Lesson 1 The Divided Kingdom: Rehoboam First King of Judah 1 Kings 11:243-12:19-1 Kings 14:31 & 2 Chronicles 9:31-12:14 The first three kings were Saul, David and his son Solomon. They were each a king for 40 years. The divided kingdoms begin in 1 Kings 11. Rehoboam was Solomon’s son and he became the next king when Solomon died. All the people gathered at Shechem to make Rehoboam the king. The people sent word to Jeroboam who was still in Egypt, and when he heard the news, he went to Shechem also. The people complained to Rehoboam that Solomon had made their lives hard and they wanted him to make changes to lighten their burdens. Rehoboam told the people to come back in three days. King Rehoboam asked the elders “What should we do about the people’s request?” They told him if he would serve them and say the right things, then the people would continue being his servants. But, Rehoboam didn’t take their advice and asked his young friends that he grew up with the same question. They suggested that he tell them that he would make it even harder on the people. (His friend's opinions were worth more than the elders'.) Everyone gathered together on the third day and Rehoboam repeated what his friends suggested. The people were not happy and went to their tents. Rehoboam went to Jerusalem and found men from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin who were fighting men. He picked 180, 000 men to restore his kingdom. God told Shemaiah not to fight and to return home. This was God’s plan and they obeyed Him. Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built defense cities in the lands of Judah and Benjamin. He built up the strongholds, supplied food and weapons, and put captains in charge. The priests and Levites moved to Jerusalem and they were faithful to God for three years. Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines. They had 28 sons and 60 daughters. He sent his sons throughout the land to every fortified city. He provided plenty of supplies and found wives for them. Once Rehoboam had established his kingdom, he didn’t follow God’s laws anymore. They were worse than his ancestors had been. They built idols on every ‘high hill and under every green tree.’ The people were corrupt. During his fifth year, Shishak king of Egypt attacked and took over the cities of Judah. Shemaiah the prophet told Rehoboam that he had forsaken God. Rehoboam and the leaders humbled themselves and said “The Lord is righteous.” So, God let the Egyptians take the treasures in Jerusalem. They took the gold shields that Solomon had made and Rehoboam made bronze ones to replace them. Rehoboam stayed in Jerusalem. He was 41 years old when he became king and reigned for 17 years. He did evil and didn’t seek the Lord. His son Abijah became the next king of Judah. This is one of the few kings lessons in this series to have this type of worksheet. Christina Barkley sent me the questions and answers and I created the worksheet. The answers are: 1. friends 2. better 3. three 4. young men 5. scourges 6. ten 7. scared Click here to download. The application packs contain any extra posters, worksheets, maps, etc. specific for the king(s) listed. Each set is different and may contain printables that will be used for more than one king. This pack includes the fill-in-the-blank worksheet, word search, maze and assorted posters (without the logos) for the lesson. Click here for the application pack. Click here for the lesson. Click here for the visuals. Click here for the pictures to color. Click here to see all the kings lessons in this series.
