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 A TALE OF THREE KINGS
In 1 KINGS 11 and 12 we read the story of three kings; David, Solomon and Rehoboam. David was a man of war and consequently was forbidden by God to build the temple. Solomon, his son, was a man of peace who reigned in Jerusalem for 40 years with no major war during that time. But he had over 1000 wives from all over the then known world who brought many foreign gods with them. God was not happy about that and told him; " '… Because you have done this… I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant (Jereboam). Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen...' (God had promised David that he would always have an heir on the throne of Israel). Then Solomon rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place." (1 Kings 11: 11-13, 43).
THE HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS
Jereboam the servant and Rehoboam the son represented a generation of "haves and have-nots" - one would have most of the kingdom and one would not! Rehoboam's rejection of the people's plea for a lighter load than what Solomon had demanded of them led to the disparaging cry; "What share have we in David? We have no INHERITANCE in the son of Jesse…" (1 Kings 12:16). There is a prophetic parallel between theses three kings and the three main generations of the last 75 years; the "Builders", the "Baby Boomers" and the "Millennials".
The "Builders", born in the early part of last century, like David, were a generation of War, living through two "wars to end all wars"! The Baby Boomers were like Solomon; they would live in "peace", but when four "mop-toped" guys from Liverpool captured the youth culture of the sixties singing simple songs like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", they opened the door for "foreign gods" to flood the West from the East. This was pivotal in causing a major social shift that would eventually rob the following generation of an inheritance, which like Jereboam and Rehoboam, would leave them as "haves and have-nots"!
A FAMINE OF HEARING!
"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD." (Amos 8:11). Nearly 50% of the world's 6 billion inhabitants are under 25 years old. A global youth culture is forming, and Christians MUST learn to adjust to it. Some are already claiming that the church must be completely re-invented.
The "haves and have-nots" are the first un-churched generation in Western history. The promise of Proverbs 22:6 ("Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.") does not apply to those who did not receive a baton! There is a lack of drawing power for salvation and a famine of "hearing" for our young people. But this has led to a hunger to hear the word of God. Young people want to hear the Truth and see the Power. If you can't tell them the Truth and show them the Power, they go for the counterfeits of drugs and the occult.
It's not too late for true "fathers" to rise up with a genuine care and concern for the emerging leaders of tomorrow. The key for young and old to survive together on the spiritual battlefield is to love one other with a singleness of focus that brings unity. Not unity of skill level, nor strength, nor wisdom, but a unity borne out of a joint determination to succeed together to soundly defeat the enemy.
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