“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear”. Paul advising Timothy a young pastor, 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

This warning to Timothy from Paul, a seasoned servant of God, speaks against appealing to people’s desires for messages that align with their own lifestyles and preferences rather than with sound doctrine and truth. The phrase “itching ears” refers to people who seek out advisors and teachers who offer feel good, pleasant lies and myths instead of uncomfortable truth. Listening to fools ultimately leads to turning away from God’s word to follow their own lusts for power and position. 

Two leaders are in competition for power and control. One is the son of Solomon and the other is an enemy of Solomon’s house and of God.  Both seek advice.  They both listen to the advice of people who will tell them what they want to hear.  How will this be played out? How will this work out for them? Read on…

1 Kings 12

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. ² When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. ³ So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: ⁴ “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

⁷ They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”

⁸ But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. ⁹ He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. ¹¹ My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

¹² Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, ¹⁴ he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:

“What share do we have in David,
    what part in Jesse’s son?
To your tents, Israel!
    Look after your own house, David!”

So the Israelites went home. ¹⁷ But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.

¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰ When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.

²¹ When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.

²² But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: ²³ “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.

Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan

²⁵ Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.

²⁶ Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. ²⁷ If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”

²⁸ After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” ²⁹ One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. ³⁰ And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.

³¹ Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. ³² He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. ³³ On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22

Seeking advice from many counselors is a prudent practice highlighted in the Book of Proverbs, which asserts that a multitude of counselors provides safety and leads to successful plans. The principle encourages gathering diverse perspectives from wise, experienced, and honest individuals to make well-informed decisions, avoid failure, and secure a better outcome for personal, family, or leadership matters.

The Shepherd King David who “followed after the heart of God” sought the Lord for what to do and when to do it. King David believed, trusted, and obeyed God before defeating all the giants in his life.  His descendants, however, lost this desire to seek God first which led to rebellions and wars resulting in a turning away from God. Israel’s leaders turned to advisors who would tell them what their itching ears wanted to hear as they grabbed for more power and higher positions in Israel.  As predicted by God, the son of Solomon, Rehoboam, would only have one tribe in Judah to carry on the line of David due to the sins of his father.  It is this line of descendants from which our Savior, King Jesus, was born.

Jesus teaches, Seek God first—always and in all circumstances— “and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33. Jesus instructs believers who follow Him to make the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness their highest priority in life. It means entrusting your life to God, prioritizing a relationship with Him, while fully believing He will provide for your needs as you live according to His will. 

These behaviors involve trust, prayer, obedience, and aligning your actions and desires with God’s.  We cannot effectively do life alone—we need God’s power at work within us to live for Him. God provides the same power that resurrected Jesus from death to life to come and live within all believers.  His Holy Spirit directs our path to all that is pleasing to God and is for our good.  When we seek God—we are seeking Truth.  God who knows our hearts’ desires to know the Truth.  God sent His Son, Jesus as the Way, Truth, and Life with Him.  It is Jesus who saved our souls and reconciled us to God!  It is God who is faithful to love and forgive and offer a new life and walk with Him.  God always does more than we seek, dream, or imagine!

“…O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”—Jesus, Matthew 6:30-34 (Gentiles are anyone who is not a Jew or believer in God.

Seek the advice and counsel of God’s Holy Spirit first.  Then be affirmed by God’s Holy Spirit in others who will affirm what God is saying to us—not what we want to hear—but what God wants us to hear, trust, and obey— “for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” 

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”—Jesus, Matthew 18:19-20  Agreement comes by seeking God first, individually or as a group, asking for His Holy Spirit to lead us to all that is God’s will and His best for us which is Truth—the greatest advice of all!

Lord,

We quickly see how life goes dark as soon as we stop asking for your help and guidance in all the details of our lives of which you delight.  Thank you for never tiring of our requests for your will with advice of how to accomplish your plan. Thank you for cleansing our hearts and renewing our minds so we are more open to your wisdom! I trust you above all.  You are Life and Light!  Why go to anyone else but you?  I love you, Lord with all that is in me.

In Jesus Name, Amen