Scripture

The older counselors replied, “If you are willing to be a servant to these people today and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects.”

~I Kings 12:7, NLT

Quote

The person who lacks the knowledge of what it means to be under authority has no right to be in authority.

~David W. Wiersbe

Rehoboam was most likely a spoiled brat. He is the only descendant of Solomon listed in scripture. If Solomon had other children, I am not aware of it. There is some slight evidence that Rehoboam had one sister. Rehoboam was a selfish and self-serving man. He was not a kid when he became king, he was 40 years old, but I think his philosophy of leadership was entrenched in his mind long before talking with the older guys. They gave him good council, “If you are willing to be a servant to these people today and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects.” Basically they were saying, the people will be your servants if you will be theirs. The people longed to see some humility from the king and they wanted to know that he cared about their welfare. Rehoboam refused to humble himself and to make bad matters worse, he threatened the people. He didn’t realize that they too had made up their minds. Solomon’s last twenty years were oppressive and they had been taxed to the hilt. They had decided, they were not going to live under these conditions any longer.

There is a great lesson in this story. Many want to lead but few are willing to follow. All great leaders were once great followers. If you can’t follow, you can’t lead. I have seen people try, but they failed. Within God’s kingdom, it is a principle, YOU MUST LEARN TO FOLLOW BEFORE YOU CAN LEAD. You must also understand that the Leader is a servant. Rehoboam’s desire was to be served and he had no intention of serving others. This in itself made him a horrible leader. To be a general in the army, you must attend West Point and you must begin as a Cadet. You will not be giving orders, you will be taking orders. If you fail to take orders, you will be busted and never become a general. It works the exact same way in God’s kingdom. Goats {a symbol or the rebellious} can’t lead sheep; it takes a shepherd {someone who loves them and cares about them}. The goats will try. They will push and butt and use their horns if necessary but they are trouble makers and not leaders. The thing that disqualifies them is their pride and their lack of concern for others.

Extra

Thank the LORD for the cool nights; we just need rain. I have not had to mow anything but ditches for the past three weeks. I also have turnip greens planted and they need a light gentle rain. As far as I know Jan Fields is better.

I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.

Extra/Extra

I listened to two autobiographies yesterday: they just popped up on my phone and so I clicked: James Monroe and Jefferson David. Monroe sided with Jefferson and Patrick Henry favoring the rights of the States and a small Federal government. Washington, unfortunately, leaned toward Hamilton and the Federalist. Jefferson’s fear was that we would slip back into the same situation we had with King George. Patrick Henry feared the North would become more powerful in congress than the South leading to bullying. Jefferson David was born in Kentucky, as was Lincoln but he was basically the polar opposite of Lincoln. He was soilder, graduate of West Point, a Planter [800 acres of cotton, near Natchez, Mississippi and a politician. Served in the US Senate twice, ran for president once. He believed slavery was an institution going all the way back to the Bible but at the same time, he treated his slaves with dignity. He allowed them to have family, be judge and jury of their own. He never beat slaves.

James Monroe served as an officer in the continental army. He was second in command at the battle of Trenton and was wounded. He took a musket ball in the shoulder. After the war he became friends with Thomas Jefferson. He tried to be neutral on the slave issue. He favored limited government like Jefferson and Henry. He and some others bought a property on the West coast of Africa so that freed slaves could return to their native land but it didn’t work. No free slave wanted to return. This part of Africa is presently known as Liberia. The capitol of Liberia is Monrovia, named after President James Monroe. To my knowledge, it is still owned by the USA.