Stupid Kingsናሙና

Rehoboam: The King with a Thick Little Finger (and Head) 

While reading the Bible it’s easy for us to only focus on the noble acts of the faithful: David bravely defies and defeats the giant Goliath, even lions don’t mess with Daniel, and Noah would have won a world record for fitting animals on a boat. No doubt it is good for us to celebrate and exemplify such stories of triumph and faith.

However, the word of God is also filled with unfaithful people doing stupid things. Our temptation might be to either glance over these stories quickly or miss them completely. We forget that the stupidity of biblical characters is there to teach us. 

This devotional is aimed at helping us learn from a few of the kings mentioned in the book of 1 Kings. Many biblical kings are a mixed bag when it comes to faithfully serving God, showing both good character traits and bad, but some kings excelled in stupidity. In this series, we will focus on these men. We hope that we can look at the folly of such characters with introspection, humility, and prayer, knowing that we too may not be as far from stupidity as we think. 

Rehoboam: The King with a Thick Little Finger (and Head) 

Rehoboam took over the united kingdom of Israel when his father, King Solomon, died. The Bible describes King Solomon as having “the wisdom of mind like the sand of the seashore”. If wisdom is sand, King Rehoboam had perhaps no more than a few grains. 

Immediately after Rehoboam's inauguration as king, many in Israel came to ask him to lessen the load of hard labor that had been forced on them by King Solomon. Rehoboam’s first response demonstrates great leadership promise: he seeks advice in order to make a good decision. He first solicits the advice of the wise old men and then gets the opinion of his young friends. Unfortunately, Rehoboam's promise in leadership stops there. From then on, he rides willfully down the stupid slide.

Rather than listen to the older men (the advisors of the wisest king in the world) or to the people’s request, Rehoboam decides to heed his foolish friends. He boasts that his little finger is larger than his father’s thigh, and that he will discipline not with whips, but with scorpions. A king with an over-sized little finger is a peculiar picture in our day, but evidently Rehoboam thought the imagery made him look strong. Rehoboam’s words are a déjà vu of Pharaoh’s actions during the time of Israel’s exodus from Egypt (Exodus 5). Pharaoh gave the Israelites more labor when they asked for less. This time, however, the Israelites are in the Promised Land receiving similar threats. This was probably not the kind of milk-and-honey-filled life they were expecting.

Having a role model such as the Pharaoh of Egypt did not work out too well for Rehoboam. Strangely, the Israelites did not warm to his friendly message. Israel basically said, “Goodbye, you no longer rule over us!” The united kingdom was broken in two. His father’s archenemy, Jeroboam, became king of the ten northern Israelite tribes, but not before they stoned Rehoboam’s taskmaster to death. 

Rehoboam was left with a much smaller kingdom and no slaves to wave his little finger at. As for the accomplishments of his 17-year rule? He was forced to give away his palace and massive amounts of treasures stored in the Lord’s temple so the ruler of Egypt would not take away his kingdom. Hoping that no one would notice, he made bronze replicas of much of the lost gold. Like having a scorpion continually perched on his back, he was plagued throughout his reign by ongoing wars with the other Israelite kingdom. 

Lessons: 

Perhaps most striking about the reign of Rehoboam is that through one bad decision, the kingdom of Israel was divided for several hundred years. How can we keep ourselves from making such monumentally bad decisions in our own lives and leadership? 

The book of Proverbs, authored by King Solomon, reads, “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands” (Proverbs 3:3). He goes on to say, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

It is likely that  Rehoboam read the words of his father, especially since they were primarily directed at him, but he failed to take heed of such wisdom. There is no reference to Rehoboam trusting or seeking God’s guidance. Had he sought the Lord, especially in his first major leadership decision, even though it was God’s word that the kingdom would be divided due to Solomon’s sin (see 1 Kings 11:36), perhaps God would have had mercy on him and withheld such a division.

As we make decisions, big and small, especially in places of leadership, looking to the Lord and seeking to hear his voice is indispensable for leading well. Rather than satisfying our desire to project strength and control like Rehoboam, trusting God necessitates humility and brokenness before him. 

Prayer:

Father, I thank you for your word. Teach me your ways that I may always acknowledge and look to you at every juncture of life. I can easily forget your good guidance and attempt to make decisions through my own understanding. Help me to not just rely on those whose words I am impressed by, but to test everything through your word. I need your guidance to make right decisions. In Jesus' name, Amen.  

Limerick:

There was a king named Rehoboam

With harder labor he thought he would show ’em

He took bad advice 

And paid dearly the price

Ten tribes did overthrow 'im!