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Context No. 754 of 4322 · 1 Kings

Context · Reflection

1 Kings 12:6-11: in context

6King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, “What counsel do you give me to answer these people?” 7They replied, “If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them, and answer them with good words, then they will be your servants forever.” 8But he abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. 9He said to them, “What counsel do you give, that we may answer these people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter’?” 10The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Tell these people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter to us’—tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11Now my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’”

Solomon is dead, and his son Rehoboam has gone to Shechem to be made king, where the people meet him with one request: your father laid a heavy yoke on us; lighten it, and we will serve you. Rehoboam asks for three days, and he goes to get advice, and the story turns on whom he listens to. First he consults the old men who had served his father, and their counsel is wise and plain: if you will be a servant to these people today, and speak kindly to them, they will be your servants forever. Serve them, and you keep them.

He does not like that answer, so he asks a second group, the young men he grew up with, and they tell him what his pride was hoping to hear. Puff yourself up, they say; tell them your little finger is thicker than your father's waist, that he laid on a heavy yoke and you will make it heavier, that he beat them with whips and you will beat them with scorpions. Rehoboam takes their advice, threatens the people, and within the day ten of the twelve tribes walk away and the kingdom is torn in half forever. He had the wise counsel in hand first. He kept asking until someone told him to be strong, and it cost him almost everything.

Rehoboam went looking for advice until he found the answer his pride already wanted. Whom do I keep asking until I hear what I had already decided, while the wiser word sits ignored?

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