Bad advice

But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”
Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, “Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father's waist! And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!’ ” - 1 Kings 12.8-11

When Solomon died his son Rehoboam became king. When he did Jeroboam and his followers came to him to give him some advice. They asked Rehoboam to lighten the oppressive burden that Solomon had put on them. They wanted the legal restrictions put on the people to be lessened and tax burden on them.

Rehoboam wasn’t sure what to do so he looked for some advice. First he went to the elders in the land and sought their counsel. The elders advised him to take on the role of a servant leader and change the laws and if he did the people would faithfully serve him.

But then Rehoboam went to his young friends and asked for their advice.

‘It’s time to crack down on these people!’ they said. ‘They thought your dad was bad, now you need to show them who is boss. Add to their burden, beat them into submission.’

These young guys were his buddies, the guys he had grown up with. What else would we expect them to say. They figured they would benefit if their mate was a tough and demanding king.

Young Rehoboam chose to ignore the wisdom of the elders and do what appealed to his youthful pride. He followed the young men’s advice and the result was tragic. Jeroboam and his followers rebelled and the nation was split in two. Ten tribes in the north formed their own kingdom and the two tribes left in the south formed their own nation.The relationship that followed was rarely good and often broke out into ugly civil war.

And all because Rehoboam did not choose wisely. Old men are not always right. Old men make mistakes, but it is foolish to just ignore old men because their advice does not fit in with foolish pride.

In the multitude of counsellors indeed there is wisdom. Let's me sure that when we seek advice we seek wisdom and not what suits us.