One of Solomon's officials,by the name of Nebat (of the tribe of Ephraim)had a son who was called Jeroboam.He was a foreman and worked on the temple.One day as he was going to his job,he met the Prophet Ahijah who had moved to Jerusalem from the village of Shiloh.The Prophet was wearing a new coat.That in itself was a very strange sight.Prophets were usually too poor to wear anything but an old camel's hair shirt.
As soon as Ahijah saw Jeroboam,he took off his fine garment,cut it deliberately into twelve pieces and handed ten of them to Jeroboam.It was a token that Jehovah intended Jeroboam to be ruler over ten of the tribes of Israel.
Solomon,who was well served by his secret agents,heard what had happened and gave orders that Jeroboam be killed.News,however travelled fast in such a small town as Jerusalem and Jeroboam.was warned.He escaped and fled to Egypt where Shishak,a Pharaoh of the twenty-second dynasty,gave him an asylum.
Shishak was a clever statesman who regarded the growth of a strong Jewish empire on the east of his own frontiers with serious misgivings.
No doubt he hoped to use Jeroboam as a rival candidate for the Jewish throne as soon as Solomon should have died.
This is exactly what happened.As soon as the Pharaoh heard that Rehoboam had succeeded his father,he gave Jeroboam money enough to finance his return trip to Jerusalem and offer himself as a rival candidate.For almost two generations,now,the Jewish state had been a hereditary monarchy.But certain forms of “election”survived from the old days of the Judges.Therefore,whenever the ruler died,there was to be a meeting of the tribes to “elect”the new sovereign.
When the representatives from all parts of the land had come together,they discussed the political situation.They were willing to acknowledge Rehoboam as their King,but before they acclaimed him they insisted on some sort of “Magna Charta,”or “Constitution”(as we would say to-day),that they might be protected against a too harsh execution of the tax-laws.
Rehoboam,who had been educated in the harem of the royal palace and had rarely come into contact with his subjects,sent for a number of ancient councillors who had served under his father.
What would they advise him to do?
The old men told him that the country was groaning underneath an unbearable burden and that the King ought to grant the wishes of his national council.
Rehoboam,however,who loved his ease,did not like to hear people talk about a decrease in the royal budget.
He turned to the young gentlemen of the court who were his boon companions and asked them what they thought of this popular demand for “economy.”
They expressed deep contempt for the rabble and gave him courage for the foolish answer which has survived throughout the ages,and which is forever connected with his name.
“My father,”so Rehoboam spoke,“has put a heavy yoke upon you.Very well.I,your new King,intend to add to that yoke.My father chastised you with whips,but I will chastise you with scourges.”
This was the proverbial last straw.
Ten of the tribes refused to recognise Rehoboam and elected Jeroboam as their King.
Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained faithful to the son of Solomon.
In this way the Jewish nation was divided into two parts,which were never to be reunited.
The chance for a strong,centralised kingdom was gone for ever.But the world at large gained by the failure of the Jewish imperial ambitions.Together,Judah and Israel (comparable in size to the modern kingdom of Belgium)might have grown into the most important state of western Asia.
Divided,the two little countries were too weak to maintain themselves against their mighty neighbours of the east.
First of all (in the year 722B.C.)Israel was overrun and conquered by the Assyrians.
A century later,Judah suffered a similar fate at the hands of the Chaldeans.
The Jews were driven into exile.
Far away from the Temple and their homes,the priests remained scrupulously faithful to the letter of the ancient laws.
They forgot nothing,and they learned nothing.
But the Prophets made good use of this unexpected chance to widen their view of both men and affairs and to study their own people in relation to the rest of the world.It gave them an opportunity to revise their spiritual ideas.
The cruel and implacable Jehovah,who had been worshipped by Moses and by Joshua and by David,had been the tribal god of a small community of farmers and shepherds,who lived in a forgotten corner of western Asia.
Because of the courage and vision of the exiled Prophets,the old Hebrew deity now developed into that universal and eternal concept of the Divine Spirit which is accepted by the people of the modern world as the highest expression of Truth and Love.