Staying Within Reach - King Rehoboam

The king paid no attention to the people. This turn of events was the will of God, for it fulfilled the LORD’s message to Jeroboam son of Nebat through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh.

2 Chronicles 10:15

“What we’ve got here . . . is a failure to communicate,” the captain famously tells the inmates at a southern prison work camp in the classic movie Cool Hand Luke. As repeated escapee Lucas Jackson lies on the ground after being roughed up, the captain tells the other inmates, “Some men you just can’t reach.”

In truth, there had been no failure to communicate. Luke fully understood the risks and consequences of an escape attempt, but he stubbornly refused to listen.

Rehoboam, King Solomon’s son and successor, also refused to be reached. He paid no attention to the people God had put in his life to direct and guide him. These were men who had served his father well and who had acquired wisdom through years of faithful service. They had offered the young king some simple advice: “Lighten up on the people, or there is going to be trouble.”

Instead of heeding and applying this counsel, Rehoboam sought out younger, less-experienced men to be his advisers. As you might guess, they counseled him to take the opposite approach and tell the people, “If you think my father was tough, just watch me.”

Rehoboam’s refusal to listen to godly wisdom resulted in all-out hostility between the northern and southern portions of Israel. The rift quickly hardened into a permanent division that resulted in two distinct nations: the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.

Rehoboam illustrates what can happen to those who stubbornly refuse to listen—to be reachable and teachable. He could have heeded the sage advice of experienced and proven counselors, but he chose to go on a power trip that put him in hot water and ripped his nation apart.

What experienced and proven counselors has God put in your life? Are you listening to them? Do you prefer the counsel of those who tell you only what you want to hear?

God can speak to you through a variety of means—a spiritual leader, your wife and children, a friend. Your job is to remain teachable and reachable.