When someone tells me a task has become too much, I want to hear more than a complaint. They may be telling me something I cannot see from where I sit. If I have the power to change their workload, listening is part of my responsibility.
Rehoboam (ree-ho-BO-am) faced that choice when he succeeded his father, King Solomon, about 3,000 years ago. People gathered to make him king at Shechem (SHEE-kehm). The ancient city’s site is near modern Nablus (NAH-blus) in the West Bank.
Part 5 of 5 · MapSee where this happened: Shechem in Rehoboam's Story →Map of the places in the storyThe people asked for relief from the harsh labor Solomon had required. They offered to serve the new king if he lightened their burden. Rehoboam asked them to return in three days while he sought advice (1 Kings 12:1–5).
His father’s older advisers urged him to serve the people and answer their request favorably. But the men who had grown up with him urged a harsher reply. He chose their advice. When the people returned, he threatened to make their work even harder.
The account puts it plainly: “the king did not listen to the people” (1 Kings 12:15, NIV). The northern tribes rejected his rule. Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem, and the kingdom split (1 Kings 12:16–20).
Part 2 of 5 · Gospel QuartetHear it sung: Listen First ▶Gospel quartet song · plays hereI do not read this as a rule that older people are always right or younger people are always wrong. I notice what each group asked the king to do. One urged him to respond to the people’s burden. The other urged him to increase it.
That gives me a useful question when I seek advice: does this help me understand the people affected, or only help me defend my decision?
At work, I could ask which task takes the most time before adding another deadline. At home, I could ask what needs to come off the list before asking someone to do more. Then I need to let the answer change something.
Listening does not mean I can grant every request. It does mean I can explain a real limit without treating the person who asked as a problem. I can name what I can change and follow through on it. A smaller promise kept can matter more than a quick reassuring answer.
Rehoboam had three days to consider his answer. I may have time to pause, too. Before I ask someone to carry more, I want to understand what they are already carrying.
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