Musar do Diwrej ha-jamim II 13:26

Chazal have said (Reishith Chochmah, Sha'ar Ha'anavah 4): "In three instances the Holy One Blessed be He overlooked idol worship; but He did not overlook machloketh. First, in the generation of Enosh, when men began to serve idols, as it is written: 'Then they began to call [idols] in the name of the L-rd.' But, because there was peace among them, the Holy One Blessed be He allowed them a hiatus. In the generation of the flood, however, because there was machloketh among them, so that they stole and plundered from each other, the Holy One Blessed be He did not relent, as it is written (Ibid. 6:"13): 'Because the earth was filled with violence by them, etc.' Second, in the generation of the desert when the Jews came to make the golden calf, the Holy One Blessed be He forgave them; but when they lapsed into machloketh, the Holy One Blessed be He did not overlook it. For wherever you find 'and they protested' [vayalinu] of machloketh, you find a great smiting, the most extreme instance being the Korach rebellion. Third, the image of Micah. Because there was peace among them, they were given a grace period, as it is written (Judges 18:30): 'And the children of Dan set up the image; and Yehonathan, the son of Menasheh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.' But when the tribes contended with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and there was no peace among them, they became scourges to each other. When the one sinned, the Holy One Blessed be He would bring the other upon him and exact payment from him, as it is written (II Chronicles 13:17): 'And Aviyya and his people slew them with a great slaughter, so there fell slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.' And when the tribes of Judah and Benjamin sinned, the ten tribes came and exacted punishment of them, as it is written (Ibid. 28:6): 'For Pekach, the son of Remalyahu, slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day.'" We are hereby taught that men of machloketh become instruments of destruction, one to the other.

Now if the reward of those who issue rebuke is so tremendous, it is difficult to comprehend Rabbi Akiva’s statement that he would be “surprised if there is anyone in this generation who knows how to issue rebuke.” Was Rabbi Akiva unaware of all the reward mentioned above? Why did he not rebuke the multitude for the sake of becoming a public benefactor? Moreover, as the outstanding personality of his generation was it not his responsibility to instruct the public? I believe the explanation is that Rabbi Akiva also realized the magnitude of the punishment for rebuking the multitude with impure motives and for shaming people in public. Thus Midrash Vayikra Rabbah (Parashas Behar, 33:5) comments on the verse, “And Yaravam did not regain his strength again in the days of Aviyahu and Hashem struck him” (II Divrei HaYamim 13:20): Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said, “Do you think that Yeravam was stricken? In fact it was Aviyah who was stricken!” And why was he stricken? Rabbi Yochanan said, “Because he shamed [Israel] in public, as it is stated, ‘But you are a great multitude and with you are the two golden calves that Yeravam made for you, etc.’ (ibid. 13:8). If Scripture ascribes punishment to a king who only shamed a fellow king, how much more so a commoner who shames his fellow commoner!”