Rehoboam

The story

Solomon is dead, and his son Rehoboam goes to Shechem to be made king. The people meet him with one request. Solomon’s building projects had cost them years of forced labor. “Lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you” (1 Kings 12:4).

Rehoboam asks for three days, which is wise. He goes first to the older men who had served his father, and they give him the best leadership advice in the Old Testament.

“If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.”1 Kings 12:7

He sets that advice aside and asks the young men who had grown up with him. They tell him to be harder than his father: “My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” On the third day he gives the people that answer. Ten of the twelve tribes walk away, and the kingdom never reunites.

What the story teaches

Asking is not the same as listening. Rehoboam did consult. He kept asking until someone told him what he wanted to hear. The text is blunt: “the king did not listen to the people” (1 Kings 12:15).

He chose advisers who were like him. The young men had grown up with him and depended on him. They shared his age, his background, and his blind spots. The elders had watched what Solomon’s policies cost.

He mistook harshness for strength. A new leader often feels the need to prove authority. Rehoboam confused being feared with being followed.

The request was reasonable. The people did not threaten him. They named a specific burden and offered loyalty in return. He heard a challenge where there was an invitation.

The elders described the whole model. Serve them, answer them well, and they will follow you. Three thousand years later, nothing better has been written about leading people.

Some losses cannot be undone. One meeting, one answer, and the damage lasted for centuries.

Read the ROAR issue Four checks before you give advice, or print The Three Questions.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.