New generation
1 Kings Chapters 11-12
Despite his great wisdom, Solomon did not remain faithful to God for his whole life. As had happened to so many in the past, his marriage to foreign wives led him to worship their foreign gods.
For David’s sake, God does not remove the kingdom from Solomon’s rule, but allows it to become divided again when his son, Rehoboam, becomes king.
Judah remains loyal to Rehoboam and the other tribes follow a rival leader, Jeroboam.
Rehoboam gets off to a bad start when the people seek relief from oppressive taxes. While the experienced advisers from Solomon’s reign wisely recommend he look on their plea favorably, his own young advisers tell him that would make him look weak and suggest he make the burden even heavier, which he does.
The adds support to the rebellion by Jeroboam.
Jeroboam, concerned that people going to make sacrifices at Jerusalem might return to being loyal to the house of David, makes his own gods for the people to make sacrifices to. He sets up altars at each end of his territory, at Dan and Bethel, so people will not have to travel as far to sacrifice. He also names priests who are not Levites.