2 Chronicles 10

Solomon was dead, and his son Rehoboam had taken his place as king. Jeroboam, the future king of the northern part of Israel, appealed to Rehoboam for relief from the heavy burdens that Solomon had placed on the people. What would the new king's response be to those who asked him to lighten their load?

The advice of the king's more mature counselors was that Rehoboam should show mercy and kindness to the nation and win their loyalty at this time of transition. But the younger men who had grown up with the king urged him to refuse the people's request and to show the nation a sign of his strength.

Rehoboam's acceptance of this foolish counsel was more than the ignorance of youth. The Chronicler tells us that this was a turn of affairs from the Lord and the fulfillment of an earlier prophetic word that God had given to His people.

Though the rest of the story is not told in this chapter, the Lord had determined to tear away ten tribes from Solomon. These northern Israelites would be under Jeroboam. The days of a united Israel and Judah under the reign of a son of David would be over until the coming of the Messiah.

Even when Jesus, the long expected Son of David, came to His own people, they would not receive Him. When His apostles were sent out to show from the Hebrew Scriptures that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and die and then to enter into His glory, many people had a violent reaction against both that message and any messenger from the Resurrection King. Many Jews found it especially troubling that this new message of Christ and the cross was being embraced by non-Jews. They would not receive their Messiah. But to all who would receive Him, who believed in His Name, He gave the right to be called children of God.

These new children of God were not all physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Through the preaching of the good news of Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles found new life in the eternal Son of David, and a new kingdom was being established that would reach the entire world.