When Pride Divides - DJ Dickerson - 4/12/26

You know, some of the greatest tragedies

in scripture

happen not because someone lacked

opportunity,

but because they misused it.

We're talking about Riaboam tonight. um

in our the kids classes since they

started the new quarter as I mentioned

they are starting to learn some Old

Testament truths that uh we have several

kings that they are going to be

considering this quarter and and I've

even had some of the adults of course

who not before they even got to this

quarter and started talking about

uh these kings were ask asking hey will

you do some uh some sermons on the Old

Testament Kings. So, well, I sure can.

Uh, so what we're doing, of course, is

following along with what the kids are

learning in their classes and

reinforcing those lessons and in our

hearts and our minds and for for the

kids as well. And as I always uh like to

say and like to again extend my

appreciation for the the teachers, for

our children and and the work that they

do and all that they put into it. that

it certainly means a lot uh to me uh

when you take that time to sew that seed

in water. It's it means a lot to me. Uh

so tonight we last Sunday evening we

were talking about Solomon and tonight

Riaboam is this week's king that they're

discussing and I thought well when

you're looking for a title I think when

pride divides is certainly fitting for

the lesson that we find for Riaboam. Now

you're going to find this recorded in

first Kings. There's there's a lot of

ground we're going to be covering for

the time that we have, but First Kings

1 Kings 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12 and First Kings chapter 14

1 Kings 14 · chapter mention

and 2 Chronicles chapter 9 or majority

2 Chronicles 9 · chapter mention

of what you'll find of what we're

considering briefly this this uh

evening.

But Riaboam had everything going for

him. Uh you might remember that he

inherited the throne of Israel. Uh he

inherited wealth beyond imagination. And

he had inherited peace from his father.

Who is his father? Solomon. Solomon. Uh

he inherited influence, power, and

respect.

But what's interesting is within days.

Within days, the kingdom split in two.

There's some very interesting things

that we're going to consider because the

kingdom did not split because of war,

not because of famine, not because of

foreign invasion, but it split because

of pride, because of poor counsel and a

refusal to listen. all it was leading up

to that moment uh when it split and and

again what we even considered in last

Sunday evening study with Solomon

Riaboam echoes really this powerful

truth that a strong beginning does not

guarantee a faithful future that's fact

one foolish decision

can divide what took generations to

build

think about that because Riaboam

inherited a great kingdom, but he also

inherited

well also a heavy burden. And if you

look at First Kings chapter 14 and verse

1 Kings 14 · chapter mention

21, go to First Kings chapter 14. Look

1 Kings 14 · chapter mention

at verse 21.

And Riaboam the son of Solomon reigned

in Judah. Riaboam was 41 years old when

he became king. He reigned 17 years in

Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had

chosen out of all the tribes of Israel

to put his name there. His mother's name

was Nama and Ammonitas.

Now,

Riaboam as stated was a son of Solomon

and as we know he was a very wise man.

But something important when you look at

how long you know again we see uh his

age uh when he became king 41 years old

says he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem.

Again some specifics that we we might

mark down here. Um but something else

that is interesting is when you look at

who his mother was.

Now, when you think about the Ammonites,

you would

just automatically think about paganism.

You would think about idolatry. Well,

that's because that's where she came

from is a pagan idol worshippping

background.

And this reminds us that Solomon's

compromise had longterm consequences.

Remember last Sunday evening, we was

talking about how Solomon's marriages to

idol worshshiping women. And you look

back at first kings chapter 11 that this

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

warning was actually given. But King

Solomon loved many foreign women as well

as the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the

Moabites, Ammonites,

where Naomma came from,

Sedonians, and Hittites from the nations

of whom the Lord had said to the

children of Israel, you shall not enter

Mary with them, nor they with you.

Surely they will, what does he say? Turn

away your hearts after their gods. What

does Solomon do? Solomon clung to these

in love.

Because what you see is the domino

effect. I think that's what one of the

classes was talking about. The domino

effect because Solomon's marriages what

end up happening led to divided loyalty,

led to divided worship, led to a divided

kingdom ultimately. And that's the

interesting thing. Sin never stops with

one generation.

Riaboam inherited a wealthy kingdom, a

powerful army, a magnificent temple, a

strong capital, but also heavy taxation

and a very dissatisfied people.

Solomon's building projects, army,

lifestyle, it required some hefty

things. But the people were exhausted as

we find they they wanted relief they

said and they wanted a king who would

listen. They wanted compassion and they

hoped that Riaboam would be different.

