II Chronicles 11:23 And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.
Do you trust politicians? Have you been watching the news recently? Good night! It doesn’t matter what party you are talking about, politicians generally have a very bad name because we see them as self- serving. Regardless of what they say or what good or bad they do, at the end of the day we suspect that many politicians are in it for themselves. Now, I’d have to hasten to add that spiritual leaders are under the same cloud right now. You can have a good statesman and I thank God for a godly pastor in my hometown, but there is something to this.
In II Chronicles 11 we find out about the dissolution of the united kingdom of Israel. The kingdom that was united under David and Solomon was now divided by a civil war. One half went with Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. One half went with a man named Jeroboam. In II Chronicles 11 the Bible speaks of Rehoboam gaining steam and ruling his half of Israel in Jerusalem, and it talks about all that he built. Then the Bible says that he took a wife and had a lot of children. This is nearly formulaic. A king gains power, takes many wives, has many children, and that was all part of the power that he had.
Verse 23 is what caught my attention this morning because recently I said that Rehoboam, King Solomon’s son, was a foolish son and a foolish king. Indeed he was, yet verse 23 says, “And he dealt wisely, and dispersed all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victuals in abundance. And he desired many wives.” So, the Bible says he dealt wisely, and after a manner he did. We are talking being wise about gaining power. Politicians do that today. Does that make them the kind of wise that you would admire? No, not necessarily.
Rehoboam sent his children throughout all the areas of his kingdom, put them in fenced cities, gave them a budget, plenty to eat, and he desired many wives. Now, the Bible just mentioned that he had a lot of wives. Verse 21 says, “He took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines.” He was not lacking for wives, but verse 23 is talking about wives that he gave to his sons. This was a political move. Kings had large harems because their fathers-in-law, other kings, would not be inclined to attack a son-in-law. Kings made treaties among kingdoms that way. So, within the kingdom Rehoboam sent his sons to these various established cities, had them marry women from inside the city, and therefore had a connection from that city to the royal family. It was a way of gaining power and was very savvy and wise in the sense of gaining power.
So, Rehoboam was wise in that he knew how to get what he wanted, but he was not wise if you are talking about following God and leading well. He was gaming the system. So many times when we are in leadership, we know how to make things work for us, and we do that. But, we can learn something from this foolish man Rehoboam: we lead best when we remember that we serve God.
Twice in chapters 10 and 11 the Bible reminds us that God was sovereign and in control. The reason there was a divided kingdom and Rehoboam was on his way out was because God was in control and He had warned that this would happen. So, Rehoboam wasn’t in control. He was scheming, conniving, and forcing his way, but he forgot that God Jehovah was the One in control. So, was he governing wisely? He was not in the sense that he was following God, but only in the sense that he was gaming the system and making things work for him.
You are not leading others when you are serving yourself. We lead best when we remember that we serve God, and we serve best when we remember that we serve God. So wherever you are today, remember that all of us will serve no better than when we recognize that we are not sovereign. We are in a chain of command, and as we obey God, we serve others better than we could do on our own.