1 Kings 12-14; 2 Chronicles 17; 20

The first chapter of this reading assignment, 1 Kings 12, has a great little story at the beginning. Solomon has died of old age, a wealthy and successful man as far as the world is concerned, even though he failed spiritually. He has left behind him a son, Rehoboam, who is to be the next king. “Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel” come to see Rehoboam at the beginning of chapter 12. This is significant because in the last lesson, Jeroboam was been identified as the future king of the ten tribes. Solomon didn’t like him because he represented a threat to Solomon’s political power, so Rehoboam had fled to Egypt until after Solomon’s death. In verse 4 it reads that Jeroboam and “the congregation of Israel” said to Rehoboam, “Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.”

In the chapters before this one, the list of all Solomon’s wealth and display of power through material goods was very much in evidence. I have to admit, when I read through the list, I didn’t think about the effort it took to create such an immense show of affluence. But of course this was the very thing that Israel was warned about before God gave it any kings at all: a king would take the best of everyone’s efforts, and everyone else would have to struggle along on whatever was left. Having a king, and putting on an appropriate show of wealth to go along with that king, would mean a huge burden. Apparently, Israel found it exhausting, and they were hoping that a personal appeal to Rehoboam would result in a lightening of their load and some relief from all the work and expense of maintaining a king.

Rehoboam’s initial response was not bad. He says in verse 5, “Depart yet for three days, then come again to me.” He wants time to talk to other people and to think about his response. However, that was the last of his wisdom in the matter. He listened to his father’s advisors first, and they gave him good advice in verse 7: “If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants forever.” However, he doesn’t stop at asking their advice. He has to talk to his own friends, too. Their advice is not so good. In verse 10, they tell him to respond by saying, “My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins.” So much for their attempt at diplomacy and problem solving! So much, as well, for any chance of a united kingdom.

The result is predictable. Starting in verse 13, Rehoboam answers them “roughly.” Verse 16 reads, “So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the King, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.” Rehoboam is left to govern only the cities of Judah, and Jeroboam becomes king of what will someday be the lost ten tribes. When Rehoboam sends his tax collector, Adoram, to the new kingdom, the ten tribes stone him to death (verse 18).

I find this a fascinating story for a couple of reasons. The first is pretty obvious: if you look at the United States in comparison to the rest of the world, and the wealth that we have as a nation, doesn’t it seem obvious that we cannot afford to act like Rehoboam? You could make the same argument about any large and powerful organization in comparison with people outside the organization, especially if the organization depends in part for its survival on those who are on the outside.

Second, if we look at our personal lives, isn’t it equally obvious that we cannot afford to act like Rehoboam there either? I have a good friend who once gave me an excellent piece of advice about relationships. She said that in everything that happens in a relationship with another person, we only have two choices. We can turn to them, or we can turn away from them. That’s it. As it also says in D&C 121:41, “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned….” The only reason any relationship survives in the long run is because of love. Rehoboam and his foolish friends apparently looked at all the trappings of wealth and thought that the power they represented made him indispensable. They were wrong.

Rehoboam’s first reaction is to go to war and reunite the kingdom by force. However, a man named Shemaiah, who is a “man of God” (verse 22), averts the war in verses 22 through 24. Shemaiah tells Rehoboam that the Lord has decided to split the kingdom, and that Rehoboam is not to go to war in order to put the kingdom back together again. Rehoboam listens to him. I think it would be interesting to know why. Had he gained some wisdom? Was he afraid to go against Shemaiah?

Jereboam, meanwhile, decides that temple worship is a threat to his newly founded kingdom because it involves going to Jerusalem. The remainder of chapter 12 describes the program of (idolatrous) religious worship that he sets up so that his people won’t need to travel to Jerusalem after all.

In 1 Kings 13:1–6, the Lord sends a “man of God” (verse 1) to prophesy and to destroy the idolatrous altars; when Jereboam reaches out his hand against the man of God, his hand withers; and when he pleads for the man of God to heal him, he is healed. Most of the rest of the chapter is about the fate of the man of God (clue: he comes to a bad end). The lesson from the study guide essentially ignores this part of the chapter, and I can understand why; I don’t understand myself what is really going on here and I don’t think I could add to anyone’s understanding by talking about it. However, at the end of the chapter we learn that Jereboam did not repent.

1 Kings 14 contains more difficult material that doesn’t get a lot of attention from the study guide (with reason). Jereboam’s son Abijah falls sick in 1 Kings 14:1. In verses 2–5, Jereboam sends his wife, in disguise, to Shiloh so that she can talk to the prophet Ahijah, but the Lord tells Ahijah that she’s coming. In verse 6, Ahijah tells her that he knows who she is, and that she isn’t going to like what he has to say to her. Verses 7 through 16 contain the nasty fate that awaits Jereboam and his kingdom because he led his people into idolatry, starting with the death of his son as soon as his wife goes home again. (This seems particularly hard to me; how would it feel to go home, knowing that the moment you arrive is the moment your child is going to die? But she does it, and her son dies in verse 17.) From 1 Kings 14:18–20, the story of Jereboam concludes with his death after a reign of 22 years and the ascension of his son Nadab to the throne. What can I say about this? I feel sorry for Jereboam’s poor wife and son.

