Based on 1 Kings 14:21-31 (New King James Version)
“And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king. He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. And there were also perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything. He also took away all the gold shields which Solomon had made. Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards carried them, then brought them back into the guardroom. Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. So Rehoboam rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. Then Abijam his son reigned in his place.”
What happened with Rehoboam that not only he sinned, but that even all of Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord? His father Solomon committed great errors before his birth, and those errors continued in him. This is what the Word Itself says about Solomon’s acts: “But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David.” 1 Kings 11:1-6. This was the great evil that occurred before and during Rehoboam’s life, the sin of idolatry and of being unequally yoked. This was the environment and the raising that Rehoboam was given, because Rehoboam had a pagan mother (an ammonite, the one that is named twice in the same passage so we can be clear).
Now then, to be able to understand Rehoboam’s evil, we must first understand what happened with Solomon since he was supposedly such a wise person. The problem with Solomon started with idolatry, and then came the issue of being unequally yoked. How can this be said with such certainty? Because idolatry does not just consist of worshipping other deities, but also, it consists of putting something or someone ahead of God. This is the foundation of idolatry—when other things are put ahead of God. And when that starts, the deviation is taking its course. That is why we must be so careful in keeping God in first place, because this is the greatest evil that man commits. This is what the Scriptures say: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” Matthew 10:37-38. Through this teaching is that we can see that even our loved ones, the ones who we owe love and care the most cannot take under any circumstances God’s place. They cannot take first place. That’s why the first and greatest commandment of all is, just as the Lord reiterated: “Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.” Mark 12:29-30. It is even more important to love God then to honor mother and father, which is found in the ten commandments. So then, the beginning of the fall in Solomon started with idolatry, with something that was given more priority, but clearly, God did not have first place in Solomon’s heart.
And then Solomon continued with other sins, to further his deviation, like having friendship with the world which consists of having intimacy with those that do not care about God and being unequally yoked. And this is what the Word says regarding this: “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4. This does not mean that we cannot have contact with the world (like some believers think which is also an error), because then, how will the world know about the Gospel if no one draws near to them and speaks to them about the Lord and His salvation? The issue is that there should not be any intimacy with someone that is under the control of this world, and we also need to take into account that this affects other believers, that although they may profess being in the Lord, but if their lives are in disorder by practicing sin, we should not have any intimacy with them either (see 1 Corinthians 5:9-11). And we also see what God says about being unequally yoked as follows: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. These were Solomon’s evils that influenced and affected Rehoboam, and unfortunately, Rehoboam followed his father’s footsteps (that was his choice).
God’s will, which is what God looked for through His Son’s sacrifice is this: “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” John 15:14-15. The Lord desires for us to become His friends, that He be first. Solomon and Rehoboam were not like David, the one that did become God’s friend, because David not only found grace before the Most High, but God also constituted him to be the father of the Messiah (because the Messiah was to be called Son of David). So then, there are two paths here, and you need to decide. Do you desire to put other things before God and start (or continue) with your deviation? Or do you desire to give God His rightful place in your life, and keep the course that leads to eternity and towards everything that God has for those that love Him? Lord bless! John