Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, King Solomon loved many women from other nations. Israel had been warned not to marry from those nations because they could turn hearts toward other gods. Solomon held fast to them in love, and in his old age his heart turned after other gods.
Solomon did not follow God wholeheartedly as David had done. He built high places east of Jerusalem for the gods of some of his foreign wives and allowed them to burn incense and offer sacrifices. God was angry that Solomon’s heart had turned away.
God told Solomon that the kingdom would be torn from him and given to a servant. For David’s sake it would not happen during Solomon’s lifetime, but in the days of his son. One tribe would remain with Solomon’s house for David and Jerusalem.
Jeroboam was a capable young official placed over the labor force of Joseph’s house. The prophet Ahijah met him on the road, took a new cloak, and tore it into twelve pieces. Giving Jeroboam ten pieces, he said that God would give him ten tribes. If Jeroboam walked in God’s ways and kept his commands, God said he would be with him.
Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, so Jeroboam fled to Egypt until Solomon died. When Solomon’s son Rehoboam went to Shechem to be made king, Jeroboam returned. The people asked Rehoboam to lighten the heavy burden Solomon had placed on them, promising to serve him if he did.
Rehoboam first asked the older advisers who had served Solomon. They urged him to serve the people that day and answer them kindly. They said that they would then be his servants for life. Rehoboam rejected their advice and asked the younger men who had grown up with him.
The younger men advised a harsh reply: his father’s burden had been heavy, but Rehoboam’s would be heavier; his father had disciplined with whips, but he would discipline with scorpions. When the people returned three days later, Rehoboam answered them harshly.
Israel cried out that it had no share in David’s house and returned to its tents. The tribes of Israel left David’s house, while people in the towns of Judah remained with Rehoboam. When Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, the Israelites stoned him to death. Rehoboam fled in his chariot to Jerusalem.
Israel made Jeroboam king over all Israel. Rehoboam gathered troops from Judah and Benjamin to restore the kingdom, but a man of God told him not to fight his brothers. This division, he said, had come from God. They listened to the word of the Lord and returned home.