Rehoboam’s Folly: The Kingdom Divided (1 Ki. 12)

Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church

In chapter 11, we heard how Solomon's life had ended poorly. The wages of sin is death – not only the death of Solomon himself, but also the dismemberment of the Kingdom.The golden age of Israel's history – the new Eden that Solomon built – ends the same way that the first one did.And Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. When his heart was set on the LORD,he built a house for the name of the LORD. Now that his heart is set on foreign women, he builds houses for the names of their gods.God had warned him! But still he did precisely the thing that God had told him not to do! Sounds like Adam, doesn't it? God gives a very specific command – if you do this one thing, you will die–your kingdom will be taken from you. And so what is the one thing that Solomon makes sure that he does?!God had brought everything to fulfillment in the days of Solomon. All that God had promised to Abraham and Moses had come true. But the Second Adam–the one who restored paradise – did not persevere to the end. This is the difference, humanly speaking, between Solomon and Jesus. Solomon got off to a great and glorious start, but he could not finish what he started.We need a king who will persevere to the end, and sit down not merely on the throne of David in Jerusalem, but at the right hand of the Father in heaven.At the end of chapter 11, we were told of the rise of Jeroboam...