SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON Kings and Prophets REHOBOAM S FOOLISH DECISION Elementary Lesson Year Two, Quarter One, Lesson One AIM: to use the story of Rehoboam to teach my students that they should take advice from people who know what they are talking about. OBJECTS TO HAVE: A picture of a bicycle A picture of a king A picture of a group of old men A picture of a group of young men A picture of the twelve tribes of Israel united A picture of the twelve tribes of Israel divided Your Bible POINT OF CONTACT: Who can tell me what this is? That s right, it s a bicycle. How many of you have a bicycle? How many of you know how to ride a bicycle? This morning I want you to pretend with me. I want all of us to pretend that we do not know how to ride a bicycle. We are taking our bicycles out for the very first time, and we want to learn how to ride them. I m going to pretend that I am 5 years old. So, I get on the first time, and I fall right over. Then I get on again, and I fall right over. I keep falling down, and I can t seem to figure out how to do it. So I get an idea: I m going to get some help learning to ride my bicycle. I m going to ask someone to give me some pointers on how to ride a bicycle. Let s see first I m going to ask a 15-year-old. Excuse me, I m 5 years old, and I m trying to learn to ride a bicycle. You re 15 years old. Do you know how to ride a bicycle? You do? Great! How long have you been riding bicycles? For 10 years! You ve started riding bicycles when you were 5, and you ve been riding them for 10 years! That s great! What advice can you give me? And the 15-year-old boy tells me to 1) wear a safety helmet; 2) have a grown-up guide me at first; and, 3) go to a wide-open space so I have plenty of room to get going fast enough, and so I won t crash into anything. I don t like all these safety things, though. So I m going to ask somebody who will tell me something else. Hey, here s a boy who is 3 years old. You re 3 years old? Have you ever ridden a bicycle before? No? Oh, but you know all about it? Well, give me some pointers. And he tells me that I don t need a helmet or a grown-up. He tells me to just go out into the middle of the road, find a big hill, and ride my bike down that big hill, and everything will be fine. Let me ask you, kids: Who should I listen to the 15-year-old who has been riding bikes for 10 years, or the 3- year-old who has never ridden a bike? That s right! The 15 year-old who has been riding bikes for 10 years. Why? Because he has done it many times before, and he knows what he is talking about. Today I am going to tell you a story about a man who ignored the right people, and took advice from the wrong people. STORY: After King Solomon died, there was a brand new king in Israel. The brand new king was named Rehoboam. Rehoboam was Solomon s son. Rehoboam was a young man when he became the king of Israel. Now, I want you to remember what we learned last Sunday that there were 12 tribes in the land of Israel. These tribes were sort of like the states that we have in our country. Our church is in the state of Connecticut. Some of you live in the state of Connecticut, and some of you live in the state of New York. There are 50 states in America. Israel had 12 sections, but they were not called states, they were called tribes. How many tribes did Israel have? That s right, 12.
After Rehoboam became the new king, a man named Jeroboam came to see him one day. Jeroboam is the man that we learned about last Sunday, the man who had his jacket torn by the preacher. Jeroboam said, King Rehoboam, I have come representing the northern tribes of Israel. These northern tribes say that your father, King Solomon, was too hard on them. We want to know how you plan to treat us. Rehoboam thought to himself, What do I say? What do I tell him? He did not know how to answer Jeroboam. Rehoboam knew that he was going to have to get some advice before he answered that question. So Rehoboam said, Go away, and come back in three days. Then I will have your answer for you. As soon as Jeroboam left, Rehoboam went to find the old men of Israel. These old men were very wise, and very experienced. These men had worked in the kingdom with Solomon, Rehoboam s father. These men knew all about how to make important decisions like this one. Rehoboam told these wise old men about Jeroboam s question, and he asked them what they thought he should do. The wise old man listened, and then they answered Rehoboam. They said, When Jeroboam comes back, tell him that you are going to make things better for the northern tribes. Tell them that you are going to lighten their load, and you will give them as much help as you can give them. If you do this, and keep your word, they will follow you and help you. Rehoboam listened to the wise old men; but then he walked away saying, I don t think I like that. Let me go find some men my age. Let me find some of my friends. Rehoboam went to his buddies. These men were the same age as Rehoboam. They had never run anything. They were like the three-year-old who has never ridden a bike. They had no experience at all, and no wisdom at all. Rehoboam told them his problem. Rehoboam s buddies answered him and said, We ll tell you what you need to do. You tell Jeroboam that you re going to be even meaner and tougher than your father was to them. Tell Jeroboam that you re going to be so hard on them that you ll make your father look like a nice guy. Tell them that they better do what you say, or they ll be sorry. Tell them that they better not mess with you, because you re a tough king. Make them scared of you. Rehoboam thought about the advice of the old men who were wise and experienced, and the advice of the young men, you were foolish and inexperienced. At last, he decided to follow the advice of the young men. When Jeroboam returned, Rehoboam repeated the words of the young men. He acted really tough as he told them, You tell those northern tribes that I am mean and tough, and I am no one to be messed with. Tell them that I am going to be much, much tougher than my father ever was. Jeroboam went back to the northern tribes and told them what King Rehoboam had said. And do you know what happened? The people from those tribes said, Fine! If you are not going to treat us right, you re not going to be our king. We are going to pull out and start our own nation, and we will make Jeroboam our king! And that s exactly what they did! From that day forward, the nation of Israel was divided into two parts: 10 tribes followed Jeroboam and called themselves Israel and 2 tribes followed Rehoboam and called themselves