"Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon's officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah." (1 Kings 11:26) We are given more details about Jeroboam than about the two enemies named in yesterday's passage because Jeroboam will become king over the ten northern tribes of Israel.
"Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the terraces and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph." (1 Kings 11:27-28) Jeroboam is an industrious young man and Solomon takes note of what a hard and ambitious worker he is, putting him in charge of the workers from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. What about this huge promotion causes him to rebel against Solomon? The Bible doesn't specifically say whether the rebellion had anything to do with the promotion itself. It's clear that he is a hard worker and possesses leadership skills; therefore it could be that he's always seen himself as someone meant to be a leader and that his promotion by the king reinforces the idea that he's destined for greatness.
Some scholars speculate that Jeroboam wasn't pleased with the way Solomon wanted his labor force run. Earlier in the book of 1 Kings we were told that Solomon didn't put his fellow Israelites to hard labor but put them in charge over the laborers who were subjects of Israel---foreign workers whose nations and territories had been conquered by Israel. But these scholars suggest that Solomon's ambitious building projects grew to such an extent over time that by the end of his reign he began forcing Israelites into hard labor in order to have enough workers. Jeroboam had no objections about overseeing the work of conquered peoples but he may have been very upset if he had to make his fellow citizens perform the type of hard labor that was typically reserved only for foreign workers and slaves. It could be that Jeroboam began "politicking" against the king and the royal family and that he became increasingly popular among the people during this time. He definitely seems to be extremely popular with the people later on when King Rehoboam loses ten tribes to him.
Earlier in Chapter 11 we found the Lord informing Solomon that the kingdom will be torn away from him and given to one of his subordinates. This was because Solomon had fallen into many idolatrous practices. But the Lord told him that the kingdom would not split up during Solomon's lifetime because of the promise He made to David that Solomon would reign over all Israel. The Lord stated that the kingdom would split during the reign of Solomon's son instead. At that time Solomon didn't know who the "subordinate" was who would take part of the kingdom away from Rehoboam but in this next passage below we'll find a prophet identifying Jeroboam as the one.
"About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. Then he said to Jeroboam, 'Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give you ten tribes. But for the sake of My servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. I will do this because they have forsaken Me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to Me, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My laws and decrees as David, Solomon's father, did.'" (1 Kings 11:29-33) Rehoboam will actually be left with Judah and Benjamin, although the large tribe of Judah and the small tribe of Benjamin are usually called by the combined name of "Judah" from now on. Rehoboam's kingdom will be comprised of the Judahites, Benjamites, and also the Levites because they serve at the house of God located within his territory in Jerusalem. I'm inserting a map below so we can see what the divided kingdom looked like.
The Lord makes a promise to Jeroboam and his family line much like the promise He made to David and to his family line. "If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to Me and do what is right in My eyes by obeying My decrees and commands, as David My servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. I will humble David's descendants for this, but not forever." (1 Kings 11:38-39) This is a conditional promise and Jeroboam will not meet the conditions of it. Instead of being faithful to the Lord, he will construct areas for worship within his own territory so his people will not go up to Jerusalem (into King Rehoboam's territory) to worship the Lord. He will fashion two golden calves, supposedly to represent the Lord, but this will tempt the people of the northern tribes into idolatry, leading to the eventual downfall of the northern kingdom.
Whatever Jeroboam is doing in the years leading up to Solomon's death, word of it finally reaches Solomon's ears. "Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon's death." (1 Kings 11:40) Perhaps he receives news that Jeroboam is working to seduce the people's hearts away from the house of Solomon. Or perhaps he receives news that Jeroboam is telling people about the message he received from the prophet. Jeroboam wouldn't be the first man to unwisely share a prophetic message because you'll recall that Joseph, Jeroboam's ancestor, was fond of sharing prophetic dreams with his brothers---dreams in which Joseph ruled over his brothers. Solomon is unwilling to accept the will of the Lord, who said that because of his idolatry He would wrest a united Israel out of his son's hands. Under other circumstances any threat against the crown would be a capital crime and a king would have the lawful right to put to death a person making a bid for the throne. But Solomon knows what the Lord said and he knows he brought these circumstances upon himself and upon his family.
I doubt that Pharaoh Shishak is the king who is a father-in-law to Solomon. Solomon will die in tomorrow's text so by this point his father-in-law has likely predeceased him. Another clue that Shishak is the successor to Solomon's father-in-law is that he will attack Jerusalem during the reign of King Rehoboam. A successor might not feel he has to honor any kind of alliance made between Solomon and the father of Solomon's Egyptian wife. There was an Egyptian pharaoh known as Sheshonk 1, alternatively spelled as Shoshenq, who lived in the 900s BCE. This corresponds with the correct time period.
Tomorrow we must say goodbye to Solomon but later in the Bible we'll learn more about him when we study the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
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