But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
Rehoboam has just lost ten tribes, and his answer is an army of 180,000 men. Before a single sword is drawn, God speaks. He does not speak to the king on his throne, but to a man named Shemaiah. The whole future of the nation hangs on whether Rehoboam obeys that word.
A prophet appears at this exact moment for a reason. When the leaders of God's people failed, God opened a new way to reach them.
Once the priesthood was ruined, it no longer served as the public link between the people and God. The king, the Lord's anointed, took the priest's place in that role. From then on, all the blessing of Israel — and its judgment too — depended on the conduct of the king. Strictly speaking, when the king failed in his responsibility, it affected the people's relationship with God. But then something new happened. It lasted through the whole time of the kingdom and even afterwards: the prophet came on the scene. His coming proved that nothing could destroy the grace and mercy of God, even when everything was in ruins.
Scripture calls Shemaiah a "man of God." The phrase turns up at a particular kind of moment.
The expression "man of God" occurs about 76 times in the Old Testament, and only two times in the New. Except where Moses is spoken of, it refers to those who witnessed to God's people in a day of departure.
Shemaiah had to carry this message into a camp already armed for war.
Shemaiah (heard of Jehovah), a man of God, brought the message from the Lord not to fight against Israel. They obeyed, and the war was avoided. As failure had come in, prophecy at once reappears. Shemaiah must have been a very courageous man. He stood in front of a gathered army of 180,000 men, an angry king and an angry people, and delivered a message that no one wanted to hear. And one cannot but admire the gracious submission of king and people.
The ten tribes were guilty. That did not give Rehoboam the right to punish them.
Rehoboam wants to fight. It was in vain. God had given away ten parts of the kingdom. He would not allow a man who was himself guilty to fight even against the guilty. God had not given them a king of the house of David in order that they might fight against Israel. "You shall not go up or fight against your brothers, the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, for this thing is from me." So they listened to the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.
God claims the division as His own act. That draws a line between repairing damage and resisting God.
He has to learn, and all Israel with him, that despite the division the ten tribes are still their "brothers." They are not to go up or fight against them. Moreover Shemaiah, the man of God, tells Rehoboam why they must stop. It is because God says, "This thing is done of Me." God had rebuked Solomon for his worldliness and disobedience to the Word of God, and told him, "I will surely tear the kingdom from you." Now that the blow has fallen, God can say to Rehoboam, "This thing is done of Me." Trying to undo the evil of Solomon may be right. Ignoring the governmental acts of God is certainly wrong.
Being stopped looks like loss. Here it was a rescue, and a later king shows the cost of ignoring the same word.
It was mercy on God's part to send this message. Otherwise there might have been a terrible slaughter, with nothing settled at all. Later than this, Amaziah, a king of Judah, launched a battle against Joash king of Israel, and suffered a heavy defeat. At least Rehoboam had sense enough to listen to Shemaiah and to obey the Word of the Lord.
- Word after ruin. The king's failure broke the nation, but God did not fall silent. The prophet's arrival proved that His grace and mercy outlast total ruin.
- Word to a man. Apart from Moses, "man of God" marks those who spoke for God when His people had turned away. The word reaches the crisis through such a man, not through the throne.
- Word against the sword. God would not let one guilty side punish another. He sent the 180,000 home and forbade brother to fight brother.
- Word owning the loss. "This thing is from me" makes the division God's own act. Undoing Solomon's evil may be right. Overriding God's dealings never is.
- Word obeyed. Shemaiah faced an angry king and army, and they submitted. That obedience prevented a slaughter. A later king ignored the same word and lost his battle.
Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remainder of the people, saying,
Rehoboam has gathered an army to win back the ten tribes by force. Before the first blow falls, God sends a word — and He sends it to the king, the two tribes, and all the people with them.
The king has just lost most of his kingdom. Into that collapse God sends a man with a message. Writers see a pattern: as the kingship falls, prophets come to the front.
Notice how the role of the prophet grows in importance as the kingship falls into ruin. Through all this part of the history, prophets hold our attention. Ahijah was the first to appear, when Solomon fell under God's judgment... Now here is Shemaiah, who turns Rehoboam from his plans of war. The role of the prophet was a great grace. It allowed relations between God and His people to continue despite the ruin. Above all, the prophet was the mouthpiece for the Word of God.
Rehoboam still had an army of 180,000 and a reason to use it. The word that stops him names him king of Judah only.
It must have been clear to him now that the rebellion was very real and serious. It was not a passing wave of discontent that would soon die away by itself and be forgotten. But a man does not easily accept such an immense loss, or such terrible results coming so suddenly. Force may still work. There is the army, one hundred and eighty thousand strong... Might must make right, if right cannot be shown any other way. But "the God of peace" loves His people even when they are misguided and in error. So He warns the king of Judah by the word of the man of God, Shemaiah. Note the deliberate limit of his title (2 Chron. 11:3).
God's reason is not that the war would fail. It is that the split came from Him. One writer sets this word beside God's earlier sentence on Solomon.
He has to learn, and all Israel with him, that despite the division the ten tribes are still their "brothers." They are not to "go up nor fight against" them. Moreover Shemaiah, the man of God, tells Rehoboam why they must stop. It is because God says, "This thing is from Me." God had rebuked Solomon for his worldliness and for disobeying the Word of God. He said to him, "Since this is done by you... I will tear the kingdom from you." Now that the blow has fallen, God can say to Rehoboam, "This thing is from Me." To try to undo the evil of Solomon may be right. To ignore God's own acts of government is certainly wrong.
