There are a couple of details in today’s reading that weren’t included in yesterday’s rendition of the same story.
For instance, today we learn that some of the righteous people from the northern tribes defected and stayed close to Jerusalem in the south, including some of the priests who lived a distance away. We also learn that Rehoboam repented of his sins as the Egyptian army drew close to him. Because of that God only allowed the Egyptians to ransack the city, not destroy it. But, they still paid a heavy price for their sins. Even still, it could have been much worse.
You probably already know this, but Jerusalem is in the southern part of the country, inside the territory given to the tribe of Judah. Since the tribe of Benjamin was so small when land was being handed out by Moses, their territory was completely surrounded by Judah….so Benjamins’ territory is actually “inside” Judah’s. Between the two of them they make up the lower part of the nation, with land holdings around the Dead Sea and into the plains toward the Med. All the other tribes had land in the north…moving toward the Sea of Galilee. You might remember that the tribe of Dan should have had land closer to the south, but failed to clear it of the enemy, and then occupied that undefended property that belonged to the defenseless people who lived further north. This event (Rehoboam and Jeroboam) begins the time of the divided nation. From now on there are two kings for each time period….one in the north, one in the south. It can get confusing if you don’t remember that they are actually two different nations at the moment.
Split nations have happened before. East and West Germany. North and South Korea. The United States during the Civil War. I’m sure there are others.
What is there to learn from spending two days reflecting on this small slice of history?
1. Neither side in this political divide can claim the moral high ground. Rehoboam, the rightful leader has sinned by leading the people to worship other gods. The only thing in his favor is that he was the king from the line of David, and he ruled over the area that included the temple, so he could inquire of God there. Too bad he didn’t make better use of it, and obey. Jeroboam, on the other hand was also told by God that he would reign, so his rule over the 10 other tribes is legitimate. In fact, God promises him the same thing he promises David and Solomon…that He will be with him and bless his rule and kingdom as long as Jeroboam stays true to Him. Sadly, Jeroboam doesn’t listen, and creates two golden calves for the people to worship. Of all animals to chose, he selects the calf…the very animal they worshipped in Egypt, and the same animal that Aaron designed while in the desert. No one in their entire history would accept that calf worship was okay…every knew the history of it, and how it was forbidden. Even still, the whole nation…all 10 tribes (except for the few that went back to the south) began worshipping the calves.
2. People are so gullible. It’s as if we will believe anything, if someone provides any form of explanation for it. Even if the explanation doesn’t make any sense at all…we still believe it, because we were told it was true. I am positive that we are exactly like sheep…and sheep are dumb.
Who could read any part of this and conclude that worshipping other gods is somehow okay? What leader could conceive of violating God’s commands and instead rely on their own wisdom to guide the country?
How dumb do you have to be to design something out of a block of wood with your own tools, cover it with precious metals and stones and then begin to claim that what you created is actually superior to you, and is a god? I mean, I can understand being deceived into thinking that the sun itself is a god…but something I designed myself? You want me to pray to a cow that I just made out of gold? Why? Wouldn’t everyone already know that the cow is not a diety? For pete’s sake….you just made it yourself!
3. God uses other people and other nations to bring punishment upon us when we are disobedient. He also has used natural disasters in the past. I’m not sure about natural disasters, but when Israel was being obedient to the Lord, being defeated in battle was unheard of. They may have lost a skirmish, but they won the war every time.
4. God is jealous for our attention. He isn’t willing to share our adulation with anyone else, and He absolutely isn’t willing to share the praise and glory for what He has done. It is a serious thing to take partial credit for what God has done. That’s one of the reasons I don’t care for Solomon’s bragging about how HE built the temple for God. He mentions himself a bit too much. Better to allow the Lord to give you some credit than for you to assume some on your own.
Faithfully,
PR