Civil war is generally the most deadly kind of war, its wounds the hardest to heal. God had not brought the Israelites into Canaan to destroy one another. Nor indeed had He designed that they should divide into two hostile kingdoms. The Lord could not bless the seceding ten tribes. Neither could He endorse the harsh governmental policies that Rehoboam had announced. The loss of the ten tribes was a judgment upon Rehoboam. Hence the Lord could not give His blessing to a campaign that sought by force of arms to bring those tribes back again under Rehoboam. Rather, God decreed that time should unroll the history of both kingdoms, that His condemnation of the one and His judgment upon the other, should be demonstrated as just. Zealous men are often in haste to resolve a difficult matter that involves wrongs on both sides. Such men might well ponder the lesson found in this verse.