Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
As for the other events of Solomon's reign — all he did and the wisdom he displayed—are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon? Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.
Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."
Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me." So the people went away.
Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.
They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."
But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"
The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' "
Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:
"What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!" So the Israelites went home. But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.
King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.
When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin — a hundred and eighty thousand fighting men — to make war against the house of Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.
But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 'This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.' " So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.
1 Kings 11:41-43, 12:1-24
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As Chapter 11 closes, we see the end of an era in Israel’s history as Solomon dies. Despite his shortcomings later in his life, one can’t forget the good things Solomon did and as we read the scriptures, we are blessed with the words of his wisdom, written and shared.
Scripture tells us that Solomon’s son Rehoboam ascended to the throne to succeed his father and, as God had promised, the kingdom would soon be taken from him.
How did that take place?
Let’s look at our passage.
For as Rehoboam “went to Shechem…for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king”, Jeroboam “heard this” and “returned from Egypt”. Then the “whole assembly of Israel” sent for Jeroboam and together they went to Rehoboam and said, “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."
Obviously not ready to make an immediate decision, Rehoboam tells the group, “Go away for three days and then come back to me" and that’s what the people did.
So what did Rehoboam do with the three days?
Scripture tells us he first “consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime” asking them, “How would you advise me to answer these people?"
Rehoboam’s actions made sense. If you weren’t sure how to handle a matter, go to the people who had the experience because you could rely on their wisdom and guidance.
The elders answered Rehoboam’s question saying, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."
So the elders were in agreement with the people. They were enduring hardship and Rehoboam had the power and opportunity to do something about it, bringing the people relief while gaining their trust and confidence.
So how did Rehoboam handle the words of the elders?
We read where he chose to reject their advice and instead turn to a group of young men who “had grown up with him and were serving him”. And as he had asked the elders prior, he now asked the young men, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"
Not surprisingly, the young men answered quite differently than the elders, advising Rehoboam to “Tell these people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' "
In other words, Rehoboam was to tell the people that if they thought they had it rough under Solomon, they hadn’t seen anything yet and would wish they were still under Solomon’s oppression.
So Rehoboam made his decision. He would reject the wise counsel of the elders in exchange for the flippant reply offered by his young allies.
And so “three days later” when “Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam”, they were met with the following harsh words:
“My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions."
How did this go over with the Israelites?
Not well.
For seeing that the king had no intention to listen to them, Israel said to him, "What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!"
And with that, “the Israelites went home” and seceded from any relations with Rehoboam who essentially now only ruled over Judah, retreating to “the house of David” after all Israel stoned his chief of forced labor, Adoniram. Once in Jerusalem, Rehoboam “mustered the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin — a hundred and eighty thousand fighting men — to make war against the house of Israel and to regain the kingdom”.
It looked like a civil war was about to break out in the Promised Land but we see where the “word of God” entered in and “came to Shemaiah” in the following message:
"Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 'This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.' "
And with that, Rehoboam and his army “obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered”. The kingdom had become divided...an action that fulfilled the “word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam”.
I know that this all worked out in accordance with the Lord’s will but I couldn’t help but focus in on Rehoboam’s unwillingness to accept the guidance and wisdom of his elders who were trying to point him in the right direction. For how often do we see this played out each and every day in life today? For way too long now, young people have disregarded the wise counsel of those with an immense amount of life experience, instead shunning their advice in favor of either their own inclinations or the adverse influence of those who were equally misguided.
Maybe you can relate…either being an elder who was rejected by someone younger or being younger and having rejected the counsel of an elder who was trying to point you in the right direction.
I know I can on both counts…having things all figured out as a young person and feeling like I didn’t need to listen to my parents and then experiencing how that felt on the receiving end as my children grew into adulthood and decided they didn’t want to listen to me.
Through it all, I do believe that the Lord teaches us important lessons about the importance of heeding and respecting the advice of the experienced. Rehoboam would definitely been much better off if he had…and we will be as well if we learn from his mistake. For as we witnessed in this passage…there is a danger in not listening to your elders.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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