How to Make Wrong Decisions. (1 Kings 12: 1-33)

The Bible Project Daily Podcast is a daily, in-depth, encouraging, and uplifting study through the entire Bible,  chapter by chapter, verse by verse. 

Today's Episode: How to Make Wrong Decisions. (1 Kings 12: 1-33)

Apparently, there’s some value in studying wrong decisions—because Scripture gives us some spectacular examples. And today we come to one of the clearest, almost classic cases in the entire Bible. 

So, our topic today is simple:

 How to make wrong decisions, but of course, before we’re done, I’ll give you three words that will tell you how to make right decisions. But first, we need to watch a man make a disastrous one.

Transcript

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A man who worked at a large company was once named a successor to the retiring CEO. So he went to that retiring one and said, Well, as you know, I'm going to follow you as president, and I would be grateful for any advice you can give me. And the man who was retiring said, Yes, I'll give you some advice. Just three words. Make right decisions. And the employee said, Well, that's helpful, I suppose. I appreciate that. But how do I make right decisions? And the retiring president said without hesitation, just one word, experience. And again the employee said, Well, that's good, but how do I get experience? What kind of experience am I looking for? And the retiring CIO said, Two words this time, wrong decisions. Now apparently there's some value in studying our wrong decisions, and scripture does give us some spectacular examples of people making wrong decisions, and today we come to one of the clearest, almost classic cases of wrong choices in the Bible. So our topic today is simple how to make wrong decisions. But of course, before we're done, I'll kind of reverse that at the end and give you three words that will help you make right decisions. But first, we need to watch a man, well, a couple of men really, make some disastrous ones. So that's what we're going to look at in today as we study 1 Kings chapter 12. Welcome to today's episode of the Bible Project Daily Podcast. Actually, but who have two very different roles. Verse 1 begins by telling us this: Rehuabam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. Let's pause right there at the opening verse. There are going to be two main characters in this chapter: Rehuabim, who we've just met, who is Solomon's son, and Jerobim, who is actually Solomon's former servant. Now their names almost sound a little similar, and sometimes I have to be honest and say even experienced Bible readers can mix them up. So let's just try and keep it simple in our minds. Rehobim is Solomon's son, and Jerobim is the ex-servant. Now Reboiim has just become king after Solomon's death, and the whole nation of Israel gathers at Shechem to crown Solomon's son and now successor as king. Then verse 2 introduces this other character, Jerobim, and it says, When Jerobim heard about it, he was still in Egypt, for he had fled from Solomon. So they sent for Jerobim, and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehobim and said to him, Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put in us, and we will serve you. So why was Jerobim in Egypt? Well, because Solomon had tried to kill him. And why did Solomon try to kill him? Because God had told this character Jerobim, the ex-servant, that one day he would in fact rule over ten of the tribes. So Jerobim had fled for his life, but now Solomon is dead, and the people call him back and say, Represent to Sair. So Jerobim and his people go to Rehuabim, the successor, and say, Your father made our yoke heavy, lighten the burden for us, and then we'll agree to serve you. Now they're probably talking about the forced labor and the heavy taxation that was put on them. Probably the financial burden that was actually caused by the enormous cost of Solomon's building projects. Solomon was wise, but he was also expensive, and the people had had enough. So Rehoiabim now faces a decision. Will he lighten the load for these people? Or will he keep things the same? Or will he make the burden even heavier? So this is a real moment of leadership required here. It's a crossroads for Solomon's son, a real test, and to his credit, well, he doesn't answer immediately. Verse 5 says, Roboabam answered and said, Go away for three days and then come back to me. And the people and did indeed go away. And that actually is pretty good advice if you think about it. Don't make big decisions in a hurry, sleep in them, pray about them, let your mind settle and meditate on them for a while. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone to bed with a problem spinning round on my head to wake up with clarity. Sometimes it feels to me like the answer just drops out of the sky or God puts it in my head as I sleep. So so far Rehoiam is doing pretty well. Verse 6 continues, then King Rehoabim consulted the elders who served his father, Solomon, during his lifetime. How would you advise me to answer these people? he asked him. Now this is pretty smart thinking, I think, because these men, of course, had served under Solomon, that king who had been described in his peak as the wisest man on earth, they had the experience of doing that, they'd watched his leadership up close, and their advice, I have to say, is excellent. And what they say really tells them three things. They reply, verse 7, If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servant. So within that, they're saying three things to him be a servant leader, and this is