Starting in verse 21, the scriptures turn to Solomon’s son Rehoboam again. We learn in that verse his age when he began to reign (41; you’d have thought he would have been wiser by that age than he was), the length of his reign (17 years, so Jereboam outlasted him), and the name and nationality of his mother (Naamah the Ammonitess; remember that Solomon had many wives). Judah is idolatrous and has serious problems with immorality (verses 22–24). Shishak, king of Egypt, successfully goes to war against Rehoboam in verse 25, and in verse 26 goes home again carrying with him material goods from the temple and the palace. It doesn’t sound as though robbing the Kingdom of Judah was particularly difficult for him. Rehoboam responds by arming his men with shields (verse 27). This accomplishes… what? A good warm feeling that he’ll be harder to rob next time? The glory days have clearly gone away.

The last three verses of the chapter are a brief conclusion, reminding us again that Rehoboam and Jeroboam fought each other all their lives, telling us that Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijam, and repeating the name and nationality of Rehoboam’s mother. Oh, for the good old days, when the kings fell short of what they could have been, but at least accomplished (in the words of my mother) “great and noble deeds.”

I suspect that whoever put the lesson guide together felt the same way, because in 2 Chronicles 17 we turn our attention to King Jehoshaphat. In verses 3 and 4, we read, “And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he… sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.” He is materially rewarded for his goodness in verse 5, which reads in part, “he had riches and honor in abundance.” The rest of the chapter elaborates on his riches and honor.

I have a question: If you are a good person, and you do not have great riches and honor, does that mean that the Lord doesn’t love you? My mind immediately answers, Of course it doesn’t! And we could then talk about how the Lord can bless us in other ways, and that perhaps this represents a test to prove that you will choose the Lord even when there is no material benefit to you. I could go on, but you get the general idea as to the line of defense.

However, my first question does raise a follow-up question: If you are in poverty because of unjust social conditions, such as (for example) a minimum wage that hasn’t been raised for too many years, or CEOs whose salaries hugely exceed any rational standard, then is it possible that someday, on the day of judgment, that a great many politicians and business people may yet be held accountable for their work in furthering the poverty and financial misery of many good and honest people? Is it also possible that if we stand by and do nothing, or say nothing, about the social inequities of our day, that we will also perhaps be held accountable because we did nothing to correct matters? It’s something to think about.

Charitable donations should not just be about fixing someone’s need for food and shelter just on one day. True charity also has to address the core problems that result in someone not having enough food, clothing, or shelter. That means education (to learn how we can better use the resources we’ve already got) and social reform.

In 2 Chronicles 20:1, we get to the great story of Jehoshaphat’s life when he and his kingdom are both placed in peril: “…the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other besides the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.”

We read in 2 Chronicles 20:3 that ‘…Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” Judah gathers together in verse 5, and in verses 6–13, the King implores his God on behalf of himself and his people. It is beautiful stuff to read (especially after all the horrible things we’ve been reading in the earlier parts of the assignment). In verse 14, the “spirit of the Lord” falls upon a Levite, Jahaziel, who then responds to Jehoshaphat’s prayer. In verse 15, he says, “Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.”

Jehoshaphat and his people respond by worshipping God (verses 18–19), and in verse 20, Jehoshaphat says, “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” The bad guys then destroy each other during an attack on the inhabitants of mount Seir while Judah doesn’t even have to lift a hand in self defense (verses 23–25). They loot the dead bodies and gather so much stuff that it takes them three days to carry it away (verse 25). His big mistake as king comes at the end of the chapter. In verse 35, Jehoshaphat attempts to form a shipping agreement with “Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly” in order to send ships to Tarshish. The Lord sends Eliezer to Jehoshaphat and tells him in verse 37 that “the Lord hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.” Compared with the wickedness and idolatry of the earlier kings, this seems like small stuff, but it is interesting to consider that the Lord did not want Jehoshaphat (a good guy) to be friendly with Ahaziah (a bad guy).

I liked the emphasis in this lesson on how the righteous or wicked acts of our leaders can result in leading large numbers of people into prosperity or danger. I also liked the question on p. 19, at the end of the lesson: “What can we do to influence those we serve to live righteously?” That’s a good question. All of us can serve someone. And all of us, as we serve, can have a righteous influence.

Sunday School Notebook - July 2006 - Susan Morgan