Unless you have been living under a rock (I don’t blame you!), it is quite apparent that there are worldwide power struggles among many nations and their political leaders: leaders stepping down, regime changes, militaries taking control, etc. I was reminded this week of the phrase that there is ‘nothing new under the sun’. How true that statement really becomes when we read through the Old Testament. What divides a nation? Well, the same things that have been happening since the beginning of time.
What I love about the Chronicler is his strong focus on God. It helps formulate not only historical accounts, but also your theology when you read through the accounts of the Israelite kings while recognizing God’s sovereignty. Oftentimes, life itself can consume our thoughts while we miss the big picture.
The big picture is God’s sovereignty, and this is paramount to any understanding you have on who God is.
It’s never too late to start….
Generational challenges…
Consider the point in history we are now dealing with. The Israelites fled from slavery, wandered in the desert, became a new nation, established a new government, settled in the Promised Land, and had their first, second, and third kings.
Solomon was only ever the third king of Israel and he was a fantastical leader that other nations revered. His incredible wisdom mixed with his extraordinary wealth was awe-inspiring to all. Yet, this doesn’t always translate down the generational paths. Jump back, if you will, to King Saul and it is easy to see that he and his son are very different. Or consider, perhaps, the well-known ‘third generation‘ logic; the Israelites had already introduced us to this (the generation three times removed from the slaves who fled Egypt were vastly different than their predecessors).
Here, we see a similar framework. David was the first king in the Davidic line. His role was to fight the battles to establish the Promised Land; he also prepared the way for Solomon to reign during a season of peace and to build God’s temple. Solomon, now the second generation, received those benefits after seeing the hard work it took, and he was blessed immensely in worldly wealth by God following his humble request for wisdom (Godly wealth). We now approach the third generation, where the hard work and struggles are not in the forefront of one’s mind as much as it was with the second generation.
Wisdom is not always passed down…
He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away. Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”
2 Chronicles 10:5-6
Rehoboam was the third generation from David and initially appears to carry on his father’s mindset. The first example of this is seen in 2 Chronicles 10:5 when the people come to him essentially asking what kind of leader he will be. His initial reaction is steeped in wisdom, asking them to give him some time, but that is as far as it goes.
Think about it, the wisest man on earth was his Dad, Solomon. Now, this 41-year old man takes over the throne of what could arguably be called the greatest kingdom in the world at that time and he seeks advise from the advisors to the wisest man on earth.
But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.
2 Chronicles 10:8
However, he chose to not follow their advise. Instead, he turns to the buddies he grew up with to advise him. Again, let’s reiterate here, the men who advised the wisest man on earth, their counsel was ignored and he went with polar opposite advise.
The pendulum swing…
No man can bequeath his prosperity to his heirs any more than his wisdom; though our children will generally be affected by our conduct, whether good or bad.
Matthew Henry Commentary, on 2 Chronicles 10
As parents, it is desired that our children raise up to be believers; our first mission field is our families after all. Be that as it may, a common shift can occur when children become adults, a power shift, of sorts, turning away from the foundations they came from to differentiate themselves from their parents. Sometimes, this can be an incredibly healthy act (think of King Saul and Jonathan) and other times it can be incredibly detrimental (what we see here with King Solomon and King Rehoboam).
So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. 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 affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill His word, which He spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
2 Chronicles 10:12-15
King Rehoboam sought to rule with an iron fist, vastly different than King Solomon. Since Israel had just lived through a time of immense prosperity, this was a major pendulum shift for them as a nation also. The nation of Israel was not okay with this tyrannical leader.
Catch that?
They rebelled. Why? “It was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill His word.” This was all under God’s sovereign control. He knew the nation would split and this was the course it would follow to occur.
While there are not a ton of details, look at what we do know, Jeroboam had come home (after receiving a foreshadowing that he would be king), he leads the people to confront Rehoboam, everyone disperses back to their homes, the people stoned Adoniram while Rehoboam escaped, and Jeroboam is elected king of the 10 tribes (not Judah or Simeon).
What divides a nation?
The nation is now divided. Three kings in and it has split apart. The northern kingdom had a penchant for evil, while the Southern showcased one of progress toward obedient hearts (not perfection).
For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers.
2 Chronicles 11:14-16
The basic framework of what defined each ‘side’ fundamentally opposed the other. Those who did seek the Lord fled the north to reside where God was still the ultimate ruler. The ‘priests’ in the north were not Godly priests yet carried the same title.
What divides a nation? One person who sought power was not enough to split a nation, it went much deeper. The entire people group was fundamentally divided. Click To TweetWhat divides a nation? One person who sought power was not enough to split a nation, it went much deeper. The entire people group was fundamentally divided: who they worshiped, who they followed as kings, who and what they revered, who they appointed as priests, who they sacrificed to, and who their hearts sought after. The North mocked God on all fronts; but remember, it was not just the leaders, it was also the people. They followed suit.
God’s divine oversight…
The Israelite split was divinely overseen, as stated in 1 Kings 12:12:15 and 2 Chronicles 10:15, “for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken….”
[T]he writer … does not condone either the foolish act of Rehoboam or the revolutionary spirit of the northern tribes, but he reminds the reader that all these things occurred to bring about the divinely announced punishment on the house of David for Solomon’s idolatry and breach of the covenant (1 Kings 11:9-13).
NIV Study Bible
While the political situation within your country may seem unstable, it can significantly reduce your anxiety level when you understand that God is in control. He was then, He is now. There is nothing new under the sun. The same darkness and evil that permeates today’s society and is in abject rebellion against what the Word of God says, was present at that time as well. It should comfort us greatly to see God was sovereign then, just as He is now.
The picture of the Old Testament…
Familiarize yourself with the ups and downs of the Old Testament, permeate your reading through a lens of God’s sovereignty in the stories surrounding these political upheavals, see the overriding care of God to protect His people and care for them when they show humility.
These stories provide the backdrop of what is to come in the Bible, an even deeper understanding of the times. We are learning the history here (the darkness of man, if you will, and the situations they–and us–face), soon the Bible will traverse through the books wrought with wisdom, and THEN it will guide us through the accounts of the prophets as they relate to these situations we are reading now.
Only once we have wisdom in the forefront of our minds do we see what God’s prophets endured. It is said that courage is contagious, and all these years later, the prophets’ courage is still contagious. It encourages a boldness in our faith to stand firm for the Lord through everything. With that mindset then, Jesus enters the picture. From knowing and understanding the history of depravity, teaching the lessons in wisdom, encouraging a courageous attitude, the Bible approaches the gospel message. The Old testament is paramount to our beliefs as it leads us to the gospel; we take with us all of the past reading to see the beauty of the gospel message, apply it to our lives, and are emboldened to share it with everyone!
It is a beautiful picture and we are only just beginning to unveil!
Last Week
1 Chronicles 29 – 2 Chronicles 6
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