Kingdom Divided Under Rehoboam
Greetings in the Lord!
I want to share with you a word I received exactly 7 years ago while I lived in Syria. It is taken from 1 Kings 12:1-20. The main person in the passage is the young king Rehoboam, Solomon's son, as he begins to rule over Israel after the long reign of Solomon. I knew at the time the Lord was referencing President Bashar Assad as the young king Rehoboam.
"Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."
Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me." So the people went away. Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.
They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."
But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 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'?"
The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who 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."
Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king has said, "Come back to me in three days." The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; 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 fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
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 of Jesse's son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!" So the Israelites went home.
Wow--that's a big word...especially in light of what's happening there these days. The rest of the passage talks about all the fighting and unrest that occurs in Israel as nearly all of Israel changed loyalty from Rehoboam to Jeroboam and made him their king.
And who is this Jeroboam? Well, he was a man of high standing and servant of Solomon--until the day the Lord declared through a prophet that the kingdom would be taken from Solomon (all but one tribe) and given to Jeroboam. Well, when that news was spread about, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. So Jeroboam fled to Egypt and waited until the death of Solomon to return to Israel and fulfill the word of the Lord.
So, it seems that Syria has some changes on the horizon. I have long discerned that the small enclaves loyal to Assad would be the cities like Latakia, his hometown, but not Damascus as such or the majority of Syria. Who were the "Jeroboams" that were chased out during the reign of Assad senior? Well, there were quite a few, namely, a brother in the ruling family, but we'll see what the Lord has in store for Syria.
Interestingly enough, I had a lengthy conversation with a Jordanian business man over the weekend who openly discussed the situation there and said one thing that really floored me, he said, "The people of the Middle East are calling for Obama to bring change."
Sure enough, I read an article this morning where a Syrian man in the town of Daraa (a city being attacked by the Syrian army to squelch any anti-Assad protesters) yelled to the foreign press, "Let Obama come and take Syria! Let Israel come and take Syria! Let the Jews come! Anything is better than Bashar Assad!" Wow...that's some pretty deep angst.
Well, like always, I pray that the Lord's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I pray that the Body of Christ will be protected during these tumultuous days and that God be glorified in all the nations.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
I want to share with you a word I received exactly 7 years ago while I lived in Syria. It is taken from 1 Kings 12:1-20. The main person in the passage is the young king Rehoboam, Solomon's son, as he begins to rule over Israel after the long reign of Solomon. I knew at the time the Lord was referencing President Bashar Assad as the young king Rehoboam.
"Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."
Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me." So the people went away. Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.
They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."
But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 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'?"
The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who 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."
Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king has said, "Come back to me in three days." The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; 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 fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
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 of Jesse's son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!" So the Israelites went home.
Wow--that's a big word...especially in light of what's happening there these days. The rest of the passage talks about all the fighting and unrest that occurs in Israel as nearly all of Israel changed loyalty from Rehoboam to Jeroboam and made him their king.
And who is this Jeroboam? Well, he was a man of high standing and servant of Solomon--until the day the Lord declared through a prophet that the kingdom would be taken from Solomon (all but one tribe) and given to Jeroboam. Well, when that news was spread about, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. So Jeroboam fled to Egypt and waited until the death of Solomon to return to Israel and fulfill the word of the Lord.
So, it seems that Syria has some changes on the horizon. I have long discerned that the small enclaves loyal to Assad would be the cities like Latakia, his hometown, but not Damascus as such or the majority of Syria. Who were the "Jeroboams" that were chased out during the reign of Assad senior? Well, there were quite a few, namely, a brother in the ruling family, but we'll see what the Lord has in store for Syria.
Interestingly enough, I had a lengthy conversation with a Jordanian business man over the weekend who openly discussed the situation there and said one thing that really floored me, he said, "The people of the Middle East are calling for Obama to bring change."
Sure enough, I read an article this morning where a Syrian man in the town of Daraa (a city being attacked by the Syrian army to squelch any anti-Assad protesters) yelled to the foreign press, "Let Obama come and take Syria! Let Israel come and take Syria! Let the Jews come! Anything is better than Bashar Assad!" Wow...that's some pretty deep angst.
Well, like always, I pray that the Lord's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I pray that the Body of Christ will be protected during these tumultuous days and that God be glorified in all the nations.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
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