Divided Nation

 

    It is an uncomfortable feeling to be divided.  You can be divided mentally in making a decision or emotionally due to feelings or people.  Then there is the division that occurs around you: church, work, social circles, and more.  They all make life a little more stressful with a sense of uncertainty.  Then comes the political division.  This is dangerous because once it comes to the point of being divided, people are no longer working to figure out a solution.  It leads down an ugly and dangerous road.

    When King Solomon died the people had lived in an united nation for over 50 years.  Most of the people alive only knew peace.  When Solomon's son became king, he seemed to not have learned anything from his father.  David was a great teacher.  Solomon a great leader.  They were both good fathers, but never quite got to the point of being great fathers.  

    We don't know what Solomon taught his son, may be he did teach Rehoboam how to be king and he just ignored it.  Rehoboam probably did feel a lot of pressure of being the grandson of David and having a father like Solomon.  It would be difficult to become a king that would stand out, but still do good.  He did not do good.  He drove his people to rebel by making their lives more difficult.

    The people did not like him as king, so they elected Jeroboam to be their king.  They really did not have a right to do that, but they did.  I think the counsel allowed it to happen because Rehoboam would not listen to them anyway.  He was entitled and spoiled and it led to the nation being divided.  As king, he was supposed to put his pride away to listen and act on the needs of his people.  Instead he turned the nation into turmoil that lasted until the excile.

2 Chronicles 10