nothing new under the sun

A couple of week's ago my editorial revolved around God and technology and the thought that the world is pretty much the same now as it's always been. That people are still people and operate by the same desires, emotions and lusts that they've always had. We even used the words of Solomon spoken in Ecclesiastes about there being "nothing new under the sun...." Having said that, I'd like to sorta continue on in that vein for today's lesson.

Before we get into the lesson specific, let me remark on something we hear said about some of our congregations from time to time. You hear someone lamenting that many congregations are comprised of "old people" and of not having very many younger members. I said "lamenting" because it seems these statements are spoken as if this situation is a bad thing.

Now I can't speak directly for generations before mine, but I wouldn't be surprised that these utterances haven't been heard since shortly after the church was established. But let me ask you to think about something for a moment and the comments I'm about to make will serve to lead us into the body of our lesson.

Is a congregation comprised of older folk necessarily a "bad thing?" I don't see it as such. I see some blessings from this congregational situation. I think that older members are more grounded in the faith and less likely to be blown around by the "winds of doctrine" that pervade the religious world. Whereas, I see the younger generation more susceptible to teachings that are, shall we say, more modern. More appealing to the appetites and emotions of younger people and, by that appeal, they accept false and erroneous teachings. Maybe I just think that younger folks "ears itch" more than their elders.

As to the relationship between the older generation and the younger I'm going to remind you of a couple of examples to make my point. First, if you're like me and have raised children up into their teenage years you'll easily grasp the gist of this example. Parents are "old fogies" and we just don't understand how things are in this advanced day and age. They're not interested in the advice given by their parents yet, will believe anything someone their age tells them. It's frustrating, isn't it? Helps me to understand why Solomon said what he did in Eccl. 1.9.

It frustrates me because they don't understand that others have traveled down the "proverbial road" ahead of them and would like to see them avoid some of the traps, snares and pitfalls that we know are there. Parents don't want their children to suffer some of the things we learned the hard way. But, like I said, we're old fogies and don't really know how things are done these days. Here's a clue for them: things were done in the "olden days" just like they are today. There's just more people doing them and the pitfalls come quicker due to technology.

My second example comes from the account of an older versus younger generation situation that ended up creating much grief for the nation of Israel. Before I tell you about it, let me issue a caveat here: any relation to ancient Israel's situation and our governments today (city thru federal) is strictly coincidental. But, Solomon's words about there being "nothing new under the sun" is certainly born out by these possible coincidences.

I would direct you to open your Bibles and read the 12^th chapter of 1 Kings and confirm that I relate this account accurately to you. Up unto this point, Israel had been a great kingdom, led in succession by Saul, David and then Solomon. In the closing days of Solomon's reign we find the people suffering under a heavy load of taxation and forced labor because of a lot of public works instituted by the government. There was much unrest in the country over their situation.

Then Solomon died. His son, Rehoboam, the heir apparent to the throne, sought some advice about ruling the kingdom because of the complaints by the citizens. In verse 6 we see that he first consulted with the "old men" or should we describe them as "elderly counselors," who offered this advice: that if he would be as a servant to the people, to answer them and to "speak good words to them" that they would serve him "forever." That Solomon had made their "yoke grievous" and "heavy" and they advised him to lighten it.

As we see in verse 8, Rehoboam didn't much care for the advice he'd received from the "older counselors" and consulted with the "young men." The guys he'd grown up with and therefore, more inclined to his modern way of thinking. Here's what they said about how his administration should operate: they told him he should tell those whining, complaining subjects that "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." (A more injurious type of whip) (1Kgs. 12:10-11 NKJV)

The account goes on to say that when he returned to address the people, that he rejected the advice given him by the "elders" and he spoke to them "according to the advice of the "young men." He basically told the citizens of his kingdom that, if they thought they had it tough under the labor and taxes of his father, they hadn't seen "nuthin yet."

Well, were there some serious consequences that occurred because of Rehoboam's choice of whose advice to follow? As some TV personality used to say, "You bet your bippy" there were. 10 tribes seceded from the kingdom and formed their own and selected a guy named Jeroboam (no relation to Rehoboam) to be their king. From that day on and because of his leadership, that nation went away from God by worshiping idols and progressively got worse. To the point that God destroyed all of them with the use of the Assyrians.

Rehoboam's kingdom, the nation of Judah, managed to last a few more years than it's northern neighbor, Israel, but God eventually settled their hash by allowing the Babylonians to take them into captivity. A lot of "proverbial dominos" got knocked over by Rehoboam's choice of whose advice to follow, didn't they?

I guess, in closing, that I offer these words of advice: Don't despise the counsel of those older than you. They've walked down life's road ahead of you and can tell you where to place your feet as you travel it. Does it make much sense to follow the advice of someone who doesn't have anymore knowledge of the road than you?

In our second example, a lot of people suffered and ended up losing everything simply because of Rehoboam rejecting the advice of the "older folks" and choosing to follow the advice of those who didn't know any more about life and God's wisdom than he did. Always remember: if we reject the wisdom of God we are in danger of losing our soul, which is far more valuable than even an earthly kingdom.

Ron Covey