OT DAY 496 - Don't Be So Stupid, Don't Be So Stubborn (Please click here for English podcast)

Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

       All the ends of the earth shall remember
        and turn to the Lord,
        and all the families of the nations
        shall worship before you.

         For kingship belongs to the Lord,

          and he rules over the nations.

                                     Psalm 22:27-28

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html)

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (1 Kings 12:1-33)

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=列+王+紀+上+11&version=ESV

       Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.2 And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3 And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam,4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” 5 He said to them, “Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away.

6 Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”7 And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.”8 But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. 9 And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” 10 And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. 11 And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said,“Come to me again the third day.” 13 And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, 14 he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lordthat he might fulfill his word, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. 27 If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”28 So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 29 And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Thenthis thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.

                                         1 Kings 12:1-15, 26-30

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

    My Listening

          We have here in this chapter the stupidity and stubbornness of Rehoboam and Jeroboam who made a mess to their kingdom. Let's hear how stupid and stubborn there were.

     Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 

      (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

         How can one explain Rehoboam's stupidity? I can see God behind it, says the narrator of the story. Rehoboam's stupidity will contribute to the fulfilling of God's plan. The situation parallels that in Egypt, when Pharaoh's attitude to Moses was stubborn, when Pharaoh encouraged himself to be stubborn, and when God encouraged him to be stubborn…

           Jeroboam's action reminds one of the exodus story,too. when the book of Exodus was written, and it came to the story of the gold calf that Aaron made, it seems to be nudging the reader to see the parallel with Jeroboam's action. The people as a whole had felt the need for something that would represent the presence of God for them, and they got Aaron to make the calf to fulfill that function. They were not necessarily turning away from Yahweh, but they did feel the need of something that would suggest Yahweh's presence. Jeroboam feels the same need, and he uses exactly the same words as are put on Aaron's lips, that these are "your gods who brought you up from Egypt." 
         

John Goldingay. 1 and 2 Kings for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, p.59-60.

          Rehoboam had a chance to rule the whole Israel but he missed it because of his stupidity and stubbornness. Jeroboam had a chance to lead the Israelites to become a nation of God but he missed it because of his stupidity and stubbornness.

          How can you not miss the next chance you have got to experience God's great power and guidance? That is the question and challenge for you today!

Dear Lord Jesus,

Help us not to be so stupid and stubborn as Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Lead us to experience your daily presence and follow your lead each day.    In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.

Reflect on these questions:

    1. Do you think you might step into the same mess as that two kings made? 

2. Do you have a good way to avoid that kind of stupidity and stubbornness to happen, at least to make it to your next challenge? 

    3. What have you got from Jesus today?

10,000 Reasons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

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