 |
| The King Who Would Not Listen |
My name is Amiel, a farmer from the hill country of Ephraim. My father worked our land when David was king, and I inherited it during the reign of his son Solomon.
For as long as I could remember, Israel had been one kingdom under the house of David.
Then Solomon died, and I traveled with my son to Shechem to welcome the new king.
Instead, I watched a kingdom divide.
Scroll down to read...
My father worked these fields when David ruled Israel.
I was a boy then, more interested in chasing goats that wandered off than in anything coming out of Jerusalem.
By the time the land became mine, Solomon had taken his father’s place on the throne.
Those were prosperous years. Traders traveled the roads. New buildings rose. People spoke of Solomon's wisdom far beyond Israel.
But a kingdom like that required much from its people.
I knew that better than most.
I grew barley and wheat. I kept sheep and a small herd of cattle. There were good years when my storehouses were full and lean years when every measure of grain mattered. Either way, the needs of the kingdom did not disappear.
Solomon had officers throughout Israel responsible for supplying his household. When our district's time came, provisions had to be gathered.
We provided what was required.
We always did.
I respected Solomon. Most of us did. But by the end of his reign, men were tired.
My oldest son, Micah, worked beside me by then. He had a wife and two young children of his own, and I had begun giving him more responsibility for the farm.
The land would be his one day.
So when Solomon died and word spread that his son Rehoboam was going to Shechem to be made king, I decided to go.
Micah came with me.
We were not going to rebel.
We were going to meet our new king.
___
Shechem was crowded when we arrived. Men had come from across Israel. Everywhere I looked, people were talking about what Rehoboam might do.
Some believed a new king meant a new beginning.
Others weren't so sure.
Jeroboam was there too. He had once served Solomon, until trouble with the king drove him to Egypt. Now Solomon was dead, and Jeroboam had returned to Israel.
When he and the congregation of Israel stood before Rehoboam, the request they made was simple.
Solomon had made our service hard. If Rehoboam would lighten the burden his father had placed upon us, the people would serve him.
I remember looking at Micah.
That was why we had come.
We simply wanted him to hear us.
Rehoboam listened to the request, then said, “Depart yet for three days, then come again to me.”
So we waited.
Three days can feel like a long time when a king is deciding how much of your life belongs to him.
Men gathered in small groups throughout Shechem. Some were certain Rehoboam would listen. Why wouldn't he? A new king needed the people behind him.
Others had heard that he was consulting the older men who had served Solomon.
That gave me hope.
Those men understood the kingdom. They had seen what Solomon built, and they knew what it had required.
Later we heard that Rehoboam had also called for the younger men who had grown up with him.
That troubled me.
Micah thought I worried too much.
Maybe I did.
On the third day, we returned to Shechem.
The crowd seemed larger than before. Men pressed forward, waiting for the king's answer.
I stood beside Micah and watched Rehoboam take his place before the people.
Three days earlier, we had asked him to lighten the service his father had placed upon us. I expected a compromise. Perhaps not everything we wanted, but something that told us the new king had heard his people.
Rehoboam gave us neither. “My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke,” he said.
A murmur moved through the crowd. I looked at Micah, but Rehoboam wasn't finished.
“My father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”
This time there was no mistaking him.
The men around me had come from different tribes and different parts of Israel, but we had come asking the same thing. Lighten the burden, and we will serve you.
Rehoboam had been given three days to answer.
His answer was to make the burden heavier.
For a moment, no one moved.
Then the voices began.
“What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David.”
This wasn't a handful of angry men leaving an audience with the king.
Israel was rejecting the house of David.
Men began to leave.
Micah looked at me.
We had come to Shechem prepared to make Solomon's son our king.
I thought it was over then. The people had given their answer, and Rehoboam had given his.
But the king sent Adoram, the man over the tribute, among us.
Men who had been walking away stopped.
I had known anger during harvest failures and arguments over land. I had heard men complain about Solomon's demands for years. What rose around Adoram was different.
Men stooped and picked up stones from the ground.
Micah caught my arm and pulled me back.
The first stone struck.
Then another.
I turned my face away before it was finished.
When the crowd thinned and drifted off, Adoram lay dead where he had stood.
Rehoboam did not wait to see what would happen next. He climbed into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.
The king who had threatened to make our burden heavier was gone.
But the kingdom he had inherited would never be the same.
When Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they called him before the congregation and made him king. Only Judah remained with the house of David.
I had lived more than sixty years beneath one kingdom.
Our land had been my father's in the days of David, and mine through all the years of Solomon. Micah and I walked to Shechem believing that Solomon's son would rule over us next.
He could have.
That is the part I have never forgotten.
We had not gone to Shechem demanding another king. We had asked Rehoboam to lighten the burden and we would serve him.
He chose not to listen.
And by the time Micah and I left Shechem, we were no longer subjects of the house of David.
👑 An Echoes of the Court Story
Discover More:
Enjoyed this story? Keep reading. Click here to explore more stories from the Echoes of the Court, where biblical moments come alive with a fresh perspective. Read more stories.
☕ If our devotionals and stories have blessed your heart, you can treat us to a cup of coffee through PayPal or visit the Faithfully Encourage Shop for notebooks, mugs, and candles inspired by everyday faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment