“So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to Rehoboam, saying: ‘Thy
father made our yoke grievous. Now, therefore, ease thou somewhat the
grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us,
and we will serve thee.’”
A cause so stated must succeed. There will be difficulty, but the end is
assured.
The reasonable always triumphs, due time being given for the elucidation
of its purposes and the manifestation of its real spirit. Violence can
have but a short day; the tempest cries itself to rest.
The speech of this man was a speech strong in reason. “Ease thou somewhat
the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon
us, and we will serve thee.” They wanted ease for service--for loyalty.
Where there is no ease how can there be homage, thankfulness, devotion or
any of the high qualities of patriotism?
Men who are not disquieted are prone to tell others to bear their burdens
uncomplainingly. We ought to hear what they have to say who feel the
iron. Our inquiry should be: “How does it suit you? What is the effect
of the piercing iron on the soul? How does manhood bear the heel of
oppression?”
The sufferers should sometimes be admitted to the witness-box.
There is a danger lest our personal comfortableness should disqualify us
for judging the case of down-trodden men.
Wherever there is weakness the Christian Church should be found. Wherever
there is reasonableness the Christian sanctuary should offer hospitality.
The Christian sanctuary ceases to be the Tabernacle of God among men when
it shuts its door on the cries of reason, the petitions of weakness, the
humble requests of those who ask for nothing exaggerated, but simply ask
to have their misery mitigated somewhat, that their loyalty may be of a
larger and better quality. The names are ancient, but the circumstances
may be painfully modern.
It is the peculiarity of the Bible that it is always getting in our
way. It has a word on every subject. Is there any thing more detestable
than that a man who has his own way seven days a week, whose footsteps
are marked by prosperity, whose very breathing is a commercial success,
should stand up and tell men who are bleeding at every pore to be quiet
and contented, and not create disturbance in the body politic?
If Jeroboam had come with a petition conceived in another tone it ought
to have been rejected. It would have been irrational, violent and
contemptuous; but the reasonableness of the request will insure its
victory in the long run.
How easy it is to think of Rehoboam as the foolish son of a wise father!
But are we not unjust to the son in so regarding him? Was Solomon the
wise man he is often made out to be? The answer would be: “Yes--No.”
There was no greater fool than Solomon; and he attained his supremacy in
folly because there was no man so wise. “If the light that is in thee be
darkness, how great is that darkness!” “How art thou fallen from Heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!” If he had not been son of the morning
some shallow pit might have held him; but, being son of the morning and
detaching himself from the gravitation of God, the pit into which he
falls is bottomless.
Pliny says no man can be always wise. That is true philosophically and
experimentally; for all men have vulnerable heels, or are exposed to
temptations to lightness of mind, amounting in some instances almost to
frivolity. They are also the subjects of a most singular rebound, which
makes them appear the more frivolous because when we last saw them they
were absorbed in the solemnity of prayer.
Solomon was not wise in this matter of government. The history shows
that the people were appealing, not against Rehoboam, who had yet had no
opportunity of proving his quality as a king, but against his father.
“Thy father made our yoke grievous.” We are prone to copy the defects of
our ancestors and our idols rather than their excellences.
Folly has often more charms for us than wisdom. When Diogenes discoursed
of philosophy his auditors turned away from him, but when he began to
play frivolous music or to sing frivolous songs the crowds thronged about
him, and he said: “Ye gods! How much more popular is folly than wisdom!”
Even there he spoke as a philosopher.
Rehoboam made a cautious reply, and therein he began well. He said to the
petitioners: “Come again unto me after three days.” This looked hopeful.
King Rehoboam utilized the interval by taking counsel with “the old men
who had stood before Solomon, his father, while he yet lived, saying:
‘What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?’ And they spake
unto him, saying: ‘If thou be kind to this people and please them, and
speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for ever.’”
Rich is the king whose old men talk in such a strain. They were patriots
and philanthropists and philosophers; they were Christians before the
time.
Marvelous is the power of kindness. They will do most in life who are
most considerate. They may be charged with sentimentalism by those who do
not understand the power of human feeling, but they will be given credit
for philosophy by men who understand the genius of sympathy.
What a message would this have been to return to the complaining people!
If, when the people returned after three days, Rehoboam had spoken so,
the welkin would have rung with the resonant cheers of a delighted and
thankful people. Kindness is not weakness.
But Rehoboam forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took
counsel with the young men who had been brought up with him and who stood
before him. He asked them the same question he had asked the old men.
Their answer was:
“Say unto them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s
loins. For, whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more
to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you
with scorpions.’”
Woe to the nation whose young men talked so! A young oppressor is an
infant devil. Young men talking so will ruin any occasion.
Are there such things in history as retorts, reprisals, rebounds and
consequences? Let it be known and laid down as the basic principle of all
action--social, ecclesiastical and imperial--that there is no right of
tyranny.
It might be supposed that the king had taken a most patriotic course in
consulting the young and the old. He had done nothing of the kind. He had
omitted to consult Him who had called his house to the royalty.
Rehoboam should have consulted the King Maker whose throne is on the
circle of the Earth, whose scepter touches the horizon and whose will is
the law of both monarchy and commonwealth.
The greater the man, the nearer should he stand to God; yea, he should
be within whisper-reach of the Lord of lords, asking Him in every crisis
of national history what Israel ought to do--what the country ought to
answer--what is the will of Heaven.
Rehoboam answered the people roughly, and forsook the counsel of the old
men. “So the king hearkened not unto the people.”
The Gospel never gives liberty to oppression. Employers may adopt this
course if they please, but they will find it end in ruin. We must
recognize the difference between employing cattle and employing men.
A parent may adopt this course of Rehoboam, if he so chooses, but his
children will chastise him and sting him with many a disappointment; or,
if he does not live to see the wreck of their manhood, they will execrate
his unfragrant memory.
Rehoboam will be punished; have no fear of that. “With what measure ye
mete, it shall be measured to you again.” You can make your whips thongs
of scorpions, but on your own back shall the lacerating lash be laid; you
can play the fantastic trick before high Heaven and make the angels weep,
but the bitterness shall be yours. The triumphing of such a policy is
short, and the end is everlasting punishment.