1 Kings 12:10
And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins.
Solomon's later reign exchanged a conscientious, considerate, noble and independent spirit for severe judgment and cruel tyranny, because he failed to make God his guide and counselor, allowed evil counselors to sway his mind, let his fine sensibilities become blunted, and made self-indulgence his god, falling from the wisest king ever to rule to a despot whom the nation idolized and copied. That harsh, tyrannical spirit produced the heavy yoke, which was grinding taxation laid on the poor of the nation to support the extravagance of his selfish indulgence.
At Shechem the people asked Rehoboam for relief in lighter burdens and for decided reforms in the administration of government. The young men grown up with him and chosen as his counselors urged him to answer with a threat of harsher rule, that his rule would perpetuate and increase his father's oppressive rule and be even more oppressive than Solomon's. In taking that advice he made an irreparable mistake at Shechem, using power unwisely and without feeling from pride of position and authority, failing to understand God's purpose for Israel, refusing the requested reforms, and announcing he would continue and add to the oppressive evils introduced under Solomon. God did not permit him to carry out that harsh policy, for the tribes, already thoroughly aroused by Solomon's oppression, rebelled against the house of David, dividing the twelve tribes with Judah and Benjamin under Rehoboam and the ten northern tribes under Jeroboam, in fulfillment of the prophet's prediction of the rending of the kingdom.