There is another reason the war was hopeless. Rehoboam was not the innocent party.
Rehoboam wants to fight. It was in vain. God had given away ten parts out of the kingdom, and God would not sanction that the man who is himself guilty should fight even against the guilty. God had not given them a king of the house of David so that they might fight against Israel.
The ban is narrow. It stops the sword, not the search for peace.
Look carefully at that Old Testament story. God did not forbid His people to seek a righteous way of reconciliation, or to find out why the split had happened, or to confess their failure together. But He did forbid them to fight with their brothers... Where the failure has been general, it is better to drop the sword and for everyone to go to their knees.
Rehoboam listened, and that obedience saved lives. A later king of Judah would not be so wise.
It was mercy on God's part to send this message, for otherwise there might have been a terrible slaughter with no problem resolved at all. Later, Amaziah, a king of Judah, attacked Joash king of Israel, and suffered a heavy defeat (2 Kings 14:8-12). At least Rehoboam had sense enough to listen to Shemaiah and to obey the Word of the Lord.
Accepting the loss did not mean giving up on the people of God.
Does this mean he settles down to a life of quiet ease and inaction? Does he no longer concern himself with the interests of the people of God? Far from it, for at once we read he becomes a builder... As we might say in our day, he "strengthened the things that remained." He also provided "stores of food, oil, and wine." He provided food for the people of God.
- Sent. With the kingdom in ruins, God sends a prophet. Commentators call this a great grace: God keeps speaking to His people after the collapse.
- Named. The message calls Rehoboam king of Judah only. It then reaches past him to Judah, Benjamin, and all the rest of the people.
- Stopped. God tells them the division came from Him. He would not sanction the war, and a guilty man has no right to punish the guilty.
- Still brothers. God forbids the sword, but not the search for reconciliation or the confessing of failure together.
- Building. Obedience spared a slaughter. Rehoboam then strengthened and fed what remained.
Thus saith Jehovah Go not up, nor fight with your brethren, the children of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing is from me. And they hearkened to the word of Jehovah, and returned to depart, according to the word of Jehovah.
Rehoboam had lost ten of the twelve tribes in a day, and he gathered an army to take them back by force. God stopped him with one message through a prophet named Shemaiah: the split had come from God Himself.
The phrase "this thing is from me" points back to an earlier word spoken over Solomon.
He has to learn, and all Israel with him, that despite the division the ten tribes are still their "brethren." They are not to "go up nor fight against" them. Shemaiah, the man of God, tells Rehoboam why they must stop. It is because God says, "This thing is from Me." God had rebuked Solomon for his worldliness and disobedience to the Word of God, and said to him, "Since this is done by you… I will tear the kingdom from you." Now that the blow has fallen, God can say to Rehoboam, "This thing is from Me." To seek to undo the evil of Solomon may be right. To ignore the acts of God's government is certainly wrong.
The aim looked patriotic. That did not make it right.
Under the government of God this division of the kingdom was the punishment of the sins of Solomon, brought on by the folly of Rehoboam; it must therefore stand. To fight, then, to bring back the unity of the nation, good as the purpose might seem, was to fight against God. Rehoboam ought to have been thankful that God's love to David had left him even two tribes.
One man with a message turned a king back from war.
Now here is Shemaiah who turns Rehoboam from his plans of war. The role of the prophet was a great grace. It let relations between God and His people continue despite the ruin. Above all the prophet was the mouthpiece for the Word of God… Whoever followed this Word could be sure of good guidance and blessing. It is the same for us… Our prophet is the Word of God. God no longer gives us new revelations, as He did in times past, because He has already revealed everything to us. But when His Word speaks to us, let us respect it and not turn aside.
The ban was not only government. It was kindness.
It was mercy on God's part to send this message. Otherwise there might have been a terrible slaughter with no problem solved at all. Later, Amaziah, a king of Judah, launched a battle against Joash king of Israel, but suffered a crushing defeat. At least Rehoboam had sense enough to listen to Shemaiah and to obey the Word of the Lord.
God banned the sword. He did not ban the search for peace. That difference matters wherever believers are divided today.
Look carefully at that Old Testament story. God did not forbid His people to seek a righteous way of reconciliation, or to find out why the split had happened, or to confess their failure together. But He did forbid them to fight with their brethren… Where there has been general failure, it is best to drop the sword and for all to go to their knees. The division in Israel was God's condemnation on their evil state.
Rehoboam and the two tribes did the one thing open to them.
Very wisely Rehoboam and the two tribes stopped their efforts. As we read, they "obeyed the words of the Lord." They accept the humiliation and sorrow of the division and bow under the chastening hand of the Lord.
Submission here is not despair, because God had already set a boundary on the discipline.
They, the Lord's witnesses, ought to accept the division as the result of their sin. They ought to entrust themselves to God, who would know how to put things right once His judgment had run its course and borne its fruit. That is why Ahijah had said to Jeroboam: "And for this I will afflict the descendants of David, but not for ever."
- From Me — the torn kingdom was God's own act, His answer to Solomon's sin, not just the fallout of Rehoboam's folly.
- Against God — a war to force reunion, however good the aim looked, would have been a war against God Himself.
- Mercy — the ban saved Judah from a slaughter that would have solved nothing; Amaziah later ignored the lesson and lost his war.
- Brethren — God banned the sword, not reconciliation; when failure is general, drop the weapon and go to your knees.
- Not for ever — Rehoboam's part was to bow under God's hand; God's part was to limit the discipline and one day remedy it.