YOUTH, INEXPERIENCE, AND POWER are not a good mix. David had been anointed king over Israel by Samuel when he was still quite young; by the time he became king he was battle-hardened, blood-stained, and politically adroit. Under David Israel prospered, becoming a nation even as the historical frictions of tribalism remained in uneasy alliance throughout his reign. Solomon grew up in the halls of power and in the midst of familial and political intrigue. He was made king as David lay on his deathbed—the elders came to David, and pleaded with him to relinquish the crown as a clear signal to the rising schisms in the factions vying for power, even as another son of David was proclaiming himself king. Solomon began by listening carefully to his elders, grew in wisdom, and ultimately established Israel as the preeminent nation in that geopolitical region.
Scripture does not say a great deal about Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, but it does clearly picture him as one who did not have the ability to discern good advice from bad, nor wisdom from the path of foolishness. Jeroboam and his clan and associates had been very much out of favor with Solomon, but upon his death came to Rehoboam with a request:
“Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days.”
Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.
They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”
But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.
Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” The king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” (2 Chron. 4-8, 12-14)
His decision not only cost him half the kingdom, but the entire nation suffered because of it. This is the time that Israel began the descending spiral of devastation, as the northern kingdom under Jeroboam split away from the southern kingdom, Judah, still under Rehoboam’s rule. Both ultimately failed completely, first Israel, then Judah—but it took a half-century to reach bottom and exile. One quick, ill-formed and ill-considered opinion led to suffering for everyone, generation after generation.
This is a common theme throughout history. Empire begins, empire thrives, empire decays, and then empire collapses. Mankind is unruly, and filled with seething rebellion at all times; those who attempt to unite and direct the activities of any size organization would be well-advised to keep keenly aware of this observation, *“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”
The desire for power is a magnet difficult to resist—it pulls at something deep within the human natural spirit. **“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Once attained, its seductive quality draws people further and further into a maelstrom of cycles of decisions and outcomes, similar to trying to saddle a lightning bolt and ride it.
Today we see this all around us. In this Age of Information, we have instantaneous access to the power struggles of the world, from inside our own families, to our local community, to our nation, and on, including the entire world. And everywhere, we are confronted with the lessons not learned from history.
There is one more significant thing we should notice from the story of Rehoboam: “So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken.” (2 Chron. 10:15) Not listening to good advice leads to a great deal of misery. Not listening to God’s word leads to destruction. “The days are coming when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.” (Amos 8:11-12) Notice that this does not say “a famine of the words of the Lord,” but ‘a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.’
As we see the rise of angry youth diverting the politics of first-world nations to their own myopic causes, so prevalent in our own time, we become deeply concerned. Calmer voices of seasoned statesmen are shouted down. Divisive factions seeking power manipulate their poorly constructed worldviews and leverage power for their own ill-conceived and/or nefarious ends, and the historical pillars that built and support the nations are under assault. These youth, and their numbers “are legion” (Mark 5:9b), know nothing of the story of Samson and the Philistines, and what happens when the pillars are torn out from under the roof. (cf. Judg. 16:23-30) The juggernaut of their faulty reasoning combined with explosive rage has blinded most of them to the most likely of outcomes, while some, of evil intent, find an impending satisfaction in a presumed pyrrhic victory. Together, they remain blindly ignorant of the lesson of history: chaos only leads to order through long periods of painful barbarism.
Perhaps in our private prayers we cannot find it in ourselves to pray for our nations any longer, and this may be a good thing in respect to the ill-conceived marriage of church and state. Instead let us pray for the remnant of God-fearing people within the failing nations who will all necessarily suffer the consequences of the violence that continues to swell like the rising tide of a tsunami. No one will remain untouched.
Father, may your will be done. Let it be so. Amen.
Q. Is my true citizenship within a nation, or within the kingdom of God?
*William Shakespeare, King Henry the Fourth, P-2 – 1596-1597.
**Lord Acton, “Letter to Bishop Creighton,” 1887.
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