the best type of leadership. In fact, Jesus says the same things in the New Testament. He says, He who is greatest amongst you shall be your servant. So indeed, servant leadership can solve a lot of problems. It softens people's hearts towards you, it builds trust, and it even learns loyalty. But then it says actually serve them. So it doesn't say rule over them, it doesn't say dominate them, but serve them. Leadership, you see, is not about expressing power, it's about taking responsibility and actually doing things with the best interests of the people at heart. And then thirdly, within that short answer, it also says answer them with favorable good words, it says. In other words, be gracious, be transparent, and be honest with the people. Solomon himself, we know, did this well. You may remember when we covered the Queen of Sheba a couple of days ago, she came and asked them very hard questions, and he answered every one of them. He gave good answers, sensible answers, and compassionate answers, and good leaders communicate effectively, and good leaders don't hide behind their authority, they speak good words with honesty and integrity. So so far, Rehoebim is on the right track because he takes time, he seeks wise counsel, and he goes to the right people to do that, and the elders have just given him some excellent advice. Be a servant, answer their questions, and speak good, gentle, pleasant words. And the last point is worth pausing over. Speak good words. My Bible version translates it as. Now the Hebrew word here, good, means pleasant, agreeable words. Again, that's good advice when dealing with people who you have authority over. The Apostle Paul said, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, anything other than what is good for edification. And the word corrupt here means speaking offensively and in a way that injures people. Harsh words hurt people, sarcasm wounds people, even little jabs and jokes and little are little verbal stabs that can cut people to the core and scar them. Some people are quite gifted at sarcasm, but not in a good way. What comes out of their mouths actually tears people down instead of building them up. So so far Ruabam on the surface has been doing pretty well. He took time, he sought wise counsel, he went to the right people, and the elders gave him three excellent principles, and if he follows this advice, they say he will unite the kingdom. If he follows the advice, then he will succeed. But as I said, this sermon is illustrating for us how to make wrong decisions, so the next step we see is where things begin to unravel. Now comes the turning point, verses eight and nine. But Rehoabam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young man who had grown up with him and were serving him, and he asked them, What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, Lighten the yoke your father put on us? This is the classic setup for a bad decision, isn't it? He rejects the wisdom and he rejects the advice of the experienced people, those who had served under his father, and instead he turns to his friends, his buddies and his childhood friends, men who actually have no experience, men with no wisdom, and men who grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth, in privilege, not actually even having had experience or responsibility, and he asked these people of all people how he should answer the concerns of Jehoiapan's people. And notice he uses the word we here in his question. He's the king, but he says, How should we answer these people? He wants to be part of this gang. This is actually, I would say, in security masquerading his leadership. And the young man's advice is cold, harsh, arrogant, and foolish, the exact opposite of the advice the elders had just given him. Let's hear what they say. Verses ten and eleven. The young man, who had grown up with him, replied, These people have said to you, your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter. Tell them, My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions. Now that interesting little phrase, My little finger is thicker than my father's waist, was a proverb of those days, pretty much saying, Look, I will be tougher than Solomon. You think he was hard? Just wait until you see me. And he adds My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges, or some translations I will chask I will scourge you with scorpions. Now a scourge was a whip that had metal embedded in the ends. It tore flesh and it inflicted pain. But whatever the correct translation here, the meaning is clear. Things are going to be harsher, tougher than under his father before them. He's pretty much saying, I'll show you who's boss. And of course this is ruled by fear, and it also of course contradicts everything those elders had said to him. Instead of being a servant, he's becoming a tyrant. Instead of answering questions, he's issuing threats, and instead of speaking good kind words, he's threatening them with cruel ones. And now, of course, Rehoabim must choose what he must do in response, and his decision is another textbook example of how to make a wrong decision. Verses twelve to fifteen. Three days later, Jirobim and all the people returned to Rehoabim as the king had said, Come back to me in three days. The king answered the people harshly, rejecting the advice given to him by the elders. He followed the advice of the young man and said to them, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will make it heavier. My father scourged you with whip, and I will scourge you with scorpions. So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord