Lessons from King Rehoboam

Lessons from King Rehoboam

This Sunday, I was privileged to hear a message from Pastor Nicky on Rehoboam “born with a silver spoon but….”

The story of King Rehoboam was an interesting one. Having the great King David as his grandfather, and the powerful and wise King Solomon as his father, Rehoboam was heir to an amazing legacy and destined for greatness in the annals of the history of Israel. However, right at the start of his reign, King Rehoboam blundered and became instead remembered as the king whose foolish decision caused the division of Israel and Judah into two separate kingdoms. How ironic given he was the son of the wisest king the world had ever seen.

But where was Rehoboam’s mistake? At Shechem all Israel had come to make him king, and they requested of him to lighten their load, for King Solomon had greatly burdened the people by his taxes, and conscription of men to build the temple and the king’s palace. At this point, Rehoboam sent the Israelites away and to return in 3 days to give him time to ponder a correct decision.

And so Rehoboam firstly asked the opinion of the wise men who had advised his father Solomon. They advised him to speak kindly to the people and they would always be his servants. However, this did not appeal to the young king who was seeking to make a name for himself. Instead, he took the poor advice of the young men who grew up with him and offended the people to the point of outright rebellion. Cocky Rehoboam boasted that his little finger was larger than his father’s waist, and that where his father used whips, he would use scorpions, implying he would be far crueler in his rule. Greatly angered, the people of Israel utterly forsook Rehoboam as king, with only Judah left under his rule.

It is important to note that in all this, there is no mention of God at all in all Rehoboam’s conduct. This shows that his heart did not seek God, and he was mainly concerned about his own honor, with no regard for what was right in God’s eyes. He did not have the wisdom to understand that pride goes before one’s downfall, and the importance of humility and discretion in his father’s proverbs. If only Rehoboam and his companions had even read and paid heed to some of King Solomon’s writings, this trouble would not have come upon the young king.

Hence the major lesson for us here is that in all important decisions, it is imperative to consider God, and also to seek godly counsel. As Rehoboam’s father himself wrote “Consider the Lord in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight”.  

Following that, Rehoboam, who still did not fully comprehend what he had done, sent Adoram who was in charge of the forced labor to negotiate with the Israelites, and they stoned him to death. In fear, the weak young king fled to Jerusalem where he raised an army of 180,000 to fight against the Israelites. At this point, God stepped in, sending his prophet Shemaiah to warn them not to fight, saying that the Lord was behind these happenings. To Rehoboam’s credit this time, he obeyed the Word of the Lord, and stopped his attack that was doomed to fail. Sometimes, when we have made a mistake, we may be tempted to overcompensate and be too desperate to recover what we have lost. In our haste and impatience, we may actually lose far, far more. Sometimes, we must realize that it is better to cut losses, consolidate, and do the best with what we have left.

Thus Rehoboam acted wisely in strengthening the cities of Judah, fortified the strongholds, and ensured sufficient supplies and weapons were in place. His rival King Jeroboam of Israel established a new system of worship for fear of the people turning back to Rehoboam, so all the true priests and worshippers of God came to Rehoboam and for three years, Judah became very strong because Rehoboam followed the ways of David and Solomon in following God. Here Rehoboam also wisely dispersed his children throughout the land and made sure they had abundance, to ensure no fighting within his large family when he had gone. Hence we see that strength and wisdom comes when God is glorified.

However, after he became strong, Rehoboam forgot the Lord, and as a result, Egypt came against Judah and subjugated it. Even at this time when Rehoboam and the princes humbled themselves before God, He spared them, and Jerusalem was not destroyed, and there was some good in Judah. Again, we see the mercy of God who accepts those who repent and turn back to Him.

All in all, looking at Rehoboam’s overall life, we see a man who started out with great promise, who through pride made a terrible mistake and lost most of his kingdom. However, when he turned back to God, God always blessed Him and His land, and in the end, his life was not a total failure in the annals of the kings. For us, the lessons are firstly, to beware of pride, but to keep ourselves humble, secondly, to beware of complacency, and wandering when we think we are strong, and finally, to always be ready to repent and turn back to God when we have turned away, confident in the grace and mercy of a faithful God! May the Lord bless us with wisdom, humility, discernment and courage in all things. In Jesus name, Amen.