Divided We Fall - 1 Kings 12
Divided We Fall 1Kings 12
We have all heard the adage, “United we stand, divided we fall.” There is much of what I would call common sense wisdom in that. There are also a lot of scriptures that testify to this as well. E.g., Didn’t our Lord Jesus say, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.” (Luke 11:17)
I am sure without too much trouble you can think now of the times of great blessing in your life where it was clearly a united effort, e.g. sacrifice and unity within a family to stay strong and committed to common goals within the family; or the achievement of a team working together to achieve a sporting goal or a financial achievement in the workplace.
There are always reasons behind a division; not all division and pulling away is unjustified. But generally, when there is a noble and agreed upon goal or outcome, when division happens it is generally motivated by self-will somewhere in the equation.
Such was the case here with Rehoboam and the history of the divided kingdom of Israel.
A life of privilege. Rehoboam grew up under the wealth, wisdom and blessing of Solomon, but was also subjected to his father’s moral decay. It says of Solomon that “He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods.” (1 Kings 11:3,4) The women were the instruments, but of course it was Solomon who allowed his heart to be led astray.
Advice Shopping. “But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him.” (verse 8) Even before Rehoboam ever consulted with the younger men, he rejected the advice of the elders. Better a few trusted counsellors you will listen to, even when they tell you what you don’t want to hear, “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22)
One commentator puts it this way. “With a dozen rash words, Rehoboam, the bungling dictator, opened the door for four hundred years of strife, weakness, and, eventually, the destruction of the entire nation.” (Dilday). Words matter, actions matter more. Rehoboam continued to act as a fool.
Folly personified. Rehoboam didn’t take the words of Jeroboam seriously and sent a guy by the name of Adoniram to collect labour from Israel. (verse 18) Rehoboam sent a man that wasn’t liked in Israel. 1 Kings 5:13, 14 says, “King Solomon drafted forced labour out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft.” This guy was sent by Rehoboam to implement his tough guy policy. Israel was so repulsed by this man that they stoned him to death. Rehoboam had to flee for his life and went back to Jerusalem. Bullies are not only not liked, at their heart they are cowards as well.
Rehoboam’s final act of folly – to fight against the nation. Verse 21 - “he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.” Wars never win hearts. America learned that recently.
Jeroboam was also a fool – the one who would eventually succeed as the first king of the ten northern tribes while initially seeming to be wise and instructed to be so by the prophet Adonijah (1 Kings 10) didn’t want Israel to go to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover or worship as instructed by the Levitical Law. So, he made 2 gold calves, causing 250 years of false worship and rebellion that would eventually see the Assyrians take the 10 northern tribes captive in 722BC and the southern tribe of Judah taken captive by the Babylonians in 586BC.
The fruit of a fool. Ironically, his father Solomon worried about losing all he worked for under a foolish successor. “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19).
Perspective (verse 24) “this thing is from me.” The Lord was in sovereign control and ordained the events. Rehoboam was not compelled by God, but simply acted out of the flesh. In short, he was a control freak. He already had all the wealth anyone could possibly want.
Lessons – so the phrase “united we stand and divided we fall” is true in many ways, but there is also another phrase which goes like this, “Love unites, but doctrine divides.” Rather - Love is commanded and truth is the glue. If we spend long enough in one place, we will find some disagreement with each other. Even people who love each other know that’s the case.
How we are to be united is the same way we are commanded to worship by our Lord Jesus “in Spirit and in truth,” by loving our neighbour as ourselves and loving the Lord through knowing and living out His truth in our lives.
Is there strife in your life? It’s your choice at the end of the day. ‘But that other person is wrong, what they say or do, or what they believe.’ Yes, they probably are. But why not take a hit? You don’t have to bite back, get angry, take offense. Read and apply 1Corinthians 13, then respond, would be my advice.
Respond wisely, check the attitude, with grace, in the right season at the right time. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)
Again, “With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.” (Proverbs 25:15) Or the opposite, “a ruler can persuade with a gentle word convincing his people” - Solomon’s wisdom that his son should have taken.
But it’s hard work! To get wisdom takes discipline, hard word, consistency. Don’t give up during the race. Paul said run to get the prize, don’t give up. (Hebrews 12:1-3) Can I encourage you to fall in love with Christ’s Spirit again and read His word and be led by it every day. Unity with each other starts with unity with God.
This can only be done by following the Word – Jesus Christ. His wisdom, grace and mercy are available to you every day simply by hearing and reading it, both as individuals and corporately.