1 Kings 12:26
ESV
And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David.
NIV
Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David.
NASB
And Jeroboam said in his heart, 'Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.
CSB
Jeroboam said to himself, "The kingdom might now return to the house of David.
NLT
Jeroboam thought to himself, 'Unless I am careful, the kingdom will return to the dynasty of David.
KJV
And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
NKJV
And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David:
What does 1 Kings 12:26 mean?
Jeroboam is caught in a spiral. God gave David the kingship of Israel. David worshiped only God throughout his entire reign. Despite David's poor choices in other areas, this is what God wanted of a king. So the Lord kept the kingdom with David. God then gave David's son Solomon the throne. As instructed, Solomon built the temple of God. But then Solomon began to worship other gods. God promised to take most of the nation from Solomon's son and give it to Jeroboam. God told Jeroboam that if he worships Him and keeps His commands, He will give him a dynasty (1 Kings 11:37–38). God gave Jeroboam nine tribes to rule (1 Kings 12:20). Now, Jeroboam is confused about how he will keep them.David asked God for guidance (1 Samuel 23:9–13). Solomon asked God for wisdom (1 Kings 3:6–9). Rehoboam asked his young friends and relations for opinions (1 Kings 12:8–11). Jeroboam relies on his own heart (Jeremiah 17:9). His heart tells him he can't trust that God's promise to him is as secure as God's promise to David (2 Samuel 7:16). Jeroboam witnessed firsthand how quickly the nine northern tribes rejected Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:16–19). Jeroboam wants to do everything he can to make sure they don't reject him and return to the dynastic king.
Jeroboam wants distance between the people and Rehoboam. But his palace is close to the temple. The temple will be filled with people from Judah and Benjamin, all worshiping the same God. Communal worship is a powerful tie. And it's only a few short steps from David's grandson. To keep people away from Rehoboam's realm, you keep them from the temple. But that is where they should worship the God who allowed them to break away from Rehoboam and make Jeroboam their king.
Like many people today, Jeroboam ties state and religion too tightly. He thinks that to break away from a state, he needs to break with the religion that state is connected to. That's never true. Worshiping the God of the Bible is never negotiable. Reading this passage can feel like watching a typical suspense movie or reading a scene in a novel. We know what has happened and what is going to happen, but the character still makes their foolish choice.
