Wisdom is clearly not an inherited trait. At least not in Rehoboam's case. When the people determine to make him their
king Jeroboam comes back from Egypt and asks to know what are Rehoboam's
intentions regarding the servitude of the people. Jeroboam had been head man over the forced
service of the house of Joseph and now he wants to know as a representative of
the servant class what kind of king Rehoboam will be to them. Jeroboam rejects the counsel of the elders
that this is his chance to win over the people by being a servant to them in
favor of the counsel of his peers to make himself a harder man, a man more to
be feared than his father. Following that
course of action was certainly foolish, it is almost like God knew what sort of
man he would be when the prophet told Jeroboam he would be king over ten
tribes. The sovereignty of God is partly
due to this knowledge, or omniscience.
Jesus' cry is known as the cry of dereliction and it is one
of the most horrible moments in all of human history. The only begotten Son of God knew for the
first time ever what it meant to be bereft of the Father's loving
presence. That void was so palpable that
He cried out asking why He was forsaken.
We know so little of God's presence that we hardly miss it most of the
time. The answer to Jesus' question is,
very simply, because of you and me. I'm
forgiven, because you were forsaken, I'm accepted, You were condemned. The one thing Jesus has never experienced was
separation from the Father and only for us did they know this pain. God knew pain, the cry from heaven must have
been equally terrible and all because of love for us, His creation who rebelled
against Him.
Keep it simple, live by faith. That is the message of James here in this
passage. Life is going to be tough at
times, there will be difficulties, get over it and remain steadfast in faith,
trusting always that God is indeed sovereign over all things. Don't blame one another and don't give up on
God. Remember the story of Job, that the
man suffered more than you can ever imagine and he remained steadfast, he believed
that he was innocent and that one day, even if it were after his death, the redeemer
would come and declare his innocence before God. Eternity is a lot longer than the suffering
of this life and we only have to endure this pain a short while and then we
will cry the opposite of Jesus' cry, my God, my God why have you embraced and
accepted me?
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