Rehoboam, too "manly" by half

 ⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, saying, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

⁷ And they spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to these people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

⁸ But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

The advice of the young men, of course, was as follows:

¹⁰ ... “Thus you should speak to the people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ 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!’ ” 

And as we know, this turned out poorly for Rehoboam, because whilst making big boasts about what he would do, he lacked any actual capacity to enforce it.  Oops!

What, though, in the advice of the young men appealed to them, and appealed to Rehoboam? Why did it seem like a good idea? After all, Rehoboam had just inherited the kingdom from his father at its peak of prosperity. The good times had arrived: peace, and abundance. This was hardly the time for the sort of tough, no-nonsense measures which might sometimes be needed to get through a crisis. Nothing that was going on called for an authoritarian crack-down, and the results demonstrated how stupid it was to say that he would bring one. The advice was pure folly, as the outcome showed. But again we ask: why did it appeal to him?

What appealed was not related to the outcome of the policy, which Rehoboam took for granted in the wrong way - he assumed he'd be able to carry it out. What appealed was simply the policy itself, and the act of declaring such a policy. Rehoboam was a tough guy, and took tough measures. He was a real man. No softies here! He talked tough, and would act tough, and all would admire his masculinity. All hail the big man, Rehoboam!

And so, to our day..... this is all rather familiar to Internet users in 2026, is it not? There are plenty of kings (unlike Rehoboam, self-crowned), who speak as if masculinity is on a simple sliding scale, and that sliding scale is marked "talk a big game". The bigger game you talk, the more you ignore any attempts at correction, the more you double-down and go further to the extremes in whatever way, the more masculine you are.

If you are drawn to those sorts of people - and it seems plenty are - then please, instead, consider Jesus Christ. He was nothing like this! He was the servant of all his people, and gave up all his rights when he took on the form of a servant and gave himself for us. That was the most manly thing ever done. Unlike Adam, he did not abdicate and disappear, hovering somewhere on the periphery. And unlike Rehoboam, he did not brag about what he was going to inflict on those under him. He took the whole load upon himself, voluntarily, and was crucified for us. This he did, with conviction, firmness of purpose, and refusal to compromise on God's will for him.

There was nothing manly about Rehoboam threatening to tyrannise the people who had been put under his care. That idea was the foolishness of the ungodly, who think that the great men of the world manifest their greatness by lording it over others. Of course, if you merely have a podcast or whatever, then you're not even doing any actual lording, you're just talking - which makes it all a bit pathetic. Yes, a father-figure (such as a king) must sometimes be firm, using his God-given authority to suppress evil and folly. But this has nothing to do with using it arbitrarily to commit evil and folly. There is nothing manly about force for the sake of force, or dominion for the sake of dominion. 

Ultimately, Rehoboam aped Pharaoh and other tyrants, aping Satan, who wanted authority so that he could exercise authority. Jesus, the true man, laid aside his rights and shed his blood, so that he could redeem the lost. That sort of man is worthy to rule, and that sort of man - only - shall have authority in the world which is to come. To be much more like a real man, have no compromise with Satan's idol of pseudo-manliness, and instead use your position to serve, by word and self-giving deed. Lead others into the way of giving your life away so that others can live.