1 Kings 12:21

1 Kings 12:21 says, And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.  One-hundred-eighty thousand men of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin assembled to go to war against the rest of the people of Israel and bring them back under Rehoboam's rule.  They may have believed that it was God's will that they do so since Rehoboam was Solomon's son, but he was not willing to listen to the people.  Just because someone is the descendant of a leader in the church today doesn't make them automatically a replacement for them when they are old or die, especially if they are more concerned for themselves than they are for those they would be over.  Verse twenty-two adds, But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,  While they were assembled, God's word came to Shemaiah, a prophet of God.  The word did not come to Rehoboam himself, probably because he wasn't looking to God for direction.  As Christians, we should really never need someone else to come to us and tell us what God has to say.  Verse twenty-three continues, Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,  God told Shemaiah to speak to Rehoboam and all the people of Judah and Benjamin.  Though we as Christians are told to go into all the world and share the gospel, at times God may give us a message for a specific group of people if they are about to do something outside of His will.  Still, it will always be consistent with His word if He does.  Verse twenty-four concludes, Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the Lord.  Shemaiah told them that God said they were not to go fight against their brethren, the people of Israel.  We as followers of Christ should never be fighting against our fellow believers, even if we do have different believes about who should be in charge in the church, as long as it is not inconsistent with God's word.  The people listened to God's word and went back home.  They had to believe in God and that Shemaiah was speaking His word to them.  If we listen to someone's direction today, we need to believe that they are speaking the truth of God, and to do that, we must first acknowledge God by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.