom: a price paid to set someone free.
How this points to Jesus
Rehoboam wanted to be served. Jesus said this about himself:
"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)
| Rehoboam | Jesus |
|---|---|
| Refused to serve the people | Came to serve |
| Made their load heavier | Offers rest to the weary (Matthew 11:28–30) |
| Split God's people in two | Gathers his people into one flock (John 10:16) |
| His kingdom shrank and fell | His kingdom will never end |
Christians believe Jesus is the King from David's line that Ezekiel promised: the one shepherd who brings God's scattered people home.
Think about it
How did Solomon's and Rehoboam's choices divide the kingdom?Show answer
Solomon turned to other gods, so God said he would tear the kingdom away from his son. Then Rehoboam refused to serve the people and made their load heavier, so the ten northern tribes walked away.
God sent prophet after prophet to warn Israel. What does that tell you about him?Show answer
It shows God is patient and doesn't want to punish. He gave his people many chances, over about 200 years, to turn back to him.
Why do you think Israel kept choosing idols, even after everything God had done?Show answer
Idols seemed easier, more familiar and under their control, and people around them worshipped them. Like us, Israel kept forgetting what God had done.
Take it further
Think about leaders you know, at school, in sport or in the news. Which ones lead like Rehoboam, and which ones serve? What would it look like for you to lead by serving this week? Your worksheet helps you trace the divided kingdom and connect 2 Kings 17 to the whole road from Egypt.
If you'd like to, you could pray:
God, thank you that you never stopped warning and calling your people, even when they walked away. Thank you that Jesus is a King who serves, who gave his life for us and gathers us home. Help me to follow him. Amen.