Read | 2 Chronicles 9:29–10:16
The remaining events of Solomon’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Events of the Prophet Nathan, the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and the Visions of the Seer Iddo concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat. Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. Solomon rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam became king in his place.
Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about it—for he was in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon’s presence—Jeroboam returned from Egypt. So they summoned him. Then Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam: “Your father made our yoke harsh. Therefore, lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
Rehoboam replied, “Return to me in three days.” So the people left.
Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had attended his father Solomon when he was alive, asking, “How do you advise me to respond to this people?”
They replied, “If you will be kind to this people and please them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
But he rejected the advice of the elders who had advised him, and he consulted with the young men who had grown up with him, the ones attending him. He asked them, “What message do you advise we send back to this people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”
Then the young men who had grown up with him told him, “This is what you should say to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us!’ This is what you should say to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! Now therefore, my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I, with barbed whips.’”
So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” Then the king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the elders’ advice and spoke to them according to the young men’s advice, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I, with barbed whips.”
The king did not listen to the people because the turn of events came from God, in order that the LORD might carry out his word that he had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.
When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people answered the king:What portion do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Israel, each to your tent;
David, look after your own house now!So all Israel went to their tents.
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Focus
View this work of art, titled Weary from Civil by Dawn Waters Baker, connected to Sunday’s sermon passage.
As you look at this piece, take a few quiet moments to go through a three-step process. First, observe what you see in the image, from colors to composition to recognizable elements, without trying to understand what it is supposed to mean. Then read about the work, using these details to help you interpret the work of art. Ask God what he might be saying through the image, and listen for his insight in your thoughts, feelings, or prayers.
Commentary:
Dawn Waters Baker’s paintings delve into the intangible emotional and spiritual dimensions that often remain concealed within the natural landscapes. She has been a recipient of several national parks artist residencies, including one at Gettysburg National Park in 2018, where she painted her body of work, Civil, exploring the landscape and history of the American Civil War.
Weary is an image of a tree Baker observed during her residency, and she connected it to the desolation felt across America in the throes of war. The gnarled stump stands lonely and broken against the sky, the embodiment of a war-torn country. When contemplating the fall of Israel and the trauma of war and captivity that Israel endured, Baker’s work also evokes what their landscape might have been. Ultimately, God does not stand for injustice and he will not allow his name to be borne in vain.
And though it is broken and world-weary, images of hope are reflected in this stump. In Isaiah 10 there is the image of a forest being brutally cleared. What follows is a promise that a remnant will return, and in Isaiah 11, the promise of a branch that will spring out of the previously lifeless stump: the Root of Jesse, Jesus Christ. Such images of growth out of apparent hopelessness are deeply important to the Christian imagination, reminding us that God is at work even in the most barren of landscapes.
Visit the Christ Community Downtown Campus to see one of Baker’s works, “Abolitionists,” which is a part of our permanent collection.
Art Source: Weary from Civil, Dawn Waters Baker, 2018. Photo courtesy of the artist. Used by permission.
Pray
Ask God to show you how you can become a beautiful invitation of hope and forgiveness to the broken world you live in everyday.
Going Deeper
If you are also following the BibleProject’s One Story That Leads to Jesus reading plan, complete today’s reading.