20240917

bad call

1 Kings 12:1-15 (JDV)

1 Kings 12:1 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem because all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.
1 Kings 12:2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about it, he stayed in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon’s presence. Jeroboam stayed in Egypt.
1 Kings 12:3 But they summoned him, and Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam:
1 Kings 12:4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. You, therefore, lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
1 Kings 12:5 Rehoboam replied, “Go away for three days and then return to me.” So, the people left.
1 Kings 12:6 Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon when he was alive, asking, “How do you advise me to respond to this people?”
1 Kings 12:7 They replied, “Today if you will be a servant to this people and serve them, and if you respond to them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
1 Kings 12:8 But he rejected the advice of the elders who had advised him and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and attended him.
1 Kings 12:9 He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to this people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”
1 Kings 12:10 Then the young men who had grown up with him told him, “This is what you should say to these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us! ‘ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist!
1 Kings 12:11 Although my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips.'”
1 Kings 12:12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had ordered: “Return to me on the third day.”
1 Kings 12:13 Then the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice the elders had given him
1 Kings 12:14 and spoke to them according to the young men’s advice: “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips.”
1 Kings 12:15 The king did not listen to the people because this turn of events came from Yahveh to carry out his word, which Yahveh had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

bad call

We are not told what Rehoboam’s motive was for refusing to follow the advice of the old men. We might assume that he wanted to be popular with the younger generation, and show strength. Bad call. But God was in it because he had determined to judge Solomon’s house. Sometimes popularity comes at too great a price.

LORD, give us wisdom to serve those we lead.