The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Kings 12:8,
"Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him."
As the son of King Solomon, Rehoboam ascended to the throne in Israel following his father's death. However, we read that the Lord sent a prophet to Jeroboam, a man who had rebelled against King Solomon, to tell him the Lord was going to take the ten northern tribes of Israel from Solomon's house and give them to Jeroboam to rule. Due to the sinful direction Israel had taken, it would now become a divided nation.
The way the Lord carried this out was he simply used Rehoboam's own foolishness against him. Upon his assumption of the throne, Rehoboam wisely consulted his father's counselors, but unwisely rejected their counsel. Instead, he chose to pursue the counsel of "young men who had grown up with him". The outcome was predictably disastrous. Consulting one's own inner circle never provides anything beyond what already resides in that inner circle, nullifying any help or advantage consulting advisers might provide.
The response of the Israelites to the direction Rehoboam took was, "When all Israel saw that the king [Rehoboam] 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, Israel! Look after your own house, David!' So the Israelites went home." 1 Kings 12:16.
We read in Proverbs 12:15, "The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice." Implied in that proverb is that a wise person will listen to wise advice, but fools don't know what to listen to. This is what makes them fools, and Rehoboam was a fool. Given the father Rehoboam had in Solomon, the wisest man that had ever lived, how corrupt this man Rehoboam must have been to lack the ability (or possibly the desire) to listen to wise advice. Quite possibly Proverbs 14:15 might fit here, "The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps." It is evident Rehoboam either didn't care or just did not have a clue. Either way, the Lord used the foolishness bound up in the heart of Rehoboam to take ten of Israel's tribes away from him.
The Lord's use of a person's corruption (or a people's corruption) to bring about what he intends to accomplish is a theme often seen in Scripture's accounts of the Lord's devastating judgments. While the Lord certainly could have divided the nation through other means, this is how he did it.
I suspect we can assume the Lord still operates in just this very way, both with individuals as well as with nations.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him."
As the son of King Solomon, Rehoboam ascended to the throne in Israel following his father's death. However, we read that the Lord sent a prophet to Jeroboam, a man who had rebelled against King Solomon, to tell him the Lord was going to take the ten northern tribes of Israel from Solomon's house and give them to Jeroboam to rule. Due to the sinful direction Israel had taken, it would now become a divided nation.
The way the Lord carried this out was he simply used Rehoboam's own foolishness against him. Upon his assumption of the throne, Rehoboam wisely consulted his father's counselors, but unwisely rejected their counsel. Instead, he chose to pursue the counsel of "young men who had grown up with him". The outcome was predictably disastrous. Consulting one's own inner circle never provides anything beyond what already resides in that inner circle, nullifying any help or advantage consulting advisers might provide.
The response of the Israelites to the direction Rehoboam took was, "When all Israel saw that the king [Rehoboam] 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, Israel! Look after your own house, David!' So the Israelites went home." 1 Kings 12:16.
We read in Proverbs 12:15, "The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice." Implied in that proverb is that a wise person will listen to wise advice, but fools don't know what to listen to. This is what makes them fools, and Rehoboam was a fool. Given the father Rehoboam had in Solomon, the wisest man that had ever lived, how corrupt this man Rehoboam must have been to lack the ability (or possibly the desire) to listen to wise advice. Quite possibly Proverbs 14:15 might fit here, "The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps." It is evident Rehoboam either didn't care or just did not have a clue. Either way, the Lord used the foolishness bound up in the heart of Rehoboam to take ten of Israel's tribes away from him.
The Lord's use of a person's corruption (or a people's corruption) to bring about what he intends to accomplish is a theme often seen in Scripture's accounts of the Lord's devastating judgments. While the Lord certainly could have divided the nation through other means, this is how he did it.
I suspect we can assume the Lord still operates in just this very way, both with individuals as well as with nations.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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