Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-09-17

/ Our lesson marks one Of the turning
/ points in history. lSrael's golden age
/ came to a close with the death Of
/ solomon. Rehohoam. his son and sue
/ CesSor in The kincShip. lacked the
/ proper training for the responsible
office because his father had put the
emphasis In the wrong place during
his reign. His fatal reply to the peo-
pie < reasonable request for economic
reforms ruptured the united kingdom
immcdia tely. WrcCking the nation
may he traced by historians to the
spirit of democracy revealing itself in
bold uprising against intolerahle
oppression. similar to that of our
American fathers demand for reforms
which brought on the Revolutionary
War. The Bible points out the moral
and religious reasons for the division
Of the kingdom.
The fires of division existed during
the whole of Solomons reign. The
secret slow moving moral conditions
that usually preCcde and occasion
social upheavalS and ruin, had been
present for a long time in the life of
solomon. His polygamy. polytheism.
luxury and deSpotic autoCracy were
due to the fact that Solomon did not
give his heart undivided to the Lord
his God. In fact. the king did that
which was evil in the eyes Of the
Lord, and went not fully after the
Lord like David his father" The
kings failure to follow Jehovah with
a perfect heart caused our Lord to
make known to solomon His plan to
divide the empire after his death. The
prophet who conveyed Gods meSsaG sc
to the king Noticed Jeroboam the
superintendent of public works. of the
Lords program of dividing the king
dom and giving him 10 tribes. News
Of this reached Solomon. so that
Jerohoam fed to Egypt for safety
until the kings death, when he re
turned at the request Of the reform
party to take charge of their battle
for economic freedom.
People Demand Economic Relief.
When Rehoboam went to Shechem
to be crowned as king in place of Je-
rnsalem he probably was moved by
desire to satisfy the disgruntled ele-
ment in the north. Jeroboam, who was
child of poverty and ohscurity, had
won recognition from Solomon because
Of his energy and industry, had learned
during his term of office as superin-
tendent of public works where the
masses We're disSa tisfied and why they
desired to secure some relief from the
pressure OF the crown, that kept in
creasing the tax rate. lie became the
leader of the reformers, championing
the cause of the people and courage
ouSly made known their demands to
the newly made king.
Rehoboam wisely asked for time to
consider the peoples demand for re-
lief from their economic burdens The
aged men advised that their request be
granted. Be their servant and they
will be your friends. was the crux of
their recommendation. Rehoboam did
not want that kind of advice. He
turned to the younger crowd with
whom he had associated. Possibly 1t
may have been during one of their wild
parties that they gave Rehoboam the
foolish advice and urged him to say:
Go tell that your father put yokes
upon their necks "and that you will
make the load heavier. and if he
scourged them with whips. you will
scouree them with scorpions
Rehoboam's Fatal Reply.
Rehoboam followed the foolish ad-
vice of his inexperienced friends. His
fatal words aroused the slumbering
ship of Jeroboam a new kingdom, com
posed of the 10 northern tribes, was
Burke has well said that
Rage and frenzy will pull down more
in half an hour than prudent deliber-
alton and foresight can build up in a
hundred years. In this division God
made the wrath of man to praise Him.
When the multitude turned away
from the inflamed and inflated Reno
boam. his pride and foolish reply had
cost him the most valuable part of his
dominion. History for the next few
centuries followed Israel rather than
Judah. In fact, it was only due to the
fact that Jerusalem was a part of
Judah that it ever found its place in
history. William shortly after he be-
came the Emperor of Germany broke
with Bismarck, whose advice went
contrary to his autocratic ideals, fol-
lowed the example of Rehoboam in
seeking the advice Of men who lacked
the maturity of judgment that years
alone can bring and who seek to please
by telling one what one wishes them
to say and not the facts. 1t is fatal
TO disregard the wisdom of the ages
and of Gods word.
The Divided Kingdom.
The division of the kingdom, IN
fortunate as it seemed to he at that
time even to Rehoboam, who sought
TO remedy the error of his fatal words,
when it was too late, was Of God.
Judah maintained a purer form Of re-
Iigion after the division. especially
when through Jeroboam's sin the
priesthood anf the prophets largely
deserted the northern kingdom and
cast in their lot with the southern ma.
ton, Gods plan TO have the Messiah
come out of the seed of David, out of
the tribe of Judah, called for at least
that remnant should be saved in
connection with Judah.
In this connection we would do well
to recall how wealth. luxury and pow
CT all had their part In building up
the greatness and glory OF Solomon's
reign and that his sin grew out OF the
same sort of materialism that threat
ems CTR civilization.
Designating the religion Of Jehovah
as the essential thing for his nations
safety, success and stability, he fol
lowed other gods, WOrshiplng at the
shrines of pagan idols which he per-
mitted his pagan wives to introduce
into Palestine. A modern prophet, has
recently pointed out that our own
country has an abundance of every
thing except religion. If Babson is