1 Kings Chapter 12
In the last chapter, we read about how Solomon had many wives and concubines. Yet, Rehoboam was the only son of Solomon that we know by name.
Solomon made the yoke of the people heavy such that the people wanted relief, hence offering allegiance to Rehoboam if he agreed to do so. Rehoboam first sought the counsel of older, experienced advisors who served Solomon. They gave the wise counsel that “If you will be a servant to this people today…then they will be your servants forever.” (v.7)
Yet, he rejected their advice but consulted the young men. These are people who “had grown up with him, had stood before him”. (v.8) Naturally, these younger men would have likely told Rehoboam what he wanted to hear.
This might not be foreign to us today. Sometimes, do we keep asking different people for advice until we are told what we want to hear?
We might already have our own answers but we simply needed some affirmation.
However, if senior and experienced individuals tell us otherwise, will we neglect their advice? In Rehoboam’s case, this is an unwise and ungodly way to get counsel.
When Rehoboam spoke harshly to the northern tribes three days later, it led to a revolt – “what share have we in David?” (v.16) While a takeaway we can gather is that it’s foolish to ignore the counsel of the older, we see that “the turn of events was from the Lord” (v.15).
During Rehoboam’s reign, the kingdom was divided into the kingdom of Israel in the North and the kingdom of Judah in the South and has been in rebellion ever since (v.19). When Rehoboam attempted to bring them back and sent for Adoram, Adoram was stoned (v.18).
When Rehoboam was ready to fight against the house of Israel, the Lord spoke otherwise. It was once more emphasised that it was the Lord behind this turn of events – “Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” (v.24).
