Thoughts on Discipleship by Dr. W. A. Dillard - HTML preview

WHAT DID REHOBOAM DO THAT WAS SO WRONG?

I Kings 12

What must it be like to be the son of the wisest man who ever lived, and the grandson of the incomparable King David? This is the position and relationship of Rehoboam who inherited the throne of Israel upon the death of Solomon. The nation had reached its zenith of prosperity, power and popularity under the forty year reign of Solomon and now it was Rehoboam's turn to rule the nation of God's covenant people. What would he do? To whom would he turn?

Rehoboam immediately sought counsel from two sets of advisors. One set was the older, wiser generation who had served well under Solomon. The other was a younger, personally ambitious set anxious to flex their bureaucratic power and authority. Their advice was to further burden the people with great increases of taxation, and to build yet a greater kingdom than Solomon had built. This seems to resonate with present day circumstances. Accordingly, advice from the latter was set in place, and it led to not only a revolt, but to an actual split of the nation into two kingdoms. The southern kingdom was made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and constituted the nation of Judah over which Rehoboam continued to reign. The other was the northern kingdom of Israel, made up of the remaining ten tribes over which Jeroboam reigned in Samaria.

So what did Rehoboam do that was so wrong? As a new king, he was lifted up with pride and looked for advice in the wrong places. Unlike his grandfather, he was not a man after God's heart who sought His will and way in the affairs of government. Unlike his father, he did not seek the advice and wisdom that only God could give to enable one to fulfill such an overwhelming task of governing the nation.

So, what Rehoboam did that was so wrong was to seek the advice of sinful men, rather than God, about how to rule. Consequently, he suffered great loss, and the people also suffered much loss and hurt. It remains true: all who forget the sin of Rehoboam will blindly repeat it. God's ways are not man's ways. There is only one source from which we can know the will and ways of God. It is not from man or his reasoning however logical it may appear. Rather, it is from the Holy Spirit empowered, infallible, Word of God: the Bible. There is only one place where the Spirit of the Living God dwells in special capacity among His people of covenant: the house of God, the pillar and ground of the truth: His New Testament church. May we be quick to always seek His advice, and submit to His ways in all matters of life. To do otherwise is so wrong!

FOR THOUGHT: Just because some people may be older and more experienced, does that guarantee their advice will be correct? Just because some people may be younger and more inexperienced, does that mean their advice will be incorrect? What should be the most trusted source of advice?