Day 33: Rehoboam
1 Kings 12:1-20, 14:21-31
- just a bit of background, Rehoboam was the son of King Solomon and succeeded him as the king of Judah (southern kingdom). What happened was that the rest of Israel broke off after Solomon to form their own kingdom under Jeroboam (who I think I will read about tomorrow). I believe that the tribe of Judah was the only one to follow David and thus the separate southern kingdom was born.
- the people came to Rehoboam and he wasn't sure how to go about ruling over them. He first consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon and then consulted the young men that he had grown up with: his peers essentially. The elders told him to listen to the people and serve their needs while his peers told him that he should be even harder on the people than his father. Rehoboam chose to follow the advice of the young men.
- because of this, all of Israel except for the tribe of Judah left him and made Jeroboam king over them.
- so Rehoboam assumed the throne of Judah at 41 years and ruled for 17 years.
- under his rule, Judah did evil in the eyes of God and it says that they stirred up God's jealous anger even more than their forefathers. They set up Asherah poles, idols, male shrine prostitutes and engaged in many other sinful practices.
- as a consequence, a king of Egypt (Shishak) attacked and looted the temple of the Lord and carried off all the treasures that Solomon had placed there.
- there was constant fighting between Rehoboam and Jeroboam and after he died, his son Abijah succeeded him as king.
Hrm...listening to the advice of your peers rather than the advice of your elders...sounds very familiar. I think a lot of times I think the older generation is jaded and wrong in their thinking. They don't understand how things work or how to deal with current issues that younger people face. In some cases this is true. But I know right now I wish I had the sound advice of someone older on life issues like working, school and dating/relationships. As much as I trust my friends, the bottom line is that most of us are really at the same point in life. We can do our best to encourage and lift each other up but it's really hard to give advice on how to deal with the future if we've never had the experience ourselves. Rehoboam was foolish to not listen to the elders in this case and it cost him big time. I really need to work on developing a more intimate bond with my parents. I just can't talk to them about anything important in life and it's really tough because I really wish I could benefit from their advice. It's a struggle just to not fight let alone exchange advice. This is something I need to work at more.
- just a bit of background, Rehoboam was the son of King Solomon and succeeded him as the king of Judah (southern kingdom). What happened was that the rest of Israel broke off after Solomon to form their own kingdom under Jeroboam (who I think I will read about tomorrow). I believe that the tribe of Judah was the only one to follow David and thus the separate southern kingdom was born.
- the people came to Rehoboam and he wasn't sure how to go about ruling over them. He first consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon and then consulted the young men that he had grown up with: his peers essentially. The elders told him to listen to the people and serve their needs while his peers told him that he should be even harder on the people than his father. Rehoboam chose to follow the advice of the young men.
- because of this, all of Israel except for the tribe of Judah left him and made Jeroboam king over them.
- so Rehoboam assumed the throne of Judah at 41 years and ruled for 17 years.
- under his rule, Judah did evil in the eyes of God and it says that they stirred up God's jealous anger even more than their forefathers. They set up Asherah poles, idols, male shrine prostitutes and engaged in many other sinful practices.
- as a consequence, a king of Egypt (Shishak) attacked and looted the temple of the Lord and carried off all the treasures that Solomon had placed there.
- there was constant fighting between Rehoboam and Jeroboam and after he died, his son Abijah succeeded him as king.
Hrm...listening to the advice of your peers rather than the advice of your elders...sounds very familiar. I think a lot of times I think the older generation is jaded and wrong in their thinking. They don't understand how things work or how to deal with current issues that younger people face. In some cases this is true. But I know right now I wish I had the sound advice of someone older on life issues like working, school and dating/relationships. As much as I trust my friends, the bottom line is that most of us are really at the same point in life. We can do our best to encourage and lift each other up but it's really hard to give advice on how to deal with the future if we've never had the experience ourselves. Rehoboam was foolish to not listen to the elders in this case and it cost him big time. I really need to work on developing a more intimate bond with my parents. I just can't talk to them about anything important in life and it's really tough because I really wish I could benefit from their advice. It's a struggle just to not fight let alone exchange advice. This is something I need to work at more.
Labels: Bible Characters
posted by Matt at 12:44 PM
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