“And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” (1 Kings 12:14 KJV)
Have you ever read through a passage of scripture and wondered what that story would look like from God’s perspective? We all too often study passages wondering what someone did wrong or incomplete or could have done differently or should have done better. These three chapters in 1 Kings might just be the occasion to forget about the surface of what is done and look deeper into the purposes of God that are orchestrating key details.
In 1 Kings 12-14, we see three characters: Rehoboam, a man of God, and Jeroboam. Characters may not even be the correct term as these can be thought of as examples of how God’s purpose might play out. In the verse above, we see Rehoboam’s response. One might be tempted to analyze which advice that he should have taken. Did it really matter? The advice story is there so we can see how the purpose of God played out. Had he taken the other advice there might have been a different twist still resulting in the same outcome. So, why would God purposefully tear the kingdom into two different leaders? See the last couple chapters. So, what situation does this leave Rehoboam in should he ponder it? He can’t have what God has not given him, but what God has given him he cannot lose. Sound familiar to any situation that you’ve ever been in? So, what if he wanted to change this situation? Reflecting on Proverbs 19:21, he doesn’t merely need to petition harder, he needs to petition things that touch on the core purpose of God. Daniel is later a good example of this. He knows that he is going to remain in captivity, but he searches back to see how long the prophecy is for (70 years in his case), gives a real repentance, and works with what God has given him. This proves very successful. Yet, his success is not in what he did so much as digging deep enough to see what God’s purpose is and then humbly working with that.
Next, in 1 Kings 13, we see a man of God. You can tell by the title that this is someone who walks closely with God. Yet, we see outside of this individual’s actions some things that God is very intentional about. Firstly, if you’re going to walk closely with God, he expects exact adherence to the word that he has given you out of you. Similar to what we see in 1 John 2:27, the anointing and the power comes from God. Friends that walk alongside us are great and all, but an intentional adherence to God must come first. It is the adherence to God that makes your accountability buddy valuable or not. Secondly, this man of God actually speaks to the altar. This would seem to other onlookers to be just an object. Yet the man of God sees spiritually what this is and is able to speak directly to the evil that it is. Tackling this evil and causing it to spill is what infuriates the guilty. This is where the guilty reach out to seize this force and stop it. That highlights another purpose of God. You can only stretch out your hand against his, if and when, he allows it. A similar incident to this happens in Matthew 12:10 where Jesus heals a man with a shriveled hand. The leaders of that time were attempting to use God’s law against God by regulating when power could be used. Of course they miss the whole point of mercy. Even when healed, they don’t rejoice with the man who was healed. Similarly, Jeroboam moves on to another entrapment technique rather than repenting and rejoicing for what has been healed. God’s purposes can be fulfilled any time he wants them and he will grant or deny the authority behind them. Finally, we see that when God acts in a just judgment, he can command even the creatures that are very present but that we’d never think of using because we can’t command them like he does.
Lastly in 1 Kings 14 we see an attempt to disguise. In God’s purposes there is never an effective disguise. Even an old man who doesn’t see well, sees through any disguise as long as he’s listening to God. Furthermore, anyone who has no desire for God at all and intends to do what he will has an end that is far worse than a disciplined end of a man of God. To those who refuse God, there is nothing but a complete destruction waiting for them. It’s also worth noting that both of these kings did what they did under advisement. Council is great and all, and many wise men use it. Yet, the purpose of God is so much greater than all mankind can do even combined.
“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” (2 Timothy 1:9 KJV)