Oh no, here we go…

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

We knew it had to happen. After so much time luxuriating at the top of worship mountain, Israel’s fall from faithfulness had to be documented. The tragedy is that it was all avoidable.

It’s not like Solomon’s son Rehoboam set out to be evil and destructive, twirling his moustache with a “mwa ha ha ha!!” He looked around, sought advice, trying to do the right thing. Turns out he was offered wisdom from his father’s advisers and nonsense from his own servants. I wonder why they thought they knew better. Was it just youth and inexperience, or were they trying to carve out a distinctive position from the last administration? It reminds me of how Trump spent so much energy for years trying to prove himself better than Obama. How did that work out?

In Rehoboam’s case, it led to injustice, division and the threat of civil war. God’s intervention prevented bloodshed, but the intense effort which had previously gone into working with God on his plans for his stuff turned to building defences to protect what they saw as their own stuff. A minor misjudgement turned into a major change of direction.

By the time Rehoboam was strengthened and established, “he and all Israel (actually Judah) with him abandoned the law of the Lord.” Then the first cycle of God’s discipline kicked in with wrath and ruin promised and, despite some late repentance, material loss suffered. Did Rehoboam only get his need to change when all the gold was stripped away?

This history credits him and his successor Abijah with patchy success at best. Neither are simply evil or good. But there is a clear standard defined to measure their legacies. It’s not how much they conquered, built or inspired others. It is how much they sought and relied on God. Sometimes they did, and prospered for it, but there’s a clear warning here that it isn’t enough to rely on inherited promises and materials.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God is faithful and keeps his promises, including the promise to discipline people who broke his covenant, as well as to protect and welcome back people who repented after mistakes.

But he knows that we can easily focus on ourselves and protecting our stuff rather than on him, crediting him as the giver of all stuff. God knew this would happen, even when guiding the temple project to its faithful completion. I find it amazing that God made that all happen anyway, if only to give us a glimpse of glory, knowing we would need more to save us.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

Renew my thankfulness to God for everything we have – I want to seek and rely on him.

Who am I going to share this with?

My family.