Rehoboam’s Counselors
If your rich uncle were to leave you a million dollars, what would be
your first action after you recovered from fainting? If you were wise, you would probably consult
with a financial advisor. That counselor
might be an investment banker, a stockbroker, an insurance agent and some other
person who could help you invest your money wisely. It would not make good sense to go to someone
who had not handled his money carefully.
If I were presented with such an opportunity, I would be reluctant to
consult with someone who had declared bankruptcy a half dozen times. Financial advisors play a significant role in
helping individuals and corporations to take care of their money.
Marriage counseling has become a
major activity in our nation. Hundreds
of thousands of married couples are having trouble and need someone to aid them
in working out their difficulties.
Psychiatrists, psychologists, preachers, priests, rabbis and just plain
people spend countless thousands of hours in counseling troubled
marriages. Tragically, many couples use
very poor judgment in selecting marriage counselors. Many marriage counselors have been married
three or four times. Some of the
counselors have failed to demonstrate by the handling of their own problems
that they can serve as helpers to couples that are having trouble. Some of the marriage counselors have a
defective view of marriage and the family and actually hinder rather than help
their counselees. If you need marriage
counseling, please check the counselor’s moral values as well as his or her
academic credentials. If you fail to do
that, you may live to regret it.
The Old Testament uses the word
“counselor” a substantial number of times.
The book of Proverbs uses the word four times, but I shall read only one
of the passages. “Where no counsel (or
guidance) is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is
safety” (Prov.
By divine inspiration, Jeremiah
predicted: “He who remains in the city shall die by the sword, by famine, and
by pestilence: but he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall
have his life for a prey, and shall live.
Thus says the Lord, this city shall surely be given into the hand of
My first counselors were my
parents. They taught me to do right and
then saw to it that I did. What if my
parents had been like some modern parents who seem not to care what their
children do? William J. Murray, the son
of the outspoken atheist, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, tells of his rearing by his
atheist mother. Bill Murray’s book has
the title, My Life without God
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982).
Bill admits impregnating his girlfriend.
She told him she would have an abortion.
He became very angry and forbad her to have an abortion. He then explained: “I can’t let you do
that. I spent eighteen years listening
to Mother tell me she wished she had aborted me. I don’t believe in it” (p. 157). How can children become decent people if they
have mothers like Madalyn Murray O’Hair--Bill Murray’s mother?
The northern
A good mother is one of God’s
great gifts to human beings. My own
mother was not an educated woman, but she was quiet, humble, gentle and
loving. My brothers, sisters and I were
wonderfully blessed to have had such a wonderful mother. Can you imagine what the twelve Claiborne
children might have been had we had a mother like Athaliah--a mother who
counseled her son to do wickedly?
Unfortunately, there are mothers in our world who encourage their
children to defy the laws of man and of God.
There have been many cases where mothers were involved with their
children in selling drugs, in stealing from business places and in committing
other crimes.
Not only did Ahaziah have a
mother who counseled him to do wickedly; he also had men in his cabinet who led
him into ungodly behavior. Some of his
counselors were from the house of Ahab.
These men had learned wicked ways from Ahab and from Jezebel--one of the
world’s wickedest women. They passed
along to Ahaziah the evil they had learned from that infamous couple. I am not attempting to exonerate Ahaziah for his
ungodliness, but he had an uphill battle to be an honorable man and a good
king. His parents--Jehoram and
Athaliah--were not exactly model citizens.
Besides, he had political counselors who helped bring about his
destruction. This was truly a tragic
combination of counselors. God brought
about the death of Ahaziah because of his rebellion against God (2 Kings
22:7-9).
Ahaziah, like all other human
beings, whether king otherwise, must stand before God to give an account of his
behavior. Even though he had a wicked
father and mother, he could have chosen to follow the Lord’s instructions
through God’s faithful prophets. These
words from the book of Psalms tell us the secret of learning what God desires
us to know and to do. “Thou has rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err
from thy commandments. Remove from me
reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. Princes also do sit and speak against me: but
thy
Four men ruled as kings over the
Rehoboam asked the people to
leave him for three days and he would give them an answer. “King Rehoboam consulted with the old men,
that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do you
advise that I may answer this people?
And they spoke unto him, saying, If you will be a
Is it significant that the men on
whom the nation of Israel depended for leadership were called “elders?” Men are not wise just because they are
older. Some of Solomon’s blunders
occurred when he was an older man. But
older men ought to have more wisdom because of what they have seen and
learned. The men whom God has appointed
over local congregations are also called “elders.” Acts 20 tells of Paul’s calling to him the elders
or bishops of the church at Ephesus (Act 20:17, 28). First Timothy 3 and Titus 1 provide the
qualifications of elders of the Lord’s church.
In addition to having older men, the church must be sure they have the
other necessary qualifications to be elders.
Rehoboam apparently was not
pleased with the recommendations of the older men in the nation. “He forsook the counsel of the old men, which
they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with
him, and which stood before him” (1 Kings 12:8). Before we examine the advice the young men
gave king Rehoboam, it is in order to talk about the age of these men. The king was not a boy when he consulted his
contemporaries; nor were they boys.
Rehoboam was forty-nine years old when he became king. That means the men who had grown up with him
were in their late forties or early fifties.