Well, Riaboam

chooses pride over wisdom. I want you to

go to chapter 12 of first kings and look

at verses 1 through 4 with me.

We find Riaboam. He travels to

Sheckchham to meet the people. And

Riabom when he went to Sheckchum for all

Israel had gone to Sheckchham to make

him king. So it happened when Jeroboam

the son of Nebat heard it he was still

in Egypt for he had fled from the

presence of King Solomon and had been

dwelling in Egypt that they sent and

called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole

assembly of Israel came and spoke to

Riaboam saying your father made our yoke

heavy. Now therefore lighten the

burdensome service of your father and

his heavy yoke which he put on us and we

will serve you. Now one of the things I

think we take away from this is this was

not rebellion. This was really a request

that was a request that was being made.

The request was simply this. Lighten the

burden and we will serve you. Okay. Well

Riaboam did something wise at first.

What did he do? Well he asked for

counsel. Uh he asked the older men who

serve Solomon. Look that look at verse

seven. And they spoke to him saying, "If

you will be a servant to these people

today and serve them and answer them and

speak good words to them, then they will

be your servants forever." Well, that's

some pretty wise advice that was given.

And it's really simple what what's being

stated here. It's bas basically saying,

"Hey, you know, serve the people, be

gentle, uh show compassion, and you're

going to win their hearts." Sounds good,

doesn't it? But then Riaboam, he's like,

well, he's got this advice. Let's see

what else we can do. How about make a

fatal mistake? And that was when he

rejected wise counsel. He goes on in

verse 8 says just that, 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.

Now, what kind of advice did they give

him? Well, glad you asked. Verses 9-11.

And he said to them, "What advice do you

give? How should we answer this people

who have spoken to me, saying, Lighten

the yoke which your father put on us?"

And the young men who had grown up with

him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you

should speak to this 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." And now, whereas my

father put a heavy yoke on you, I will

put I will add to your yoke. My father

chastise you with whips, but I will

chastise you with scorges.

Well, we look at that. We're like, well,

that doesn't sound like that's going to

work out too well. Because instead of

compassion,

he chose intimidation.

Instead of wisdom, he chose arrogance.

Instead of listening, well, he chose

pride.

And the result was immediate because

pride divided the kingdom

because when the people heard his

answer, what happened? Well, verse 16,

first kings 12. Now when all Israel saw

the king did not listen to them, the the

people answered the king saying, "What

share have we in David? We have no

inheritance in the son of Jesse to your

tents, O Israel. Now see to your own

house, oh David. So Israel departed to

their tents. These tribes walked away,

10 of them. The kingdom split. You got

the northern kingdom. Now that's Israel.

That that was uh Jeroboam. The southern

kingdom of course with Judah and

Benjamin Riaboam. and understanding that

this division lasted for centuries

all because one man refused to do what?

Humble himself.

Listen.

There's some great wisdom

behind listening

and especially

to whom we take advice.

Listen to

well. Proverbsap 11 and verse1 14 is one

of those places we find this where there

is no counsel the people fall

but in the multitude of counselors there

is safety.

Proverbs 19 and verse 20 says listen to

counsel and receive instruction that you

may be wise in your latter days.

And there's many passages that speak to

this. And Riaboam teaches us that you

can lose in one moment what took

generations to build. It's a really sad

situation that we find recorded for us

in First Kings

because Riaboam who started strong,

he had the drift going. He drifted from

God.

In 2 Chronicles 11, if you go over there

to Second Chronicles chapter 11, well,

2 Chronicles 11 · chapter mention

after the split, Riaboam, he

strengthened Judah, uh, he fortified

cities, he built defenses, priests and

Levites came south. And then in 2

2 Chronicles 11:17

Chronicles 11:17, it's what it says. So

they strengthened the kingdom of Judah

and made Reaborn, the son of Solomon,

strong for three years

because they walked in the way of David

and Solomon for three years.

And although that's

wonder and that's great, but when you

flip over to the Chronicles of the Kings

in chapter 12 and verse one, look what

happens.

Now it came to pass when Riaboam had

established the kingdom, had

strengthened himself, that he forsook

the law of the Lord and all Israel along

with him.

This is the tragic part.

You have to pay attention to the words

though. Look at the words. When Riabom

had established the kingdom and had

what? Strengthened himself.

When things became secure,

he forgot God.

That's the way this happens still today.

We could just kind of put our name there

and show where comfort replaces

commitment, success replaces submission,

and strength replaces

dependence.

That's what happened.

And

God sent judgment.