to fulfil the word that the Lord had spoken to Jeroabim, son of Nebat, through Ahijah the Shilanite. So, what's going on here? Well, our guy, he hasn't spoken calmly or respectfully. He's spoken with the cruelty we talked about and a condescending attitude. He's rejected the elders' wisdom, and instead he's embraced the young men, his friends, and their arrogant attitude. He's chosen slogans over wisdom and macho posturing over any type of servant leadership. And he said, My father made your yoke heavy, and I'm going to add to the yoke. So this is my friend's potential leadership suicide. If you really want to make a wrong decision in life, Rehoyabum shows you how. In fact, he shows you how he can do that and make it in three ways all at once. First of all, follow the advice of the inexperienced, the unwise people. The truth is, friends, we are all influenced by our inner circle more than we realize. And if your inner circle is full of foolish people, then you will be also. Two, he decides to do what is unloving. He chooses harshness over kindness, domination over an attitude of service, and cruelty instead of compassion. And thirdly, he speaks down to people instead of building them up. So he does all of these things in his one action. Nothing alienates people faster than condescending, harsh speech. These three ingredients guarantee a bad decision, and Reboyabim does all three. And the consequences of that? Well, as you'll hear now, the nation is divided. When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king, What share do we have in David? What part in Jesse's son? To your tents, Israel, look after your own house, David. So the Israelites went home, but as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoabam still ruled over them. So this is actually where the kingdom completely and pretty much permanently splits. Rehoibam's insensitivity extinguished any actual hope of future unity, and his dictatorial threats alienate the people. And right then and there the ten northern tribes succeed and break off. Now this is one of the most important turning points in the entire Old Testament. From this moment on, Israel is divided. The northern kingdom goes one way and the southern kingdom goes another. And that fracture continues to be described through one king and two kings right up into the exile. But it's all rooted back to this one foolish decision here. And as we shall now see, one bad decision often leads to another. Rehoibam has made this one catastrophic decision, but the passage, now as it continues, will show us something, well, that's painfully familiar. That is, once you start making bad decisions, they tend to multiply. Verse 18 tells us King Rehoyabam sent out Adonoram, who was in charge of forced labour, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoyabam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. This is astonishingly stupid. Rehoyabim decides to send a representative to calm the people, and he chooses the worst possible man. Adoram, the man originally in charge of the whole forced labour system, the man associated with administering Solomon's heavy taxation burden, the man whom the people already resented, and not surprisingly, the people turn on him, stone him, and kill him. And Rehoabam himself barely escapes with his life. He jumps into a chariot and flees back to Jerusalem, it tells us. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. Years of frustration are boiling over here, and Rehoabam's foolishness in the decisions he's made is the thing that has lit the fuse. And verse 19 now summarizes that moment for us. It says, So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. So this is not a temporary fare of. This is a permanent fracture being described here. Now remember, the writer of One Kings is looking back at the point he's written it at the end of Two Kings, and it's a period now centuries after this division, and he's saying, Look, this is how all of these problems started. Right back here, with one foolish decision, a harsh answer, an arrogant posture, arrogant posturing of a king before a potentially divided nation, and of course the nation splits in two because of it. So Jeroim will now become king, but only king over that split group who are in the north. Verse 20 says, When all Israel heard that Jerobim had come back, they made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David. So Reboabam now has lost ten tribes in a single day, and only Judah remains loyal to him, along with a part of Benjamin, who have close ties to Judah, he also joins them. So these two, some might say one and a half tribes from the southern kingdom, which is now called Judah, and the ten tribes now form the northern kingdom, which will now be what is called Israel. And from this point forward, Israel, when we see it in the Bible and in the text, is usually only referring to the northern kingdom, these ten tribes, and Judah will now be referring to the southern kingdom. And the rest of One Kings and Two Kings, and indeed the further prophetic books that come along, they all unfold the story before us under this new divided reality. So this is indeed one of the major turning points in the entire Old Testament. And now we see Revoyabam make his next move in verse 21. I wonder if it's going to be a wise one. Let's hear what it says. When Heroabim arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 able young men, to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Revoyabam, son of Solomon. So his decision is to start a civil war. Now this is quite