Who are you listening to?

Challenging his wife with a riddle, the man began, “You’re the engineer of a train. There are 36 people on board. At the first stop, 10 get off and 2 get on. At the next stop, no one gets off, but 5 get on. At the third stop, 4 get off and 2 get on. Now for the question: What is the name of the engineer?”

“How should I know?” snapped the wife.

“See, you never listen! Right at the start I said, ‘You are the engineer of a train.’”

That little story shows how we often fail to listen carefully. What husband or wife has not had the experience of mumbling “Uh huh” while his partner is talking, but his mind is tuned out? One husband dropped his newspaper, looked directly into his wife’s eyes, and gave her his full attention while she was speaking. “Stop it,” she snapped. “You’re deliberately listening just to confuse me.”

Just as we often fail to listen carefully to other people, so we often fail to listen carefully to the Lord. His Word is often clear on the issue we are facing. But our minds are already made up and we don’t want to hear what God says because it confronts the direction we want to go. God can speak clearly, but if we are not listening carefully, we miss His will for our lives.

Our Title for today is Who are you listening to?

Our Scripture for today is taken from 1 Kings 12 verses 18:20

1 Kings 12:18–20 NKJV

18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 20 Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

Our focal verse for today’s message is Verse 20

1 Kings 12:20 NKJV

20 Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever starting reading a book by reading the last chapter first? That’s how I know if a book is work reading. And that is what we are going to do today. In verse 20 we read that Jeroboam came back and was made king over all of Isreal. Now we know the end of the story, just as we know the end of the story when Christ returns.

There was a TV series named FLASHPOINT. The weekly series always began by telling you the end of the story then they would flash back seven or eight hours to tell the story that brought you to the current point in the story.

Flashpoint – tells you the end of the story then takes you back in time and walks you up through the events that got you to that point in time.

flash·point /ˈflaSHpoint/ noun / a place, event, or time at which trouble, such as violence or anger, flares up

Just a little background lets look at the four events that lead up to Jeroboam being named king over all of Israel.

Event #1

Event #2

Event #3

Event #4

· Event #1 the children of Israel

When the children of Israel were about to enter in to the Promise Land, God instructed them to completely destroy the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, but they failed to do as commanded. They totally disobeyed God, not only did they not completely distroy these groups but but they took their daughters for their sons, and their sons for their daughters. What a mess. We find this truth in Ezra 9:1-6, which reads ...

Ezra 9:1–6 NKJV

1 When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.” 3 So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished. 4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive, and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice. 5 At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God. 6 And I said: “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.

· Event #2 Solomon son of David becomes king of Israel

Solomon son of David becomes king of Israel. Then one night God comes to Solomon in a dream and asks him, “What shall I give you”

1 Kings 3:3 NKJV

3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.

and Solomon replies to God asking for wisdom to judge the people and to discern between good and evil. God grants Solomon’s request and gave him much, much more.

The Word tells us that Solomon was a just king. Ruling with wisdom and all of Israel prospered, no some, it says all fo Isreal prospered. Unlike today, where those with are not in a hurry to help those with out.

Who are you listening to?

Some have a problem with this statement, so don’t take my word for it. Look at the recent votes in congress about the stimules package. Those that represent the upper class voted against helping those struggling under the burdens of this ecomony.

Anyway, God appears to Solomon a second time saying [1 kings 9:3-9] promising prosperity to the Solomon and the children of Israel if they continue to keep His command and Statues. But if they don’t He will cut them off from all that He has given them.

Choices or Consequences … Why do we in our humanistic form insist on choosing the consequences?

However Solomon had a severe weakness. [1 Kings 11:1-8] He loved many foreign women and married them against the commands of God verse 2 says "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." But Solomon clung to these women.

What a minute, let’s just read it from the actual text as witten int he New King James Version of the secred scroll

1 Kings 11:1–8 NKJV

1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— 2 from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. 8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

Question, Who are you listening to?

So here is event #3 ....

· Event #3 Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord:

Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord: as we read presiously in verse 6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. He built high places for all his wives and they burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

We read in Verse 9 that the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord to serve the gods of these women he loved. And God tells Solomon in verse “11"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.

Soon we find God’s Word to become TRUTH … Solomon eventually dies and his son Rehoboam becomes king over the children of Israel.

· Event #4 people of Israel send representatives to meet with Rehoboam

In chapter twelve we find that Rehoboam has becomes king after his fathers death and the people of Israel send representatives to meet with Rehoboam, asking him to reduce the heavy burdens put on them by his father Solomon.

Rehoboam tell them to return in 3 days and he will respond to their request.

Rehoboam seeks the advice of the elders that served his father.

Who are you listening to?

The elders advised Rehoboam that if you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever."

But Rehoboam rejected their request and went to his friends that he had grown up with seeking their advice.