Read on in verses 2 through 4 because

we're about to find how God humbled

Riaboam

because God allowed Shishak, king of

Egypt, to invade. Look how this plays

out. Look at 2 Chronicles 12:es 2-4.

And it happened in the fifth year of

King Rahab that Shishak, king of Egypt,

came up against Jerusalem because they

had transgressed against the Lord

with,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen and

people without number who came with him

out of Egypt, Lubam and Ezekiel and the

Ethiopians. He and he took the fortified

cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem. I

don't I I think it goes really without

saying when you're reading that that the

army was massive uh chariots, horsemen,

countless soldiers

and Riaboam, what's his reaction to

this? What's his response if you will?

Well, verses five and six. And Shmaya

the prophet came to Raom and the leaders

of Judah who were gathered together in

Jerusalem because of Shishak and said to

them, "Thus says the Lord, you have

forsaken me and therefore I also have

left you in the hand of Shishak." So the

leaders of Israel and the king humbled

themselves and they said, "The Lord is

righteous."

Now, we note that God shows mercy in the

next verses.

But although God showed mercy, there's

consequences that still remain. When the

Lord saw that they humbled themselves,

verse 7, the word of the Lord came to

Shemus, saying, "They have humbled

themselves. Therefore, I will not

destroy them, but I will grant them some

deliverance. My wrath shall not be

poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of

Shishak. Nevertheless, they will be his

servants, that they may distinguish my

service from the service of the kingdoms

of the nations.

Shishak, the king of Egypt, came up

against Jerusalem and took away the

treasures of the house of the Lord and

the treasures of the king's house. He

took everything. He also carried away

the gold shields which Solomon had made.

Now the gold shells of Solomon were

gone. Riabal actually replaces them with

bronze

and

you see a decline here, don't you?

And why all of this?

Why? Why did all this happen?

It happened when pride replaced

obedience.

So there are some lessons that we take

from Riab, things that the kids are

learning themselves,

things that we need to also take stock

of in our lives.

That number one, we need to listen to

godly wisdom.

Listen to godly wisdom.

Proverbs 16:31 says, "The silverhaired

Proverbs 16:31

head is a crown of glory

if it is found in the way of

righteousness."

Now, you know, sometimes say just

because I got gray hair don't mean I'm

wiser than somebody else. Okay? All

right.

That's why I believe you see if it is

found what in the way of righteousness.

You know, a lot of times, of course, I

think about this when I was a kid,

uh, when you think about listening to

the wisdom of those that are older than

us, a lot of times, you know, I mean,

you you can think about when you were

growing up and your parents told you

don't do that,

uh, because of whatever might be some

consequences behind that. And we're

like, what do they know, right? What

they don't have a clue, you know?

they're so outdated. I don't know if

that's the word you'd use, you know, and

so we would scoff at some of those

things that they would tell us. And I've

used this example time and time again

that, you know, my parents, you know,

are a lot wiser as I've gotten older.

They actually knew what they were

talking about. That's kind of strange,

you know.

And so we go through that in in our

lives that sometimes, you know, as

younger people, as we're growing up, we

look at those at older and we say, well,

you know, they're outdated or but think

about this. Seasoned, we not use that

word, too. Seasoned or older Christians

are not outdated. They are experienced

if it is found in the way of what?

Righteousness.

The way of righteousness. And you think

about that, you know, like I I've told

the kids a lot of times, don't do that.

And I can give them a reason why

because, well, I have experienced

something of that nature. I tell them a

lot of times I've been there and I have

done that. Uh, and it was a foolish

choice on my part to do it. And you

know, as we all do from time to time, we

have to learn what? The hard way. That's

difficult, isn't it? Well, when you look

at this, when when you're considering

that wise older council that that

Riaboam was receiving,

you know, they had walked through

storms.

you know make that connection even now

made mistakes

learned some lessons

still today that's why we look at that

and if it is found in the way of

righteousness friends we need to listen

we need to heed to that listening to

wisdom protects us and there is a whole

lot of information we find obviously in

in the proverbs that that gives us that

very thought. Well, with that, the

second thing I think we also take away

from this is pride destroys unity. You

look at 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 5.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

It says, "Likewise, you younger people,

submit yourselves to your elders. Yes,

all of you be submissive to one another

and be clothed with humility, for God

resists the proud, but gives grace to

the humble." Think about it. Riaboam did

not lose the kingdom because of enemies.

That's not why he lost the kingdom. Some

people say, "Well, we lost king because

of Shack or what." No, we see the domino

effect already taking place because of

pride. That's where the issue was at.

