2 Chronicles 11:1-23

Then God interfered. No human folly has even been permitted to continue long enough to thwart His purpose. Shemaiah, a prophet of God, declared to Rehoboam that the revolt was in the divine plan. Rehoboam immediately obeyed, and the period of the two kingdoms commenced.

This section of the book contains the story of the reign of Rehoboam in Judah. Jeroboam as king of Israel turned the people from Jehovah by his idolatrous practices. The result was that the Levites and those who set their hearts to seek the Lord passed over to Judah, and thus, in the best way, the kingdom was strengthened by the accession of faithful souls. Meanwhile, Rehoboam strengthened his position by building fenced cities throughout his dominions. He was, however, the son of his father; and, even in the years of peace and prosperity, the animal nature came out in the multiplicity of his wives and concubines, until he had practically established, as did his father, a harem on the pattern of the corrupt kings around him.