Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What Guides You? | The Writings | 2 Chronicles 10-12

Episode Date: March 19, 2024

Whether it's fear, pride, or God, everyone is guided by something. In today's episode, Tanya looks at 2 Chronicles 10-12 to share a story about kings who weren't guided by God and warns against self-sufficiency. Sign up here to receive the "Our Good King" Holy Week Devotional beginning on Palm Sunday, March 23rd, 2024. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Chronicles 10-12

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. Today's episode of our Second Chronicles 10 through 12 was a tongue-twisting tale of two leaders. Jeroboam had an inferiority complex, and Rehoboam had a superiority complex. Now Rehoboam was the son of Solomon. And even though Solomon was a great king, he accumulated a lot of wealth and exercised a lot of wisdom. him, his heart was turned away from the Lord after he married Pharaoh's daughter. Remember, he started allowing idol worship into his heart and his home and his country, peace by peace.

And we're going to talk about the very unwise things, his son, Rehoboam, did today to contribute to the division of the northern and southern tribes or kingdoms. But Second Chronicles 1015 tells us all this was brought about by God because of Solomon's apostasy. And we can't help but read this with caution. Allowing things to come into our lives that take us peace by piece away from wholehearted devotion to God is very dangerous. We also read this with an open hand, seeing through these examples how repentance and obedience, which, by the way, are always available to us, can lead to the restoration of God's blessing.

I'm not sure which one will land with you today, maybe both, but let me tell you the story. When Solomon died, the country was strong, they were wealthy. The temple was extravagant and beautiful. The people were finally able to worship God in the temple, and the wealth of Solomon was on great display there while they worshipped. On one hand, there was national pride and security. But on the other hand, all this came at a cost. Solomon had had to use resident aliens to do the hard work. He made them into slaves for the country, and he worked them tirelessly. And because that wasn't enough, he also instituted a draft for the common people, and they had to work four months a year on the king's projects. So when Solomon died, there was a group that spoke up and said, hey, we want a new ruler that doesn't require so much of us, so much of our time and our energy for the throne. We want to be able to work on our own projects and provide for our own families.

And for this group, Jeroboam arose as the leader. In fact, God had already appointed Jeroboam, and we can learn about that in First Kings. He had been in exile in Egypt, but now he came out to speak on behalf of these people who were overworked. So Jerobam went to Rehoboam, Solomon's son, to plead this case. And Rehobam heard him, and he said, give me three days. And then Rehoboam did something that seems kind of wise. He went to his father's counselors, and they said something that sounds pretty wise. They said,

it would be good for you to listen to these people and please them and speak good words to them. They will be your servants forever. These were words of restoration and loyalty and keeping people together. But Rehobam didn't really like what he heard. So he went to some people his own age, and they suggested that he say instead to Jeroboam,

quote, little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. So after three days, Rehobom took the counsel of his youth and said that he would add weight to their yolks and he would punish them with scorpions instead of leather whips if they didn't obey. So when they heard this, it finally occurred to Jeroboam and the dissidents that they didn't have to stay. They didn't have to remain subjects to Rehobalm. They could actually leave. So they did. And Rehobam sent someone to persuade them to return, but Rehoboam didn't really care quite enough to change his mind or his words. So the kingdom that was built and fortified by his

father for over 80 years dissolved in a matter of days. So if Rehoboam had a superiority complex that kept him from hearing wise counsel, from changing his mind, from seeing evidence that his decision was wrong. From turning back while there was still time, well, Jeroboam had an inferiority complex that also hurt the people. Jeroboam's problem was that this northern section that he went back to didn't include Jerusalem. It didn't include the temple. And he was worried that when the people went south to the temple to worship God, they would be going into Rehoboam's territory. And when they were there, there, they might turn against him, they might be persuaded to join the Southern Kingdom again.

So to solve for this, Jerobam decided people shouldn't have to go to the temple to worship God. And so he created his own pseudo-religion. He set up fake and shoddy shrines close to the border to stop their people on the way to the temple. And anyone who could come up with the money can make sacrifices and act as a priest of one of these shrines. There was no out-and-out warfare against Judah or between Judah and Israel, but the hostility never ceased to exist. I wonder if you have ever experienced hostility because of either a superiority or inferiority complex.

Have you ever been in a place where you were so sure you were right? You just couldn't hear anything that was telling you to lay it down or listen or soften. You gravitated only to the voices that told you that you were right. right and you were justified and you should protect yourself. For the people of Israel, this had serious consequences. While Chronicles said that Rehobom started strong, it also says that when he abandoned the law of the Lord, all of Israel went with him. And because of this, God punished them by allowing the king of Egypt to come in and take all the treasure they'd accumulated under Solomon. They took the gold from the palace and the temple and they left it bare.

In a sad display of defeat, Rehoboam eventually had bronze shields made to replace the gold ones the Egyptians had taken. We don't know where Rehobam's heart ended up, but we do know he was still trying to make things look good on the outside, even though it was all a facade. And then Jeroboam, because he was insecure, he led people into a watered down and fake kind of worship. It was a worship of easy access of all inclusiveness. There wasn't one God and one temple and one way to come before him, but a free-for-all to keep everyone happy. Relationally, spiritually, you can face the same temptations, a double down. I am right.

And everyone else is misguided or misinformed or wrong. So I will treat them however I want or say whatever I want without regard for my own limitations, my own weaknesses, my own sin. just a complete lack of awareness. Or on the other hand, we can have a fear of losing someone or turning someone away. So we establish no boundaries, no truth about who God is, no limits about what he requires of his people, so that people are actually misinformed and misled about God's true holiness.

These stories point us to how desperately we need a better king. the true king, Jesus, who rescues us from our complexes and forgives us, a king who invites us to leave behind the pride and the jealousy and the envy that try to tangle us with conflict and strife and division, a king that asks us to follow him. Will you take time to slow your mind and your thoughts with King Jesus today? Don't be like Rehaboam and go find someone that will tell you you were right. But look to Jesus, look to his word, see what God says is right. Ask his people. Or will you ask him to show you where a quest for power is tempting you or misleading you? Will you let him show you where you need to lay down a sword and work on reconciliation?

Jesus invites us to live with a better hope in his power. It's a power that will be exercised over all creation one day when he returns. With Jesus as our children, we're true king, we don't have to engage in the power struggles of today because we can trust him. He will never misuse us or mistreat us and will never lie to us. He is always good, always faithful, always true. We can lay down our swords and rest in him.