Rejecting the wisdom of those further down the road from you can result in a rough road for you...

This week, we have been looking at the life of a king of the Jewish people named King Rehoboam. Wednesday, we looked on as King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older and wiser advisors of his father. Instead King Rehoboam chose to take the advice of younger advisors who grew up with him.

These younger leaders believed that the new king needed to exert his positional power in a way that bullied the nation to fall under his leadership. Instead of serving the people for the nations good and growth, King Rehoboam was more concerned with intimidating the nation through the positional power that he held. We see the consequences of the King Rehoboam’s decision revealed for us in 2 Kings 12:12:

 Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed, saying, "Return to me on the third day." The king answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had given him, and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions." So the king did not listen to the people; for it was a turn of events from the LORD, that He might establish His word, which the LORD spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

As the representatives from the Jewish people returned on the third day to hear the response of the king to their request, King Rehoboam responded by communicating the counsel that he had received from his younger advisors. The king rejected the request of the representatives of the Jewish people and instead attempted to intimate them into following his leadership.

However, King Rehoboam’s foolish forsaking of the advice of his father’s advisors did not come as a surprise to the Lord. Instead it was a turn of events from the Lord, the He might establish His word, which the Lord spoke to the Prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam. But what does that mean? You see, the Lord, in His foreknowledge, was fully aware of King Rehoboam’s character. The Lord was fully aware of the decision that King Rehoboam would make. And the Lord had already promised to exercise His right and just response to the selfishness and rebellion of King Solomon through Jeroboam.

So God sovereignly worked in and through King Rehoboam’s foolishness to accomplish His right and just response to his father King Solomon’s selfishness and rebellion. You see, King Rehoboam was responsible for his foolish decision. And the Lord was sovereign over King Rehoboam’s decision. We see the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to Jeroboam fulfilled in 1 Kings 12:16:

 When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, "What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; To your tents, O Israel! Now look after your own house, David!" So Israel departed to their tents. But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

The representatives of the tribes of the northern part of the Jewish nation responded to King Rehoboam’s attempts of intimidation by rejecting his rule over them. The ten northern tribes of the Jewish people rebelled and rejected King Rehoboam’s rule and departed back to northern Israel to set up their own kingdom. Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to King Rehoboam.

Now, at this point, you would think that King Rehoboam would have recognized the gravity of his foolish decision. You would think that King Rehoboam would respond in a way to bring unity back to the Jewish nation. And at this point, you would be wrong, as we see in verse 18:

 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

Instead of learning from his decision, King Rehoboam followed one foolish decision with a second foolish decision. King Rehoboam chose to send a man named Adoram, who was over the forced labor, as his representative and spokesperson, to attempt to bring back northern part of the Jewish nation back under his authority. Now King Rehoboam could not have made a more foolish choice when it came to who would represent him before the ten tribes who were in rebellion against him.

After all, Adoram was the very man who was the face of the very policies that these ten tribes had hated. The representatives responded to King Rehoboam’s second foolish decision by killing his representative Adoram and placing Jeroboam, their advocate and spokesman, as king. King Rehoboam, upon hearing of the ten northern tribes decision to kill Adoram and make Jeroboam their king, responded by fleeing to the safety of Jerusalem.

And once in Jerusalem, King Rehoboam followed up his second foolish decision with another foolish plan. King Rehoboam began to plan to attack the ten northern tribes with the two tribes that were still following his leadership. Let’s see, ten tribes against your two tribes, not real bright.  It is only when the Lord intervened by sending a prophet with a command to not attack the ten northern tribes that King Rehoboam stopped his plan.

And as a result of  these events that occurred in the span of this single week in 930 B.C., the Jewish nation would never be the same. Instead of being a united nation, the Jewish people were now a divided kingdom. A divided kingdom that has never been restored. A divided kingdom that was the result of a leaders foolish decision that sent ripples throughout history.

And it is in the life of King Rehoboam that we see God reveal for us a timeless truth that has the potential to powerfully impact how we live our lives today. And that timeless truth is this: Rejecting the wisdom of those further down the road from you can result in a rough road for you. Just as it was for King Rehoboam; just as it has been for humanity throughout history; rejecting the wisdom of those further down the road from you can result in a rough road for you.

You see, just like King Rehoboam, when can often find ourselves in a place in our lives where we are tempted to reject the wisdom of those around us who are further down the road from us to instead embrace the wisdom of those who are just like us. Just like King Rehoboam, when can often find ourselves in a place in our lives where we are tempted to reject those who have experience and wisdom to not be intimidated by us and instead tell us what we needed to hear, to instead embrace the advice of those who are younger and whose desire to maintain the relationship will lead them to simply tell us what we want to hear.

Just like King Rehoboam, when can often find ourselves in a place in our lives where we are tempted to reject those who know some history about the feelings that often surround a decision to instead embrace the advice of those who are younger and who have no history about the emotional impact of a potential decision. Just like King Rehoboam, when can often find ourselves in a place in our lives where we are tempted to reject those who have a full picture and more information to inform their decision to instead embrace the advice of those who are younger who do not have the full picture and more information to inform their decision.

And just like King Rehoboam, when we reject the wisdom of those further down the road in order to embrace the advice of those who are just like us, the result can be a rough road for us. A rough road filled with regret. A rough road filled with hurt, pain, and frustration. A rough road that could have been avoided by simply taking the time to listen to the advice of those who are a little further down the road from you.

Next week, we are going to see the rough road that King Rehoboam's rejection of the wisdom of those further down the road produced for the Jewish people. In the meantime, here is a question to consider: Where are you tempted to reject the wisdom of those further down the road from you? Where are you tempted to embrace the advice of those who are at the same place in the road when it comes to age, experience, or ability instead of those who are a little further down the road from you? What are you going to do to tap into the wisdom of those who are further down the road from you?