1 Kings 12:16-20 – A case of pride

First Kings 12:16-20 describe the reaction of the northern tribes to Rehoboam’s inconsideration. He was insufferably insensitive. The people’s plea had fallen on deaf ears. Immediately on hearing the king’s decision, the people rejected his authority. They had also made their decision. They would dissociate themselves with him. They decided that they no longer want to have anything to do with the house of David. Hastily they left Rehoboam to rule Judah alone.

Trying to save the situation, verse 18 said that Rehoboam made one fruitless attempt. He sent for Adoram, the man whom his father had put in charge of the forced labor from the north. He had made another wrong move by underestimating the depth of the anger of the northerners. Rehoboam must have thought that Adoram could quell the rebellion since he had been their supervisor. But he was wrong. The people took stones and pelted Adoram to death. When Rehoboam saw that, he made haste, mounted the chariot, and fled to Jerusalem. Since then the northern tribes had been in rebellion against the house of David. And when the ten tribes from the north heard that Jeroboam had returned from his exile in Egypt, they invited him to their assembly and made him their king.  

What David and Solomon had built for 80 years was brought to ruin with just one wrong move. One crazy decision and the nation was irreparably split into two - north and south. We must be mindful that one wrong move could bring a result that had irreversible consequences. Eventually, the north comprising of ten tribes would come to be referred to as Israel and the south with two tribes would be known as Judah. Thus God’s words through the prophet Ahijah came to pass.  

According to Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling.” Rehoboam’s pride proved this maxim to be so true. His pride had caused him to become pitilessly insensitive to the weariness of the people. If he had adopted the spirit of humility, he would have felt the sentiment of the people toward his father’s regime. Pride had prevented that. True to what Proverbs 16:18 said, destruction and stumbling were the eventual outcomes for Rehoboam. We must never forget that God will resist the proud but give grace to the humble. No matter what position we may be holding, never adopt the spirit of entitlement. The humble shall be exalted in due time but the proud will be brought low. Don’t presume on the grace of God or we will live to regret it!