Solomon was the wisest of all men in his time. He wrote thousands of wise sayings, but he also suffered from blindness. A blindness to his desire to please himself! He confessed in that he withheld no pleasure from himself. He had 300 wives and 700 concubines. They turned his heart to other gods. [1]
After he died, the people of his kingdom said to his son, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us and we will serve you.” [2]
Solomon may have been great in his own eyes and in the eyes of other national leaders, but the people under him were ready to revolt. When his son told the people that he would add to the weight of their yoke, they revolted, and the nation split into two nations.
Unfettered personal ambition shattered the nation. Wise counselors told Solomon’s son, “If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” [3] His son rejected wisdom.
“Certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was soft of heart and could not withstand them.” [4] The devil hits young people with peer pressure to do wrong. The worthless scoundrels in Rehoboam’s youthful life persuaded him to abandon God’s Word. Later, when he was king, he persuaded the people of his country to do the same.
“When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.” [5]
The Lord allowed an enemy nation to come against Rehoboam and his people with the goal that they would turn back to Him. A prophet of the Lord said to Rehoboam and his princes, “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned Me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” [6] This strategy worked. “Then, the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ‘The Lord is righteous.’ When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the Word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: ‘They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.’” [7]
Praise the Lord that He does not write people off forever who abandon Him and His Word. He provides for them powerful incentives for them to return to Him. When they return to the Heavenly Father, they find that HE is the Good Shepherd. The Lord leads those who follow Him to a meaningful and good life.
May the Lord continue to bless people with skills and strengths, but also keep us humble before Him. Then, we will truly leave behind a good memory in the hearts of those who knew us. And He, our Father in Heaven, will have been glorified by what we did with our lives.
[1] Ecclesiastes 2:10; 1 Kings 11:3-4
[2] 2 Chronicles 10:4
[3] 2 Chronicles 10:7
[4] 2 Chronicles 13:7
[5] 2 Chronicles 12:1
[6] 2 Chronicles 12:5
[7] 2 Chronicles 12:6-8
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