Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-12-31


nor any likeness of anything that
is in heaven above, or that is in
the earth beneath, or that Is in the
water under the earth: thou shalt
not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them. Elk. 20:4, 5.
What it had taken David and
Solomon eighty years to build up,
! Rehoboan destroyed with one SEN
| tence in one minute. The problem
that confronted David when he was
/ made king was an incohesiVe lot
| or people. There were jealousies
| and chickering's between the tribes,
! and never had there been concerted
! action between them. David was
first made king of Judah, and after
seven years the other tribes who
had been loyal to Saul, finally gave
| David their oath of allegiance Da-
Vld had kept them together by his
wars. There is nothing that will
! unite enemies as a common foe.
| At Solomon's accession to the
| throne, this had been the thing that
| troubled him most. The alliance
| between the northern and southern
tribes was not an union; they were
| still suspicious of each other. In
! stead of leading them out to further
wars of conquest, Solomon, a man
| Of peace, chose another plan-he
gave them SO big a job that no one
! or two Of them could well withdraw.
| 1t took all their efforts to accom-
pliSh the task of building the mag
| nificent temple; and then, when that
was completed, he put them at an
| equally large task Of building his
| own palace, and the summer homes
! in the mountains, perfecting water
| supply systems, and enhancing the
glory of his kingdom until the rame
of it reached the furthest points.
This was where Solomon showed
such remarkable wisdom. Otherwise
| he was exceedingly unwise.
/ But never did a wise father have
a more foolish son. Rehoboam is
the only son Of Solomon named, but
| it is inconceivable that man with
| 700 wives and 300 concubines should
have had only one son, as some have
! stated. Rehoboam had not much
| of a chance as far as his raising
was concerned. His mother was
Noanah, the Ammonitess, and her
religion was far from being like
| that Of the true God. With all of
| Solomon's wealth, he had no doubt
| been pampered, until he was just
a plain snob. His associates were
of the same stripe.
During Solomon's latter years the
matter of financing his court had
grown to great proportions. He
had levied heavy taxes on all the
people, but the greater part of the
burden had fallen on the northern
! tribes. Ephralin, one of the descend
ents of Joseph, had always been
jealous of Judah, and it CALLED
them dreadfully to be required to
pay heavy taxes for the support of
a descendant of Judah's. When
Solomon died, therefore, they felt
it THEN opportunity to get rid Of
the surtax that had been cutting
the nerve of their business and do
nestle happiness and lie.
Rehoboam was first acknowledged
as king at Jerusalem by the tribes
of Judah and Benjamin. Then he
went to Shechem where the north
ern tribes had gathered to acknoWl-
edge him as their king, for to their
credit be it said that out of loyalty
to Solomon they had decided to ac-
knowledge his son as king, in spite
of all his injustice to them.
1t is rather significant or the
presence of a line of cleavage that
they made Rehoboam come to Snec'
hem instead of their going to Jeru-
salem. Shechem, the modern Nab
lous, was built on the slope between
Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim. 1t was
where Abram built his first altar
to the Lord after he came into the
land of Canaan. 1t was here jacob
came after meeting his brother
Esau. Joseph had come to seek his
brethren; and here Joseph's bones
were buried after they had been
brought back from Egypt. 1t was IN
the territory of Ephraim Joseph's
son, and this probably determined II
as the meeting place of the northern
tribes, since Ephralm was the
strongest of them all. So it is to this
historic spot that Rehoboam came
at their request, instead OF their
coming to him at Jerusalem.
RehObOam'S Folly
In the meantime, news of Solo
mons death had reached Jeroboam
in Egypt, whittier he had fled from
Solomon's wrath; for while he had
shown wonderful industry, he had
been also disloyal to his king who
had instructed him with the very
responsible position of overseer OF all
the northern tribes. One day AhiJah,
a prophet of God, had come to him
at his work, and had torn a new
cloak he wore into twelve pieces,
giving Jeroboam ten of them ana
telling him that because OF Solo-
mons sin of breaking the first two
commandments He would take ten
of the tribes and give them to him;
that he would give him the same
chance David had, and would make
of his house a great nation II he
would follow in the way of His will.
Jeroboam, instead of waiting GODS
time, had started a rebellion at
once, and had been obliged to flee
to Egypt to escape with his life, for
Solomon's hold on the people was
too strong-it was not Gods time
Now that Solomon was dead he hur-
ried back and was present at Shec-
hem when the northern tribes gath
cred for their conference with
Rehoboam.
The request they made Of Reno
beam was most reasonable. Inc
burden of taxation was extremely
heavy, and they promised obedience
to him if he would Tighten it. He
asked for time to consider the re-
quest. This was all right, too many
people speak without thinking. A
good many mistakes Of various kinds
would be avoided if folks would only
think first and speak afterWard in
stead of speaking first and thinking
afterward. One Of the sins Of our