astonishing, really. He caused the division, and now he wants to fix it with force. He wants to go to war. If he'd simply listened to the people when they first came to him, and if he'd spoken kindly towards them, if he'd maybe even lightened the load a little, there'd have been nowhere to fight at all. But now he's ready to shed blood in order as a failed attempt to undo his own foolishness of his first decision. But thankfully God intervenes and sends a prophet to pretty much stop the war. It says, But the word of God came to Shemiah, the man of God, say to Rehobim, son of Solomon, King of Judah, and to all Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people, this is what the Lord says. Do not go up and fight against your brothers the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing. So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered. Now to Reboabam's partial credit, I suppose he finally listens and he calls off the attack. At least one right decision in all of this, but it comes, of course, after a long string of wrong ones. So let's pause and gather the pieces here. The lesson so far is pretty straightforward. Clearly, wrong decisions produce division. And firstly, Roabum Rehoyabum made a wrong decision by rejecting the wise counsel and embracing the foolish advice of his friends. And secondly, we see his wrong decision has produced division. The kingdom has split, the relationships between the tribes have fractured, and unity across the nation has completely evaporated. And that, my friend, is the great lesson of this chapter. Wrong decisions, especially unloving, arrogant, harsh decisions, will produce division and will have their consequences. But we need to be aware that these wrong decisions can not only happen here historically on the macro scale, they can happen on the micro scale, within relationships, within families, within friendships, within church communities, within workplaces, and yes, of course, even nations. So there's nothing new in this under the sun. In fact, in the New Testament, you know that church at Corinth was divided, and Paul needed to address this because some of them were saying I follow Paul, some were saying I prefer to follow Peter. Division, as always, is the natural fruit of people making foolish decisions. And in this case, in the Old Testament, the issue was taxation and forced labor, but it pretty much could have been anything. But now the story, the narrative story in the One King's text in the close of this chapter, actually shifts to the north, because Jerobim, the servant who's now become king in the north, will make some wrong decisions of his own, and things will get even worse. Let me just read the close of the chapter to you. Then Jeroabim fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And from there he went out and built up Penel. Jerobim thought to himself the kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will then give their allegiance, that being Rehoiabim, king of Judah. They will then kill me and return to King Rehoiam. So after seeking out Valentine, The king made two golden calves, and he said to the people, It is too much for you to go all the way to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, the ones who brought you out of Egypt. One he set up in Bethel, and the other he placed in Dan. And this thing became a sin, and people came to worship the one at Bethel, and went as far as Dan to worship the other. Jeroabim built shines also on the high places, and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made, and at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings there. Now if you lived in ancient Israel, up to this point it was very clear that God had said there was to be one place to worship, that being Jerusalem, and that was now in the southern part of this divided kingdom. But of course Jerobim here is king only in the north. So he panics. He fears that if the people are going to travel south to worship, then they will be in Jerusalem and their hearts will gradually turn back to Rehoabam, the other king, and the kingdoms might then reunite, and then there is the risk that the people will rise up and kill him in the north. So he decides to quote unquote solve this problem, and what he does next is actually probably one of the worst decisions that we see in the entire Old Testament. Jeroabim's solution is to make two idols, calves of gold, and say it's too far for you guys to go to Jerusalem. Here are some gods you can worship here in the north. Now does that sound familiar, these golden calves? It should. It's exactly what Aaron said and did at Mount Sinai when Israel made the first golden calf. Jerobim repeats this sin word for word, but times two. And he places one calf at Bethel, which is at the southern border of the kingdom, the last stop before anybody travelling to Jerusalem, and he places the other calf at Dan, at the most northernmost part of the border. So from Dan to Bethel across the whole northern kingdom, he's actually creating a counterfeit to religion. Effectively, Jerobam is building his own religious system, and he doesn't just stop with making these idols, he makes shrines and he puts them on the high places, and he takes and appoints priests, and it says from every class of people, so they're not even Levites. And this, of course, is another direct violation of the Mosaic law. Only Levites could be priests, and only Jerusalem was meant to be the place of worship, and only the ark symbolized God's presence, and by making idols to bow down and worship, Jerobim is ignoring all of it. He goes even