I Kings 11:43

I Kings 11:43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead. Solomon had a clever advisor, Jeroboam. But as Solomon grew older, he began to mistrust Jeroboam. And for good reasons. Jeroboam was a mighty man ruling over Solomon’s region north of Jerusalem. Jeroboam liked to schmooze with the leaders and pushed himself to the front rather than Solomon. This didn’t go very well for Solomon. When Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem one day, the prophet Ahijah caught his new robe and yanked it off of Jeroboam. Ahijah tore the robe into twelve pieces and gave ten pieces back to Jeroboam saying, “Thus saith the Lord, I will rip the kingdom from Solomon and give ten of the twelve tribes to you, Jeroboam.” And after Solomon’s death, that is exactly what happened. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, was foolish taking advice from his younger friends and not from Solomon’s older advisors. The ten northern tribes of Israel rebelled against Rehoboam and asked Jeroboam to be their king instead of Rehoboam, Solomon’s heir. Ahijah’s prophecy came true. So what is our lesson from all of this? When you have assistants, be sure that they are loyal to you. Solomon failed in this area. And be careful who you get your advice from. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son failed in this area.