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HELEN SANDERS
10-27-2026
WISE OR FOOLISH COUNSEL
King Solomon had died. He had wisdom beyond any other king, and made righteous judgments for his kingdom. When he died, his son, Rehoboam, became king. He did not have the wisdom his father had.
Jeroboam had rebelled against King Solomon and had fled from him, fleeing to Egypt. After Solomon died, he wanted to come back to Israel. He did, and asked King Rehoboam to make the yoke of bondage lighter for him and the congregation of Israel. Rehoboam consulted the old men for counsel, and their advise was to give Jeroboam what he asked for, knowing if he did, that all of Israel would serve King Rehoboam, including Jeroboam. This was good, sound advice.
Then young King Rehoboam consulted his friends that had grown up with him, and they told him not to go along with Jeroboam, but make the burden heavier. They were not acting wisely, and gave the king ungodly counsel.
Rehoboam listened to his foolish young friends, and forsook the godly counsel of the old men. Because of this Israel rebelled against the king and made Jeroboam king over them, dividing the kingdom. There is much to learn about this in 1 Kings chapter 12.
We should seek counsel when we need to make hard decisions, but we must look to those that are led by God, and that are seasoned by experience and have been tested and proven in their walk with God. Do not let emotions, the flesh, and unseasoned people determine the decisions you make. Seek God for yourself, then look for Godly counsel if needed.
Israel stayed divided, ten tribes in the north under Jeroboam, and only Judah and Benjamin remained with King Solomon. Eventually both kingdoms were taken into captivity and were scattered throughout the world because neither kingdom listened to the counsel of God’s prophets that warned them about their sin.
The divided kingdom never fully reunited and it started with ungodly wisdom being listened to. Let us also be careful who we get our counsel from. If only King Rehoboam had the wisdom of his father how things would have been different.
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