And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the advice of the old men which they had given him;
Rehoboam has three days to decide how he will rule. His two sets of advisers give him opposite answers. This verse records his choice: a harsh reply that threw away the older men's counsel and cost him most of his kingdom.
The choice was not simply old versus young. One commentator points out that the young men had grown up with Rehoboam and stood before him. Their advice was only his own mind handed back to him.
H. L. RossierRehoboam turns away from the counsel of wisdom to follow the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him (v. 8). So they could be nothing but the mirror and reflection of their master's thoughts. If he had stood before his father himself and heard the wise proverbs he spoke, he could have passed some of that wisdom on to others. He would have known what suits a king. He would have known that "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (Proverbs 15:1); that "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18)... But no, those who flatter his pride are the ones who win his approval. In the end, the counsel of the young men is only the counsel of his own heart.
The older men had told him to serve the people and speak good words to them. Another writer draws out how much spiritual weight sat in that plain advice.
Hamilton SmithRehoboam is counselled by the old men, who are rich in experience, that all will be well if he will "be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them" (2 Chron. 10:7). Does not this carry our thoughts to Romans 15:1-4? In the first verse of this passage we have the "kindness" that bears "the infirmities of the weak" rather than putting grievous yokes upon them; in verses 2 and 3 we have the pleasing one another for "good to edification," rather than pleasing ourselves; and in verse 4 we have the "good words" of Scripture for our comfort and hope.
Commentators weigh that advice differently. One judges it sound as far as it went, but no higher than shrewdness.
William KellyIt was not the noblest ground, it is true. It was not the ground that would have left him in both liberty and responsibility... But they spoke according to the measure they had: "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." It was prudence, it was good policy. I could not say there was faith in it, but there was good policy in it, as far as that went.
Commenting on Proverbs, one writer ties Rehoboam's reply to the warning about guarding your lips.
L M GrantClosely connected with this is the virtue of guarding your mouth (v. 3), which does much to preserve life. Sadly, Rehoboam did not guard his mouth when the Israelites asked him to lighten the load of taxes Solomon had imposed. He answered them, "My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions" (1 Kings 12:13-14). This was "opening his lips wide," and ended in the destruction of the kingdom.
To nature, the hard line looked like strength. Here is where it led.
Hamilton SmithThey advise Rehoboam to take a course that looks very commendable to nature. It takes a strong line. It keeps up authority and the majesty of the kingdom. Sadly, Rehoboam follows the advice of nature. He takes an overbearing and unreasonable attitude, and he threatens the protesters with violent and extreme discipline (1 Kings 12:12-15). The people answer the King's violence with violence of their own. They stone the King's officer, and the division is complete (1 Kings 12:16-19).
Rehoboam's folly is not the whole story of the division.
Hamilton SmithIt was true that Rehoboam's folly was the immediate cause of the division. But the word of God in judgment had gone out long before the violent words of the King. The mighty hand of God in discipline was behind the feeble hand of the King. The holy government of God was tearing the kingdom apart, and behind the discipline of God was the low condition of the people.
That does not excuse anyone. Another writer draws out the principle.
William Kelly"And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him..." Did that excuse Jeroboam? This is a very important principle that you will find constantly in the word of God. A prophecy is in no way a sanction of what is predicted. Prophecy takes in the most abominable acts that the proud, corrupt, or murderous will of man has ever done.
- Counsel offered — Serve the people and speak good words, and they will serve you forever. Experienced men gave Rehoboam the right advice.
- Counsel forsaken — He chose advisers who mirrored his own thoughts. Those who flattered his pride won his approval.
- Words spoken — He did not guard his mouth, and "opening his lips wide" ended in the destruction of the kingdom.
- Kingdom torn — The hard line looked like strength. The people answered the king's violence with their own, and the division was complete.
- God governing — Rehoboam's folly was the immediate cause, but God's hand was behind the king's hand. A prophecy that foretells an act never excuses it.
and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but *I* will add to your yoke my father chastised you with whips, but *I* will chastise you with scorpions.
Israel asked their new king for a lighter load, and Rehoboam answered with a threat that cost him ten of the twelve tribes. Where did such words come from, and was the ruin they caused only man's doing?
The people asked for a lighter load, and Rehoboam promised a heavier one. Even the word he chose named a sharper pain:
Morrish Bible DictionaryIn 1 Kings 12:11, 14 and 2 Chronicles 10:11, 14, the reference is thought to be to a scourge with hard knots or metal points.
Solomon had been demanding too. But there is a difference between a heavy hand and a boast about it:
Leslie M. GrantThough Solomon had been demanding, he was wiser than to speak in this cruel way to the people. But Rehoboam did not have the wisdom of his father. He and the young men ought to have realised they could not get away with such arrogant treatment of the people.
Rehoboam asked two sets of advisers and picked the answer he already wanted. The young men had grown up in his court, so their advice was no outside voice:
H. L. RossierThey could not be anything other than the mirror and reflection of their master's thoughts. Those who flatter his pride are the ones who win his approval. The counsel of the young men is, in the end, simply the counsel of his own heart. Pride goes hand in hand with looking down on your neighbour. To a king who exalts himself, this lowly people counts for nothing.
Read that way, the harsh reply is not policy but a self-portrait. To human nature, it even looked like the right call:
Hamilton SmithThey advise Rehoboam to take a course that looks admirable to human nature: take a strong line, and keep his authority and the majesty of the kingdom. Sadly, Rehoboam follows the advice of nature. He becomes overbearing and unreasonable. He threatens the protesters with violent, extreme discipline.
The older advisers had offered the opposite path — that a king holds people by serving them. Commentators tie their advice to the way of Christ:
H. L. RossierTheir counsel is that of Jesus to His disciples: "let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves" (Luke 22:26). The old men say: "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."
The proverb that would have saved him was his own father's:
C KnappSolomon's incompetent son and successor paid no attention to his father's sound proverb: "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." So he showed that he lacked the wisdom and the fitness to govern a freedom-loving people. As a result, he brought on the separation of the already alienated northern tribes.
The kingdom did not fall to an invading army. It fell to a sentence:
L M GrantRehoboam, sadly, did not guard his mouth. The Israelites asked him to lighten the load of taxes Solomon had imposed… This was "opening his lips wide," and it ended in the destruction of the kingdom.
The harm came home: "Because he was rich, he thought he could get away with such cruelty, but the scourge came back to his own head" (L M Grant).
Rehoboam's folly is not the whole story. Commentators hold two truths together:
Hamilton SmithIt was true that Rehoboam's folly was the immediate cause of the division. But the word of God in judgment had gone out long before the violent words of the king. The mighty hand of God in discipline was behind the feeble hand of the king.
That does not turn the prophecy into permission. As one writer puts it, "a prophecy is in no way a sanction of what is predicted" (William Kelly).
The complaint that opened the scene was about a heavy yoke. Commentators set against it a King whose rule never crushes:
H. L. RossierChrist's yoke will never be a burden to His people: "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." All the prophets bear witness to the grace with which He will feed His people: "He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms."
- Pride speaks. The harsh reply came from Rehoboam's own heart; his young advisers only mirrored back what he already wanted to hear.
- Pride refuses. The older advisers offered him a servant-king's way: serve the people, speak good words. He chose a show of strength instead.
- Pride wounds. "Scorpions" meant a scourge with knots or metal points. He promised his people more pain than his father gave.
- Pride divides. One unguarded sentence, not an enemy army, tore ten tribes away and came back as a scourge on his own reign.
- Pride is not the last word. God spoke His judgment long before the king spoke — yet prophecy never excused the folly that fulfilled it.