But Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord.
Abijah begins his appeal to the northern tribes by naming the man who caused the split. Jeroboam had served Solomon, then turned on him — so was he simply a rebel, or was the division God's own doing?
Jeroboam's danger lay in how close he had been to the throne. One writer notes both his position and the message that moved him:
The third enemy of Solomon was the most dangerous, because he was Solomon's own servant. He was a capable man, and Solomon had trusted him with a responsible position. Jeroboam rebelled against the king because of a message God sent to him by the prophet Ahijah. So it is clear that God raised up such an enemy. Jeroboam came from Ephraim, and Solomon set him over all the labour force of the house of Joseph. He would have known the running of Solomon's kingdom inside out.
Abijah's title for his enemy is not neutral. He chose it to wound:
The LORD had given the kingdom to David and to his sons by a covenant of salt, said Abijah. … A covenant of salt was one that could never be broken. Abijah believed in that covenant. Then he mentioned Jeroboam, whom he sarcastically calls "the servant of Solomon."
Abijah's argument runs from who owns the throne to the rebel's guilt:
He boldly declared the truth that the flock is one. God's people should be shepherded under the one King of David's line. The kingdom in His hand was "the kingdom of the Lord" (v. 8). Since that is true, Jeroboam was a rebel, and those who had strengthened him were children of Belial.
The same writer weighs what made Jeroboam's name so heavy in Scripture:
Under him the great mass of God's people, ten of the twelve tribes, broke away from God's centre at that time. Again and again these sad words toll like a death knell, the words by which the Spirit marks this man out: "Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." … Personal sins are bad enough. But to turn away God's people from the centre which He has set up — what could be worse?
Ten tribes did not follow a fugitive by accident. One writer explains the speed of it from a sentence God had already passed:
"This thing is from me." This explains how ten tribes, as with one mind, threw off their loyalty to the house of David all at once. A fugitive servant no sooner blows his trumpet than they follow him. It was the judgment of the Lord, spoken in Solomon's day and carried out in the days of his son.
Because that word stood on record, Abijah's charge is only half the story. One writer is blunt about the gap in his speech:
Every statement in it is true, yet it lacks frankness. … Whether he means to or not, he ignores the root of all this strife — his grandfather's sins. He also ignores that God had forbidden his father Rehoboam to make war on the separated tribes, saying, "This thing (the division) is from Me." He knows how to put forward what makes his own position right and good. But he wholly ignores the judgment of God on his own tribes, and on the house of David, because of its own sins.
Judah's claims hold up item by item. What was missing was not accuracy:
Judah, for her part, had God at her head. She had His priests, and His trumpets that called the people together. In fact, Jeroboam was making war against God. Once again, all this was true. What was Judah lacking? Only this: Judah had the true religion, but without seeing her own sin and disgrace. What she lacked was an awakened conscience.
Yet the outcome did not hang on Abijah's character:
In himself he was not a man to admire (1 Kings 15). But that only makes the surprising victory which followed all the more striking. It shows that the victory belonged to the truth of God. It shows, too, the immense value He sets on faithfulness to His own established order.
- Servant. Jeroboam was no outsider. Solomon himself had promoted this capable man, so Abijah's name for him — "the servant of Solomon" — stings.
- Rebel. The throne he attacked was "the kingdom of the Lord" in David's line. So breaking away was rebellion against God, and those who backed him were "children of Belial" — worthless men.
- Sentence. The split spread fast for one reason. God spoke His judgment in Solomon's day and carried it out in his son's: "This thing is from me."
- Blind spot. Every statement Abijah makes is true, yet he leaves out his own family's sins and God's word that forbade the war.
- Victory. Judah held the right ground, but her conscience was asleep. The victory that followed honoured the truth of God, not the man who spoke it.
And vain men, sons of Belial, gathered to him and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, and Rehoboam was young and faint-hearted, and did not shew himself strong against them.
Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim facing an army twice the size of his own. He opened his case by retelling how the kingdom came apart: Jeroboam rebelled, worthless men rallied to him, and Rehoboam was too young and too weak to stop them. The verse raises two questions at once — was the charge true, and was it the whole truth?
Abijah is not just telling history. He argues that the split was a rebellion against God, and that the men behind it were worthless.
He boldly asserted the truth that the flock is one, and that God's people should be shepherded under the one King of David's line. He also asserted that the kingdom in His hand was "the kingdom of the Lord" (v. 8). Since that was true, Jeroboam was a rebel, and those who had strengthened him were children of Belial.
The setting makes the accusation remarkable. Abijah calls Jeroboam's backers children of Belial — worthless men — while facing twice his own number of trained soldiers. He speaks to his own side as much as to theirs.
Strong words these, spoken before an army of valiant men twice the size of his own! — he is bent on making them realise one thing. However strong they are, their beginning in separation from his own tribes is not of God. This would also greatly strengthen his own supporters. He was no doubt speaking for their ears as well as for those of his enemies.
Rehoboam's weakness traces back to the day he chose his advisers.
Rehoboam the king, the son of Solomon, did not inherit his father's wisdom. He inherited whatever was foolish and wrong in Solomon. He took counsel not with the men of experience who might have helped his youth, but with the young men who only urged on his rashness.
Abijah then turns his father's weakness into a threat.
He seems to say: you might deter my faint-hearted father from punishing you and forcing you into submission, but you have a different man to deal with now.
Every statement Abijah makes is true. The problem lies in what he never mentions. He passes over Solomon's sin, the root of the division, and God's own word that forbade Rehoboam to fight the ten tribes.
Though true in all its statements, it lacks frankness… Whether on purpose or without realising it, he ignores the root of all this strife — his grandfather's sins. He also ignores that God had forbidden his father Rehoboam to make war on the separated tribes, saying, "This thing (the split) is from Me." He knows how to put forward what makes his own position right and good. But he wholly ignores the judgment of God on his own tribes and on the house of David because of its own sins.
Judah did have God at her head and His priests. What she did not have was any sense of her own condition.
Judah, for her part, had God at her head, His priests, and His trumpets which gathered the people. In fact, Jeroboam was making war against God. Once again, all this was true. What was Judah lacking? Only this: Judah had the true religion, but without realising her sin and disgrace. What she lacked was an awakened conscience.
The outcome does not prove Abijah's heart was right. The victory rested on something outside him.
On the one hand, all this is sublime. On the other, had their hearts been as true to the Lord as their outward words were, they would likely not have been standing there, facing their brothers for battle… So, too, though a group may hold right doctrine while being far from God in heart, its fight against those who oppose Christ must for now be recognised and helped. God loves the house of David and will sustain it — Christ is dear to God, and He upholds all who fight for Him, though He may have something against them too… God owns whatever good He can find among His people.
The verse turns on one word — strength. Trace who has it, who loses it, and who gives it.
- Strength seized. Worthless men gathered to Jeroboam and made themselves strong. The throne of David was the kingdom of the Lord, so their rebellion struck at God Himself.
- Strength lost. Rehoboam was young and weak for a reason. He had refused experienced counsel and listened to young men who fed his rashness.
- Strength claimed. Every word of Abijah's accusation was true. Yet it passed over Solomon's sin and God's word that the split was from Him.
- Strength hollow. Judah had God at her head and the true religion. She still lacked what would have kept her off that battlefield — an awakened conscience.
- Strength given. The victory belonged to the truth, not to the man. God owns whatever good He can find among His people.