20 Walk with the wise and become wise,
for a companion of fools suffers harm. Proverbs 13
We saw yesterday that the first thing Solomon lost when he turned away from God was Peace. God raised up three enemies against him and he actually tried to kill Jeroboam, 1 Kings 11:40. Just as King Saul had tried to murder David. It’s so easy to blame others when things don’t go our way, but the true answer may lie with us.
Rehoboam, son of Solomon, went to Shechem to be made king by all Israel. The people were willing to serve under him, but wanted a reduction in the workload Solomon had demanded from them. Another sign of growing discontent.
4 ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, BUT NOW LIGHTEN THE HARSH LABOUR AND HEAVY YOKE HE PUT ON US AND WE WILL SERVE YOU.’
5 Rehoboam answered, ‘Go away for three days and then come back to me.’ So the people went away. 1 Kings 12
(People can only be oppressed for so long. Sooner or later they will rise up and fight back, sometimes with explosive consequences.)
Rehoboam first consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon.
‘How would you advise me to answer these people?’ he asked.
7 They replied, ‘IF TODAY YOU WILL BE A SERVANT TO THESE PEOPLE AND SERVE THEM AND GIVE THEM A FAVOURABLE ANSWER, THEY WILL ‘ALWAYS’ BE YOUR SERVANTS.’
The word SERVE appears three times in different forms in the answer given by the elders. They urged Rehoboam to treat the people well (answer them Favourably) and they would ‘ALWAYS SERVE HIM’.
8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, ‘What is your advice?
13 The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, 14 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.’
Rehoboam ‘repeated or parroted’ the exact words of his young peers. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS TO ALLOW ANYONE TO PUT WORDS IN OUR MOUTHS. They may say their words to you alone but the consequences will be all yours if you repeat them in public.
15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfil the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
The people rebelled against the harsh words of Rehoboam and the land of Israel was split and never really recovered. Jeroboam also rejected God’s offer to build him a lasting dynasty, like David. 1 Kings 11:37-39 Instead the majority of God’s people were led into idolatry when Jeroboam set up golden calves (idols have to look good) at Bethel and Dan.
Bad counsel given to Kings, or any leaders, can be much more serious as it will affect those under them. Solomon ‘held fast to his pagan wives’ and started the downward spiral of Israel. That’s why the enemy always tries to get control of leaders by any means possible.
May God bless and keep you today.