16And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. 17But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah.
18Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this [the chronicler’s] day.–2 Chronicles 10
- There was no peaceful transition of power after Solomon’s death.
- Immediately the nation was divided into two groups.
- One group was very focused on David and his family.
- The other group consisted of everyone else up north.
- For the rest of the book of Chronicles, the nations will be divided into Judah and Israel.
- At no point in this story do people care about God or the things of God. People’s natural state is selfish and concerned about getting what they feel they have coming to them.
- How do you push back against that tendency in your own life?–JMB
Joel M Bradshaw 
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