In our leadership series looking at Hebrew kings, we have how reached our 5th installment.  Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, had everything ready-made for a great reign.  His grandfather brought unity to the kingdom and peace by conquering their enemies.  His father oversaw tremendous prosperity as nations traded with Israel and he built the Temple where God would be worshipped.  Success was in his future - or was it?

So far in our Hebrew king series, we've covered three kings and are now backing up to get one that we missed.  Presently, these are the kings that we have discussed:

• Saul the Initiator (the first king who set up many protocols that other would follow); 
• Ishbosheth the Figurehead (the second king who was set up as Saul's son but he did not lead for long); and
• Solomon the Thinker (the son of David who, initially, desired wisdom more than anything else).

If you know Biblical history, then you can spot the king that we missed - David.  This blog will look at the man as how we focused on building others in life and leadership.  To learn more, continue reading on....

If you have been following this series on Hebrew kings and the lessons they can teach us, you probably wonder why have skipped the next Hebrew king. Well, I call it author's license! It makes perfect sense, in my opinion, to shift to him for some lessons to be learned and applied. Let's move forward and see what we can glean from his life that can help us improve our lives.

If you read the first of this new series, then you notice the title is a bit different.  You are right because I want to check your historical and Biblical knowledge.  Answer this simple question:  who was the second king of Israel?  I know you just answered in your mind, then looked at the title and thought something like this - "Well, I'm not gonna waste my time here.  This author is a way off base because there is no way that David was just a figurehead."  I would encourage you to read on because all is not as it seems.  A definitive lesson or two can be clearly seen from the second king as he faced challenges stemming from Saul - the Initiator.

Saul, the first Hebrew king, offers us an example that cannot be overlooked - particularly for those that are business starters or hold a newly created leadership position.  He made decisions that are typical of an "initiator" and we would do well to learn from his example to save us from expensive AND extensive difficulty.  To unpack his life and leadership, we will go to the book of 1 Samuel for a summary explanation of his life and decisions.  Please note that we cannot cover the majority of one Old Testament book in a short blog, so this will only hit the highlights.  We will close with five specific applications of those lessons for leaders.

This blog entry will start a new series (The Mess of the Monarchy) and a new category (Hebrew Kings).  For the longest time I struggled with Hebrew history with a particular focus on the mess that men made of the monarchy.  In my quest to analyze and figured that out, I stumbled upon the work of J. Robert Clinton and his conclusions from studying hundreds of Biblical leaders (should you want to learn more, see his article "Listen Up, Leaders!").