Relevant Reflections to Let God's Word Back Into Your Hands and Heart
Wasn’t Jeroboam the one God chose to oppose Solomon’s son, the new king, Rehoboam? Now we see him making some bad choices. Just when we thought maybe he was going to be the hero! Looks can certainly be deceiving.
We can all think of a time when we were duped in some way. As Christians, we tend to be a bit gullible and want to believe the best in all people. I suppose that’s partly why we weren’t expecting anything bad from Jeroboam.
Continue reading “1 Kings 12:25-33 – Looks Can Be Deceiving”
Let’s fight! That was Rehoboam’s go-to solution. He learned in our last reading that he had some competition as king. He pulled a good number of troops together. And then God spoke. Just like that.
God used a prophet to bring this message! “Do not fight against your relatives, the Israelites. Go back home, for what has happened is my doing!” That was a bold and direct message. Nobody could infer anything different than what God intended, “Stop!”
Continue reading “1 Kings 12:21-24 – Just Like That”
Keeping these names straight has been a bit of a challenge. We see the transition from Solomon to his son, Rehoboam. With all the wives and concubines, we know Solomon had, I’m just a little curious why Rehoboam got the nod to be the next king. I suppose it doesn’t really matter in the scheme of things. It was God’s intention to rip the kingdom apart and away from whatever son of Solomon took the throne.
As with any transition, there are going to be challenges. Rehoboam experiences this from the get-go. Curious that he didn’t rely on his father’s guides in making one of his first decisions. Had the people not been so upset about the stricter rules, Rehoboam may have had a better popularity rating.
Continue reading “1 Kings 12:1-20 – Rehoboam vs. Jeroboam”
“I didn’t see that coming,” Jeroboam must have thought. What else could have been going on in Jeroboam’s head when the prophet Ahijah tore his new cloak into twelve pieces? His fate was sealed that day in the field (as was King Solomon’s). Did you catch the intended parallel of Saul’s cloak, in 1 Samuel 15:27-28.
Don’t you sometimes wish you’d happen upon your own Ahijah with an assignment from the Lord? Especially if you are stuck asking the question, “What am I going to be when I grow up?” At almost 60 years of age, I find myself still asking that. Of course, having retired once, my next adventure is to honor God – but how?
Continue reading “1 Kings 11:26-43 – Would You Flee?”
This passage really makes us think about the people God uses to complete his plans. He is raising up Hadad the Edomite and Rezon son of Eliada. It was helpful to have the background stories for these individuals. They are certainly not “household names” that we are familiar with.
God’s plan was to bring adversaries into Solomon’s life. We’ll see how all of that plays out. In our last reading, we were told that God was going to rip the kingdom away from Solomon’s son, who would be King David’s grandson. Because of his promise to David, he will let the grandson remain in power, but he will split the kingdom in two.
Continue reading “1 Kings 11:14-25 – Who The Lord Uses”
