Our society really pushes success as a litmus test of greatness. I'm not so sure I want to be successful as the world measures it, because as often as not it seems to cause humans to grow lackadaisical and apathetic toward God. Rehoboam established his sovereignty and royal power and promptly abandoned the Lord. David was totally dependent on the Lord as Saul pursued him, but as soon as he got his royal "sea legs," he abused his power and had an adulterous affair that ended up in murder. Solomon humbly asked for wisdom at the beginning of his reign but, as his power grew, he allowed his wives to lead him astray. Nebuchadnezzar stood atop his parapets and congratulated himself on being a self-made man, only to spend years in madness.
Rehoboam also discovered the futility of his so-called "royal power" when God sent Shishak against him with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 cavalrymen, and countless people from Libya, Sukkiim, and Ethiopia. How does one fight the King of kings and Lord of lords? How could one possibly hope to win a contest with an omnipotent being? He can whistle up any number of empires and then plant fear in his opponents' troops. The angel of the Lord alone killed 185,000 Assyrians in a single night (see 2 Kings 19:35), and He has myriads of angels at His beck and call!
Our sin affects not only our own lives, but the lives of those within our sphere of influence as well. Therefore, the greater our sphere of influence, the greater the consequences of our decisions. When Rehoboam sinned, all Israel went with him, but when he and the leaders humbled themselves, grace was extended to the entire nation (see 2 Chron. 12:7–8).
We mustn't allow our leaders to drag us into their sin with them. We cannot use tired, old excuses such as "the woman you gave me…", "the serpent said…", or "I was just following orders." It does not matter if the entire nation is doing something wrong, we are not to follow the crowd in wrongdoing (see Ex. 23:2).
We need to remember that even if we repent of our sin, the consequences of our foolishness will remain. They may be tempered by God's grace, but the Just Judge will not allow us to escape unscathed. Because Israel's leaders humbled themselves, Hashem agreed to not destroy them; however, His wrath was still poured out on Jerusalem and He allowed its citizens to be captured as slaves so that they would learn that it is preferable to be the Lord's slaves than the worlds' (see 2 Chron. 12:6–12).
The Lord God is life and liberty. To abandon Him is to abandon these things. It is the height of foolishness.
(Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.)
