The Divided Kingdom

After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam goes to Shechem to be made king. The people, with Jeroboam back from Egypt, ask him to lighten the heavy yoke his father put on them. The old men who had advised Solomon recommend kindness; the young men who grew up with Rehoboam recommend harshness. Rehoboam listens to them: “My father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” Israel rebels: “What portion have we in David? To your tents, O Israel!” The tribes make Jeroboam their king; only Judah, along with Benjamin, stays loyal to the house of David. God forbids Rehoboam to go to war: “this thing is from me.” But Jeroboam, afraid that the people will return to Rehoboam when they go up to worship in Jerusalem, makes two golden calves, in Bethel and in Dan: “Behold thy gods, O Israel.”