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The Story:Like many young people, Rehoboam perhaps believed that everything he was hoping and dreaming and anticipating, as he waited to inherit his father’s throne and wealth, would work out just as he imagined. But he couldn’t know the future any more than any other man, and he needed to face that fact. All kinds of things can go wrong. But the one who keeps the command of the king – and, by intimation, of the heavenly King – can expect that all will be well with him, even though trial and adversity may be his lot in this life (Rom. 8.28). The reminder of Solomon’s argument from chapter 3 – a time and place for everything – is meant to renew the point of that passage: God is in charge; God works out the details, not men. A man’s lot is to trust in God and walk in His commands. What He commands must be our guiding light in life, for only then can we be certain that we will not succumb to evil.
The Structure:The double entendrerunning through these verses – implied by the reference to chapter 3 – is as palpable as heavy dew. Solomon is assaulting Rehoboam’s flippancy, arrogance, and finitude, albeit indirectly, in an effort to knock a little sense into his head. Solomon is bringing his son down, reminding him of his humanness, and, hence, of his susceptibility to all the uncertainties men might face. In a secular age such as ours, we must not be reluctant to confront the lost with their folly, finitude, and fallibility. Jesus upbraided the religious leaders of His day, and there’s no reason why we should not resort to that approach at the “proper time” and in a “just way” in our own witness.
What evidence might you present to some “Rehoboam” in your life that he doesn’t know everything he thinks he does?
Each week’s studies in our Scriptorium column are available in a free PDF form, suitable for personal or group use. For this week’s study, “In Your Face: Ecclesiastes 8,” simply click here.
T. M. Moore
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.