Latest Article
PARADISE ‘BANKRUPTED’: The ‘Rehoboam Factor’
An Answer to Form without Substance in Western Society
Introduction
In the “Hold That Thought” series an article entitled PARADISE LOST: The ‘Solomon Factor’ in Western Society was written in which the concept of the Solomon factor and the resultant Solomon generation was discussed. It was noted that the Solomon generation was marked by material success to the point of opulent excess in life. It was also noted that character failure is what led to national decline, not economic or military failure. An opportunity was lost by that generation that had existed to build upon its success and use its influence to impact nations for good. Rehoboam was the son of Solomon and in his reign economic failure occurred where economic success had existed. He sought to maintain an appearance of success by maintaining the form of success. Rehoboam replaced gold with bronze; the result of which is an appearance of wealth but with an underlying depleted value. He also resorted to displays of military strength, which only further depleted his reserves. Despite his displays of military strength the conflicts he was involved with simply drained his wealth further. The result was form without substance or the Rehoboam factor. There are lessons that can be learnt to correct the Rehoboam factor and avoid becoming a Rehoboam generation today.
The description of the reign of Solomon recorded in 2Chronicles 9 on the surface appears to be a time of ‘living the grand life.’ It is marked by excessive displays of wealth and extravagance. However, the record of Rehoboam’s ascent to the throne in Chp10 of 2Chronicles indicates that life was not all that grand for the average person. Representatives from the people came to ask the new king to lighten the load on the average person. This was their message; “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” (2Chron.10:4) Although there had been tremendous wealth generation it was not all, or even the majority, who were benefiting in the Solomon generation. The average person was coming under an increasing burden even in Solomon’s time of prosperity, so as to maintain the lifestyle of the ‘rich and famous.’ Rehoboam rejected the advice to listen to the people and ease their load, and, instead accepted the advice of self-important and self-advancing young leaders. This advice was to get tougher and bring the people into greater bondage. Despite the signs of a failing economy they wanted to maintain their extravagant lifestyle. Greed was the driving element and it is only ever self-seeking.
A Paradigm of Today
It can seem that in this day and age that there is little parallel to this story. We don’t have dictatorial sovereignties and our leaders in Western society are elected and supposedly live under the same rules and conditions as the people. However, we have seen in western society the rich become richer and watched the poor become more disadvantaged and disenfranchised from power. This has led to poverty even in the midst of wealth. Even Jesus acknowledged that there would always be a poor group within society. However, poverty is the use and abuse of the poor in their poorness and a failure to exercise a duty of care as pointed out by Paul in 1Tim.6:17-19. What has been used to bring the average person under a powerful yoke is the economy and in particular the concept of credit. The following Proverb should have been a warning to our present society;
“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” Prov.22:7
This proverb describes the situation in western society where we have simply traded masters and those who control the finance have become the rulers. Positions of power in both the government and corporate world have become about self-advancement and personal profit. Riches and power are interchangeable entities much like the relationship between ‘matter’ and ‘energy’ in physics. Matter can be converted to energy and energy can be converted into matter. A thermodynamic explosion is an example of this conversion. The conversion of matter results in a phenomenal burst of energy, i.e. the explosion. The same is true of power and riches and those who attain them seek apply this conversion. Wealth is converted into power and those with power seek to convert it into wealth. However, nuclear power can be used to light up a city or blow up a city. It is the user who determines whether the conversion from one into the other is constructive or destructive, beneficial to all or self-serving.
In the time of Rehoboam those in charge, the CEO’s and executives of ‘corporate’ Israel, when the good times of genuine wealth creation of Solomon’s era had passed, wanted to increase their own situation by increasing the burden on people. In western society a parallel situation has arisen as those with wealth and power are using credit and various financial means, e.g. fees, manipulation of the stock market together with exorbitant salaries and bonuses, to enrich themselves and as a result enslave people beyond what the previous generation imposed. When there is no genuine wealth creation then there is simply re-distribution of existing wealth. The size of the pie doesn’t change only the size of the slice a person is taking. The obvious consequence is that the only way one person can have a large piece of pie is for someone else to have a small piece of pie. As the author of Proverbs has noted; “There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty.” Prov.11:24. The attempt to withhold and take from people results in poverty and eventually the whole of society is pulled down. In an attempt to justify these plans to enrich themselves those with power have stripped the value from the institutions they run. This is putting pressure back on the average employee and person (including investors). This has been done due to their greed to maintain their good times in the face of national decay. It is important to realize that the Scripture indentifies the reason for decline and resultant poverty as due to character failure.
Real Answers for the Real Problem
As the Kingdom declined and began to split before his eyes Rehoboam sent out an emissary into the nation to attempt to unite it, “Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of revenue; but the children of Israel stoned him with stones, and he died…” 2Chron.10:18. He fell into the trap highlighted in Proverbs 18:11 “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his own esteem.” Rehoboam failed to understand what the true problem was and his attempt to rectify the problem through only economic measures was completely futile. As the value of his wealth was stripped by his failures he sought to maintain the appearance of wealth as recorded in 2Chron.12:9-11. The opulence of the Solomon generation had resulted in the personal guards of Solomon having solid gold shields. When these were stripped from Rehoboam he had them replaced with bronze shields (hence looking like gold) and whenever he came to his palace he had the bronze shields brought out so as to maintain the appearance of wealth, but the substance had gone.
In the recent critical global distress the governments are attempting to prop the system up by sending out the economic answer, but the people are ‘stoning’ the answer as stock markets continue to fall and global recession creates fear and panic. Companies and governments attempted to keep an appearance of wealth when the value had been stripped and eventually this became exposed. The answer to these situations is not an economic one, although it will have an economic impact. The answer is found in addressing the cause, which means addressing the bad or poor character development in people especially leaders. Then what is required is for people to live what they believe and believe what they live. This is simply integrity of character and this world needs people of good character who are practicing life, business, government and any task with integrity. The economic failure is the flow on from the character failure and as a result economic restoration and even greater success will be the flow on from addressing the issue of character in the lives of people. The good news is that no person need wait a moment longer to begin to start addressing this in their lives and the process of restoration begins in that moment.
A Simple Plan to Begin Character Development: The book of Proverbs is built around three primary words; these are knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Knowledge is to know the mind of God on a matter, understanding is to be able to apply it to your own life and wisdom is to put these things into practice in your life. The relationship of these words is illustrated by the following example:
Knowledge is to know God hates lying
Understanding is to know that God hates you lying
Wisdom is to stop lying
As you read Scripture begin to apply this simple plan. The Book of Proverbs is itself a great place to start, simply read the chapter of Proverbs related to the day of the month, i.e. there are 31 Proverbs so use the date of the day of the month, e.g. on the 1st of the month read Prov.1, on the 2nd Prov.2, etc. You can use different translations each month to broaden your understanding. Also because Proverbs is a ‘tell it as it is’ approach to life read a page of Psalms with each day. The Book of Psalms recognizes human frailty and that things don’t always work out but it also confirms that God is always in control. There are a number of articles on this website that can help in this plan, simply browse and use what is helpful. You may also like to visit the Lifesource Power of Ten Overview page. Power of Ten is a course that is specifically designed to provide a platform and grid for the development of character in a life.