Day 1 · Rebellion against Rehoboam
1 Kings 12:1–15
1Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since. 3So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel came to Rehoboam and said, 4“Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you should lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then return to me.” So the people departed. 6Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked. 7They replied, “If you will be a servant to these people and serve them this day, and if you will respond by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.” 8But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him. 9He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to these people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” 10The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you should make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! 11Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’” 12After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.” 13And the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the elders 14and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.” 15So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
Berean Standard Bible
Observe
What contrast do you notice between the advice given by the elders in verse 7 and the advice given by the young men in verses 10–11?
Apply
When you face an important decision this week, who can you seek out for wise, seasoned advice, and how will you listen to them?
In the app, each day also opens the words in the original language, what the passage meant to its first readers, pastors teaching it, a place to write, and a time to pray.