The Kingdom Divided

Intro

The Southern Kingdom of Judah

Last week we talked about Solomon and his relationship with God.

As you might remember, my dude Solomon didn’t do so hot. Anyone remember what got him in trouble? (Marrying wives from surrounding nations, falling into idolatry)

You remember that he had asked God for great wisdom, which the Lord granted. But all that earthly wisdom that drove Solomon’s success could not provide him with the spiritual wisdom to resist temptation. And the result of all of this was God telling him:

1 Kings 11:11–12 NKJV

11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

His son’s name was Rehoboam. And as soon as he became the king, he was met with a huge issue.

Solomon had put huge taxes on the people. The people were coming to Rehoboam now, asking him to lower it.

When he asked the elders for advice, he was told that lowering taxes would cause the people to serve him forever. But his friends advised him to do the opposite: raise their taxes even higher!

For three days, the people waited to see what their new king would do.

1 Kings 12:13–14 NLT

13 But Rehoboam spoke harshly to the people, for he rejected the advice of the older counselors 14 and followed the counsel of his younger advisers. He told the people, “My father laid heavy burdens on you, but I’m going to make them even heavier! My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions!”

Does anyone have guess at how the people responded to that?

They rebelled.

Ten of the twelve tribes of Israel broke off and became a separate nation.

The other two who remained became known as the Southern Kingdom (Judah).

Part of what makes it sad is that it could have been avoided. He could have listened to the elders.

So he runs away and goes to Jerusalem, making it the capital of what was left of his kingdom.

And that is where we get what is called the Divided Kingdom. It was a dark time. But during this time, God was faithful.

God had promised that a descendant of David would always sit on the throne. And God kept that promise.

People Pleasing

So… do you guys look at movie ratings before you watch them? Like Rotten Tomatoes?

Have you ever looked up the Rotten Tomatoes score on a movie and been shocked that it got so low of a rating? (Certified Fresh is 75% or higher) How the Grinch Stole Christmas is only 50%!

So I got to thinking… what if people came with their own Rotten Tomatoes rating? This perhaps would not go well.

However… we do a thing that’s not far from that.

Do you spend a lot of time wondering what your friends and other people think about you?

Is it usually true that what is cool with your classmates and friends is always cool with you?

Do you excessively depend on whether others find you likable or not?

So it’s natural for all of us to want to be like by other people. That’s one reason why we do things like take showers and brush our teeth. At least I hope!

There’s nothing wrong with being polite and kind to others, but there is a limit to what we should be willing to do just because someone else thinks it would be a good idea.

So we all need to stop and think sometimes about who we are trying to please. It’s more important to please God than other people. It’s also important to listen to the advice of those who have your best interest in mind - not people who are just concerned with popularity.

It seems like Rehoboam never learned this lesson. Or maybe he just forgot. That happens when the pressure kicks in.

It’s interesting that the Bible says he rejected that wise advice from his elders and then turned around to ask advice from his peers. So, it’s not true that a person is right just because they are older. But we would be wise to move cautiously when we find ourselves casting aside those that the Word of God refers to as our elders.

The fact that Rehoboam so quickly rejected what they counseled him to do implies that he was only looking for someone to tell him what he had already decided he wanted to do. So he went straight to his peers. And the result was disaster.

Be careful of making a decision and then shopping around for someone to justify what you have already decided!

Conclusion

So we now have a divided kingdom. This goes on for many years. Many of the people fall into idolatry. There’s much struggle.

But as bad as all of that was, it ultimately opened the door for the entire world to come into covenant with God.

God specializes in taking our mistakes and turning them into opportunities to see His will done! Sometimes we have to endure our own struggles in order to become what He wants us to be.