Solomon's Final Mistake - Rehoboam King of Israel

Among the many mistakes of Solomon, his final mistake was to allow Rehoboam to be appointed as king in the place of Solomon his father. One of the odd things about Rehoboam is that Scripture records the only name of one of Solomon’s wives and records it twice; "…And his mother’s name was Naamah (pleasantness or pleasure) an Ammonitess." I Kings 14:21, 31. This name was also given to the sister of Tubal-Cain, the daughter of Lamech the first polygamist. Genesis 4:19-22. What a tragedy to have a child of a mixed marriage – Jewish and Ammonite – same family tree but radically different belief systems.

We have a brief history of how Solomon attempted to address Rehoboam and then how the training and genetics took over as recorded in Prophets and Kings page 88:
"Although Solomon had longed to prepare the mind of Rehoboam, his chosen successor, to meet with wisdom the crisis foretold by the prophet of God, he had never been able to exert a strong molding influence for good over the mind of his son, whose early training had been so grossly neglected. Rehoboam had received from his mother, an Ammonitess, the stamp of a vacillating character. At times he endeavored to serve God and was granted a measure of prosperity; but he was not steadfast, and at last he yielded to the influences for evil that had surrounded him from infancy. In the mistakes of Rehoboam's life and in his final apostasy is revealed the fearful result of Solomon's union with idolatrous women."

What a sad testimony to have picked a child that had poor training from his parents and to have the mixed religious testimony as described in Nehemiah 13:23-24 and Ezra 9:1-2 "In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab: and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews language, but according to the language of each people." "Now when these things were done, the princes came to me (Ezra), saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass."

Furthermore, Ellen White goes on to describe some of the issues that Rehoboam had inherited from his mother. Review and Herald July 3, 1913 "It was this prophecy of impending ruin that had awakened the apostate king as from a dream, and had led him to repent, and to seek to stay, so far as possible, the terrible tide of evil that during the later years of his reign had been rising high and still higher. But at the time of his repentance, only a few years of life remained to him, and he could not hope to avert the consequences of long years of wrongdoing. His course of evil had set in operation influences that afterward he could never fully control.

Especially was this the case in the training of the children born to him through marriage with idolatrous women. Rehoboam, the son whom Solomon chose to be his successor, had received from his mother, an Ammonitess, a stamp of character that led him to look upon sin as desirable. At times he endeavored to serve God, and was granted a measure of prosperity; but he was not steadfast, and at last he yielded to the influences for evil that had surrounded him from infancy."
Sadly Solomon picked a son who had poor training, little self-control, the influences of a pagan mother, and an idolatrous father. With all of thee issues present Solomon chose to pick a successor who was not devoted to Jesus. This choice continued the negative influences that he, Solomon, had set into motion. As a result of these decisions Rehoboam continued the things that Solomon himself had trained Rehoboam to do.

We know that Rehoboam so infuriated the 10 tribes of Israel that they seceded from under his leadership and they chose Jeroboam the son of Nebat to lead them. Because of Solomon’s poor leadership, and then the poor leadership displayed by Rehoboam there was a great division and the people departed from the house of David and continued their backsliding from the true worship of God. Eventually the 10 northern tribes are conquered by the king of Assyria and dispersed throughout the kingdom of Assyria. II Kings 17

In conclusion, it is clear that in Solomon’s case he set in motion many evils because of his idolatry and his rejection of the straight testimony of Jesus. It is this writer’s hope that we may learn from the great mistakes of the wisest man in the history of the world. I pray that we may keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.