Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 8-10.

I find it interesting that the leaders of Israel gathered at Shechem to make Rehoboam king after the death of Solomon.  I also find it interesting that they sent for Jeroboam, who had fled to Egypt to avoid Solomon’s wrath.  The passages do not give us a clear idea about how Jeroboam incurred Solomon’s anger, but the fact that Solomon had put Jeroboam in charge of his forced labor and that Jeroboam was the one who led the Israelites to request Rehoboam lower the taxes Solomon had imposed suggests that Jeroboam had previously campaigned for Solomon to lower taxes.  Which brings me to Rehoboam’s response to the people’s demand.  The different advice he received from his father’s advisers versus what he received from his companions indicates the two different approaches a government can take.  The first recognizes that a government’s job is to serve the needs of the people.  The second believes that people are to serve the government.  If Rehoboam had chosen to use his kingship to serve his people, the Northern Tribes would not have split off from the Southern Tribes.  Instead he chose to believe that his people existed to serve him.  By taking that approach Rehoboam attempted to put himself in the place of God.  Those of us who are called to positions of leadership need to remember that the job of a leader is to serve those whom he leads by showing them how they can better serve God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.