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the young men. The old men advised him to conciliate the people and win them by yielding to their demands. The young men urged him to he independent and despotic. In following the counsel of the young men, he showed neither wisdom, piety nor common sense. “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.” ( “He answered the people roughly.” It was bad enough to refuse their reasonable request. The manner of his refusal added insult to injury. When the people saw that there was no relief in sight ten tribes seceded and the kingdom was rent in twain. The re bellion was successful and permanent. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin alone remained faithful. When Rehoboam sent a deputy to collect taxes they stoned him to death. The king feared for his own life and returned to Jerusalem. Jeroboam became king of Israel and was of such infamous memory that his reign is summed up in the well-known phrase, “Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin /’ Rehoboam missed his opportunity. He inherited a great and glorious kingdom. He might have had a long and prosperous reign. “Thd cause was from the Lord.” (v. 15) Solomon’s failure must be dealt with in Divine discipline and God permitted the folly of wicked men to fulfill his purposes. Old men are the best for counsel. The wisdom and experience of age are assets to be taken account of. There is great peril in forgetting the prosperity that God has given. Service is the test of greatness. He rules best who serves most. He is the greatest ruler who serves the greatest number. “I am among you as he that serveth.” “Who soever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.” (Mdrk 10:44) An old writer has said that Solomon had a thousand wives, but only one son and he was a fool. He illustrates the golden text of Prov. 16:18, in the pride that goeth before destruction. Ignorance and self-will minister to sel(-conceit and lead to folly and disaster. Rarely does one who has been cradled in the lap of luxury and sur rounded by an atmosphere of worldliness make a successful ruler and leader of men. He who would be a king among his fellows must be inured to hardship and self-denial and be able to rule his own spirit first of all. Rehoboam.^ His name means “Enlarger of the people,” expressing the hope of his father for his son. The son dis appointed these hopes, and by a strange irony his life was the contradiction of his name,—he became the “Diminisher of his people.”—Peloubet. COMMENTS V. 13. Rehoboam displayed neither FROM THE piety, wisdom nor good taste.—Selec. COMMENTARIES The One Adviser omitted was the V. V. Morgan only one of whose wisdom Rehoboam could have been sure, the one to whom he should have gone first of all—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.—-Peloubet. V. 14. He heeded not the wise words of age and ex perience, nor did he ask counsel of God. His mind was filled with the thought of his own importance and of kingly power. He overlooked a universal law. Consequences, re sulting from choices made, are inevitable. Effects follow causes. Louis the Fourteenth made his autocratic boast, “I am the state,” and prepared the way for the French Revolution. Rehoboam haughtily announced, “I will add to yo.ur yoke,” and paved the way for a divided kingdom and the “ten lost tribes.” The opportunity to illustrate the great law of Christian service, “Whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all,” was lost. He delib erately chose to sow to the wind and reaped the whirlwind. Choice for you is fraught with as grave responsibility as for Rehoboam. Choose darkness rather than light; sow to the flesh rather than to the Spirit, and you will lose your kingdom of love and light and power.—Prac. Com.
God took Abraham from the pit of sin and idolatry, justi fied him by grace through faith, and gave him promises based solely on grace (Rom. 4:16). In some respects God’s dealings with Joseph might seem to be severe; and yet through all we see God’s grace, es pecially in the case of Joseph’s brothers. The word spoken by God to Moses: “Thou has); found grace in my sight” (Ex. 33:17) was true throughout his life, and in God’s dealings through him with Israel as a nation. By grace they were redeemed from the Egyptian bondage, saved from destruction at Sinai (Ex. 32), and cared for during the wilderness wanderings. Even at the time of the giving of the law, there was a wonderful revela tion of God’s grace in the Tabernacle, with its priestly ser vice and system of sacrifices, covering every need of un worthy sinners, and pointing forward to Him who was “full of grace and truth” (Jno.. 1:14). It was through grace that Israel was brought into, and given possession of, the land of Canaan (Ps. 43:3). It was surely not merit, but grace, that wrought deliverance for the unfaithful nation during the period of the Judges. Grace brought about the revival in Samuel’s time, and restored straying David to happy fellowship with God (Ps. 51 and 32). Even in pronouncing judgment upon the faith less Solomon, there is a touch of God’s grace. “I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy serv ant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake” (1 Ks. 11:11, 12). Truly “the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” May this review result in many being led to close in with His offers of grace in Christ Jesus! , 1924. THE KINGDOM RENT ASUNDER Golden Text: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Prov. 16:18. Lesson Text: 1 Ki. 12:12-20. Read 1 Kings 12:1-16; 28. Toward the close of Solomon’s reign, there was deep and widespread dissatisfaction on account of heavy taxation and mutual jealousy among the tribes especially between Judah in the South and Ephraim in the North. Compul sory labor and the practice of idolatry LESSON also brought his reign into disrepute. The EXPOSITION accession of Rehoboam to the throne was F. W. Farr not hailed with universal acclamation. Ephraim and Manasseh belonged to the house of Joseph and with the neighboring tribe of Benja min had furnished the rulers of Israel down to David. The list includes Joshua, Deborah, Gideon, Abimelech, Samuel and Saul. The proud spirit of Ephraim chafed under the faithful administration of its own heroes like Joshua and Jepthath. Now, when sovereign and electing grace “refused the taber nacle of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved,” (Psalm 78:67, 6 8 ), the northern tribes resented it and were ready for rebellion and revolt. Rehoboam seems to have been the only son of Solomon but his claim to the kingdom'of his father must be ratified by popular consent and approval. In order to secure this he went to Shechem which was central to the tribes of the north. The people petitioned him for lighter burdens than his father had imposed. He asked for three days to con sider the request. He asked advice from the old men and APRIL 6
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