The king responded to the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the older men

“Your father made us work too hard. Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.”

When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, “Come on in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have been commissioned to give you bad news.