His friends responded in chapter 12 verse 10 with these words … "Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, "Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us'—thus you shall say to them: 'My little finger shall be thicker than my father's waist! 11 And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges! '"

Just so you know, Scourges refers to whips

Scourging

Definition

The practice of whipping people with a special whip that has spikes, thorns, or other kinds of hooks attached to the ends of the whip.

Witthoff, D. (Ed.). (2014). The Lexham Cultural Ontology Glossary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

The question remains --- Who are you listening to?

When Jeroboam and the other representatives returned on the third day as they had been direct, Rehoboam followed the advice of his friend and added to their burdens.

Verse 18 tells us that as a result – Israel rebels - Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died.

Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 20 Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

In response to the king’s reply, the children of Israel departed to their tents. Splitting the kingdom into two. Rehoboam ruling over Judah and Benjamin in the south and Jeroboam ruling over the remaining tribes to the north. They maintained the name Israel while the southern kingdom was referred to as Judah.

Who are you listening to?

So, Who are you listening to? Your flesh which is evil, your so called friends who are try to sway your thinking?

Illustration

I found the following on the USAToday website … The 2020 election season saw record voter turnout across the country. President-elect Joe Biden now holds the record for the most votes received by a presidential candidate, after getting more than 81 million.

Despite losing dozens of lawsuits and the Electoral College's certification of Biden's win, President Donald Trump's campaign and others continue to promote falsehoods about the credibility and security of the election.

A Dec. 21 Facebook post, which pulled a screenshot of a Twitter post, claimed Biden somehow received 22 million phantom votes. The post has over 1,200 shares, as of Dec. 30.

"Simple math: Trump got 74 million votes and there are only 133 million registered voters in the USA," the tweet claims. "Even if everyone who's registered actually voted, there would only be 59 million votes left for Biden. So how the hell did Biden get 81 million votes? 22 million extra?"

The Facebook user who made that particular post has not returned a request for comment from USA TODAY.

Another Facebook user made the same claim without pulling a screenshot from Twitter. USA TODAY has also reached out to this user for comment.

And the Twitter account MSM Fact Checking posted a similar claim on Dec. 18, from which many viral Facebook posts stem.

In a follow-up tweet, the MSM Fact Checking Twitter account tries to show its math: "Just to clarify there were 213,799,485 registered voters in 2020 of which conflicting sources say turnout was between 60% - 65%. I averaged it out at 62.5% which means just over 133,500,000 registered voters voted. 74,000,000 Trump + 81,000,000 Biden = 155,000,000."

And then, "Just for complete transparency, even at 65% turnout the total would be just over 138,000,000 voters resulting in over 155,000,000 votes. However you look at it, it doesn't add up."

The MSM Fact Checking account has its direct messaging turned off so it could not be reached for comment.

Question again is who are you listening to?

The post is correct in its accounting of Trump's vote totals. He received more than 74 million votes. The vote total for Biden, 81 million, also is correct, putting the overall total at more than 155 million votes cast.

What the tweets get wrong is the number of voters. There are more than 234 million people eligible to vote in the U.S. Not all of those people are registered voters, however.

In its thread of tweets, the account MSM Fact Checking provided conflicting calculations without citing sources. The initial post claimed there were 133 million registered voters. In another tweet, it claimed there were 213 million registered voters with a voter turnout rate of 62.5%. All of these numbers are false.

We know, after weeks of counting, that there were roughly 159 million ballots cast in the presidential election. According to the Election Project, this accounts for 66.7% of the eligible voting population of 239 million Americans..

The U.S. Census Bureau publishes voter registration totals for the nation; its 2020 numbers are not yet available.

But for example, in the 2016 presidential election, there were 157 million registered voters. Of those, 137.5 million voted. And there were 224 million American citizens age 18 or older. All figures are higher than the number in the claim regarding the 2020 election, when voter registration and turnout broke records.

The claim in the post is rated PARTLY FALSE. The tweet that appears in viral Facebook posts cites correct vote totals for Trump (74 million) and Biden (81 million). But it falsely reports the number of registered voters. More than 159 million registered voters cast ballots in the general election, out of 239 million eligible voters. So it is completely possible that Trump and Biden would post that many total votes.

We all need accountability partners. A godly men or women who will hold you accountable for your choices, someone who will tell you when you are making a bad decision, and stand by you through the tough times.

Conclusion ....

There are consequences when you listen to the wrong people

Solomon made a choice to listen to the desires of his flesh instead of God, setting in motion a chain of events that casted the chains of bondage upon his son.

Rehoboam made a choice to listen to his friends instead of the wise council of his elders.

The people listened to their flesh and rebelled not only against King Rehoboam but God.

These chains of bondage are still in place today. We need to break these chains, We can break these chains, We will break these chains. It all starts with who you are listening to.

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