Judah. What a terrible mistake King Rehoboam had made! Now, what had Rehoboam done wrong? He had followed the advice of young, foolish, inexperienced men, when they should have followed the advice of wise old men who had many years of experience as leaders. That is a rule that is very important for you to remember: when you have an important decision to make, you need to follow the advice of people who know how that decision will turn out. Someone who is a kid like you doesn t know any more about it than you do. They may think they know. They may act like they know. But they don t know. You need to find someone older than you, someone who has lived long enough to know about life. Who can tell me some good examples of someone like that? Your parents, your grandparents, your pastor, your Sunday School teacher; these are all people who know more about life than you do, and they can help you make big decisions and solve big problems. Rehoboam destroyed a whole nation by that one foolish decision. Don t wreck your life and the lives of others by taking advice from people who don t know any more about life than you do. Let s learn our memory verse. Proverbs 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON Kings and Prophets REHOBOAM S FOOLISH DECISION Teen and Adult Lesson Year Two, Quarter One, Lesson One Teacher, choose one of the following truths to expand upon in teaching this portion of Scripture to your teen/adult class. Teach and apply the truth that you choose using statements and illustrations that are most helpful and applicable to your students. I. WE NEED THE ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE THE DECISIONS THAT WILL HAVE A LONGTERM IMPACT ON OUR LIVES. In this way, Rehoboam was wise: he was able to recognize that the answer that he gave to Jeroboam would have a significant impact on his reign, though he probably did not realize HOW significant an impact his answer would have. So many of the decisions that we make while we are young, from Who should I choose as my friends? to, What do I truly believe in? and many other such decisions, will affect me for the rest of my life. I must be sure to recognize the bigness of the decisions that I make. II. III. IV. WHEN MAKING A BIG DECISION, WE SHOULD ALLOW THE NECESSARY TIME TO GET IT RIGHT. Rehoboam did not give an answer on the spot; he said, Come back in three days for your answer. Once again, this was a wise decision on Rehoboam s part. Usually when you are rushed into making a decision you will wind up making the wrong one. And often, a person who is trying to rush you into making a decision, is trying to get you to do wrong. You don t want to prolong a decision indefinitely. But set a fixed time, like Rehoboam did, and use that time to pray, to think things through thoroughly and sincerely, and to get advice from qualified people. WHEN MAKING A BIG DECISION, WE SHOULD SEEK GOOD ADVICE. It s not a sign of weakness to seek advice; rather, it is a sign of strength. When we are humble enough to say, I don t know what to do, God blesses our humility by giving wisdom to our advisors. Once again, in seeking advice, Rehoboam did the right thing. WHEN MAKING A BIG DECISION, WE SHOULD ASK GOD FOR WISDOM. Here is where Rehoboam made his first mistake: we find no record that Rehoboam went to God and said, Lord, I don t know what to do; please lead me. Please guide me. This will always be the first action of a believer who is faced with a big decision, and who sincerely wants to do what is right. Often, if not always, failure to ask God for direction is an indication that a person wants to do his own thing, therefore, he doesn t WANT to know what God says. An insincere person seeks advice from the person or people who they expect will tell them what they want to hear. V. WE SHOULD TREASURE THE ADVICE OF OLDER, EXPERIENCED PEOPLE. This was Rehoboam s second big mistake: when he didn t like the advice that the older men gave him, he asked his peers what they thought. He chose the advice of his peers, who had never led anything, over the old men, who had led with his father for decades. Look at the track record of from whom you are seeking advice. Ask yourself, What have they accomplished? Consider their stability, their experience, their victories and defeats in life. Understand that older people who have persevered for decades have a great deal that they can teach you about life.
I. I KINGS 12:1- The Importance of Wise Counselors 1 Rehoboam is crowned king of Israel 2-3a The people send for Jeroboam 3a-4 Jeroboam and ask what kind of king Rehoboam will be II. I KINGS 12:5-5 Rehoboam takes three days 6-7 The advice of the old men 8-11 The advice of the young men III. I KINGS 12:12- Rehoboam s Foolish Decision 12 The people return 13-14 Rehoboam answers roughly IV. I KINGS 12:16-16-17 The division between Israel and Judah 18-20 The crowning of Jeroboam as king Split Adult Bible Class
REHOBOAM S FOOLISH DECISION Because Rehoboam ignored the advice of the older men, the twelve tribes of Israel were divided into two enemy nations. Before the Split: One Nation After the Split: Two Nations My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. PROVERBS 1:8
Rehoboam s Foolish Decision Match the answer from the right column that best fits the clue in the left column. Write the LETTER of the correct answer in the SPACE beside the matching clue. Number of tribes in the nation of Israel before it was divided A 3 Solomon s son who became king when Solomon died Man who asked the new king how he planned to treat his people The king told the man to come back in this many days They told the king to show mercy to They told the king to be tougher on The king did this to the wise old men s advice Number of tribes that formed a new nation, making Jeroboam their king B Judah C young men D 12 E rejected it F Israel G Rehoboam H old men Name of the new northern kingdom I 10 Name of the new southern kingdom J Jeroboam My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. PROVERBS 1:8
Rehoboam s Foolish Decision The answers to this week s puzzle D Number of tribes in the nation of Israel before it was divided G Solomon s son who became king when Solomon died J Man who asked the new king how he planned to treat his people A The king told the man to come back in this many days H They told the king to show mercy to C They told the king to be tougher on E The king did this to the wise old men s advice I Number of tribes that formed a new nation, making Jeroboam their king A 3 B Judah C young men D 12 E rejected it F Israel G Rehoboam H old men F Name of the new northern kingdom I 10 B Name of the new southern kingdom J Jeroboam