Click to read 1 Kings 12
Synopsis
As the Lord had commanded, Solomon's son Rehoboam was made to become king of only one tribe - Judah. He had this coming his way also because he did not listen to good advice and instead created an opportunity for the people to rebel against him. Jeroboam then had the opportunity to become king of the rest of Israel, again as the Lord had planned.
However, both Rehobam and Jeroboam did not obey the Lord and the nation plunged into chaos. Israel never saw glorious days again.
Major Verses
V6-11 - The oppressed people came to their new king, Rehoboam and pleaded for him to be lenient to them. Rehoboam was right to seek counsel before deciding. He sought the advices of both the elders and his young peers. Unfortunately, he did not properly evaluate the advices and simply took those from the younger group and the people rebelled against him. If he had taken time to evaluate the advices, he would surely find that those offered by the elders was wiser and would win the nation over.
What I learn
It is important to seek counsel and advice if we need to make major decisions, especially for those that will impact others. However, we also need to ask God for wisdom to evaluate the advices and then take the right one. For me, I would check if the advice is realistic and workable. It is also important to seek counsel from more experienced and wiser people, someone who has a spiritual covering demonstrated in their life consistently. More importantly, I would check if it is consistent with biblical principles. Decisions made that are not according to God's principles will never be truly right nor successful.
V21 - 24 - These are interesting verses. Rehoboam was ready to go to war against Jeroboam with 180,000 fighting men. This time, when the good advice came from the Lord through Shemaiah not to do so, Rehoboam obeyed. This act of obedience averted unnecessary bloodshed amongst the "brothers" of Israel. It finally dawned upon Rehoboam that the Lord was carrying out His judgment against Solomon 's sin (1 Kings 11:36), that is, that David's descendants would only rule over one tribe and not the whole Israel.
What I learn
It is fruitless to go against the Lord's will. Though Solomon sinned and disobeyed God, He kept His promise to David to have his sons in his throne, albeit, over one tribe. We need to know that any sinful act against God will have its consequence. While God is gracious to forgive us, we need to resolve to repent of our sins. Being disobedient to God robs ourselves of His abundant blessings for our life. Let's resolve to depend on God's strength to resist temptations. Let us pray daily to be obedient to God.
V28 - 30 - Jeroboam lost faith in God despite God giving him assurance that he would rule over all of Israel. He was fearful of Rehoboam and thus hatched a plan to keep the people from going to Jerusalem to worship God. He took bad advice, just as Rehoboam did. To create idols was definitely against God's instructions and yet, that he did. Both Rehoboam and Jeroboam put their own objectives ahead of God's and bear the consequences thereafter.
What I learn
God's instructions are clear for us. With the Holy Spirit's help, we can know what He has for us. By studying the Bible, we can know what are God's principles for us to follow. Let us align our heart to Him so that we would not stray. For if we do, we will surely bring pain to ourselves.
Summary
Both Rehoboam and Jeroboam suffered consequences when they did not obey God. While they sought advice, they did not evaluate the advices to see if they are according to Godly principles. If they did, it would have been clear to both that their decisions were wrong. Let us seek God's guidance in all our decisions so that we may live according to His plan for us.
Encourage me and others....
Have your say by penning your learning and thoughts through the "Comments" link below. Let's encourage each other.
Up next...
An interesting story unfolds with the "man of God from Judah" proclaiming the Lord's word against the altars that Jeroboam built and yet ended with the man's death out of his own disobedient to God. Check out 1 Kings 13 ... coming up on 14th Jan...
This is one of the important markers in the history of Israel, one that is crucial to our understanding the Bible. From this point on, the southern kingdom will be known as Judah, with Jerusalem as its capital and one of David's descendants as their king. The northern kingdom, composed of ten tribes, will be known as Israel. Samaria will eventually become its capital and its dynasties will frequently change. At times, the two kingdoms will be at war with each other, and at other times they will make certain alliances. The northern kingdom will consistently have evil kings and behave wickedly. They will be the first to be scattered in judgment. The southern kingdom will have its good kings and its wicked ones, and eventually Judah will be taken into captivity by the Babylonians.
ReplyDelete"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
(Romans 15:4)"