1 Kings 12:1-4 — And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;) That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.

You probably know the story. Rehoboam responded badly to the request for “a lighter yoke” and Israel separated itself from the House of David, leaving Jeroboam to rule over the people living in the cities of Judah. But did you ever think about what really was going on?

What are the people of Israel really complaining about? The complaints are bogus — Solomon had carefully assigned the heavy lifting to the “strangers in Israel” not to the Israelites themselves:
And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred. And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work. (2 Chronicles 2:17-18)
But then maybe the people were complaining about the cost of Solomon’s Temple? That was a complaint that didn’t really stand up either.
And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. (1 Kings 4:25)
The vine and the fig tree may be taken to represent all the produce of Israel — the people lived in prosperity enjoying, the fruit of their labors in comfort and free from fear. Not only that, but the people are shown as dwelling under their trees — enjoying, it seems, a fair amount of leisure time!

The complaints were bogus — so what was the real story? 

It was political. The first thing to notice is that the people didn’t come to make Rehoboam king in the city of David. All Israel came to Shechem to make him king. Shechem was an old center of Ephraimite power. Despite God’s obvious preference the idea of the insignificant family of David being the ruling dynasty wasn’t everyone’s favorite idea! The motive was confirmed very quickly:
So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. (1 Kings 12:16)
The people’s complaints were excuses — hiding the real story — so what are we to conclude from all this? Perhaps to remember that even ingratitude cannot be taken at face value! Perhaps, too, to listen intelligently — no matter what the subject matter — for underlying messages. Perhaps even an ungrateful reception to God’s message might hide a story to explore?