The Great Divorce: When Folly Reaps Rebellion Text: 2 Chronicles 10:16-19
Introduction: The Inevitable Crack-Up
We live in an age that is allergic to authority, and at the same time, an age that is riddled with petty tyrants. The two things are not unrelated; they are cause and effect. When legitimate authority is despised, illegitimate authority rushes in to fill the vacuum. When men will not be governed by God, they will be ruled by tyrants. And when those tyrants are not only wicked but also foolish, the entire structure comes crashing down. This is the story of our text, but it is also the story of the West.
The scene is Shechem, and the air is thick with political tension. The golden age of Solomon is over, and the bill has come due. Solomon's glory was built on the back of heavy taxation and forced labor, and the people have had enough. They come to his son, Rehoboam, with a reasonable request: lighten our load, and we will serve you. But Rehoboam, puffed up with the unearned arrogance of a trust-fund baby, rejects the wise counsel of the old men who knew his father. He listens instead to his frat buddies, the young hotheads who grew up with him in the palace, and he answers the people's plea with a threat of whips and scorpions. He mistakes bluster for strength, and in one foolish, testosterone-fueled moment, he tears a kingdom in two.
What we are about to witness is the political equivalent of a massive earthquake. This is not a minor policy dispute. It is a permanent, violent schism. It is a national divorce. And we must pay close attention, because the principles at play here are timeless. God has established patterns for civil life. He has ordained the duties of rulers and the duties of the ruled. When both parties abandon their covenantal obligations, when the king becomes a tyrant and the people become revolutionaries, the result is the whirlwind. And behind it all, we see the hidden hand of God, who uses the sinful folly of men to accomplish His sovereign purposes. This was not an accident of history; it was a turn of events from God, to fulfill His word of judgment against the house of Solomon for his idolatry.
The Text
Now all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them. So the people responded to the king, saying, "What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to your tents, O Israel; Now see to your own house, David." So all Israel went to their tents. But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him and he died. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
(2 Chronicles 10:16-19 LSB)
The Cry of Secession (v. 16)
The people's response to Rehoboam's insolence is immediate and decisive.
"Now all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them. So the people responded to the king, saying, 'What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to your tents, O Israel; Now see to your own house, David.' So all Israel went to their tents." (2 Chronicles 10:16 LSB)
This is not just an angry mob chanting slogans. This is a formal, covenantal declaration of dissolution. This is the language of divorce. The question, "What portion do we have in David?" is a rhetorical rejection of any further obligation. They are saying, "The deal is off." Notice the calculated insult: "son of Jesse." They refuse to call David a king, reducing him to his humble origins. They are not just rejecting Rehoboam; they are rejecting the entire Davidic dynasty that God Himself had established.
Their grievance against Rehoboam was entirely legitimate. He had violated the fundamental duty of a king, which is to be a shepherd to his people, not a predator. A king is to bring justice and order, not exploitation. But their response, while understandable, was also sinful. "Every man to your tents, O Israel" is the cry of anarchy. It is the dissolution of the nation into a loose confederation of tribes, a regression to the chaotic days of the judges when "everyone did what was right in his own eyes."
They are responding to tyranny with rebellion. They are answering the king's folly with their own. Instead of appealing to God, instead of seeking a righteous path of resistance, they simply tear the whole thing down. This is the perennial temptation of the revolutionary. In their zeal to tear down a corrupt institution, they take a wrecking ball to the foundations God Himself laid. Their rebellion against a bad king becomes a rebellion against the very idea of God-ordained kingship in the line of David. This act will lead them directly into the idolatry of Jeroboam's golden calves, a far greater sin than Rehoboam's heavy taxes.
The Faithful Remnant (v. 17)
In the midst of this national collapse, we see a crucial exception.
"But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them." (2 Chronicles 10:17 LSB)
The schism is not total. God, in His faithfulness, preserves a remnant. The tribe of Judah, David's own tribe, along with Benjamin, remains loyal to the house of David. This is profoundly important. The covenant promise God made to David, that his throne would be established forever (2 Samuel 7), does not depend on the faithfulness of all twelve tribes. It does not even depend on the wisdom of David's heirs. God's covenant promise is unconditional, and He will preserve the line through which the Messiah, the great Son of David, will come, even if He has to whittle it down to one tribe and a foolish king.
