June 13, 2014 – Friday

Start Time:  6:19 A.M.

End Time: 6:44 A.M.

Title: Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam

Scripture: 1 Kings 12:1 – 31

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from^[a] Egypt. So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.  Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.  They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”  But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.  He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”  The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’” Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.”  The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders,  he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”  So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.  When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, Israel! Look after your own house, David!”So the Israelites went home.  But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.  King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram,^[b] who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.  When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.  But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God:  “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.

NOTES:

Ø God is our guide so we should consult Him first whenever we face problems or burdens!  Rehoboan as his 1^st act being the King (successor of Solomon), instead of going directly to the Lord about the problem of the people, he chose to consult with the advisers of his father, Solomon.  We must remember that God is the source of all answers.  If we are bothered with something, no matter how great or small it is, our direct response should be to go to the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Not go to the wise men whom God created.  Let us always seek guidance from God and not men.

Ø We must listen to the advises of the people God appointed before us, those with experience and knowledge who are also loyal and faithful to the Lord even if we don’t feel like it.  Despite of what Solomon did, God provided his son, Rehoboan, advisers who were speaking right and justly, Rehoboan decided to abandon their advises and chose to listen to his friends.  Many times, we choose to listen to our friends instead of the advices of our parents, brothers and sisters or pastors and leaders.  We want to seek advice from those who we know but sometimes it is foolishness for we know that our friends don’t have the qualification or the experience to give us advice yet we still seek for their guidance instead of the people who have the skills, knowledge and experience in the matter.

Ø Our wrong decisions and choices create chaos and war against our own!  God allowed these things to happen to fulfill His words yet Rehoboam chose this and not God.  Rehoboam, just like any other man, has free will and he chose to be the villain instrument of the story in fulfilling God’s word.  His decision and choice led rebellion from his people so it resulted to chaos and war.  Sometimes when we don’t listen and we choose to do things our way, it just leads to chaos and war or making everything more messy.  So it’s always better to see God’s guidance and not men at all times to avoid this kind of mess.

→Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.^[c] Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David.  If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”  After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.  And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.^[d]  Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

NOTES:

Ø Fear can cause us to make the worst decision ever and this only happens when God is not with us!  Jeroboam wasted the chance God gave him.  He was chosen among the rest of Solomon’s official to take over 10 of the tribes yet because of his fear, and lack of faith to God, he chose to build altars in Bethel and Dan so that the Israelites will no longer go to Jerusalem, where Rehoboam and the tribe of Judah and some benjamites were, because of fear that they may switch allegiance.  Many times, our fear cause us to do foolish things, making us believe that it is the only way then later on we realize, when it is already too late, that it just brought us deeper into a trap causing us to be far from God and away from His counsel or guidance. 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, mighty warrior and wise Lord.  You are full of wisdom and there is just no one who can comprehend the depths of Your wisdom and knowledge.  You are our only Guide and we should only seek for Your counsel.  Lord thank You because You are ready to give Your advice whenever we come to You for it.  Help me Lord to always remember that You are my first stop when I am troubled or confuse or burdened.  Give me a heart that seeks for Your words not only when I am in trouble but in every day of my life.  Lord help me to listen to the people You have appointed leaders and people in authority over my life whom You give Your words too.  Open my ears Lord that I may listen and hear Your words.  Help me to choose You and not my own selfish decisions or wants because my own choices will only lead me to war and chaos.  Drive away fear from me Lord but filled my heart with love and faith in You.  Always remind me that fear will lead me to decide the wrong choices or decisions so I should offer those fears to You for You will drive them away of me and replace it with Faith in You.  Thank You Jesus because I know I can trust in You in any time I need to.  I love You.  And all this I ask and pray, In Jesus’ Name, Amen!