Taxing the Masses
In this
chapter we get a small glance backward into the kingdom of Solomon. When Rehoboam takes over, the people come to
Rehoboam and ask for some relief.
Apparently Solomon had set a high rate of tax on the people in order to
afford all of the building and expansion that went on in his time. Of course, any taxed population will grumble
over their taxes regardless of what level the taxation happens to be. However, I think that it is fairly reasonable
to assume that Solomon’s taxes were pretty extensive.
I think we
can hear this chapter in the light of the expectations placed on others. People will assume that some expectations are
reasonable. People might even be willing
to put up with more expectations than seems reasonable for a short time if the
outcome is desirable. But a people who
reap no benefit from the raised expectations will eventually rebel. In our American context, I think this is a
very timely message. I am hearing more
and more complaints about the expectations of taxation being greater than the
benefit gained by the average person. Those
in leadership should always have an ear tuned to this dynamic.
This is
Rehoboam’s mistake. Rehoboam is faced
with a simple choice: having the will of the people but experiencing less
grandeur than his father versus increasing upon the grandeur of his father but
risking a revolt from the people. The
older and wise counselors tell Rehoboam that it is better to have the will of
the people than personal glory and fame.
They tell Rehoboam that it is better to lead modestly than to not lead
at all.
But
Rehoboam doesn’t listen. Greed enters
into the picture. Thirst for power and
control enters into the picture. Rehoboam
decides that he cannot live with less than Solomon had so he greedily plans to
step up the expectation of taxation. The
people rebel.
Consequences From God
Instead of
the fame and glory that Rehoboam thought he could achieve by being a hard
ruler, Rehoboam gets a divided kingdom.
He gets the reputation as the one who divides the kingdom. His greed causes him to lose his grip on what
he could get. But we learn something
else in this chapter. We learn that this
is of the Lord.
Does this
mean that God forced his will upon Rehoboam and wanted the kingdom to
split? No, certainly not. What this means is that the Lord knew that the
hearts of the people did not truly belong to Him. God knew that the people would only learn
true faith through adversity. God knew
that it had been a long time since the Hebrew people had come to God in the
midst of adversity and their loyalty had waned.
God desires to let the people have their way knowing that their pursuit
of the things of the world would eventually lead them into conflict with the Assyrians
and the Babylonians.
God knew that
the split in the kingdom would allow the true character of the people to rise
to the surface. Once on the surface, it
could be exposed. Once it is exposed it
can be dealt with. This is the tough
process of character refinement developed through their captivity.
Jeroboam
Of course,
it doesn’t take long for the true character of the people to show, especially
in the case of Jeroboam. Jeroboam knows
that if his people continue to go to Jerusalem they will be tempted to continue
to look to Rehoboam as a potential leader.
The only way to assure their loyalty is to make it so that they don’t
need to leave the northern kingdom for them to do the worship that they
desire. Jeroboam sets up two additional
temples with false gods to alleviate this potential problem.
But there
is something deeper going on here. If
the people in Israel (Jeroboam’s northern kingdom) would have continued to go
to Jerusalem (which was in Judah – Rehoboam’s southern kingdom) to worship,
they might have rediscovered true religion.
Some of them might have truly found God.
Theological unity could have potentially brought about political reunification. Jeroboam’s construction of the two temples in
the northern kingdom is a direct obstacle to God’s people reaching out and
discovering God for themselves. As a
result, Jeroboam’s own thirst for his own kingdom gets in the way of the common
person’s relationship with God.
This is
also quite a valuable lesson to learn for today. How often do own our desires get in the way
of other people’s abilities to know God?
Especially as leaders, how often do our policies and goals get in the
way of people finding true faith in God?
When leaders step forward and pursue their own goals rather than
pursuing the goals of God, we ultimately will get in the way as much as Jeroboam
gets in the way of the people’s ability to know God.
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