2 Chronicles 10

Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, saying, "How do you advise me to answer these people?" And they spoke to him, saying, "If you are kind to these people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever." But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. And he said to them, "What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, 'Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?" Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you should speak to the people who have spoken to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us'—thus you shall say to them: 'My little finger shall be thicker than my father's waist! And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!' “So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, "Come back to me the third day." Then the king answered them roughly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders, and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!"

(2Ch 10:6-14)

Two groups of people consulted; two totally different kinds of counsel given, who should Rehoboam listen to? First he talks to the elders, men who faithfully served with his father, men who had gleaned from his wisdom and learned from him. They basically say, “Love these people and treat them right and they will be faithful to you”. Really it is great advice. They tell Rehoboam that the request of the people is acceptable, and to respond positively will cement their relationship.

Now, we need to realize that Jeroboam is the reason this question is even being asked. He is inciting this response from the people, urging them to ask the question. I think that Rehoboam knew this, and it made him not want to grant the request. We need to realize that no matter WHERE the request may have its roots; it still needs to be addressed with prayerful consideration. Even when people come to us with ulterior motives, we need to be willing to take those things to the Lord.

Rehoboam rejects the counsel of the elders, and turns instead to the young men he had grown up with, his friends. They counsel him in the opposite way. They say that he should tell the people that things won’t get easier they will get tougher. In essence they say, “Show them whose boss, assert your power and authority!” Now, this has nothing so much to do with age as much as it does WISDOM. Sometimes the unwise counsel will come from the young, and sometimes it will come from the old. Having said that, we need to realize that it does matter where we go for counsel. Who do you go to? Do you go to friends who will just tell you what you want to hear and make you feel good about yourself? We need to go to people who we KNOW posses true, Godly wisdom. Don’t be a Rehoboam and do what seems right to your buddies; instead do what seems right to the Lord.