Still the same thing. You know, we go

back, we consider several Proverbs as

well. We we know one right off

right from the top of our head. A lot of

times we we quote it, you know, pride

cometh before destruction. Pride comes

before the fall. We we hear that

and there's so much truth to it. That's

why so much is recorded about the danger

of being prideful, being arrogant,

because even today, what does pride do?

Pride divides

churches. Pride divides families. Pride

divides friendship. Pride divides

congregation. But humility though

builds unity.

Scriptures make that clear.

Absolutely makes that clear.

It was a heart problem of Riaboam.

And then we also see

of what Riabor teaches us is a good

start

is simply not enough.

I will concede the fact as we find from

the scriptures reoam started strong. He

did but

he started to drift

again. 2 Chronicles 12:1 There it was.

2 Chronicles 12:1

It was already on the screen. Now it

came to pass when Ribbom had established

the kingdom, had strengthened himself

that he forsook the law of the Lord and

all Israel along with him.

Friends, faithfulness is not measured by

how you begin.

It is it is measured by how you finish.

Just like last week, what did we see

with Solomon? Same exact Solomon

drifted. He was very wise. But what did

we say in last week's sermon? Wisdom

wasn't enough.

Riabo,

same issues drifted.

It's interesting that we have these

given to us

and the Bible,

you know,

doesn't hide these things from us.

The Bible shows us truly what the

character is.

You know, we we automatically would love

to think that someone who started

strong, they finished strong.

But that's the point for us even today

is that we can be in danger of the same

issue

because again Riabom had everything. He

had a throne, a kingdom, a legacy. He

had opportunity,

but he lost most of it because he just

wouldn't listen.

At least the ones he listened to wasn't

the right ones to listen to.

And it's sad that one decision divided a

nation.

So this evening, the question is simple.

Will we listen to true wisdom?

Will we humble ourselves?

Will we follow God's counsel?

Because pride to this day still divides,

but humility still saves.

I'm asking tonight if pride has crept

into your life.

Have you resisted counsel,

wise counsel?

Have you drifted from God?

Now I did say there was some good news

that we saw in this lesson is that

Riabom did humble himself and God showed

mercy.

Now there were still some consequences

that Riabom faced.

And something else I believe we take

away from it is why we have to guard our

hearts, why we have to be so careful is

because look at that one decision.

Look how many it affected.

Why do we need to make sure we have the

guard rails set up in our lives? Why do

we teach our children and so forth about

having these guardrails? Because the

world is pulling and the world is trying

to get us off the the narrow path. It's

trying to take us away from what we

should be doing, giving us some very

horrible advice. And a lot of times what

we can do is it can cause that ripple

effect that can affect everything else

around again families,

communities,

nations, all of these things. We see

this from the scriptures.

We have to be ever so careful.

James 4:es 7-10. I will end with this.

Says, "Therefore submit to God. Resist

the devil and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God and he will draw near

to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners,

and purify your hearts, you double-

minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let

your laughter be turned to mourning and

your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in

the sight of the Lord, and he will lift

you up.

Riaboam stands a very powerful lesson

and there will be more of those that we

will see from the kingdom. We think

about Israel. We think about Judah.

Some very devastating things. Now, there

are some good. There are some good ones.

We'll hit on those from time to time,

but there was a lot of bad. There was a

lot of bad.

But the good news for us is that we

don't have to allow pride to divide us.

We can take what we have learned from

Riaboam and we can make the application

to our lives and say I will not allow

pride to infiltrate my heart and my

mind. I will seek out that wise wisdom

and I will cling to it. I will seek out

the righteousness of God.

We need to make our minds set on just

that. how important it is when we think

about our children that they see us

making wise choices and that we are

giving wise instruction that is based

based where where does it come from? It

comes from God's word and they need to

see us leaning upon that so they know

again the why.

Why do we do what we do?

Why do we make this choice over that

one?

because God's wisdom, that's where it's

at. So friends, if you need to return to

God, if you need prayers, if you need to

obey the gospel, call this evening. Have

you heard the word, you believe that

Jesus Christ is the son of living God,

repent of your sins, confess him and be

baptized, immersed, buried with him and

baptized to rise and walk in newness of

life as Romans 6 3 and 4 says. And

again, when we look at our hearts, can

we say that we are truly humbling

ourselves before God? We ask this

question in this song tonight. Is thy

heart right with God? Serve him with a

perfect heart for the Lord searches all

hearts. 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 9. And

your his heart is being searched right

now by God himself.

Search it as well. If there's something

a miss, make that right with God

tonight. Won't you come as we stand and

sing the song that's been selected?