City Life Starter

I. The Word: 2 Chronicles 10:6-8, 14 (NLT)

6 Then King Rehoboam discussed the matter with the older men who had
counseled his father, Solomon. “What is your advice?” he asked. “How should I
answer these people?” 7 The older counselors replied, “If you are good to these
people and do your best to please them and give them a favorable answer, they
will always be your loyal subjects.” 8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the
older men and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up
with him and were now his advisers… 14 He told the people, “My father laid
heavy burdens on you, but I’m going to make them even heavier! My father
beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions!”

II. Study Questions

1. Who are your close friends and acquaintances?

2. Do these people encourage growth or immaturity? Do they make you more
Christ-centered or world-centered?

3. Have you sought out mentorship from those with greater experience than you?

Where are we?

The two Books of Chronicles convey the story of Israel concerning its kings. The books span from the rise of King David to the Babylonian exile. This passage concerns Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, who ends up causing revolt due to his unwise actions.

What does it say?

King Rehoboam’s subjects have asked him to lighten their workload. Rehoboam seeks counsel from both his father’s experienced advisors and the boys he grew up with. He receives sound advice from his older advisors to show his subjects grace, but Rehoboam obeys his inexperienced friends who tell him to flaunt his power and harshly increase the subjects’ workload. This causes the northern tribes of Israel to revolt and secedes from his kingdom.

What does it mean?

In one way, this story parallels the Fall of Adam and Eve. Adam receives unwise counsel from his wife and neglects to step up as a leader, thusly they lose their inheritance of the garden. Instead of being misdirected by a spouse, Rehoboam is led astray by his closest friends. Rehoboam held God-given responsibility for leading this nation, yet he wrecked his inheritance for the sake of seeming cool to his buddies. His homeboys inflated his ego and encouraged a hubris that led to the division of the kingdom. Though he shared priceless childhood memories with these men that should’ve never qualified them to direct his path of life.

Application

In keeping with today’s theme, I feel 100% ill-equipped to give advice on the topic of singleness. I currently have a love-hate relationship with it. Instead, I’ll just tell you about how this passage has informed my life. Not having a spouse means I get to pick and choose who influences me for any given situation. On the one hand, I’m not obligated to continually appease one person’s opinion. On the other hand, I tend to accept bad advice from people who flatter my approval idol. This is dangerous because, for me, singlehood has come with a heaping side of disapproval, both real and imagined. It’s too easy for me to make life decisions based, not on God’s mission, but on my mission to gain approval from my peers. I see this same flaw in Rehoboam, so the lesson of his story resonates with me. God has a calling on my life, and allowing ill-focused people to dictate my steps could be catastrophic. Whether my friends met me as an awkward middle-schooler or an awkward medical student, it’s imperative that I filter their advice through God’s wisdom. With spirit-empowered discernment, I can experience the love, loyalty, and strength of long-standing friendships without mistaking them as appropriate mentors.