But they did not have the wisdom and foresight to guide the king in his
duties. Our nation has made some
enormous blunders by choosing men and women who were too young for the
responsibilities assigned to them.
Please listen to the advice the
foolish young men gave to a foolish king.
The king said to the young men: “What counsel do you give that we may
answer the people, who have spoken unto me, saying, Make the yoke which your
father did put upon us lighter? The
young men who were grown up with him spoke unto him, saying, Thus shall you
speak unto this people that spoke unto you, saying, Your father made our yoke
heavy, but make it lighter unto us: thus shall you say unto them, My little
finger shall be thicker that my father’s lions.
And now whereas my father did burden you with a heavy yoke, I will add
to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with
scorpions (1 Kings 12:9-11).
When Jereboam and the Israelite
people came to Rehoboam the third day, the king answered the people roughly,
and forsook the old men’s counsel that they had given him and spoke unto them
as the young men had advised (1 Kings 12:12-14). The people were disappointed with Rehoboam’s
reply to them. The inspired writer
commented: “So Israel--that is the ten tribes in the north--rebelled against
the house of David unto this day” (1 Kings 12:19). Rehoboam’s stupidity opened the way for
Jereboam to become king of the northern tribes.
Jereboam was an abominable character.
In fact, he became a kind of model for evil. Inspired writers would compare all the wicked
kings to Jereboam. You have often heard it said that everybody is an example--either
good or bad. Jereboam was the very
epitome of a bad example. Rehoboam and
his counselors had to take some of the blame for what Jereboam did as the king
of Israel. Do you see how valuable good
counselors are and the damage wicked counselors can do?
Virtually every president of the
United States has chosen men and women to serve on his cabinet who were just as
foolish as the young men who advised Rehoboam.
Do I have to remind you of the sleazy characters with whom President
Nixon surrounded himself? Charles
Colson, John Ehrlichman, John Dean, H.R. Haldeman and a host of others were
involved in crimes so severe that they brought down the president. Some of these men--maybe all of them--have
made great changes for good in their lives--notably Charles Colson, one of my
favorite writers--but that does not remove the evil these men did as advisors
to the president and as co-conspirators in his criminal activities. Those evil counselors brought great harm to
our nation.
Some of the men and women in
President Clinton’s cabinet were not exactly angels. Dr. Elders was one of the most radical people
ever to serve in any president’s cabinet.
Henry Cisneros lied to the FBI and had to be removed from the
cabinet. Attonery General Janet Reno has
brought disgrace on the Department of Justice.
It may take years before we can refer to that department as having
anything to do with justice. These are
just a few of the counselors who have made the last eight years one of the most
troublesome in American history. Other
counselors in the Clinton administration, such as, the late Charles Ruff,
Sidney Blumenthal, James Carville, and a host of others, have done for our
country what the young men did for Israel.
We are not two nations, but we are a polarized nation. Part of the blame for this is
polarization--but not all of it--must rest on the former president and his
advisors.
Our nation and our individual
states are not the only groups that have suffered because of the leaders’
listening to the wrong people.
Tragically, many churches in our land--including some churches of
Christ--have listened to people--both old and young--who have little or no
respect for the teaching of scripture.
In most cases, they are good people morally, but they want to see the
church brought into the 21st century, to use their language. In some cases, some of the speakers at youth
meetings have decided that they know what the church ought to do. They seem to think the older people,
including our elders, ought to give the young people the reins in the worship
of the church. I have heard at least one
young speaker make fun of the singing of some churches. In fact, he mocked the way some churches
sing. Does he not have enough good sense
to know that not every church has to sing the same way for their singing to be
pleasing to God? We do not have to take
a song and run like a racehorse for our singing to be meaningful to us and
pleasing to God. Elders must lead in
these matters or some of our brash young people will destroy the worship of the
Lord’s people.
When I was a graduate student at the University of Georgia, there was a
move on in the educational field to grant children and young people the right
to choose their own curricula. Some of
the professors at Georgia said that children and young people--not college
students--were wise enough to decide what they ought to learn. If they did not want to take American history
or science, they ought to be able to choose their own curricula. If you will examine our educational system in
the United States, you will see the fruit of allowing students in the elementary
schools and in high schools to determine on their own what they will
study. The average American student is
as ignorant as sin about American history, about both English and American
literature, about mathematics and about many other subjects. Approximately one-third of American high
school students are functionally illiterate.
My friends, that is what occurs when we ignore the wisdom of our older
people and bow down to the wishes of children and young people.
In concluding our lesson today, I ask you to take note of how the Old
Testament identifies the coming Messiah.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). Most modern versions do not separate the
words “wonderful” and “counselor.”
Instead, those versions call the coming Messiah: “Wonderful
counselor.” It seems that most
conservative commentaries agree with that translation.
Can you think of anyone more
qualified than the Son of God to provide counsel for men living in the
Christian age? Jesus came down from
heaven--not only to die for our sins--but to tell us how we ought to live. Do you remember what Jesus Christ said to his
disciples after he had washed their feet?
“You call me Master and Lord; and you say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed
your feet; you ought to also to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you
should do as I have done unto you” (John 13:13-15). Please follow our Lord’s counsel and obey the
gospel today.
Winford Claiborne
The International Gospel Hour
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