A Young King’s Advisers

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Kings 12:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him." 1 Kings 12:8

After being king in Israel for forty years, Solomon died. When Jeroboam, who was still in Egypt, heard this, he rushed back to Israel. Then he led the people of Israel when they came before Solomon’s son Rehoboam, who was the new king. They wanted to ask something of him.

“Solomon your father forced us to work very hard,” they said. “We will serve you as king if you are easier on us.”

“I’ll give you my decision in three days,” Rehoboam told them. During those days, Rehoboam went to some people for advice. First he went to the elders, those men who had advised his father and had experience working with people and in government.

Then Rehoboam went to his friends, the young men he’d grown up with. “What do you think?” he asked them. “Should I do what the people ask?”

“No way!” they said to him. “You’re the king. Make sure they know it. Tell them, if you think my father was bad, you haven’t seen anything yet!”

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Tags: wisdom advice 1 Kings