Far Reaching Consequences

2Ch 10:13 And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men,
2Ch 10:14 And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
2Ch 10:15 So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause was of God, that the LORD might perform his word, which he spake by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The egotistical decision of Solomon's idiot son, Rehoboam, changed the course of history. It meant the end of the glory years of the united kingdom of Israel and set in motion the perpetual divided kingdom of Judah vs Israel, South vs North. Not one of the subsequent northern kings would serve God, only 8 of 20 Judean kings would do that which was right in the eyes of the Lord.

In the end, it would mean captivity for both factions and the eventual scattering of the 10 northern tribes to the 4 winds.

This is the boy for whom Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs. A lot of good it did him.

However, we read that the cause was of God, so that He might perform His Word. The shelving of Israel would open the door for gentile ministry 26 generations later, and God could do a new thing, the Church.