Topic: BEWARE OF UNGODLY COUNSEL
Text:1 Kings 12:16-24
12:16 Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying: “What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David!” So Israel departed to their tents.
12:17 But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.
12:18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem.
12:19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
12:20 Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
12:21 And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
12:22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
12:23 Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying,
12:24 ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord, and turned back, according to the word of the Lord.
STUDY:
Although God had determined to split the nation of Israel, Rehoboam’s outright rejection of the godly counsel of the elders who served with his father brought about the fulfilment of the judgement upon the nation. When the people sent a delegation to appeal to him to lighten the heavy burden placed on them, he consulted two groups of people: The elders who served with his father and the young men, his age mates, who now served with him. However, it turned out that he took the evil counsel and advice of the young men and that cost him eleven tribes.
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly (Psa. 1:1).
The Goodnews Bible puts it this way, “Happy are those who reject the advice of evil people.” One other classical case of ungodly counsel in the Bible is in the story of the rape of Tamar by her brother, Amnon (2 Sam. 13). That ungodly and wicked act was sponsored by the ungodly counsel and advice of Amnon’s friend, Jonadab. We must learn to judge every counsel we receive, to discern which one is godly and which one to run with. This is because the consequence of our wrong choices will not be upon the advisers but on us. Beware of the counsels that guide your actions! Most destinies, marriages and societies, have been destroyed due to ungodly counsel.
Prayer:
Father, deliver me from ungodly counsels.
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