1 Kings 12:17-24: a reflection

17But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the men subject to forced labor; and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam hurried to get himself up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. 19So Israel rebelled against David’s house to this day. 20When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was no one who followed David’s house, except for the tribe of Judah only. 21When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23“Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, 24‘The LORD says, “You shall not go up or fight against your brothers, the children of Israel. Everyone return to his house; for this thing is from me.”’” So they listened to the LORD’s word, and returned and went their way, according to the LORD’s word.

The kingdom of Israel splits in two. After Rehoboam's harshness, the northern tribes reject him and make Jeroboam their king, leaving Rehoboam with only Judah. It is a painful, even violent rupture, and Rehoboam's first instinct is to raise a large army and force the northern tribes back under his rule by war. He assembles his warriors, determined to reclaim by the sword what he has lost.

But before the fighting begins, God sends a prophet with a startling word: do not go up to fight against your brothers; everyone return home, for this thing is from me. The division that felt like a disaster to Rehoboam was, in some mysterious way, part of God's own doing, a judgment and a providence he was to accept rather than resist. And remarkably, Rehoboam and his people listen; they lay down their weapons and go home, submitting to God's word rather than forcing their own will.

There is hard wisdom here for painful situations we long to fix by force. Sometimes what feels like a disaster, a loss, a division, a door closing, is, in ways we cannot fully see, from God's own hand, a providence to be accepted rather than fought. The temptation is to raise an army and force things back the way we want them. But God sometimes calls us, as he called Rehoboam, to lay down our weapons, to stop fighting, and to accept a hard providence as from him. Ask God for the discernment to know when to fight and when to submit, and the humility to obey.

Lord, when the kingdom divided, you told Rehoboam not to fight his brothers, for the thing was from you, and he laid down his weapons and obeyed. Give me that discernment and humility. When a painful loss or division comes, help me to see whether it is a hard providence from your hand, and to accept what is from you rather than forcing my own will by strife. Teach me when to submit, and give me grace to obey. Amen.