This is a pattern we see throughout Scripture. When apostasy is widespread, God always keeps a people for Himself. When the world goes mad, there is always a Judah that does not bow the knee. The visible church may be in tatters, but the promise of God to preserve His people stands firm. The gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church, and the foolishness of a thousand Rehoboams cannot derail the eternal decree of God.
The Tyrant's Final Blunder (v. 18)
Rehoboam, apparently not grasping the gravity of the situation, makes one last, fatal miscalculation.
"Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him and he died. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem." (2 Chronicles 10:18 LSB)
This is an act of such monumental stupidity that it is almost comical. The people are protesting forced labor, so who does Rehoboam send to negotiate? He sends the chief slave-driver, Hadoram, the very man who embodied their oppression. This is like trying to put out a fire with a can of gasoline. It is the act of a king who is utterly insulated from reality, who believes his own propaganda. He thought a show of authority would cow the people into submission.
Instead, it becomes the spark that ignites the civil war. The stoning of Hadoram is the point of no return. He is the first casualty. And what of the great king who threatened them with scorpions? "King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem." The bully, when his bluff is called, turns out to be a coward. His tough talk was a facade, covering a deep well of insecurity. When faced with real resistance, he does not fight; he runs for his life. All tyrants are paper tigers. Their power rests on the assumption that people will obey. The moment that assumption is challenged, their authority evaporates.
An Enduring Rebellion (v. 19)
The chapter concludes with a somber, historical summary.
"So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day." (2 Chronicles 10:19 LSB)
The phrase "to this day" indicates that the author of Chronicles is writing from a vantage point long after the event, looking back on the tragic consequences. This was not a temporary spat. This was a permanent divorce that defined the rest of Israel's history. The northern kingdom of Israel would go on to have a succession of wicked, idolatrous kings without exception, and would ultimately be judged and exiled by the Assyrians.
The word "rebellion" here is key. From a political standpoint, we might sympathize with the northern tribes. But from a theological, covenantal standpoint, their action was rebellion. They were rebelling against the house that God had chosen. Yes, the king was a fool and a tyrant. But the proper response was not to abandon the covenant and set up a rival kingdom with rival gods. Their sinful response to sin led them into a state of permanent rebellion, cutting them off from the place of true worship in Jerusalem and the line of the promised Messiah.
Conclusion: Our Portion in David's Son
This story is a stark warning to both rulers and the ruled. To rulers, it is a warning against pride. Rehoboam inherited his father's kingdom but not his wisdom. He saw the throne as a platform for self-aggrandizement, not a stewardship of service. He despised his people, and as a result, he lost them. Any leader, whether in the state, the church, or the home, who rules with arrogance and contempt for those under his care is inviting the judgment of God.
To the ruled, it is a warning against revolutionary fervor. The people had a just cause, but they pursued it with unjust means. Their cry, "What portion do we have in David?" was a rejection of God's chosen instrument of salvation. In their haste to escape a bad king, they abandoned the only royal line that mattered. We must never allow our legitimate anger at injustice to curdle into a rebellious spirit that despises God's established order.
Ultimately, the failure of Rehoboam and the rebellion of Israel both point us to our need for a better king and a better kingdom. The house of David, in its earthly manifestation, was flawed and broken. But the promise to David was not ultimately about Rehoboam or any other earthly king. It was about Jesus Christ, the true Son of David, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
Where Rehoboam came to extract service, Jesus came to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. Where Rehoboam threatened with whips and scorpions, Jesus took the whips and scorpions of God's wrath upon Himself for us. Where Rehoboam burdened his people, Jesus says, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."
The cry of the unbelieving world, ancient and modern, is "We have no portion in David! We will not have this man to reign over us!" But the joyful confession of the church is the exact opposite. Our portion, our inheritance, our entire hope is found in the Son of Jesse. In Christ, we have a king who is perfectly wise, perfectly just, and perfectly merciful. His kingdom cannot be torn apart by human folly, and His reign will never end. Therefore, let us see to His house, and not to our own tents.