further than that. He ordains a feast. It says one like the feast in Judah. So he invents his own religious calendar as well. He counterfeits and creates new feasts of worshiping God. He's creating a man-made religion which is in fact motivated to keep people away from God's appointed place and God's way of doing three. Verse 33 gives us this key because it says these feasts and all the things he does, he does in the month which he devised in his own heart. He's doing exactly what he wants to do, and in fact he's doing the opposite of what God said he should do, and that of course is the very essence, the very definition of a bad decision. Rehoibam made wrong decisions, and Rehoyabam's foolishness divided the kingdom, but here Jerohim is making even worse ones, and his foolishness will corrupt the worship of this entire nation of people he's been given he has responsibility over. Rehoibam's decision, of course, split the nation, but Jerohim's decision is poisoning its very soul. And both of these men put together perfectly show us wrong decisions, how they can be moored. It's almost a perfect formula for making a wrong decision. If you want it, here it is for you. Drawn out from the what from what they did. Follow the advice of inexperienced, unwise people, ignore the wise, the elders among you, listen instead to your friends and buddies. Decide to do what is unloving, make harsh decisions instead of compassionate ones, speak down to people instead of building them up, alienate people, and do it your own way. Do it your own way instead of God's way. And that one at the end is the worst mistake of all. But also, if you're going to do that, remember this. Decisions always have far-reaching consequences. They're affecting nations here, but they can also affect families, relationships, friendships, churches, and of course still today nations. So let's reverse all this. Let's reverse this list. How do we make a right decision then? Well, simply we do the opposite of what we see here. We follow the advice of the wise people. We seek counsel from those who walk with God. And we do what is loving. And it involves making decisions where we choose to express the loving path and our attitudes towards people. And we should listen before we speak, and we do speak, we should build people up, not tear them all. And most importantly of all, of course, we should do things God's way, not your own way, and that one, my friends, is the most important one of all. You know, you can make a foolish mistake and recover from it. You can make a small mistake and even learn from it. But the worst decision you can make is simply to do things your way when God has clearly said other ways. God's way to make decisions is really simple. Trust in His Son, walk in His Word, and love one another. That's the foundation of wise decision making. Now I want to finish by trying to boil that down into three little unforgettable words that I promised at the beginning, and they all begin with a letter R, I hope to make them easy to remember. First is rely on revelation. Do what God says, of course, but you can start to know what God says simply by reading his scripture. That's revelation. Secondly, relationships. Build good servant-led relationships. Think about how our will and what we decide will affect others, and love should be the guiding the guiding principle in every decision we make. And then finally, the results. Think about what this decision will produce. Think ahead. Consider the consequences. Because if you do these things, if you think realistically, biblically, relationally, responsibly, then you will avoid the problems that they face. You'll avoid irritation, frustration, frustration among people, impatience, anger. But most importantly, in the reactions that you'll see, but most importantly, you'll avoid making those foolish decisions, and instead, hopefully, you'll make more wise decisions, and then we'll avoid those painful consequences of the wrong ones that you can sometimes experience in life. So that's the plan, that's the purpose. I hope I've given you the template that has enabled you to make more and many more of the wise decisions we all need to make in life. Thanks for being with me today. We've watched a guy ignore wise advice, and because of that, the nations have fractured, and even to the point where a leader has invented a religion of his own making. And if 1 Kings chapter 12 teaches us anything, it's this. Wrong decisions don't stay small, they ripple, they divide, and they can shape for generations. And boy have they done it here, haven't they? But thankfully the story isn't finished yet, because God will not remain silent. In the very next chapter we look at tomorrow, Jerome Boom stands before his brand new altar we've just certified, and he offers a sacrifice to the golden crown that he has had created. And God sends an unnamed prophet straight into the heart of this country for religion. And what happens next is one of the most dramatic scenes in the entire book of Kings. 1 Kings 13 is going to be a chapter where we will see truth collide with error, obedience collide with deception, and it played out even when a false word appears to be coming from someone who kind of looks spiritual. So join me next time. It's an important one, as tomorrow we step into what I think is one of the most sobering and indeed surprising chapters in this book, and watch how God confronts false worship, false religion, and even false prophets. It's been great having you with me today. I do trust I'll see you back here again tomorrow or very soon. Bye-bye, Fanahood.