581
September 1924
T H E
K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
(d) The People’s Revolt, vs. 15, 16. Rehoboam would not listen to the people, and had to suffer the consequences (2 Chron. 12:14). “And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.” God had foretold the division of the people o f Israel, but Rehoboam illustrates how God’s sovereignty and man’s free will operates. Here was a kingdom at stake, but a king toyed with the opportunity and lost out. Heavenly inherit ances are at stake, but men trifle. Possession implies condi tions. Sin runs in the blood, but wisdom and grace do not. The tide is turned in human lives by decisions which are made. Those who rule must learn to serve. The motto of the Prince of Wales is “ I serve.” Meditate upon it. Make it your own. “ I serve Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords.’’; ; (2) REHOBOAM’S REBELLION, 12:17-24. These verses give us the short story of the division between Israel and Judah, which is recorded also in 2 Chron. 10:12-19 and 11:1-4. Israel rebelled against the house of David, but God restrained the purpose of Judah to war against Israel. (3) ROUGH RULING AND RELIGIOUS SACRILEGE, 12:25-31. (a) A Ruffled Faith, vs. 25-27. Following Rehoboam’s fatal decision, Israel departed- from him and called Jero boam to be king of Israel. When Rehoboam sent his tax collector to take tribute from Israel they slew him and Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem. Jeroboam chose Shechem for his capital. Shechem had been destroyed by Abimelech centuries before (Judges 9 :4 5 ). Money was essential for rebuilding and fortifying it, and for building a palace. Jeroboam became restless in Shechem and moved to Penuel on the east side of Jordan and repeated the building program, and this took more money. Poor Israel was getting no relief from its burdens. It never has been easy sailing for a king, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” The feast days drew near and there was a strong, natural desire to go up to Jerusalem to worship and Jeroboam feared for his throne. This gives us the background for this portion of our lesson. Jeroboam was a man of affairs. He had been one of Solomon’s advisers and a fellow worker. He was familiar with Egyptian affairs and was a strong man. He was chosen of God and chosen by the people. He knew Israel’s history, the Word of God and had before him the example of the judges and kings. But he began to reason and philosophize. “He said in his heart” (v. 26). He looked at the surround ing circumstances, but failed to look to God. God had said (11:31, 37, 3 8 ): “And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces; for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold I will rend the king dom ont of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee; And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel. And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I' command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee and will build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.” Had he forgotten, or was he indifferent to what God had said? Now he turns from God, sets his will up against God’s will and God’s Word (Isa. 4 5 :9 ). God’s promise was definite (1 1 :3 8 ). God had given him the kingdom. Why doubt? Jeroboam took counsel of his fears. He counselled with his wicked heart rather than with God and His Word. An evil heart is the root of unbelief (Heb. 3 :1 2 ). The cure for unbelief is found in God’s Word (Col. 3 :1 6 ). When we
dom. The class should be encouraged to memorize the principal persons, places, events, etc., from the “ Bird’s-Eye View” which is designed to be used in connection with the Whole Bible Lessons. (1) REQUEST FOR AND REJECTION OF ADVICE, vs. 1-16. The entire Old Testament is a commentary upon this lesson. (Prov. 16 :18 ). Solomon is dead. The “wise man” at the beginning, was the “ foolish man” at the close of his rein. God’s great gifts to him proved his undoing. Under his reign, Israel reached the climax of her glory. The seeds of disintegration have been sown broadcast. We can put our finger upon the beginning of Israel’s downfall (1 Ki. 3 :1 ). Alignment with the world for the furtherance of God’s kingdom is an old and subtle temptation, and has always been disastrous. The children of God are a separate peo ple; they are not of this world. (a) Rehoboam Consults the Old Men, vs. 6, 7, 1 Ki. 14:21. Rehoboam was raised in a harem. He was the successor to a kingdom,— an example of starting right and ending wrong. The people were burdened with taxes. The king dom could only be maintained at enormous outlay. It was honeycombed with idolatry and God had prophesied it should be divided (1 1 :1 1 ). The people had gathered at Shechem to make Rehoboam king. It was an historical spot. Here God appeared to Abraham (Gen. 1 2 :6 ). Here Jacob re-entered the Holy Land. Jacob’s well ■tfas there. It was the center of Eph raim and once the abiding place of the ark of God. Jeroboam was one of Solomon’s mighty men who had fled to Egypt for refuge and was now called back by Israel to become their leader. Rehoboam asked for three days to consider the request of the people. He sought counsel from the old men. They asked for relief. Their burdens were described in 4:7-20, 22, 23; 9:15-23. These burdens were similar to the burdens put by the Pharisees upon the Jews (Matt. 2 3 :4 ). The people requested the king to become a servant, and that was wise (Mark 10:42, 43). This was the place that the King of kings took (Phil. 2 :7 -11 ). Had Rehoboam studied his father’s proverbs he would have found one of them espec ially helpful (Prov. 1 5 :1 ). v “ A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grevious words stir up anger.” (b) Rehoboam Rejects the Counsel of the Old Men, vs. 8-11. He advised with the young men. His father was wise, for he consulted with Jehovah (1 Ki. 3 :9 ): “Give therefore thy servant an understanding: heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” This did Jeremiah also (Jer. 32 :1 9 ). We would do well to follow their example. Take advice from wise men, but consult, also God’s Word (Prov. 19 :20 ). Israel now faced what God had prophesied (1 Sam. 8 :1 8 ). “And ye shall cry out in that day because of the king: which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.” (c) Rehoboam’s Reckless Reply, vs. 12-14. He had made his choice and laid the foundation for his own down fall (2 Chron. 1 2 :1 ): “The thoughts of the righteous are right, but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.” (Prov. 12:5). We cannot stop here to tell what the tremendous conse quences were to his people, but can only suggest ihat often upon the decisions we make concerning our relation to God and His service, untold results depend.
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter